Episodes

Brethren, this Short Talk Bulletin Podcast episode was written by MW Bro Aubrey L. Burbank, PGM – ME, and is brought to us by VW Bro David Koncz, PM – United #8, Brunswick ME. What role does Masonic ritual play in education? Does education depend on the evolution of the ritual? These excellent questions are the basis for this discussion, which should be heard by all officers of your Lodge. Enjoy, and do share this and all of these Podcast episodes with your brothers and your Lodge.

Brethren, this Short Talk Bulletin Podcast episode is somewhat celebrative for two reasons: first, we are celebrating the birth of Rev Dr Bro Joseph Fort Newton, the author of this Short Talk and one of Masonry’s greatest voices; and second, we are celebrating that more than half a million Short Talk Bulletin Podcast episodes have been downloaded by Masons with ears ready to hear. Enjoy, and do share this, one of the Great Lights, with your brothers and your Lodge.

Brethren, this Short Talk Bulletin Podcast episode was written by Bro Jay Kinney, Mill Valley #356 – CA, and is brought to us by WBro David Koncz, PM – United #8, ME. The many sensationalist efforts to tie the grisly murders of the 1880s to Freemasonry have been the cause of much concern to members and non-members alike. This article is meant to put those fears to rest. Enjoy, and do share this and all of these Podcast episodes with your brothers and your Lodge.

Brethren, this Short Talk Bulletin Podcast episode was written by Rev Dr Bro Joseph Fort Newton, and is brought to us by Bro Phil Pearce, Dallas #182, GA. Of all the symbols that appear in the work of the sublime degree, the 47th problem of Euclid is perhaps given less attention than the esteem in which it is held would indicate. Here, we find an excellent discussion and explanation of the why behind the esteem. Enjoy, and do share this and all of these Podcast episodes with your brothers and yo...

Brethren, this Short Talk Bulletin Podcast episode was written by WBro Ian P. Watson, Member of the Lodge Of Journeyman Masons #8, and is brought to us by WBro David Koncz, PM – United #8, Maine. The Blue Blanket is a Scottish Craft banner, about which several books have been written, most of which contain inaccuracies. Here we find … the rest of the story. Enjoy, and do share this and all of these Podcast episodes with your brothers and your Lodge.

Brethren, this Short Talk Bulletin Podcast episode was first published in February 1968, is by an unknown author, and is brought to us by WBro John Rock, Solar Star, Bath, Maine. The title of this Short Talk is expressed clearly to the candidate in the middle chamber lecture, with the dual purpose of distinguishing our labors from our operative brethren of antiquity and to put the candidates mind in a receptive state preparatory to the instruction he is about to recieve. Here we find an excellen...

Brethren, this Short Talk Bulletin Podcast episode was written by Rev Dr Bro Joseph Fort Newton, and was first published in July 1924. The American revolution still stands, not only as the birth hour of our republic, but as the beginning of a new and great era in the history of humanity. Enjoy, and do share this and all of these Podcast episodes with your brothers and your Lodge.

Brethren, this Short Talk Bulletin Podcast episode was written by MW Bro Carl Claudy, and is brought to us by Bro Daniel Margasa, Amity Mosaic Lodge, Danvers MA. This episode was written in the dark days of WWII, when the world needed a reason to keep fighting the dark powers of oppression, and here we find just such. Enjoy, and do share this and all of these Podcast episodes with your brothers and your Lodge.

Brethren, this Short Talk Bulletin Podcast episode was written by WBro Elbert Beede, Editor Emeritus of the Oregon Freemason, and is brought to us by WBro John Rock, PM – Solar Star, Bath, ME. Before any of us submitted our petitions, we had certain expectations of what Freemasonry might be for us. Similarly, does Freemasonry have expectations of us? Here we find an excellent discussion of this very topic. Enjoy, and do share this and all of these Podcast episodes with your brothers and your Lod...

Brethren, this Short Talk Bulletin Podcast episode was first published in August 1973, is by an unknown author, and is brought to us by WBro David Koncz, PM – United #8, Maine. Here we find a discussion of the practice of raising and lowering the Wardens’ Columns during open Lodge, a practice that is no longer common in all jurisdictions. Enjoy, and do share this and all of these Podcast episodes with your brothers and your Lodge.

Brethren, this Short Talk Bulletin Podcast episode was written by MW Bro Rev Dr Joseph Fort Newton, and is the substance of an address he gave to the Masonic Service Association’s annual conference. Why do we, as Masons, do what we do? The answer is rooted in the founding principles of the order: Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth, and how we may apply these in our Lodges, and in the larger world. Here, we find an excellent discussion of this topic, written by a most venerable brothers. Enjoy, an...

Brethren, this Short Talk Bulletin Podcast episode was written and is brought to us by RW Bro Michael Johnson, PGJD – KA, originally published in November 2017. Our Operative brethren used the common gavel to break off the rough corners of stones, making them more fit for the Builder’s use. We, as Free and Accepted Masons, make use of it for the more noble and glorious work of divesting our minds and consciences of all the vices and superfluities of life. However, there is another use that we pu...

