January 26, 2026 • 34 mins
Join us for a groundbreaking conversation with Right Worshipful Brothers Kanjin Cederman, Fahimul Islam, and Yatri Trivedi – the Grand Lodge of New York's first Buddhist, Muslim, and Hindu Grand Chaplains. In this inspiring episode, we explore their unique journeys to Freemasonry, the significance of their groundbreaking appointments, and how their diverse spiritual paths enrich the timeless principles of the fraternity.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Commons. Opinions and views shared during this program are
of those individual Freemasons and do not reflect the official
position of a Grand Launch, Concordant Body, a Pendant Body,
Masonic authority, or Craftsman Online dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Hey, welcome back to the Craftsman Online Podcast, the only
Masonic podcast endorsed by the Grand Lodge, New York. I'm
your host, right worship for Brother Michael Arsa. Before we
jump into this groundbreaking episode where our three Grand Chaplains,
just want to give a quick thank you to Dwight Lewis.
He's become the latest five dollars Patreon subscriber for the
Craftsman Online Podcast. Thank you so much, Dwight. We appreciate
(00:50):
your support. We hook you up with ad free episodes
plus access to all of our subscriber extra episodes. That's
a pretty big back catalog, including it this week's guest.
You can get the free seven day trial right now.
Just open up the notes for this episode and the
description bang you'll find the link to get started with
Craftsmen Online on Patreon. So this is pretty groundbreaking, and
(01:11):
I love how progressive the Grand Lodge of New York is.
We've got three right, worshipful brothers, We're welcoming on right
worshipl brother Kanzi Setterman Bahimol Islam and Yatri Trevetti. They
are the first Buddhist, Muslim and Hindu Grand Chaplains with
the Grand Lodge of New York. In this inspiring episode,
we're going to be getting into their unique journeys into freemasonry.
(01:32):
We'll discuss the significance of their groundbreaking appointments by our
Grand Master, most worshipful Brother Steven Adam Rubin, and how
their diverse spiritual pass connect not only with each other,
but with brothers in the craft, and how they enhance
the timeless principles that we learn in freemasonry.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
My brothers, before we jump in, would it be okay
with three chaplains on if we may start with bringing
a little spirituality into the mix? Perfect, go for it
in the name of the Grand Darket, the most Beneficent,
the most compassionate architect of the universe, the Grand the
forgiving Master of the Day of Judgment, THEE we worship,
(02:11):
and from THEE we seek. Help guide us upon the
path of light, not upon the path of those who
go astray or incurry your rath amen.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
I wish I could start every episode with a verbal prayer.
Usually I say a small, silent one for myself, but no,
that was really special. Thank you, right worshipful. Who wants
to jump on the personal background? What brought you into freemasonry?
Speaker 4 (02:36):
My parents had emigrated at a time where there wasn't
a ton of people of my faith around, and my
family congregated outside of Philadelphia, and so every time we
had religious or family events, we rented a hall and
happened to be a Masonic hall, and that was my
(02:57):
first sort of introduction to that. So I started looking
into what that was when I was younger. You know,
you hear a lot of things and you know you
shouldn't believe them all, but not having met anybody, I
couldn't ask questions. And then fast forward to know, maybe
seven or eight years ago, I was living in New
(03:17):
York and I had a group of friends through Reddit,
the New York Reddit meetup and just having discussions, and
mainstream came up and I was like, hey, you know,
you know, I wish I knew more about it, but
the only familiar I have is from the halls. And
someone just said, hey, well, what do you want to know,
and that was sort of what got the ball rolling.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Yatrick, Can you tell us a little bit about your
faith background. I can see you on camera, and our
YouTube live streamers can see you as well, but for
our podcast listeners.
Speaker 4 (03:48):
I come from a Hindu background. I'm a Gujarati. Culturally,
India is very, very diverse, so where you're from, what
region you're from, really matters a lot. I was very
grateful growing up with my grandparents. My paternal grandparents lived
with us at home, and that's sort of, you know,
how I got started on the path because I would
ask questions and I got some answers. I had an
(04:12):
interest in the practicality of things. I started studying sunsprit
on my own when I was fourteen fifteen sixteen, I
went to Rutgers. I have a BA in religion. I
was originally hoping to go into academia. I actually did
a short post back at Columbia too. I find so
many actually interesting parallels between the tech world and my
(04:34):
religious background. Frameworks, frameworks, you know, there's just a lot
of thinking in the abstract in both places.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
You know.
Speaker 4 (04:41):
I got married nine years ago and I had a
great family fundit then answered all my questions and I
learned a lot. And my cousin was getting ready to,
you know, propose, and he asked, you know, would you
do the big Indian wedding again? I said absolutely. So
you started asking questions, I started explaining them, and he said,
you know, you should be doing this work, and I
(05:02):
kind of laughed. I thought it was a joke, you know,
he was laughing. I realized, for the first time in
my life, is a real calling.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Wow, why don't you help us out? Tell us a
little bit about yourself, your faith, your background and what
drew you to becoming a Freemason.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
My spirituality and my Masonic life. I mean, are the
two things really any different when you put the two
circles together. There's very little that's outside that vent. My
cultural background. My family's from Bangladesh. I practiced the Islamic
faith about four generations ago, yahtri. My family in Bangladesh
was actually five generations. Go excuse me, we're practicing Hinduism.
(05:38):
And then Islam came through and my mother had me
going to the mosque or the masha that was around
the corner for all my life on Fridays for service
because Muslims go to service on Fridays. It was in
a different language. I couldn't wait to get out. We
go through these motions that I had no idea. Not
only did I not know what we were doing, the
message wasn't being heard spirituality wise. I drank from the
(06:04):
fountain of freemasonry first, before I drank from the fountain
of Islam. Though I was born into Islam, it wasn't
until my early to mid thirties that I dug into
the Testaments and then the Koran and started learning about
the stories of the prophets and just putting those pieces
together the framework of that monotheistic art type of religion,
(06:29):
if you will, right that the majority of human beings
today adhere to that Abrahamic concept. Before that, it was
just a system of right and wrong. Right. So in
my early twenties, I got to Masonry when I was
about twenty one years old, and for the first time
g that God. We actually talked about it in a
(06:51):
meaningful way for me in a world where this beautiful
religion of mine, this beautiful spiritual aspect that I ascribed to,
is being perverted into such horrible things, in a world
where it's so easy to be drinking from the wrong
fountain of Islam. I love the fact that it was
(07:12):
masonry that was my balance to it. It allowed me
to take those same principles and take the softer, sweeter path.
