Diamond Lodge #83

09/04/2026

08/20/2026

🛠️ The Rough Ashlar Was Never Meant to Be Comfortable. 🛠️

Carl Jung once wrote:

"The greater the tension, the greater the potential. Great energy comes from a correspondingly great tension between opposites."

I think every Mason eventually discovers how true that is.

We often believe that becoming a better man means one day we'll stop struggling.

That we'll finally have all the answers.

No doubts.

No conflicting emotions.

No difficult decisions.

But that's not how growth works.

The Rough Ashlar doesn't become perfect because it stops resisting the chisel.

It becomes something beautiful because it endures the work.

Inside every Mason lives a series of opposites.

Confidence.....and humility.

Strength.....and compassion.

Justice.....and mercy.

Tradition.....and the courage to improve.

One part of us wants certainty.

Another part reminds us there's always more to learn.

One part wants to speak.

Another knows wisdom sometimes waits in silence.

The goal isn't to eliminate these opposites.

The goal is to learn from them.

Freemasonry has never promised an easy path.

It has always promised a better one.

Every degree reminds us that transformation requires friction.

The Common Gavel strikes the stone.

The Chisel cuts away what no longer belongs.

The Working Tools demand effort.

Without resistance...

There is no shaping.

Without pressure...

There is no polish.

Without tension...

There is no growth.

Maybe that's why the greatest Masons I've known weren't the men who claimed to have all the answers.

They were the men humble enough to keep asking better questions.

So if you're wrestling with life...

If you're carrying both gratitude and grief...

Hope and fear...

Confidence and uncertainty...

Don't assume you've lost your way.

Perhaps you're standing exactly where the Great Architect intends you to be.

Because the tension you feel isn't always a sign that something is wrong.

Sometimes...

It's the sound of the Rough Ashlar becoming a better stone.

So Mote It Be.

07/04/2026

Wishing all our Brethren, families, and friends a safe and thoughtful Independence Day!

06/18/2026

Diamond visited Crescent Star Lodge! GM and SGW of the most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Washington are also in attendance.

06/13/2026

169th ancom

05/03/2026

Having the District Deputy visit is always a pleasure. VW Nicholas Franz

04/25/2026

A few of us enjoyed a gorgeous sunny day, hitting some balls…. Good food!!
wonderful fellowship!!

04/04/2026

More Than A Number
by Ron C. Nischwitz Sr.
2-3-26

We say it often because it matters...
"We need Masons, not members."...
A member is simply a name on a roster...
A Mason is a man who chooses the work...
who shows up...
who grows...
who strives...
and who honors the obligations he took upon himself...
A member fills a seat...
A Mason strengthens the Lodge...
When we commit ourselves to making Masons...
to shaping character...
deepening understanding...
and nurturing the bonds of true Brotherhood...
our Lodges become places of purpose...
not just attendance...
The Craft becomes alive again...
And the Light we carry shines brighter in our homes...
our communities...
and in the hearts of the men who walk beside us...
So let us return to the real labor of the Craft...
mentoring with intention...
learning with humility...
supporting one another with sincerity...
and living our obligations with integrity...
We do not grow by counting heads...
We grow by raising men...
men of character...
men of service...
men who strive to be worthy of the title Mason...
That is the work...
That is the calling...
And that is how the Craft endures.

04/02/2026

There is a quiet danger in always believing we are right.

Not because confidence is wrong…
but because certainty can close the door to growth.

Freemasonry, at its core, is a journey, not of proving ourselves right, but of refining ourselves through learning, reflection, and humility.

The Entered Apprentice begins in darkness, not because he knows nothing, but because he must be willing to admit he does not know everything.

That is where true learning begins.

A man who listens, learns.
A man who questions, grows.
A man who remains teachable… improves.

But the man who believes he has nothing left to learn has already stopped progressing.

The working tools we are given are not just symbols, they are reminders: To chip away at ignorance, to smooth rough edges, to build not only knowledge… but understanding.

So ask yourself

Do you seek to be right?
Or do you seek to become better?

Because one builds ego…
the other builds character.

And only one of those belongs in a Lodge.

~ The Masonic Orator