December 8, 2025 • 35 mins
Ever wondered what goes on inside Job's Daughters International? This episode pulls back the curtain as we chat with Melody Chin, the dynamic Honored Queen of Bethel 36, Towson, Maryland and her father, WB Sam Chin, the sitting Master of St. John’s Lodge No. 11 in Washington, DC. Together, we’ll explore the day-to-day life within a Bethel, the significance of the Honored Queen role, and from a parent’s perspective — how Job's Daughters empowers young women to become confident and compassionate leaders. Get a unique glimpse "beyond the ritual" into the heart of this impactful organization through this Masonic family’s inspiring story.
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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 Lodge, 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 of New York.
I'm your host right portrait, but brother Michael.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Arse and we're getting ready.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
To go inside Job's Daughters International on this unique edition
of the podcast. I want to quit saying special. This
one is and I'll get that the second first. Our
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(01:21):
thing to me here that five dollars goes a long
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advance to all of our Patreon subscribers or for those
just kicking the tires on a seven day free trial.
So what makes this episode unique is a number of things. One,
I get to talk to one of my best Masonic friends,
worshipul Brother Sam Chin. He's the sitting master of my
lodge here in the Nation's capital, Saint John's Launch Number
(01:44):
eleven at Washington, d C. I'm also joined by his
lovely daughter Melody Chin, who is the dynamic Honored Queen
of Bethel thirty six and Towson, Maryland. Plus for you
to know, we have the whole Chin family over for dinner.
So Mom Muriel was here, little sister Susie was here,
and yes, Melody's younger brother RJ was even here for
(02:05):
the episode. And my wife was sitting in the living
room as we were taping this in person. So Sam, Melody,
welcome to the Craftsman Online podcast.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
Thank you for inviting us.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
Happy to be here.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
I was one of these people that was unfamiliar with
JDI or Job's Daughters International melody. What does JDI mean
to you or how do you how do you tell
your friends about it when they're like, what is this
JDI thing that you do?
Speaker 5 (02:30):
I think for the longest time, JDI to me was
always just like that youth group that was teaching like
young girls like leadership and communications skills.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
We learn how to run business.
Speaker 5 (02:43):
Meetings, and we still do a lot of the things
like the Masons, but we just overall it's just a
good environment socially for young women, especially for the ages
of like ten to twenty, so like throughout your teen lives.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
So yeah, it's also interesting when you say ten to twenty.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
When I was growing up, I was a member of
the four H club in my area. You could join
four H at nine I think it was eighteen is
when you kind of aged out. But you're making like
lifelong friends with people, yes, yeah, so you're growing up
with these people.
Speaker 5 (03:19):
Yeah. I think a lot of a lot of the
daughters that I ended up going into JDI with they
are now going to college or are close to leaving college.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Do you think of them as friends or family? Or
how do you think about these other women?
Speaker 4 (03:38):
I think friends. They are definitely my mentors.
Speaker 5 (03:43):
For a while, a lot of my friends from JDI
have all encouraged me to do something.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
In JDI in one way or another.
Speaker 5 (03:53):
I started to like really open up and do greater
things on greater scales because of them.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Sure, so let's get Dad's answer to this question.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
He's a past master and current sitting master of our
lodge here in DC. When you first heard of JDI
or Job's Daughters, I'm guessing it's when you were still
an act of Mason, probably new in your time as
a Mason.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (04:17):
When I first joined, you know, masonry is brand new.
And my mentor, John Regner, he had mentioned that this
thing called JDI exists for young girls and basically they
do exactly what we do. And through the years I
learned and I saw the type of growth I was experiencing,
and I was like, hmm, this would be good for
(04:39):
my daughter. So we kind of put her into it,
and she attached and it has turned her into an amazing,
amazing person.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
So, just like as we call it, Blue Lodge or Freemasonry,
once you become a member of something, you start to
see it differently. So when did Job's daughters change from this? Ah,
this is a neat like Masonic youth group that people
can have their families be a part of freemasonry. To hey,
this is a big part of our family's life. Like
(05:10):
once a week, if not every week, we have an
event that's tied to this organization.