It allowed me to take those same ideals and execute
them into real world based on the principles of masonry,
which is, how do I make myself better in order
(07:33):
to make the world around me better. It's not about me.
I'm not the center of the universe. The universe is.
You know, love is the center of the universe. My
point of existence every day is to figure out how
can I add to that love more than I take
from it? Right? That's you know, that's the most important
thing that I think affects my journey into this. It's
(07:57):
a wonderful dance to be dancing in this role, you know.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
All right, Conjin take us home, tell us about you.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
Well.
Speaker 5 (08:03):
I like off I was saying about drinking from the
fountain of masonry, and what he was saying was actually
made me think a lot. That actually perhaps my first
I met masonry before I even met my spiritual path
as well. Since I was a child, my family have
been any generations in the Masons, and so I was
(08:27):
actually raised in a lot of these lodges and had
an interesting affinity. I knew very from a very young
age that I was very interested in masonry, and it
connected me with my father and my grandfather, et cetera.
So it wasn't something I wanted. I decided because my
(08:47):
father had the requirement that I didn't have any debt
besides school debt for me to become a mason. That
was a kind of requirement I guess for my family,
and that he had to consider to me a man
responsible enough to become amazing. So I believe I became amazed.
And when that was funny, I started my health and
(09:08):
the spiritual. I knew I was a Buddhist, perhaps from
nine years old when I thought, I created my own
spiritual path because I thought, you know, everyone has the
same capacity, so I don't need to rely on others.
I can figure out it for myself and it's just
as relevant as other people. And then when I went
to Japan when I was fourteen by myself, I met
(09:30):
a Buddhist monk, and that's when I realized to correlate it,
and that's how I began my Buddhist journey and then
became a Buddhist monk age of seventeen and priest at
the age of twenty one. So therefore I've been doing
that since they position is actually I work for the government.
(09:54):
I'm now a chaplain, a Buddhist chaplain with the US Navy,
and also I work in a hospital as a chapter.
And yeah, through my Masonic journey, my spirituality and masonry
(10:14):
I've kind of pretty much grown together because I originally
wanted to become Amazon because to understand what it meant
to be an American or living in the United States,
since we don't perceive to have any traditions. The only
tradition I could see that existed was masonry, something that
was continued, especially in my family, which made it all
(10:37):
the more important for me to connect with that. So
I agree that perhaps the first fonton that I drank
from was that of masonry, and that, of course masonry
had directed me in spiritual practice as well.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
One of the things that was unique in all of
your answers was that free Masonry kind of helped me
find my spiritual pathway or lit my spiritual path for
me to take those steps, which is interesting because that's
kind of been the whole intent, the whole idea of freemasonry,
is to build that foundation, to have the connection to Deity,
to the supreme market tech universe.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
I think the other thing that the three of us,
and in fact all of us on this call have
in common is a similar age demographic. And that's important
because I feel like we're the gatekeepers between the new
and old. Right, Like I walked into libraries and used
library cards and encyclopedias. I also did the whole running
home online and logging onto all and the right, and
(11:38):
so I'm familiar with the new olivan, and I see
folks like my nephews. Right, I've got a twenty five
year old nephew, I've got a twenty one year old nephew.
I've got a sixteen year old nephew. I see the
amount of information that's at their disposal versus what was
coming our way. They have to work just as hard
now to fight misinformation as they do good information. And
I say that because there's just life going at a
(12:00):
different pace than it did when I was growing up,
it feels like. And the reason why that's important is
because to incorporate religion, there's the spirituality and then there's
the dogma of it, the dogmatic every day piece, right,
and then there's the time it takes to actually learn, implement,
and live these ideals. And whether it's freemasonry or any
(12:24):
of these other religions, I think the freemasonry part is
important because it acts as a wonderful placeholder. Right. If
you haven't gotten it all figured out yet, that's okay.
Just ascribe to the Grand architect. Know that your fellow
man also has a right to have his own understanding
of how the laws of the universe works. Right. All
(12:46):
we just want you to do is to know that
there is a spirit of the universe and use that
as a placeholder until you figure out what your relationship
is with that spirit and you know what your purpose
is from that spirit. Until then, Brother's got you, and
you know, stick to the stick to the degrees. They
won't guide you wrong.
Speaker 4 (13:04):
I have a slightly different experience because you guys both
came in in your twenties, early twenties.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
I was twenty one years old.
Speaker 4 (13:13):
And brother Kanjent you said as well, teaking, I believe
it was twenty one. I didn't come in until I
was thirty three ish, when I was a kid. My
grandmother taught me meditation, so that was my tool and
my way of perceiving the divine was all through primary
experience via meditation. Not that I didn't have faith, not
(13:34):
that I didn't say prayers, but those were things I
did to revere the awe that I felt. I think
for me, masonry taught me that ritual is very, very
powerful because having become an entered apprentice and going through
the memorization work there, I started to realize, I see
the connections that are in place. There was also somewhat different,
(13:57):
I think, because just like masonry, it kind and it
gives you everything. It throws all different paths at you
and lets you, you know, find something that interests you
and run with it.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
The first time I walked into a lodge and I
was like, WHOA. I thought you guys said that this
wasn't a religion. But there's an altar. And being a
New York Mason, there were like three volumes of sacred
texts on my mother lodge's altar. I'm like, there's the
biggest Bible I've ever seen in my life, and these
two other books that I can't read what's on them
because it's in a different language, but I'm guessing that
(14:52):
it's some you know, sacred text of some sort, like
something important. And I'll paraphrase it because it's a part
of New York ritual that I love so much in
the first degree, where you're at the Bible or you're
at the altar and the master says that book to
put your hands on inside of it is all this
and we all agree that no matter what faith you
come from, no matter what branch you come from, that
all good men agree on these important principles that can
(15:15):
be found within this book.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Right.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Then there's another part specifically that like kind of tap
me on the forehead and was like wake up. And
it's the part where he, again i'll kind of paraphrase,
says like becoming a freemason, you are going to have
your your belief and acceptance challenged, and not in a
way that's going to challenge you, like shake you to
the core, like oh my gosh, I questioned my belief
in existence. But I'm going to open my mind to
(15:40):
other things that are out there. So I'll toss this
out to you, to the three of you, and I'm
just curious what exploration you have done or what perspectives
have opened through your eyes now going through this Masonic experience,
by the help and the aid of your other brothers, I.