Brethren, this Short Talk Bulletin Podcast episode was written by WBro Stewart M. L. Pollard, son of MW Bro Ralph J. Pollard, PGM – Maine, first published in July 1968. On this holiday in the U. S., Flag Day, we find an inspiring discussion of our uses in the Lodge which specifically can and do honor this, which we bow in reverence to only less than we do to the Great Architect. Enjoy, and do share this and all of these podcast episodes with your brothers and your Lodge.

Brethren, this Short Talk Bulletin Podcast episode is from the golden pen of MW Bro Carl H. Claudy, and was first published in January of 1948. Here we find an interesting discussion of these two terms, familiar to all Masons, and why both are needed in affirming our desire for more Light. Enjoy, and do share all of these Podcast episodes with your brothers and your Lodge.

Brethren, this Short Talk Bulletin Podcast episode is by an unknown author, and is brought to us by RW Bro Dex Rowe, PDDGM 9th – VT. The common gavel is an instrument made use of by operative Masons to break off the corners of rough stones, the better to fit them for the builder’s use. But we, as free and accepted Masons, are taught to use it for the more noble and glorious purpose of divesting our hearts and consciences of all the vices and superfluities of life, thereby fitting our minds as li...

Brethren, this Short Talk Bulletin Podcast episode is by an unknown author, first published in September 1926. This is an interesting historical perspective, a snapshot of the mind of American Masonry still recovering from World War I, and concerned about the rise of communism. It is a timely message, and yet one we of today can still glean from. Enjoy, and do share this and all of these Podcast episodes with your brothers and your Lodge.

Brethren, this Short Talk Bulletin Podcast episode was first published in July 1961. Here we find an examination of ideas in the book of the same title, written by James Allen. How in his own thought world, each man holds the key to every condition, good or bad, that enters his life, and that by working patiently and intelligently upon his thoughts, he may remake his life and transform his circumstances. Enjoy, and do share this and all of these Podcast episodes with your brothers and your Lodge...

Brethren, this Short Talk Bulletin Podcast episode was written by RW Bro Richard C. Freedman and RW Bro Glen K. Rueben, both of the GL of NY, and is brought to us by RW Bro Tim Martel, PDDGM 14th, Maine. Our ritual is a catalyst for Masonic thought, philosophy, and the understanding of Masonic history. Like an immigrant to a new country, a candidate must learn the language to more fully understand the customs and meanings in their new home. Here we find an excellent discussion of this topic. Enj...

Brethren, as has become traditional on this day of remembrance, this Short Talk Bulletin Podcast episode was written by RW Bro Fordham Tabor, and first published in May of 1977. On this day in towns and cities across the land we pause to remember and give tribute to those that have given the ultimate sacrifice in defense of liberty. Take a moment and reflect with your brothers and your Lodge.

Brethren, this Short Talk Bulletin Podcast episode was written by MW Bro Ray Burgess, PGM – LA, who feels like an old friend on this Memorial Day Weekend. The Worshipful Master, holding the evergreen, says, “This Evergreen, which once marked the temporary resting place of the illustrious dead, is an emblem of our faith in the immortality of the soul. By it, we are reminded that we have an immortal part within us which shall survive the grave, and which shall never, never, never die…Alas, my brot...

Brethren, this Short Talk Bulletin Podcast episode is an updated version of one originally published in 1989, taking into consideration the advances in programming and membership over the last quarter century. Most Masons have heard the term “Sojourning Mason”. But did you know there is actually a recognized organization called National Sojourners? Began in the early 1900s, this group was formed as a result of Masons in the Phillippines taking their dispensation and returning to North Dakota. He...

Brethren, this Short Talk Bulletin Podcast episode was written by MW Bro Carl A. Krauss, PGM – SK, and first published in January 2016. If we have a Masonic background, we often come across passages in literature that are quite differently illuminated. Huckleberry Finn for example, written by Mark Twain, a Mason, takes on entirely new meanings when we recall our mystic tie with the author. Here we find an excellent discussion of this topic, written by someone with a decidedly Masonic perspective...

Brethren, this Short Talk Bulletin Podcast episode was written by WBro Raymond J. Hartman, PM – Lodge #106, Williamsport, PA, and first published in March 2016. Many of the members of our gentle Craft are getting on in years. What is it going to take for the circle to expand again? Here we find an excellent discussion, one that could and should be shared with every member of your Lodge, and especially those whose attendance has been seldom. Enjoy.

Brethren, this Short Talk Bulletin Podcast episode was written by Bro Robert L.D. Cooper, and is brought to us by WBro David Koncz, PM – United #8, Brunswick, Maine. William Shaw is arguably the father of modern Freemasonry. Here we find an excellent discussion about him, and why we owe him the great debt that we do. Enjoy, and do share this and all of these Podcast episodes with your brothers and your Lodge.