Speaker 6 (05:17):
So it was Yeah, I mean, the nice thing about JDI,
their particular Bethel, they have plenty of activities, so there's
always two or three things going on every month, so
you know, we go to them experience more and you
get to see, just like in masonry, how big the
family is and how connected we are. So that drives
more interest, so you want to do more things and
(05:39):
you end up going to even more events. And actually
to the point where she's in the East now and
I'm in the East, we've actually worked together, so she
is supporting our lodge and some of the other lodges
in the district, and we've done what we can to
support her Bethel and her grand jurisdiction. So that kind
of teamwork, you know, is an amazing part of that
(06:02):
family connection.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Yeah, speaking of the family connection, that's what's cool is
being a friend to the Chin family as well as
a brother to brother Chen is being able to attend
the crossover functions and when I'm going to bring my
dad up here, oh he's a worshipful or I'm going
to bring my daughter up she's the honored queen. Like
what is that like to be able to address and
(06:24):
call each other that and be like, that's the same
person that I see on Sunday mornings, you know, at
family breakfast, or we spend holidays in vacation time together.
But now that worshipful or that honored is my dad
or my daughter.
Speaker 5 (06:40):
I think it's just something that I've learned to accept,
but it's also something that I have kind of embraced.
I think there are a lot of daughters within not
just my own jurisdiction, but in jurisdictions across internationally.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
We've always just been like, you know, oh.
Speaker 5 (06:59):
Like this person that I know is a Mason, is
like my family members a Mason like, And that's as
far as it goes for me. I don't think I
truly have any other like common interest with my dad
and other than masonry. And I'm going to use that
to the best of my ability every time masonry is mentioned.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
It's always my dad. I always it's the instant thought of.
Speaker 5 (07:22):
My dad, what I do, what he does, why we travel,
where we travel, and other like things similar the like
being able to laugh and just be like, oh, yeah,
this is my dad or whatever, like in the East
and him bringing me up into the East when he's
in lodge. It's it's funny, but it's also it's nice
(07:43):
because it knows it's for me. It's a good thing
to know that there is something that I can show
to the other Masons, but this is also something that
they get to learn about for us.
Speaker 6 (08:01):
For me, it's a it's a huge point of pride.
I mean, it's no different than when you know a
parent has a star athlete or you know their kids
doing really well in school. There are on a trajectory
to doing great things like becoming a doctor and whatnot.
Bringing able to bring her into Lodge and essentially show
her off that look at look at my daughter. She's
(08:23):
done these things. She's gone from someone who was demure
and meek and now has a powerful voice.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
She she stands on her own.
Speaker 6 (08:34):
That is a huge point of pride for me, and
you know, to show that to the other brothers that Hey,
this thing that we call masonry, it works for us,
but it also works for young people who will eventually
take over for us as well in the various youth groups.
So yeah, it's it's an amazing thing to have and
(08:54):
be a part of.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
M Let's talk about first.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
This is the first podcast I told you know, Sam
and Melody this like, this is the first podcast I've
done live recording in person with somebody before. This is
also the first podcast on the Craftsman Online podcast that
we've done where we have a father daughter. We've now
not even even had a father son combination. I've heard
from one, but not both of them together, especially in
(09:19):
the same room, so kind of special. Want to talk
about your first What was it like the first time
you went to a JDI meeting. I think a lot
of us that remember being a kid know that our
parents sometimes are like, you're going to go do this thing.
It's like, no, I don't want to take karate Clarins, No,
but you go right? So was there any hesitation and
(09:44):
did it take more than one meeting for you to say, hey,
I'd like to do this again.
Speaker 5 (09:48):
My very first encounter with Jai was in like June
of twenty nineteen, so I'm like a nine year old
and about a year or two before I was.
Speaker 4 (09:59):
Actually in doing like beauty pageants.
Speaker 5 (10:03):
So I'm nine years old, I'm in fourth grade or
third grade or one of those, and I'm like, I'm
just like, oh, I don't want to do you know,
like I just kind of want to live like on
the down well, I don't really want to do anything.
And then I get just like I'm having a conversation
with my parents, and my mom's like, do you want
to wear a pretty cape and crown? And I went sure,
I mean it's a cape in a crown. Who would
(10:24):
say no? So I go into I go to Mount
Moriah and Baltimore, and I love and behold. I see
this whole group of people. I see the girl with
the cape and the crown, and I'm like in awe.