Speaker 5 (15:56):
Was taught that Masonry is a place where people are
safe to meet of any background, of any mankind, under
the specific how do you say, standard that we have
which makes it into a safe place. And that's how
(16:17):
it was preserved through my family that this was the
only place where before now we think about how easy
it is for religions and people from different cultural backgrounds
to get together and to meet, that was not always
the case, and masonry and a lot of tradition is
seen as that place where we are able to meet.
(16:41):
And also, as we were talking about spirituality to grow.
Although I was I grew up in the mostly Christian area,
Christianity to me was actually something that was quite had
a bad how do you say? Feeling toward and also
a kind of dislike according to this association from the
(17:03):
people that I had met that supported themselves to be
a Christian and even I would say even trauma in
that case. But in coming to the Masonic Lodge was
the only place that I actually before as Paul was saying,
before internet and all of that having a place in
which he met people who were practicing of different faith
(17:23):
and even amongst different faiths. You know, we may lum
Christianity or Islam altogether, but there are many different schools
of thought, different beliefs, different cultural elements, et cetera. And
that through that I was able to distinguish perhaps what
we strivee for in our Buddhist Buddhism, the idea of
the authentic cell, or that how we are able to
(17:47):
spiritually navigate with others. Because in society usually as you see,
most of the time, those things are taboo. But yet
we we have a respectful aspect of it, kind of
ground rules for our base. But yet we acknowledge it,
which I don't know if in society people would acknowledge
(18:09):
it because of all the difficulties that come with and
perhaps even judgments, because people also don't realize now if
he was any more a particular religion, people would judge you.
Hence people changed their last name so that they didn't
sound specifically of different traditions. They hid their religion. But
that actually I was thought that Masonry was the only
(18:32):
place in which those different faiths and idea teachings could
actually meet peacefully within our society. Now it may not
seem so relevant, but actually I believe it is still
relevant because I have brothers from many backgrounds, and even
knowing people and being within the community with them has
(18:55):
even softened them. And this is the amazing part of me,
even though we're so old. The ability of Masons to change,
which I think is one of the greatest characteristics of man,
is that the ability to change, and that is a constant.
But yet there are any people who constantly fight against that,
and that is something as we see, even with the
(19:16):
three of us coming into existence as Grand Chaplains, that
shows the progression of Masonry. Because even though you may
say why in twenty twenty six this hasn't happened before
in most of society, it still hasn't.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
Had Growing up in Jackson Heights Queen's, you know, my
best friends were Jewish Christian. Some of my first girlfriends
were Christian. I ended up going to Christmas Mass and
Eastern and just I got a good amount of exposure
coming into this role. I look at it as two
main charges help brethren with their day to day. Brother
(19:54):
in my lodge has done a few lectures on the
mental health crisis that men are going through today, the
crisis of loneliness and the mental health crisis that generally
exists in the population. I talked about being the gatekeepers
of information and how information overload is happening. You know,
more and more is being put in that I think
(20:15):
is of lesser and lesser quality. So it's our jobs
first to make sure we have a clear channel between
us and the spirit of the sun, and then to
be able to put that into to borrow that line
from the prayer of Saint Francis of ASSISI. But then
to be able to be channels of peace and bring
that to our brothers. That's my first job, right when
(20:36):
I get those notices about brothers passing away, I find
out that there's a brother who's struggling with things or
their family, to reach out and at that personal touch
that's needed, that's absolutely needed. And that's not just a
job of a chaplain, right, that's every brother's job. Second,
going back to as being the sixth oldest Grand Lodge,
going back to the fact that we are builders of men. First,
(21:00):
we build ourselves, but not so that we can just
sit there, right, We build ourselves so that we can
be useful to the society around us, and I am
particularly blessed to be an American Muslim Mason at a
time when we're going through what we go through. Like
I mentioned growing up in Queens and Jackson Heights, which
is predominantly now Muslim, a good Buddhist population, a good
(21:24):
amount of Buddhist population there as well. There's always been
a Hindu minority there and that's also growing. And of
course Jackson Heights was founded first German and Irish then Italian.
Cultures of those fates are inherently interwoven. Christianity is inherently
interwoven in that. But more and more people who look
(21:45):
like me and Yatri are are there. So I say
that now we live in Westchester County, and I think
they say Westchester County is probably one of the biggest
concentration or majority Jewish population right outside of Israel. And
we know what the world's been going through the last
two years, it's that much more important for me in
(22:07):
this role to be aware of the sensitivities of that
particular religion and be a channel a bridge between those things.
So like for example, when Brother Barrayal came into this role,
it was amazing. So I got to pick his brain
and we did a couple of prayer together at the
(22:28):
dedication breakfast that we do, and it was very very
well received. Just a reflection of the fact that the
general population of Masonry is looking for that is looking
for examples of unity, and that it's coming from Freemasonry,
I think fills my heart with extra joy.
Speaker 4 (22:46):
It's sort of the understanding of how do we talk
about so as an example in the podcast, you won't
necessarily see it, right, but I have a forehead marketing
and I'm wearing right now white ash from my personal practice.
You know, it's interesting because I meet people and I
(23:06):
only started wearing that, you know, a handful of years ago.
People see it, they notice it, but they are often
hesitant to ask about it. But brothers tend to be
a little inquisitive. They do push a little bit and
they're say, you know, they'll give you all of the
the verbal scaffolding, right, you know, I may not know
the right term. I'm sorry if I offend you, but
(23:28):
they will ask, and when we talk about it, they
come away knowing a little bit more. But they also
away seeing that it's not so strange compared to what
they might be used to.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
Every time we actually goes into a temple with that
scooring compass on, there's a new group of people who
are going to be asking about that scoring compass that
the otherwise. You know, I was recently in Texas, went
down to this big Islamic center into Soto, and everwhere
I go, I always make sure that I, you know,
talk about the fact that I'm a Freemason and my
(24:03):
particular role, and I often tap into the lodge or
the Grand Lodge that's in the jurisdiction I'm going to,
and so I get to know some folks there and
I try to build some bridges, because masonry, no matter
where we go, can always use new interest, new members,
new life. And at the same time, you know, I
describe it to the guys in the various mosques and
(24:23):
I go to like, given the guys in Utica, where
are Masonic campuses. The couple of mosques that I went today,
you know, they're literally ten minutes apart from each other.
