At Capparelli’s And Satisfaction In The Work

 

At Capparelli’s And Satisfaction In The Work

By James C. “Chris” Williams IV, Staff Writer

It’s the same every month.  He calls and says he’s starving and wants to know where I am taking him and somehow finds a way to make me pay.  Well it was about time for that to stop.  Not the eating …..just the paying.  He claims that good material is not free and since I meet with him every month and write his words that I ought to be happy to buy his lunch….and I am….some of the time.  The way he eats, a man could go bankrupt pretty quick.  Actually it’s only once a month and it’s not that bad but it’s the principal of the thing.  There was a new Italian restaurant named Capparelli Bros. we hadn’t been to yet that I wanted to try.  I told him I would meet him there and hurried to get there before him.  It’s not a very big place and I wanted to make sure we sat in the very back corner so when he got the crazies…..as he usually does…..that we would not be a spectacle.  I was glad to see as I walked in that the table in the back was open.  Tara the owner met me inside the door and told me I could sit anywhere I wanted.  I told her thanks and that I was going to the back table and that I hoped they cooked enough food today.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw the puzzled look on her face as I passed….and I chuckled under my breath knowing she wouldn’t be puzzled long.  Our server was a nice young lady who brought a couple of iced teas and some delicious bread, olive oil and Italian spices while I was waiting for John, who was taking longer than I thought he would.  I was starting to get a little worried when the door flew open, and he rushed in.  Every person in the place turned to see what the commotion was and for a split second I thought about sliding down in my chair and hiding.  Instead I waved and he saw me and headed back to the table with all eyes on him.  When he slid into his seat he had a sheepish look on his face and said, “I got lost.  My darned navigation took me to the livestock feed store down the road and I thought you were trying to be funny sending me there. So I went in looking for you to spoil the joke.” “I wasn’t there John,” I said.  “I know that now,” He said sarcastically.  “I am about to die of hunger, so we need to eat now.”

It was Tara who took our orders.  She looked at me first and I ordered the Lasagna and a small Caesar Salad.  She smiled her approval of my choice and turned to John. He began to order and at first it all seemed normal.  He ordered the eggplant parmigiana and an Italian salad.  Once again she smiled and reached for the menus.  After taking mine she reached for Johns who refused to give it up.  He just looked at her confused face and began to order more.  By the time he was done, Tara had filled one page on her pad and most of the next.  He added an appetizer called tomato bread, a bowl of spaghetti and meatballs, a plate of lasagna, and two medium pizzas.  When he finished and handed her the menu she smiled at me and said, “Now I understand.” I informed him that we were “Going Dutch” today and I was buying my lunch, and he was buying his.  He smiled and nodded like he understood.

It wasn’t long before we had our food and with all he had ordered there was not enough room on our table, so Tara left the serving tray on its stand next to the table with several of his dishes still on it.  I could see other diners staring as a full plate replaced a just emptied plate on the tray.  We managed to get through the meal without incident except for the two older guys who came up and shook his hand and told him they had never seen anyone eat that much at one sitting. I told them to stick around while he had dessert, and they had a good laugh as they left.  I wasn’t laughing though.  He had dessert of course and finally I asked him if he had anything he wanted to share for this month’s newsletter.

Instead of giving me a hard time he got a far off look on his face and smiled the smile of a contented man.  (Heck he ought to be contented.  He just ate enough to last him a week.) But I soon found out that his contentment was not because of a full belly, but more about being full of Masonry.  “Are you going to just sit there with that goofy smile on your face,” I asked?  “Or are you going to speak.”  Normally that would elicit a negative sarcastic response from him but for some strange reason he was unfazed.  “Brother Chris,” he said finally, that smile still on his face.  “I don’t really know how it happens or why it happens, but it happens to me from time to time.  And I am sure it happens to a lot of Brothers.  And when it happens to me it’s like a slow controlled explosion in my mind.  And when it happens, and I think about it, I have to smile cause it makes me feel really darn good.”

Dear reader I must admit that right about here I was close to losing my patience and commence to beating him vigorously waiting for him to get to the point….if there was one.  He took a breath…and I waited…..and right then Tara, God bless her heart, appeared to fill our tea glasses.  “Thank you kindly darlin,” he said still smiling as she nodded and went to welcome another diner.  And I continued to wait.  And y’all all know that waiting is not one of my strong suits.  Finally he took another deep breath and began, “Brother Chris, I was sitting in my Lodge just the other night.  I was not expecting to have one of those “moments,” but I did.  We had an Entered Apprentice Degree scheduled for the evening and everything was just beginning.  I had picked a spot to watch the degree that was different from where I usually sit.  As I sat there peering out from the darkness into the light, (now the Brothers know where I was sitting) I watched something that truly made me feel good and made me smile.  As I watched, I saw why I love coming to Lodge like I do. I saw what we are all supposed to see when we bring another good man into our Gentle Fraternity.  Watching my Brothers perform that night, I heard more than just the words of the ritual and I saw more than just the movements of the ritual.  I saw pride in the work, and I saw love of the Fraternity.  And it occurred to me as I sat there, that our work in the Lodge…….  all of it ….  is so much more than just words and movements.  We are, after all, teaching life lessons and moral and spiritual truths in a most effective and lasting way.  We are teaching right from wrong and defining good from bad.  And when we perform our ritual, the words have to have feeling, and the movements have to have meaning.  Then our lessons and our teachings start to make sense. 