But obviously you don't just get the cape and crown,
so you like you're just sitting. So I got to,
you know, meet all of these daughters, and I got
(10:46):
to meet like these other Masons and these people from
groups that I've never ever heard of, and it doesn't't
really click to me at the time, Like at nine
years old and I'm going to do this, or that
I would be interested in doing this. I just did
this because it was it was always just like, oh,
you know, you're in and out because you got installed,
(11:06):
or you were like welcomed as a Jobe to be,
which is kind of like the younger version program for
ages like six and then to ten ish before they
are able to become an actual daughter. So I'm like
nine and I only have like a term left to go,
and so I was just like, I don't think it
could be that bad. So then I attended the first
(11:28):
meeting only for the first bit. Then I had to
leave when I was not entitled to stay there anymore.
So then I left hung out with the Bethel when
I got more and more into it. Initiated at ten
right before COVID, So I spent my whole like first
two issuears of my JDI life in COVID. So I
(11:48):
had to do everything kind of iffy because I had
to relearn how to teach myself where to walk, how
to walk through the walking lines and everything. Those who
were in the West who did the most walking, ended
up not really knowing how to walk by the time
we started going back in, so I just remember a
(12:08):
bunch of us having to like relearn how to walk
in and walk out, where to go and where to turn,
how to square a corner and everything.
Speaker 4 (12:17):
It was definitely learning.
Speaker 5 (12:18):
Experience, but it's something that I will truly never forget.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
No forbad. We had that same problem in Blue Lunch.
They get carried over still almost five years later.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
One of the things that people don't associate quickly with
Masonry is leadership, and Job's Daughter International is part of
the Masonic family. It appeals to young women. It's one
of our youth groups that we do. And I'm sure
you hear a lot about leadership, especially as someone that's
in high school is like.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Ah, good leader leadership skills.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
You're like, can you think of a time as honored
queen or maybe on your path to becoming honored queen
where you kind of had to step up and be
a leader that you didn't expect that was going to
be the moment or the call you'd have to answer.
Speaker 4 (13:30):
At one point, I was the youngest of my bethel.
Speaker 5 (13:32):
I had a lot of girls that were eighteen and
usually by the time you're eighteen, that's when you start
to go dormant in your jobey life because you're graduating
high school, you're getting ready for college.
Speaker 4 (13:42):
So we call it like the dormant phase.
Speaker 5 (13:46):
But you had some that were sixteen, some that were eighteen,
some already on their way to college, some fourteen and thirteen.
But I'm just a ten year old who literally knows
nothing better. So I'm going in there, and I as
time starts to go on, this is pushing after my proficiency,
and I started making my way up into the East.
I realized the numbers of daughters were depleting creat like crazy,
(14:14):
and I knew sooner or later I.
Speaker 4 (14:17):
Was going to be the oldest. And that was it,
like we draw the line at that.
Speaker 5 (14:21):
So what I ended up having to do is like
I had to teach these girls how to, you know,
put on your regalia, what to do and where to square,
and how to pray and how to open something or
close the door or knock on a door, or what
you have to.
Speaker 4 (14:38):
Do for X Y and Z, the protocol for X
Y and Z.
Speaker 5 (14:42):
I had to learn that and I had to teach it,
and I I think at the same time, it's like
a blessing and occurs because at the same time, it's
like I think I've I've done this so many times
before that I'm like, oh yeah, I could do this blind.
But at the same time, it's just like I need
to not sound like, oh my gosh, I have to
teach this to you, so I have to be like,
this is how we do it, and this is why
(15:02):
we do it.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
So nice, All right, let's talk to dad here. It's
it's probably the best title in the world, is getting
to be dad. You know, I was thinking of Kobe
Bryant and he famously said he was a girl dad. Well,
you're a joby dad as well, So what is that like?
Being a joby dad.
Speaker 6 (15:20):
It's interesting because you won't have to get used to
being called dad and Sam by everybody, by everybody, not
just you know, like your kids, but by everybody. So
now it's like, oh, well, I'm not just a dad
to my kids. I'm a dad to all of the kids,
which means I have a great responsibility. I have to
watch out for all of them and all their wellbeings
(15:41):
and making sure that you know, they are progressing and learning,
and you know, even with missteps, you know, the parents
we're there to guide and correct and adjust. But we
have to kind of be as hands off as possible
because this is for them. You know, the Jobe Organization
is masonry, but for young girls, and it gives them
(16:01):
the opportunity and the safe space, much like our Blue
Lodge does, for them to experience different things and run
two different scenarios and different issues and learn from them
and correct and adjust so that when they get out
into the real world or in class or with teachers
or various adults, they know how to act and they
know how to react to certain things because we all
(16:24):
know that the real life.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Can be challenging. Well, I want to talk about the
real life stuff. So you're the dad.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
You know, parents have a keen eye on their kids,
seeing changes and their personalities and their characters from and
they were like little people to now and their you know,
young women. Beyond leadership, what other kind of skills have
you seen Melody begin to develop or just really take
a strong mastery of thanks to being involved with JDI.