And this will be the first year during Ramadan where
we get invited and the brothers from Grandlawe will hopefully
be able to go over to that central Master the
mudica and break some bread together. And so what I
(24:45):
described to the brothers in the mosque or any other
place outside of masonry, I say, you can go to
a business and plug into what that business serves, that
one or two things that they sell or serve. You know,
you can go to a mosque or a temple and plugins.
That's for sure. When you go to the wall of freemasonry,
there's a kajillion things you can plug into. And so
(25:07):
you know, everyone at Kenjin's temple should feel comfortable to
come and plug into that wall of free masonry, and
everyone at Yatri's Temple and everyone at my moth should
be able to and they haven't been, and we as
Masons need that and certainly our guys should be able
to tap into that greater network.
Speaker 5 (25:24):
Yeah, I really appreciate what you're saying, because actually my
temple is in my home Loge. We rent one of
the rooms. Actually we've had the temple here for almost
the two and a half years. So when people come
to the temple they see that it's cinemasamic logs, so
that gives them a few different stores that they have
(25:45):
to are barriers they have to overcome, but that just
goes again to show and I'd like to just point
out that the role of chaplain how significant it is,
because I don't think it's been utilized as much as
with this Grand Master, grand Master Reuben in the sense
(26:05):
that he made this big effort, because I'm sure this
is not without its detractors. I'm questioning, you know, etc.
Of the people who don't know though I haven't seen
that or experienced it. But I think it's really important
that the role of the chaplain hasn't been pushed to
the side because a lot of times like if you
(26:26):
look at the lodge, would you like to be chaplain?
How about you? Right, And that it didn't really actually.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
Serve a purpose.
Speaker 5 (26:34):
But I like to remind people that in the military,
there's only three people that can speak to the chief officer.
One of them is the directly without going through the
chain of command. One of them is the chaplain, And
therefore that has possessed a lot of responsibility. And that
(26:55):
as Faul was saying, that to check in about the
wellness of our brothers, and that each of us that
we serve as an example, and that each of us,
as Masons Freemasons do the same and that we are
the example that we send cards to brothers, but not
only that, calling and caring, and as was stated about,
(27:20):
for instance, the inquisitive nature of brothers about certain things.
I find that to be, as we were talking about before,
a safe place, that they don't have to feel like
they're ignorant, they can go ahead and ask those questions
without fear, and that they actually get the opportunity because
(27:41):
as diverse as this world thinks it is, it is
still very secluded in many ways, and people the more
you get out from the kind of the cities, the
more insular people are, and they don't have the opportunity
to meet somebody of a different faith. Take that for granted,
if you've ever lived in a big city, right or
(28:03):
if you've actually had the opportunity to travel, those are
still very as mind blowing as it is, that is
still very much a luxury, and that we as Chaplains
should be able to bring back or share that information
with our brothers, making them stronger because even that the
(28:26):
you know, we talk about how much information there is
out and father talked about the quality of information. First
hand information is the best because again you can't believe
everything you find on the internet. It doesn't mean it's true.
And I think that that allows us a certain level
of intelligence, And you say benefit to in our diversity,
(28:51):
and as our diversity grows and our lodges grow, I
think that that is the best place for us to
grow as human being.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
I was at the Grand launch session in May. I
knew that Kanjin had already been appointed with his commission
to write Worshipful because I got that information literally like
days before we recorded your podcast episode in twenty twenty
five early twenty twenty five Here for the Pass went online.
But when I heard that Yatri and Fa had also
been appointed, I was like, Yes, it's about time that
(29:45):
we've done these things right. And that's what I love
about our Grand Master. So I want to put the
question back on you because you've talked about this need
to expand get back to the roots, redefine this role.
You are three grand Chaplains with that purple apron, with
the right worshipful title, with the ability to make transferreadive change.
(30:08):
What are some things that you're looking at doing during
your time in serving the Grand Lodge. What is some
light that you want to be bringing to our craft.
Speaker 3 (30:16):
Thank you for shouting out the current grand Master. I
think it's worth saying that I feel an extreme amount
of gratitude for Most Worshipful Kessler for getting a ball
started with this particular piece with Grand Master Ruben when
he appointed me a few years ago, and then continuing
(30:38):
on with getting the diversity. Since grand Master Ruben's taken
the helm with what he's done, I think it's amazing.
I also want to say a big shout out to
Right Worshipful Stendric Adams, our unofficial captain of the Chaplains.
He's been an amazing guiding light. And Kenjin, you mentioned
(30:58):
the fact that a chaplain still has the ability to
go to the top of the house, the top of command,
without any barriers. People who lead are supposed to be
able to get guidance, to lead within the framework of
what the Grand Architect wants us to do. And we
human beings, right, we're inherently flawed. According to my lay
(31:21):
of the land, We're inherently flawed in that we're not
going to remember every tool that's in our tool belt
every single day. In my walk of life, I'm taught
to go and pray five times a day at least
to check in with God multiple times and to remember
the principles I need as the problems are coming up
(31:41):
on a day to day basis, because I can't remember
everything at once. So then going back to this question
of what we're doing, I think the chaper role exists
because we still have to not just deliver that wellness,
but that message to our brethren on a daily basis
and to our leadership when tough decisions have to be made.
(32:05):
I think that we as a Grand Lodge need to
really really focus on the wellness aspect. I know there's
a couple of brothers like Wright Worshipful Weisberg, another chaplain
up in northern New York. Our goal is too, and
I think Yatchu you mentioned you're excited about this as well,
is to kick off some kind of program where brothers
(32:28):
who are in recovery are able to get together and
talk about their recovery experience and how it works with
their Masonic lives and how they integrate the Masonic principles
with their recover principles. But not just for the ones
that are in it, but for the ones that are
struggling around us. Not one time do I mention to
(32:50):
a brother that for example, I don't drink, and it's
not because of the Islamic faith. In the Islamic faith,
you also don't drink, but it's because, in particular, I'm
also in recovery and I don't. There's always someone that
they want me to reach out to, or a story
of how someone needed help. I think Brother Weisberg mentioned
last summer that just in the first two quarters are
(33:11):
over a dozen brothers in upstate New York that reached
out to him that they needed to help get into
some kind of programs. That's a big goal of mine
to start implementing.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
Thanks again to our three grand chaplains, Write worshipel Brothers Setterman,
Islam and Trevetti. We're going to get some bonus time
with them on Thursday morning. If you are a Patreon
subscriber that episode, be on the lookout for it as
we continue our discussion on reimagining the role of the
lodge chaplain. I love that I'm right, Worship Brother Michael Larsay.
