Adoniram Lodge #149 AF & AM

Tonight I and several brethren, properly dressed and vouched for, attended a very old Lodge, about a mile from the State Line. The Pictures of the Past Masters on the wall date back to 1868,  "the Great War". The Lodge itself had moved three times since its inception, the last time in 1920, when it was "too old to be a schoolhouse." There was only a tiny blue light that let those know that Lodge was tonight, and only a few who attended to appreciate the original ornate furniture and cedar altar that many a brother has laid hands upon over the years. Although the Lodge had ancient wiring and electrical power, the floor and the ceiling were old and not too steady, and there was an outhouse for those who needed it. The Lodge had an official meeting tonight, with the Grand Potentate of the Mystic Order of the Noble Shrine and the District Deputy of the Grand Master of Masons in North Carolina, in attendance. Our names and Lodges were duly read, my name among them with the Past Masters, the Secretary slightly stumbling over the name of Rickreall, Oregon #110 AF & AM, "you're a long way from home, Worshipful Brother." That, my friends, is History. That is old North Carolina Free Masonry, where countless thousands of men have gathered for many a function, many a deal, many a deed --- some of them not so pleasant, and some not so virtuous. I was in awe and reverence of the energy and the power that old ramshackle building has accumulated.