(16:56):
So leadership obviously is the big, easy one.
Speaker 6 (17:00):
But I've also seen a change in her level of
assertiveness because when she first started, I mean, my wife
will always say this that she was supposed to motion,
give a second on something. As we all know, seconding
emotion is relatively easy. You stand up and say I second.
And she was afraid at first, you know, but over
(17:23):
time that doesn't become an issue. It's easy to second emotion,
and then it becomes oh, I'm going to give the motion,
you know, and then I'm going to lead the discussion
on this, you know. So the assertiveness that has come
out of her has you know, one blossom within the
within the Bethel, but I see it outside as well.
(17:45):
When she's in school, she's like, oh, I'm going to
do this. She doesn't even ask us for a lot
of things anymore because she just knows that she wants
to do it, and she does the work to go
and do it. She's already looked at like her future
into college and we didn't have to guide her. She said, hey,
there's this program and I'm going to follow this. They
(18:05):
say these are the courses that will get me there,
and she has her classes. She's only a sophomore, and
she's planning the classes all the way through her senior
year and some into college already. So she has taken
an initiative to just go and do without very much
direction from us.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
Let's talk a little bit about the operation of JDI.
For our listener who's a Mason, you're familiar with the
term trestle board and community service and the relief and
the charity that we provide as Freemasons, it should not
be a surprise to hear that JDI it also has
a strong focus on community service. That was one of
(18:43):
the things getting to attend some of Melody's meetings as
Honored Queen to hear about the various charities and nonprofits
that you were supporting. Was there something that was really
meaningful you. Was there a particular initiative or project or
program that you did that you felt really proud to
be a part of.
Speaker 5 (19:02):
I think a lot of the community service, a lot
of people just think, oh, you're just doing it because
it's designated and your bylaws. Are you doing it because
you know it's designated within the supreme level on the
Constitution and everything, And I'm just like yeah. But at
the same time, it's like you do something for the
purpose of the good. I mean, we send we have
some grandparents for Bonnie Blank like them like Missonic Home,
(19:27):
and we send cards to them and we signed them
for every every month and we send them out and
they seem to love it.
Speaker 4 (19:34):
Every time.
Speaker 5 (19:36):
I plan to do soup kitchens. I would really like
to attend a soup kitchen and do one for my Bethel,
but that's kind of in the works. I've worked with
Losien Lodge doing a canned food drive for them, and
our Bethel has actually helped quite a bit for that.
And then as you're when you're honored queen, you have
to choose a like a charity that you would like
(19:58):
to donate to, and sof I've done for I've done
like Comfort Care, which is basically for like foster care kids.
We send like care packages for them so that they
don't have to carry their stuff in trash bags.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Mmmm.
Speaker 4 (20:12):
And then wow, yeah.
Speaker 5 (20:14):
And then my current one is for the PBS Foundation
because PBS is getting their phones cutted and that's free
education for a lot of children from a lot a
lot of children. And I got that because I am
a big fan of Sesame Street. I got that, and
I was I was kind of taken it back at
the fact that we can't or the next generation can't
(20:34):
have that, and so I would like to, you know,
give that to the next generation.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
That's awesome, that's very Yeah, it's interesting because I think
when people think of community service, they instantly think of
picking up trash on the side of the road. Yeah,
you know, maybe volunteering at like a food kitchen or
a community you know, a food area, which that's important
blood drives, but it does go so much deeper than that,
and it's I find it rewarding to hear young people especially,
(21:03):
and you know, for our older listeners and dad across
the table, like the older we get like you just
feel like, you know, we get more cynical, and it's
just refreshing to see that there's hope and there's a
future for the country because there's these young people that
are kind of stepping in and answering that same call
that the adults are trying to answer as well. And
it's even more special when we get to work together.