If you've enjoyed this episode of The Craftsman Online Podcast,
(33:46):
look forward to seeing you next Monday with our guest
brother Austin Schiffrin, as we talk about his latest book,
No common fire until next time. Let peace and harmony prevail.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
H
The Commons. Opinions and views shared during this program are
of those individual Freemasons and do not reflect the official
position of a Grand Launch, Concordant Body, a Pendant Body,
Masonic authority, or Craftsman Online dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Hey, welcome back to the Craftsman Online Podcast, the only
Masonic podcast endorsed by the Grand Lodge, New York. I'm
your host, right worship for Brother Michael Arsa. Before we
jump into this groundbreaking episode where our three Grand Chaplains,
just want to give a quick thank you to Dwight Lewis.
He's become the latest five dollars Patreon subscriber for the
Craftsman Online Podcast. Thank you so much, Dwight. We appreciate
(00:50):
your support. We hook you up with ad free episodes
plus access to all of our subscriber extra episodes. That's
a pretty big back catalog, including it this week's guest.
You can get the free seven day trial right now.
Just open up the notes for this episode and the
description bang you'll find the link to get started with
Craftsmen Online on Patreon. So this is pretty groundbreaking, and
(01:11):
I love how progressive the Grand Lodge of New York is.
We've got three right, worshipful brothers, We're welcoming on right
worshipl brother Kanzi Setterman Bahimol Islam and Yatri Trevetti. They
are the first Buddhist, Muslim and Hindu Grand Chaplains with
the Grand Lodge of New York. In this inspiring episode,
we're going to be getting into their unique journeys into freemasonry.
(01:32):
We'll discuss the significance of their groundbreaking appointments by our
Grand Master, most worshipful Brother Steven Adam Rubin, and how
their diverse spiritual pass connect not only with each other,
but with brothers in the craft, and how they enhance
the timeless principles that we learn in freemasonry.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
My brothers, before we jump in, would it be okay
with three chaplains on if we may start with bringing
a little spirituality into the mix? Perfect, go for it
in the name of the Grand Darket, the most Beneficent,
the most compassionate architect of the universe, the Grand the
forgiving Master of the Day of Judgment, THEE we worship,
(02:11):
and from THEE we seek. Help guide us upon the
path of light, not upon the path of those who
go astray or incurry your rath amen.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
I wish I could start every episode with a verbal prayer.
Usually I say a small, silent one for myself, but no,
that was really special. Thank you, right worshipful. Who wants
to jump on the personal background? What brought you into freemasonry?
Speaker 4 (02:36):
My parents had emigrated at a time where there wasn't
a ton of people of my faith around, and my
family congregated outside of Philadelphia, and so every time we
had religious or family events, we rented a hall and
happened to be a Masonic hall, and that was my
(02:57):
first sort of introduction to that. So I started looking
into what that was when I was younger. You know,
you hear a lot of things and you know you
shouldn't believe them all, but not having met anybody, I
couldn't ask questions. And then fast forward to know, maybe
seven or eight years ago, I was living in New
(03:17):
York and I had a group of friends through Reddit,
the New York Reddit meetup and just having discussions, and
mainstream came up and I was like, hey, you know,
you know, I wish I knew more about it, but
the only familiar I have is from the halls. And
someone just said, hey, well, what do you want to know,
and that was sort of what got the ball rolling.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Yatrick, Can you tell us a little bit about your
faith background. I can see you on camera, and our
YouTube live streamers can see you as well, but for
our podcast listeners.
Speaker 4 (03:48):
I come from a Hindu background. I'm a Gujarati. Culturally,
India is very, very diverse, so where you're from, what
region you're from, really matters a lot. I was very
grateful growing up with my grandparents. My paternal grandparents lived
with us at home, and that's sort of, you know,
how I got started on the path because I would
ask questions and I got some answers. I had an
(04:12):
interest in the practicality of things. I started studying sunsprit
on my own when I was fourteen fifteen sixteen, I
went to Rutgers. I have a BA in religion. I
was originally hoping to go into academia. I actually did
a short post back at Columbia too. I find so
many actually interesting parallels between the tech world and my
(04:34):
religious background. Frameworks, frameworks, you know, there's just a lot
of thinking in the abstract in both places.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
You know.
Speaker 4 (04:41):
I got married nine years ago and I had a
great family fundit then answered all my questions and I
learned a lot. And my cousin was getting ready to,
you know, propose, and he asked, you know, would you
do the big Indian wedding again? I said absolutely. So
you started asking questions, I started explaining them, and he said,
you know, you should be doing this work, and I
(05:02):
kind of laughed. I thought it was a joke, you know,
he was laughing. I realized, for the first time in
my life, is a real calling.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Wow, why don't you help us out? Tell us a
little bit about yourself, your faith, your background and what
drew you to becoming a Freemason.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
My spirituality and my Masonic life. I mean, are the
two things really any different when you put the two
circles together. There's very little that's outside that vent. My
cultural background. My family's from Bangladesh. I practiced the Islamic
faith about four generations ago, yahtri. My family in Bangladesh
was actually five generations. Go excuse me, we're practicing Hinduism.
(05:38):
And then Islam came through and my mother had me
going to the mosque or the masha that was around
the corner for all my life on Fridays for service
because Muslims go to service on Fridays. It was in
a different language. I couldn't wait to get out. We
go through these motions that I had no idea. Not
only did I not know what we were doing, the
message wasn't being heard spirituality wise. I drank from the
(06:04):
fountain of freemasonry first, before I drank from the fountain
of Islam. Though I was born into Islam, it wasn't
until my early to mid thirties that I dug into
the Testaments and then the Koran and started learning about
the stories of the prophets and just putting those pieces
together the framework of that monotheistic art type of religion,
(06:29):
if you will, right that the majority of human beings
today adhere to that Abrahamic concept. Before that, it was
just a system of right and wrong. Right. So in
my early twenties, I got to Masonry when I was
about twenty one years old, and for the first time
g that God. We actually talked about it in a
(06:51):
meaningful way for me in a world where this beautiful
religion of mine, this beautiful spiritual aspect that I ascribed to,
is being perverted into such horrible things, in a world
where it's so easy to be drinking from the wrong
fountain of Islam. I love the fact that it was
(07:12):
masonry that was my balance to it. It allowed me
to take those same principles and take the softer, sweeter path.
It allowed me to take those same ideals and execute
them into real world based on the principles of masonry,
which is, how do I make myself better in order
(07:33):
to make the world around me better. It's not about me.
