INSTALLATION NIGHT AT THE CELESTIAL LODGE ABOVE
St. Peter further explained that we could meet some of the Brethren before Lodge opened. After the meeting there was to be an entertainment program, followed by a banquet and dance to which the public of Heaven was invited.
I was thrilled at the opportunity and begged him to let us hurry over to the Masonic Temple. St. Peter acquiesced with a smile and then instructed me that everybody I was about to meet was a Freemason on earth and would be one forever in Heaven.
On arriving at the parking lot the introductions began with a group of cowboys who had ridden their horses to Lodge. There was John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Tom Mix, Tex Ridder, Will Rodgers, Hoot Gibson, and William Thaddeus Phillips, better known as Butch Cassity. Also having arrived by horse back were Kit Carson, Davey Crockett, and Buffalo Bill Cody and all three were clad in their familiar buckskins. Arriving at a full gallop on three beautiful pinto horses with their feathered bonnets flowing behind them were Indian Chiefs Crazy Horse, Tecumseh, and Joseph Brant Pulling in beside the hitching rail was a Massey tractor driven by Hart Massey. Standing in the parking lot admiring the newer models of automobiles were Henry Ford, Ransom Olds, Walter Chrysler, and John Willy.
Leading from the parking lot and to the front entrance was a gorgeous curving path edged with the most Heavenly flowers. This path was surrounded by a perfectly manicured lawn. On the lawn were three men taking advantage of the last light of evening to play a little pitch and catch. They were baseball hall of famers Ty Cobb, Branch Rickey, and Cy Young.
The path ended in front of the most impressive, three story building of marble block construction. There were three flights of stairs consisting of three, five, and seven steps leading to a porch framed by two mighty bronze pillars. In the porch were a set of massive mahogany doors. Above the door was that familiar long triangle with the All Seeing Eye in the middle. St. Peter explained that the eye represented God who I would meet on the following day. This announcement gave me a quick shudder and chill.
Before entering the door I turned for one last look at the beautiful horizon. A sunset of the finest colors in all creation sat upon a forest richly colored by late fall. The breeze was cool and refreshing. I then turned and took my first step inside a Masonic Temple. I stood in a lavish foyer which was most tastefully furnished. Just inside the door stood three very large men who were discussing the sport of boxing. St. Peter introduced them as Jack Demsey, Jack Johnson and Sugar Ray Robinson. We passed through the foyer and down a wide hallway with several doors standing open. At the first door I looked into a magnificent library where sat Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Walter Scott, Samuel Johnson, Alexander Pope, Mark Twain, Robi Burns, and Rudyard Kipling who were discussing their newest literary works.
At the next open door I observed a conference room where a group of Senior DeMolays were calling the roll. I listened in and the names I heard were Walt Disney, Chet Huntly, Van Johnson, Robert Cummings, John Steinbeck, Fred McMurry, and John Cameron Swayze.
We then came to a second foyer adjacent to the entrance of the Lodge room. Here we observed many portraits hanging on the walls. The Tyler, Ed Wynn, read to us the names of some of the portraits which included thirty-eight justices of the Supreme Court and fourteen US Presidents. Assisting the Tyler and offering him one of his pens was John Shaeffer. Some last minute preparations found Cliff Arquette of Charley Weaver fame dusting the portraits. Sweeping the carpet with a Hoover vacuum was Frank Hoover. There was a man standing next to the door who was thoroughly intrigued and marveling at a battery operated electric shaver. St. Peter introduced him as King Gillette.
On entering the Lodge room it was immediately apparent that no earthly description would give justice to the beauty and richly appointed details of this temple. Here many of the Brethren were already seated and awaiting the opening of the Lodge. In the seats along the South wall sat the South polar explorers Robert F. Scott of England and Richard E. Bird of the US. Beside them and deep in aeronautical discussions were Charles Lindbergh, General Hap Arnold, astronaut Gus Grissom and air ace Eddie Ridckenbaker. Sitting just behind Eddie was Abe Saperstein, creator of the Harlem Globetrotters who was explaining his version of the game of basketball to it's inventor James Naismith.
I paused to listen to a conversation about the new annex being built on the North wing of the building. The architect was Sir Christopher Wren and he was talking to the sculptor of the Statue of Liberty, Frederic Bartholdi. Also in the conversation regarding the financing of the new addition were Peter and Victor Dupont along with James and Nathan Rothschild.