(21:25):
Kind of leads me to my next question. So, a
few months ago, well more than a few months ago,
over the summer in twenty twenty five, you got to
visit my home state of Arizona. Probably the worst time
of the year was it August, second worst time of
the worst month of the year, where I told you
(21:47):
guys like you could crack an egg and fry on
the sidewalk, pick the road right out of the street
because it's all melting and it's disgusting. But you got
to attend the JDI conference. And if I'm calling it wrong,
feel free to correct me. But what was that summit
like and what were some of the big takeaways or
(22:09):
the things that you're going to remember from that.
Speaker 5 (22:11):
Okay, quick little back story history on the conference.
Speaker 4 (22:16):
It's jdi's Supreme Session.
Speaker 5 (22:20):
It happens every year usually last week of July or
early August. It's a week where the Supreme level so
that everybody internationally will have people from Canada, from Brazil,
the Philippines, Australia, and the US. They meet up and
they witness a weekend long filled with events that you
(22:43):
can do. They install the next Supreme Guardian Council that
will be the set of guardians to overlook the whole
organization and also elect to leadership roles that are known
as the Miss International Jokes Do ought Or through pageant
and Supreme Bethla Honor Queen who will lead. They travel
(23:04):
the world and they advocate about JDI to various Masonic events,
I got to this year, I got to be a
daughter delegate for the first time, which is a fairly
new thing. I'm actually the second to do this ever,
where the daughters now have a say in what goes
in the bylaws and the Constitution and the amendments. So
(23:28):
I had the chance to sit in and vote on
whether amendments should pass or should they be held back,
should they be rewritten, should.
Speaker 4 (23:36):
They be X Y Z.
Speaker 5 (23:38):
And I think I have never witnessed a meeting that
felt so long, but I felt.
Speaker 4 (23:47):
Like I wanted more.
Speaker 5 (23:50):
I always, I think when hearing first hearing about the
daughter delegation and everything, it was always like it was
because of we have our ritual changing every ten years.
So everyone was upset with the ritual and so about
the new changes, the proposed changes, and so I think
I sent in. They had like Google forms that you
would send in if you were like, hey, this is
(24:12):
a suggestion. I think I sent in like fifty forms.
I read that ritual book from things that I from,
the things that I needed to walk, how I need,
what I needed to say. The new simplified things, if
things were cut out, if things were too short, things
were too long, and I wrote it all down and
I sent it out to this organization.
Speaker 4 (24:31):
Whether they hurt me or not, I guess people truly
never know.
Speaker 5 (24:34):
But everyone was so upset at it that I was like,
I want to advocate for this, I want to do this,
and unfortunately the first.
Speaker 4 (24:44):
Time I was held back by age.
Speaker 5 (24:47):
But thankfully with the letter of intent this year and
my guardians knowing that I had a cause and I
had a purpose for this, I was able to get
on to be a daughter delegate. I got to sit
through these weekend long means, but also know that I
just helped. Even if I was a small fraction, I
helped in some way, shape or form. So I think
(25:09):
that was the most rewarding out of the Supreme Session.
In the past, I've gone to Supreme Session mainly for
a ritual competition because I am a ritualist myself, so
I've gotten a few awards from them in years past.
I actually got third place for one of my lectures
this year over the summer, which was a word perfect score,
(25:32):
meaning everything that was placed got down to things like
your cadence, things like your movement and your like pacing it.
It was tough and so it's definitely tricky in the
competition realm, but it's nice to see that there are
so many different jurisdictions that will willingly come together just
(25:54):
to know that they have a whole family out here.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
What was it like beating some of the other Jobe's I.
Speaker 5 (26:01):
Made a friend from the jurisdiction of Washington, so that's
quite literally across the country.
Speaker 4 (26:09):
I've wanted.
Speaker 5 (26:10):
I think I would like to try and make a
friend from Brazil, because I think Brazil is actually a
really good, like cool place. I vaguely talked to some
people from the Philippines, talked to very few people from Canada,
but I definitely think seeing everybody was a really really
nice thing.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
Yeah, yeah, it's cool, Like it must feel really good
to know that you're like a part of something bigger
than you, but you still get a voice in it.