I'm not the center of the universe. The universe is.
You know, love is the center of the universe. My
point of existence every day is to figure out how
can I add to that love more than I take
from it? Right? That's you know, that's the most important
thing that I think affects my journey into this. It's
(07:57):
a wonderful dance to be dancing in this role, you know.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
All right, Conjin take us home, tell us about you.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
Well.
Speaker 5 (08:03):
I like off I was saying about drinking from the
fountain of masonry, and what he was saying was actually
made me think a lot. That actually perhaps my first
I met masonry before I even met my spiritual path
as well. Since I was a child, my family have
been any generations in the Masons, and so I was
(08:27):
actually raised in a lot of these lodges and had
an interesting affinity. I knew very from a very young
age that I was very interested in masonry, and it
connected me with my father and my grandfather, et cetera.
So it wasn't something I wanted. I decided because my
(08:47):
father had the requirement that I didn't have any debt
besides school debt for me to become a mason. That
was a kind of requirement I guess for my family,
and that he had to consider to me a man
responsible enough to become amazing. So I believe I became amazed.
And when that was funny, I started my health and
(09:08):
the spiritual. I knew I was a Buddhist, perhaps from
nine years old when I thought, I created my own
spiritual path because I thought, you know, everyone has the
same capacity, so I don't need to rely on others.
I can figure out it for myself and it's just
as relevant as other people. And then when I went
to Japan when I was fourteen by myself, I met
(09:30):
a Buddhist monk, and that's when I realized to correlate it,
and that's how I began my Buddhist journey and then
became a Buddhist monk age of seventeen and priest at
the age of twenty one. So therefore I've been doing
that since they position is actually I work for the government.
(09:54):
I'm now a chaplain, a Buddhist chaplain with the US Navy,
and also I work in a hospital as a chapter.
And yeah, through my Masonic journey, my spirituality and masonry
(10:14):
I've kind of pretty much grown together because I originally
wanted to become Amazon because to understand what it meant
to be an American or living in the United States,
since we don't perceive to have any traditions. The only
tradition I could see that existed was masonry, something that
was continued, especially in my family, which made it all
(10:37):
the more important for me to connect with that. So
I agree that perhaps the first fonton that I drank
from was that of masonry, and that, of course masonry
had directed me in spiritual practice as well.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
One of the things that was unique in all of
your answers was that free Masonry kind of helped me
find my spiritual pathway or lit my spiritual path for
me to take those steps, which is interesting because that's
kind of been the whole intent, the whole idea of freemasonry,
is to build that foundation, to have the connection to Deity,
to the supreme market tech universe.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
I think the other thing that the three of us,
and in fact all of us on this call have
in common is a similar age demographic. And that's important
because I feel like we're the gatekeepers between the new
and old. Right, Like I walked into libraries and used
library cards and encyclopedias. I also did the whole running
home online and logging onto all and the right, and
(11:38):
so I'm familiar with the new olivan, and I see
folks like my nephews. Right, I've got a twenty five
year old nephew, I've got a twenty one year old nephew.
I've got a sixteen year old nephew. I see the
amount of information that's at their disposal versus what was
coming our way. They have to work just as hard
now to fight misinformation as they do good information. And
I say that because there's just life going at a
(12:00):
different pace than it did when I was growing up,
it feels like. And the reason why that's important is
because to incorporate religion, there's the spirituality and then there's
the dogma of it, the dogmatic every day piece, right,
and then there's the time it takes to actually learn, implement,
and live these ideals. And whether it's freemasonry or any
(12:24):
of these other religions, I think the freemasonry part is
important because it acts as a wonderful placeholder. Right. If
you haven't gotten it all figured out yet, that's okay.
Just ascribe to the Grand architect. Know that your fellow
man also has a right to have his own understanding
of how the laws of the universe works. Right. All
(12:46):
we just want you to do is to know that
there is a spirit of the universe and use that
as a placeholder until you figure out what your relationship
is with that spirit and you know what your purpose
is from that spirit. Until then, Brother's got you, and
you know, stick to the stick to the degrees. They
won't guide you wrong.
Speaker 4 (13:04):
I have a slightly different experience because you guys both
came in in your twenties, early twenties.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
I was twenty one years old.
Speaker 4 (13:13):
And brother Kanjent you said as well, teaking, I believe
it was twenty one. I didn't come in until I
was thirty three ish, when I was a kid. My
grandmother taught me meditation, so that was my tool and
my way of perceiving the divine was all through primary
experience via meditation. Not that I didn't have faith, not
(13:34):
that I didn't say prayers, but those were things I
did to revere the awe that I felt. I think
for me, masonry taught me that ritual is very, very
powerful because having become an entered apprentice and going through
the memorization work there, I started to realize, I see
the connections that are in place. There was also somewhat different,
(13:57):
I think, because just like masonry, it kind and it
gives you everything. It throws all different paths at you
and lets you, you know, find something that interests you
and run with it.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
The first time I walked into a lodge and I
was like, WHOA. I thought you guys said that this
wasn't a religion. But there's an altar. And being a
New York Mason, there were like three volumes of sacred
texts on my mother lodge's altar. I'm like, there's the
biggest Bible I've ever seen in my life, and these
two other books that I can't read what's on them
because it's in a different language, but I'm guessing that
(14:52):
it's some you know, sacred text of some sort, like
something important. And I'll paraphrase it because it's a part
of New York ritual that I love so much in
the first degree, where you're at the Bible or you're
at the altar and the master says that book to
put your hands on inside of it is all this
and we all agree that no matter what faith you
come from, no matter what branch you come from, that
all good men agree on these important principles that can
(15:15):
be found within this book.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Right.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Then there's another part specifically that like kind of tap
me on the forehead and was like wake up. And
it's the part where he, again i'll kind of paraphrase,
says like becoming a freemason, you are going to have
your your belief and acceptance challenged, and not in a
way that's going to challenge you, like shake you to
the core, like oh my gosh, I questioned my belief
in existence. But I'm going to open my mind to
(15:40):
other things that are out there. So I'll toss this
out to you, to the three of you, and I'm
just curious what exploration you have done or what perspectives
have opened through your eyes now going through this Masonic experience,
by the help and the aid of your other brothers, I.
Speaker 5 (15:56):
Was taught that Masonry is a place where people are
safe to meet of any background, of any mankind, under
the specific how do you say, standard that we have
which makes it into a safe place. And that's how
(16:17):
it was preserved through my family that this was the
only place where before now we think about how easy
it is for religions and people from different cultural backgrounds
to get together and to meet, that was not always
the case, and masonry and a lot of tradition is
seen as that place where we are able to meet.