While the Brothers sat and waited for Lodge to open, they were entertained by two clowns who were none other than Red Skelton and Emmet Kelly. The two of them had some very Royal personage laughing hysterically. These happy Royals were King George the 1st, King Frederick the Great, King Gustav V of Sweden, and King George V1. Next to the Kings were some of the U.S. colonials in their laced cuffs and powdered wigs, such men as Paul Revere, Ben Franklin, Thomas Payne, John Hancock, and Lafayette. Behind these sat a bunch of white men dressed like Indians. They were all members of Boston Lodge #10 whose minutes show that one particular night they adjourned early and then reconvened at the docks where they had a very large tea party. It had something to do with taxation without representation. This event later became know as the Boston Tea Party.
The third row contained more Brothers in wigs but wearing military uniforms over their laced cuffs. Here sat Lord Nelson, Lord Cornwallis, Captain James Cook, John Paul Jones and the Duke of Wellington. Behind them sat all seven of the Ringling Brothers discussing the Shrine Circus.
We turned and observed the East. At the South corner of the East were two chairs occupied by the Chaplain Norman Vincent Peale and the assistant Chaplain the Reverend Peter Marshall. The entire East end of the hall was a stage elevated three steps above the rest of the floor. Across this stage was a long row of massive and ornately carved oak chairs with purple velvet seats. The center chair was taller then the rest and in front of it stood a highly polished oak podium. On the back wall was a large mural depicting the building of King Solomon's Temple. This was flanked by two great golden pillars and from these hung billowing clouds of purple velvet curtains.
Suddenly, from a side door, the East's entourage swept into the room led by the once Most Worshipful Grand Master of Missouri President Harry Truman. With him were Past Master President George Washington, both President Roosevelts, Winston Churchill, Guiseppe Garibaldi, Benito Jaurez, President William McKinlley, The Duke of Connaught, Generals Douglas McArthur, George C. Marshall, Omar Bradly, John Pershing, and Jimmie Doolittle.
The Grand Organist, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, started to play the pipe organ and behind him sat his backups, Gilbert and Sullivan. The Junior Deacon, J. Edgar Hoover, announced that Lodge was about to begin and all non-master Masons would need to exit the Lodge.
St. Peter and I ducked out the side door and proceeded upstairs to the banquet hall. Here we noticed men rolling kegs of beer toward the kitchen. They were John Molson, Frederick Pabst, and Joseph Schlitz. In the kitchen preparing the food we saw Colonel Sanders and the father of Wendy's Hambergers Dave Thomas. The Stewards, Adlai Stevenson and J. C. Penny, were setting tables.
Leaving these very busy people to their work, St. Peter and I climbed yet another set of stairs to the third floor. There we found a gigantic theatre with a stage and an orchestra pit surrounded by thousands of theatre seats. This floor was a beehive of activity. In the pit tuning up were members of an all-star group, Paul Whiteman, Irving Berlin, George M. Cohan, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie and Al Jolson.
At center stage magicians Harry Houdini and Harry Blackstone were setting up their props. At stage right were W. C. Fields, Oliver Hardy, Bud Abbott, Harpo Marx, and Foster Brooks who were refining their comedy act for tonight's show. This show would be M. C.'ed by Arthur Godfrey and Danny Thomas. It was produced by Cecil B. DeMille, Flo Ziegfeld, Louis B. Mayer, and D. W. Griffiths.
At this point St. Peter said we should return to the gates and prepare for our meeting on the next morning with God. That shudder and chill returned as my life flashed before my eyes and I hoped I would be found worthy in His eyes............
"Hey, Mister, Mister.....Wake up!" Somebody's hand was on my shoulder and was shaking me to consciousness.
I found myself back on earth sitting on the steps of a Masonic Temple. "Oh, yeah, OK, ...... I'm sorry. I must have fallen asleep waiting for you to get back from lunch. Are you the Lodge Secretary?" I asked.
"That I am, my boy." He answered.
"I'm looking for a petition for membership." I told him.
He replied, "Come on in and I'll help you with what you are seeking."
As I followed him into the Masonic Temple, I couldn't help but wonder how many other men would be here asking for a petition if they had seen the impressive array of Freemasons that I had just met. I'll never forget this great group of men I encountered while they prepared for the installation of officers in that Celestial Lodge Above.