I guess you could say that I am an "Internet Mason." The internet had a great influence on my decision to become a Mason. Let me back up and start at the beginning of my Masonic journey.

When I was growing up back in Columbus, Indiana the church that I attended had a very strong policy against Masonry. The denomination's book of discipline stated that a member could not be a member of any secret organization. While we actually heard very little against Freemasonry the message was clear that Freemasonry was considered to be a secret organization and that if a person was a Mason he couldn't really be a true Christian. With this stance against Freemasonry being so implanted in my mind I had a very strong apprehension about anything Masonic.

The thought of becoming a Mason never entered my mind until sometime in the early part of 2000. My curiosity seemed to be aroused when I accidentally came across something about Masonry on the internet. As I recall it was some of a negative connotation. I soon began to do some research on the internet to find out why my former church was so adamant against it. My interest in Masonry would sometimes cause me to drive past a Masonic Lodge which is about 7 or 8 blocks from my home. Well, as it turned out, I came across some anti-Masonic websites that quickly put a damper on any interest that I might have on Masonry. Several months passed before I thought about Masonry again. I began to realize that I was only looking at one side of the issue. It seemed to me that to be fair I should look at the other side of Masonry. Once again I was researching the internet and driving past the Lodge to check it out. Maybe I was hoping to see burnt sacrifices being carried out of the Lodge, or something.

After spending hours reading Masonic websites and comparing it with the claims of anti-Masons I began to realize that the Masons were really striving to better themselves and help humanity in general. This may be hard to believe, but I did not know a Mason that I could talk to about becoming a Mason. The closest thing I could come to a Mason was a lady in my Sunday School class who is an Eastern Star. Occasionally, I would ask her a few questions, but she didn't know very much about the inter-workings of the Masonic Organization, and she wasn't able to tell me much about what the Eastern Star did. In my research of Freemasonry on the internet I came across Freemasonry-list@MASONIC.ORG, a List Serv (like a message board) that was dedicated to the subject of Masonry. Several of the brothers on the group encouraged me to study and even answered a few questions for me. They said I would need a petition to join, and I was supposed to get one from another Mason. Only problem was, I didn't know any.

In August or September of 2000 I finally decided to contact the Grand Lodge in Jacksonville to find out about the Lodge that was just a few blocks from my home. They said I could contact the Secretary, Bro. Floyd Fields, and he could help me. I immediately called Brother Fields and he agreed to meet me at the Lodge and would give me a petition to fill out. As it turned out, there were several other Masons there due to a degree practice. We discussed Masonry and some of the things about Masonry that I had discovered on the internet and in library books. About a week later I brought the petition back and apparently some of the brothers there believed in me and signed the petition.

Two books influenced me the most in the early stages on my search. The first book was "Born in Blood" by John J. Robinson and the other book was "Fundamentalism and Freemasonry" by Dr. Gary Leazer. Later on I emailed Stephen Dafoe who has written several books on the Knights Templars and he helped me tremendously. After I was raised to the Degree of Master Mason I obtained a copy of "Morals and Dogma" on Ebay and began to digest all 861 pages of it. Being a glutton for punishment, I ordered "Pillars of Wisdom" and "A Bridge To Light," in an effort to understand more about the Scottish Rite Organization.

My journey in Freemasonry almost seems like a whirlwind trip, but I can honestly say that it has been rewarding. There are things in Masonry that I wish were different. There are some Masons who are disappointing. Even after 400 or more years of existence it is not perfect. The Church is over 2000 years old and it still has problems, so we can't expect too much out of any organization that is made up of fallible humans. Masonry is not the organization that was portrayed by the anti-Masons. It is not a cult. It is not paganistic. It is not conspiring to take over the world. It is not advocating salvation by good works. There is nothing in Freemasonry that conflicts with my strong religious beliefs. If anything, it has reinforced my faith.

To make a long story short, I entered Masonry on November 11, 2000 and received my Master Mason status on March 1, 2001. The memorization work was very difficult for me because I have always been poor in memorizing, but I waded through it in less than three months. Due to my interest in the Knights Templar Organization I signed up for the York Rite Classes in April of 2001 and was soon Knighted. In a few weeks our Worshipful Master, Bro. Frank Elkins, appointed me to be Junior Steward to fill the spot of a brother who moved away. At the beginning of the new Masonic year in 2002 I was put in the Senior Steward Chair. If all goes well, I will be a 32 degree Mason by the middle of March, 2002.