(16:41):
And also, as we were talking about spirituality to grow.
Although I was I grew up in the mostly Christian area,
Christianity to me was actually something that was quite had
a bad how do you say? Feeling toward and also
a kind of dislike according to this association from the
(17:03):
people that I had met that supported themselves to be
a Christian and even I would say even trauma in
that case. But in coming to the Masonic Lodge was
the only place that I actually before as Paul was saying,
before internet and all of that having a place in
which he met people who were practicing of different faith
(17:23):
and even amongst different faiths. You know, we may lum
Christianity or Islam altogether, but there are many different schools
of thought, different beliefs, different cultural elements, et cetera. And
that through that I was able to distinguish perhaps what
we strivee for in our Buddhist Buddhism, the idea of
the authentic cell, or that how we are able to
(17:47):
spiritually navigate with others. Because in society usually as you see,
most of the time, those things are taboo. But yet
we we have a respectful aspect of it, kind of
ground rules for our base. But yet we acknowledge it,
which I don't know if in society people would acknowledge
(18:09):
it because of all the difficulties that come with and
perhaps even judgments, because people also don't realize now if
he was any more a particular religion, people would judge you.
Hence people changed their last name so that they didn't
sound specifically of different traditions. They hid their religion. But
that actually I was thought that Masonry was the only
(18:32):
place in which those different faiths and idea teachings could
actually meet peacefully within our society. Now it may not
seem so relevant, but actually I believe it is still
relevant because I have brothers from many backgrounds, and even
knowing people and being within the community with them has
(18:55):
even softened them. And this is the amazing part of me,
even though we're so old. The ability of Masons to change,
which I think is one of the greatest characteristics of man,
is that the ability to change, and that is a constant.
But yet there are any people who constantly fight against that,
and that is something as we see, even with the
(19:16):
three of us coming into existence as Grand Chaplains, that
shows the progression of Masonry. Because even though you may
say why in twenty twenty six this hasn't happened before
in most of society, it still hasn't.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
Had Growing up in Jackson Heights Queen's, you know, my
best friends were Jewish Christian. Some of my first girlfriends
were Christian. I ended up going to Christmas Mass and
Eastern and just I got a good amount of exposure
coming into this role. I look at it as two
main charges help brethren with their day to day. Brother
(19:54):
in my lodge has done a few lectures on the
mental health crisis that men are going through today, the
crisis of loneliness and the mental health crisis that generally
exists in the population. I talked about being the gatekeepers
of information and how information overload is happening. You know,
more and more is being put in that I think
(20:15):
is of lesser and lesser quality. So it's our jobs
first to make sure we have a clear channel between
us and the spirit of the sun, and then to
be able to put that into to borrow that line
from the prayer of Saint Francis of ASSISI. But then
to be able to be channels of peace and bring
that to our brothers. That's my first job, right when
(20:36):
I get those notices about brothers passing away, I find
out that there's a brother who's struggling with things or
their family, to reach out and at that personal touch
that's needed, that's absolutely needed. And that's not just a
job of a chaplain, right, that's every brother's job. Second,
going back to as being the sixth oldest Grand Lodge,
going back to the fact that we are builders of men. First,
(21:00):
we build ourselves, but not so that we can just
sit there, right, We build ourselves so that we can
be useful to the society around us, and I am
particularly blessed to be an American Muslim Mason at a
time when we're going through what we go through. Like
I mentioned growing up in Queens and Jackson Heights, which
is predominantly now Muslim, a good Buddhist population, a good
(21:24):
amount of Buddhist population there as well. There's always been
a Hindu minority there and that's also growing. And of
course Jackson Heights was founded first German and Irish then Italian.
Cultures of those fates are inherently interwoven. Christianity is inherently
interwoven in that. But more and more people who look
(21:45):
like me and Yatri are are there. So I say
that now we live in Westchester County, and I think
they say Westchester County is probably one of the biggest
concentration or majority Jewish population right outside of Israel. And
we know what the world's been going through the last
two years, it's that much more important for me in
(22:07):
this role to be aware of the sensitivities of that
particular religion and be a channel a bridge between those things.
So like for example, when Brother Barrayal came into this role,
it was amazing. So I got to pick his brain
and we did a couple of prayer together at the
(22:28):
dedication breakfast that we do, and it was very very
well received. Just a reflection of the fact that the
general population of Masonry is looking for that is looking
for examples of unity, and that it's coming from Freemasonry,
I think fills my heart with extra joy.
Speaker 4 (22:46):
It's sort of the understanding of how do we talk
about so as an example in the podcast, you won't
necessarily see it, right, but I have a forehead marketing
and I'm wearing right now white ash from my personal practice.
You know, it's interesting because I meet people and I
(23:06):
only started wearing that, you know, a handful of years ago.
People see it, they notice it, but they are often
hesitant to ask about it. But brothers tend to be
a little inquisitive. They do push a little bit and
they're say, you know, they'll give you all of the
the verbal scaffolding, right, you know, I may not know
the right term. I'm sorry if I offend you, but
(23:28):
they will ask, and when we talk about it, they
come away knowing a little bit more. But they also
away seeing that it's not so strange compared to what
they might be used to.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
Every time we actually goes into a temple with that
scooring compass on, there's a new group of people who
are going to be asking about that scoring compass that
the otherwise. You know, I was recently in Texas, went
down to this big Islamic center into Soto, and everwhere
I go, I always make sure that I, you know,
talk about the fact that I'm a Freemason and my
(24:03):
particular role, and I often tap into the lodge or
the Grand Lodge that's in the jurisdiction I'm going to,
and so I get to know some folks there and
I try to build some bridges, because masonry, no matter
where we go, can always use new interest, new members,
new life. And at the same time, you know, I
describe it to the guys in the various mosques and
(24:23):
I go to like, given the guys in Utica, where
are Masonic campuses. The couple of mosques that I went today,
you know, they're literally ten minutes apart from each other.
And this will be the first year during Ramadan where
we get invited and the brothers from Grandlawe will hopefully
be able to go over to that central Master the
mudica and break some bread together. And so what I
(24:45):
described to the brothers in the mosque or any other
place outside of masonry, I say, you can go to
a business and plug into what that business serves, that
one or two things that they sell or serve. You know,
you can go to a mosque or a temple and plugins.