We tell all new Brothers that they got a “good degree”….but that is not always true.  And when they don’t get that good degree it’s usually because there is no pride or love in the work.  There are many times when the words are repeated from memory without any emotion, and movements carried out haphazardly without regard to accuracy……and all without any understanding of why.

Sometimes Brothers are asked to perform certain parts of the ritual when they aren’t ready or properly prepared to do so.  And sometimes a Brother will take on a part that he may think he is ready for, but he is actually not and again the candidate doesn’t get that “good degree.”

 And I don’t know if I can explain what I am talking about in the right way here but, a degree in which a few words are missed or a movement or two are not performed right, but that there is sincerity in the voice and happiness in delivery and yes, love in the tone is, for the most part, a good degree for the candidate….as he has no way of knowing if or what mistakes were made. But that same degree is not a good degree for the Brethren watching.  We need to understand that every degree, while it is put on for the benefit of the candidate, it is also for the benefit of the Brethren performing as well as those watching.  There is a lifetime of lessons and life knowledge contained within each Masonic degree and a candidate is only able to learn a very small amount during his actual ceremony.  Most Brothers don’t realize, and we don’t impress upon them adequately that to learn those secrets of life that all men say is a reason they desired Masonic membership, they need to continue to see the degrees performed as often as they can.  They need to try to actually perform in the degrees.  They need to be in a receptive and reflective frame of mind when either performing in or watching a degree…..and as I found out the other night, it’s enjoyable to watch a degree from a different place in the Lodge from time to time.  And when a Brother comes to a degree in that proper frame of mind and the degree is performed with the proper respect and the proper emotion and in the proper way, those slow explosions in the mind….those moments of unexpected realization……those “wow” moments…..happen.  That’s when a Brother starts learning and understanding and uncovering the secrets he is searching for.” 

He paused to take a breath and I jumped in knowing the penalty for doing so, “But John, I have been to some degrees that the only thing I learned is that the Brothers doing the degree didn’t seem to care about how it was done….and just wanted to get it over with.” “Ahh, yes Brother Chris,” he replied, surprisingly without sarcasm.  “I too have sat in Lodges where there was no pride in the work and have sat there with a pain in my stomach feeling sorry for the candidate who at some point in his Masonic career, if he even has one, will come to realize how little the Brethren of his Lodge cared about him to give him the start in Masonry that he was promised and that he deserved. I have watched the Brethren who were members of the same Lodge as they sat there and watched with pained looks of embarrassment on their faces, knowing that what was being performed was dismal……and I couldn’t help wondering why they allowed that kind of work to go on.  I have to believe that every Mason has a burning desire to do things right.  It is, after all, one of our most basic principles.  And knowing that, it is mind boggling that a Lodge of Brothers wouldn’t mandate that all work be done correctly and then put in the proper effort to practice and make sure that it was done.  Maybe they don’t really realize what a Mason is or should be….maybe they just don’t care.” I saw the smile was gone now and he had a sad look on his face.  “I have seen the same things John,” I said.  “And I agree with your assessment.

Tell me more about the other night.” As I hoped, the smile came back, and the sadness was gone….but unfortunately not forgotten.  He got a far-off kind of gaze, not actually looking at anything, recalling the good feelings of that night and that degree and said in not much more than a whisper, “It was one of those “wow” moments that lasted the whole evening.  I could see the effort of the degree team as the results of their hard work in practice as they put their all into the ritual.  I could hear the emotion and love transmitted in the words and I could feel the lessons being taught as though I was the candidate again.  The reminding us that God, the Supreme Architect of our Universe is and should be the center of our lives….the promise.  And as mushy as this sounds….it was beautiful.  And I can’t wait for the next degree.”

I watched as he reached up and brushed something from the corners of his eyes.  What a softy he really is.  He then mumbled that he had to go the restroom and quickly got up.  I warned him as he walked away not to try to get out of the bill and he shook his head.  After a few minutes, I saw him come back into the dining room and walk up to the front counter.  He looked like he was paying his bill and ……as I watched, he finished up and came back to the table.  He stuck out his big paw and shook my hand…… with that familiar grip….  and said “Brother, I have to get on down the road.  Those working tools don’t sell themselves, you know.” I told him to drive safe and thanks for the talk. As I sat there thinking about how great his story was, Tara came up and sat my bill on the table.  I glanced at it and my good feeling turned bad immediately as I saw that John’s bill was included with mine.  He hadn’t paid his bill at all.  I asked Tara what John was doing at the counter, and she said that he told her that it was his birthday and that he and I were Brothers.  As mad as I was, all I could do was laugh out loud.  It was true and I could not deny it.  We were, in fact, Brothers.  Next month it’s going to be different…..I guarantee it…..yes I do.  See y’all next month