And then you also get to meet other people kind
of like you, you know, but in other parts of
the world, and you're connected through this bond. Like we
talk about the mystic tie and Freemasonry as being Freemasons,
(26:53):
but you have that as well too, and it's like
you must feel less lonely in the world knowing you
have other people out there like you. That's right for sure.
And by the way, so that was in Phoenix, Arizona.
This is Lendale, Glendale, same thing. Where is next year's
grand session?
Speaker 5 (27:13):
Next year will be in Springfield, Missouri. Yeah, they've hopped
around all over the country. It's only been a very
few times where they've jumped out of the US. So
they've gone to Alberta, or they've gone to British Columbia.
They've gone to Australia once and for Canada maybe twice.
(27:38):
They planned that in twenty twenty nine they should make
it out to Brazil for the first time. So it's
going to be interesting, all right.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
I want to talk to dad about the role of
parents and the things that you do and jdi voluntld
is something we hear a lot as a parent when
our kids get involved in I'm sure we have a
listener that's sitting here going, well, this sounds great, But
I'm not a Freemason. Can my kids still be a
part of it? And if I'm not a Freemason, or
(28:31):
if I am a Freemason, if I walk in there,
are they going to make me do everything?
Speaker 6 (28:36):
So if you're not a Freemason, but you would like
your daughter to be a part of it. They just
need a Mason to a vouch for the daughter. Someone
related to a Mason works and that is the kind
of easy way in if you are a Mason and
you're already covered.
Speaker 3 (28:54):
Okay, so that's that's nice.
Speaker 6 (28:57):
How easy the access they they've opened it up because
in the past it's been challenging, and now they've really
challenging exactly they they've they've realized by opening it up,
there are so many more avenues to get more young
girls in to participate and join this great organization.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
It's the secret word of a master Mason, which is no,
are you allowed if you get involved with this, do
you run the danger of like, yeah, they're going to
put you in the line, they're gonna get you involved
with everything, or uh not exactly because and as parents people,
we know that we have for Masons, we have cable toes,
so that kind of allows us or restricts us from
(29:38):
doing certain things.
Speaker 6 (29:39):
And as long as communications open, you know, the Bethel,
the Council, the Grand Guardian, the Grand Council, they all
know that adults can and can't.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
Do certain things. And as long as you're open with them,
it's it's not a big deal.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
So hopefully our listener has gotten to this point where
we're getting ready to wrap things up here and they're like, hey,
this sounds like this would be awesome for me, I'd
really like to try this, Or they're like, this would
be awesome for my kid.
Speaker 3 (30:04):
I think that they would really flourish.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
My daughter would just really take this in and this
would be really sweet for their life. What would you
say to someone that's just kind of sitting there going
I'm still a little hesitant about joining.
Speaker 4 (30:16):
It's more than what meets the eye.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
Mm.
Speaker 5 (30:20):
It is forever and always will be more than what
meets the eye you look at it on the surface.
I've had people who thought that it was a completely
different religion. I've had people who have thought I'm a cult.
I have thought what was the purpose of being here?
And honestly, JDI goes way deeper than it seems. It
(30:44):
will forever and always go beyond what people to find.
Leadership is. When you think of leadership, a lot of
people just say, oh, you know, like you're the head
of a club, you're the head of a RGC thing,
you're ahead of something something, But here leadership is for
me at least, can you take what you know? Can
you really understand what you know? And can you impart
that to the next person down?
Speaker 3 (31:07):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (31:08):
Or are you just going to sit there and just
be like, I don't know what I'm doing either.
Speaker 2 (31:12):
It's kind of interesting to say that because the next
person down is literally being very quiet and seeing another
chair in this room, and that's your sister, Susie, your
younger sister, And that was really special to see her
come in. I don't remember what it's called, but as
us as Mason's it was similar to like her being
obligated or coming into the Bethel. What's it like having
(31:36):
your little sister come through this and what are you
hoping about for her future?
Speaker 5 (31:40):
And Jdi, I was really really a static that my
sister would be joining. I think in the very beginning stages,
I was still like at that age where I was like,
does she really have to do what I'm doing? But
like I think now, I definitely want to live with
the utmost bride, Like no one truly understand that bond
(32:00):
of sisterhood, like especially if you have a sister duo
in the organization. I know a few that have actual
like sister siblings like in the like in JDI at
the same time as they are, and they're really really
good duos. And I know that my sister will do
great things. I know she can do great things even
(32:21):
when I'm out of the bethel, even when I can't
be there because of a volleyball game or because of
school or something else. I know that she knows what
to do and that she knows how to handle things.