That's for sure. When you go to the wall of freemasonry,
there's a kajillion things you can plug into. And so
(25:07):
you know, everyone at Kenjin's temple should feel comfortable to
come and plug into that wall of free masonry, and
everyone at Yatri's Temple and everyone at my moth should
be able to and they haven't been, and we as
Masons need that and certainly our guys should be able
to tap into that greater network.
Speaker 5 (25:24):
Yeah, I really appreciate what you're saying, because actually my
temple is in my home Loge. We rent one of
the rooms. Actually we've had the temple here for almost
the two and a half years. So when people come
to the temple they see that it's cinemasamic logs, so
that gives them a few different stores that they have
(25:45):
to are barriers they have to overcome, but that just
goes again to show and I'd like to just point
out that the role of chaplain how significant it is,
because I don't think it's been utilized as much as
with this Grand Master, grand Master Reuben in the sense
(26:05):
that he made this big effort, because I'm sure this
is not without its detractors. I'm questioning, you know, etc.
Of the people who don't know though I haven't seen
that or experienced it. But I think it's really important
that the role of the chaplain hasn't been pushed to
the side because a lot of times like if you
(26:26):
look at the lodge, would you like to be chaplain?
How about you? Right, And that it didn't really actually.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
Serve a purpose.
Speaker 5 (26:34):
But I like to remind people that in the military,
there's only three people that can speak to the chief officer.
One of them is the directly without going through the
chain of command. One of them is the chaplain, And
therefore that has possessed a lot of responsibility. And that
(26:55):
as Faul was saying, that to check in about the
wellness of our brothers, and that each of us that
we serve as an example, and that each of us,
as Masons Freemasons do the same and that we are
the example that we send cards to brothers, but not
only that, calling and caring, and as was stated about,
(27:20):
for instance, the inquisitive nature of brothers about certain things.
I find that to be, as we were talking about before,
a safe place, that they don't have to feel like
they're ignorant, they can go ahead and ask those questions
without fear, and that they actually get the opportunity because
(27:41):
as diverse as this world thinks it is, it is
still very secluded in many ways, and people the more
you get out from the kind of the cities, the
more insular people are, and they don't have the opportunity
to meet somebody of a different faith. Take that for granted,
if you've ever lived in a big city, right or
(28:03):
if you've actually had the opportunity to travel, those are
still very as mind blowing as it is, that is
still very much a luxury, and that we as Chaplains
should be able to bring back or share that information
with our brothers, making them stronger because even that the
(28:26):
you know, we talk about how much information there is
out and father talked about the quality of information. First
hand information is the best because again you can't believe
everything you find on the internet. It doesn't mean it's true.
And I think that that allows us a certain level
of intelligence, And you say benefit to in our diversity,
(28:51):
and as our diversity grows and our lodges grow, I
think that that is the best place for us to
grow as human being.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
I was at the Grand launch session in May. I
knew that Kanjin had already been appointed with his commission
to write Worshipful because I got that information literally like
days before we recorded your podcast episode in twenty twenty
five early twenty twenty five Here for the Pass went online.
But when I heard that Yatri and Fa had also
been appointed, I was like, Yes, it's about time that
(29:45):
we've done these things right. And that's what I love
about our Grand Master. So I want to put the
question back on you because you've talked about this need
to expand get back to the roots, redefine this role.
You are three grand Chaplains with that purple apron, with
the right worshipful title, with the ability to make transferreadive change.
(30:08):
What are some things that you're looking at doing during
your time in serving the Grand Lodge. What is some
light that you want to be bringing to our craft.
Speaker 3 (30:16):
Thank you for shouting out the current grand Master. I
think it's worth saying that I feel an extreme amount
of gratitude for Most Worshipful Kessler for getting a ball
started with this particular piece with Grand Master Ruben when
he appointed me a few years ago, and then continuing
(30:38):
on with getting the diversity. Since grand Master Ruben's taken
the helm with what he's done, I think it's amazing.
I also want to say a big shout out to
Right Worshipful Stendric Adams, our unofficial captain of the Chaplains.
He's been an amazing guiding light. And Kenjin, you mentioned
(30:58):
the fact that a chaplain still has the ability to
go to the top of the house, the top of command,
without any barriers. People who lead are supposed to be
able to get guidance, to lead within the framework of
what the Grand Architect wants us to do. And we
human beings, right, we're inherently flawed. According to my lay
(31:21):
of the land, We're inherently flawed in that we're not
going to remember every tool that's in our tool belt
every single day. In my walk of life, I'm taught
to go and pray five times a day at least
to check in with God multiple times and to remember
the principles I need as the problems are coming up
(31:41):
on a day to day basis, because I can't remember
everything at once. So then going back to this question
of what we're doing, I think the chaper role exists
because we still have to not just deliver that wellness,
but that message to our brethren on a daily basis
and to our leadership when tough decisions have to be made.
(32:05):
I think that we as a Grand Lodge need to
really really focus on the wellness aspect. I know there's
a couple of brothers like Wright Worshipful Weisberg, another chaplain
up in northern New York. Our goal is too, and
I think Yatchu you mentioned you're excited about this as well,
is to kick off some kind of program where brothers
(32:28):
who are in recovery are able to get together and
talk about their recovery experience and how it works with
their Masonic lives and how they integrate the Masonic principles
with their recover principles. But not just for the ones
that are in it, but for the ones that are
struggling around us. Not one time do I mention to
(32:50):
a brother that for example, I don't drink, and it's
not because of the Islamic faith. In the Islamic faith,
you also don't drink, but it's because, in particular, I'm
also in recovery and I don't. There's always someone that
they want me to reach out to, or a story
of how someone needed help. I think Brother Weisberg mentioned
last summer that just in the first two quarters are
(33:11):
over a dozen brothers in upstate New York that reached
out to him that they needed to help get into
some kind of programs. That's a big goal of mine
to start implementing.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
Thanks again to our three grand chaplains, Write worshipel Brothers Setterman,
Islam and Trevetti. We're going to get some bonus time
with them on Thursday morning. If you are a Patreon
subscriber that episode, be on the lookout for it as
we continue our discussion on reimagining the role of the
lodge chaplain. I love that I'm right, Worship Brother Michael Larsay.
If you've enjoyed this episode of The Craftsman Online Podcast,
(33:46):
look forward to seeing you next Monday with our guest
brother Austin Schiffrin, as we talk about his latest book,
No common fire until next time. Let peace and harmony prevail.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
H
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