I definitely think the leadership opportunity will definitely be right
in front of her very soon. Nice masonry is everywhere
for you and my dad to be so close as
(32:41):
you are. I ended up having a friend that I
grew with in this organization as well, even when she
came into my bethel a little later after hers closed down,
we ended up being very very close, and I always
would think, like, this is my like, this is my
mister RC, like that is if that is me and her,
(33:05):
it is definitely my dad and mister ours.
Speaker 3 (33:07):
Nice.
Speaker 6 (33:08):
But I did want to go back and mention that
for JDI, you don't have to have a daughter in
order to be a part of it. Really, yes, so
you cool you have a daughter, but she's a little
old for Jada a Mason who wants to be a
part of JDI and just be an adult as a
part of the council, They're more than welcome to join
(33:29):
as well. And in fact they need more adults also
to help be there to help foster these the growth
in these kids. So it's good to have kids, but
you kind of need, you know, the adult there as well.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
So I thought you're going to say, my favorite thing,
it's good to have kids, but it's better when there's
someone else.
Speaker 5 (33:50):
Also, keep in mind for those who do have sons
instead of daughters. There are other youth groups out there.
There are mainly three major Masonic youth groups. So there's
one for girls JDI. There's one for boys that's I
think twelve to twenty twenty one question Mark. They're called
d Malay the Order of de mala and that follows
(34:12):
the story of Jacques Dmla and they do pretty cool
stuff too. And then there's one more that is also
for girls, and it's called Rainbow Girls. I think they're
also around the same age. We all do similar things.
We all do the same things that a Mason does.
We just have a different name in different regalia, in
different practice.
Speaker 4 (34:33):
That's it.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
So, as we mentioned, this is a first for in person,
we actually have a live studio audience. They've been quiet
and sitting just a few feet away from us, but
for this moment, if they.
Speaker 3 (34:43):
Want to go ahead and give a round of applause. Yeah,
he did an awesome job. She did an awesome job.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
She did not sound like a teenager for one second,
and I love it. Thank you, Amility, and thank you Sam.
Speaker 3 (34:58):
Hey.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
If you've enjoyed this episode the Craftsman Online Podcast, you
can help us out by subscribing on Apple Podcasts or
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(35:20):
in the notes of this episode. I'm right worship for
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looking forward to next Monday. Until then, let peace and
harmony prevail.
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of those individual Freemasons and do not reflect the official
position of a Grand Lodge, concordant Body, a Pendant Body,
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Speaker 2 (00:29):
Hey, welcome back to the Craftsman Online Podcast, the only
Masonic podcast endorsed by the Grand Lodge of New York.
I'm your host right portrait, but brother Michael.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Arse and we're getting ready.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
To go inside Job's Daughters International on this unique edition
of the podcast. I want to quit saying special. This
one is and I'll get that the second first. Our
push to hit twenty new subscriber members on Patreon continues
and we are ever so close. Our goal is to
hit twenty new subscribers on Patreon before the end of
the year. You can open up the notes for this episode,
(00:59):
click the link right there and start your free seven
day trial with us on Patreon. What do you get?
You get ad free episodes, which is awesome, no more
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(01:21):
thing to me here that five dollars goes a long
way to help make this show possible. So thank you
advance to all of our Patreon subscribers or for those
just kicking the tires on a seven day free trial.
So what makes this episode unique is a number of things. One,
I get to talk to one of my best Masonic friends,
worshipul Brother Sam Chin. He's the sitting master of my
lodge here in the Nation's capital, Saint John's Launch Number
(01:44):
eleven at Washington, d C. I'm also joined by his
lovely daughter Melody Chin, who is the dynamic Honored Queen
of Bethel thirty six and Towson, Maryland. Plus for you
to know, we have the whole Chin family over for dinner.
So Mom Muriel was here, little sister Susie was here,
and yes, Melody's younger brother RJ was even here for
(02:05):
the episode. And my wife was sitting in the living
room as we were taping this in person. So Sam, Melody,
welcome to the Craftsman Online podcast.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
Thank you for inviting us.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
Happy to be here.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
I was one of these people that was unfamiliar with
JDI or Job's Daughters International melody. What does JDI mean
to you or how do you how do you tell
your friends about it when they're like, what is this
JDI thing that you do?
Speaker 5 (02:30):
I think for the longest time, JDI to me was
always just like that youth group that was teaching like
young girls like leadership and communications skills.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
We learn how to run business.
Speaker 5 (02:43):
Meetings, and we still do a lot of the things
like the Masons, but we just overall it's just a
good environment socially for young women, especially for the ages
of like ten to twenty, so like throughout your teen lives.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
So yeah, it's also interesting when you say ten to twenty.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
When I was growing up, I was a member of
the four H club in my area. You could join
four H at nine I think it was eighteen is
when you kind of aged out. But you're making like
lifelong friends with people, yes, yeah, so you're growing up
with these people.
Speaker 5 (03:19):
Yeah. I think a lot of a lot of the
daughters that I ended up going into JDI with they
are now going to college or are close to leaving college.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Do you think of them as friends or family? Or
how do you think about these other women?
Speaker 4 (03:38):
I think friends. They are definitely my mentors.
Speaker 5 (03:43):
For a while, a lot of my friends from JDI
have all encouraged me to do something.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
In JDI in one way or another.
Speaker 5 (03:53):
I started to like really open up and do greater
things on greater scales because of them.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Sure, so let's get Dad's answer to this question.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
He's a past master and current sitting master of our
lodge here in DC. When you first heard of JDI
or Job's Daughters, I'm guessing it's when you were still
an act of Mason, probably new in your time as
a Mason.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (04:17):
When I first joined, you know, masonry is brand new.
And my mentor, John Regner, he had mentioned that this
thing called JDI exists for young girls and basically they
do exactly what we do. And through the years I
learned and I saw the type of growth I was experiencing,
and I was like, hmm, this would be good for
(04:39):
my daughter. So we kind of put her into it,
and she attached and it has turned her into an amazing,
amazing person.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
So, just like as we call it, Blue Lodge or Freemasonry,
once you become a member of something, you start to
see it differently. So when did Job's daughters change from this? Ah,
this is a neat like Masonic youth group that people
can have their families be a part of freemasonry. To hey,
this is a big part of our family's life. Like
(05:10):
once a week, if not every week, we have an
event that's tied to this organization.
Speaker 6 (05:17):
So it was Yeah, I mean, the nice thing about JDI,
their particular Bethel, they have plenty of activities, so there's
always two or three things going on every month, so
you know, we go to them experience more and you
get to see, just like in masonry, how big the
family is and how connected we are. So that drives
more interest, so you want to do more things and
(05:39):
you end up going to even more events. And actually
to the point where she's in the East now and
I'm in the East, we've actually worked together, so she
is supporting our lodge and some of the other lodges
in the district, and we've done what we can to
support her Bethel and her grand jurisdiction. So that kind
of teamwork, you know, is an amazing part of that
(06:02):
family connection.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Yeah, speaking of the family connection, that's what's cool is
being a friend to the Chin family as well as
a brother to brother Chen is being able to attend
the crossover functions and when I'm going to bring my
dad up here, oh he's a worshipful or I'm going
to bring my daughter up she's the honored queen. Like
what is that like to be able to address and
(06:24):
call each other that and be like, that's the same
person that I see on Sunday mornings, you know, at
family breakfast, or we spend holidays in vacation time together.
But now that worshipful or that honored is my dad
or my daughter.
Speaker 5 (06:40):
I think it's just something that I've learned to accept,
but it's also something that I have kind of embraced.
I think there are a lot of daughters within not
just my own jurisdiction, but in jurisdictions across internationally.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
We've always just been like, you know, oh.
Speaker 5 (06:59):
Like this person that I know is a Mason, is
like my family members a Mason like, And that's as
far as it goes for me. I don't think I
truly have any other like common interest with my dad
and other than masonry. And I'm going to use that
to the best of my ability every time masonry is mentioned.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
It's always my dad. I always it's the instant thought of.
Speaker 5 (07:22):
My dad, what I do, what he does, why we travel,
where we travel, and other like things similar the like
being able to laugh and just be like, oh, yeah,
this is my dad or whatever, like in the East
and him bringing me up into the East when he's
in lodge. It's it's funny, but it's also it's nice
(07:43):
because it knows it's for me. It's a good thing
to know that there is something that I can show
to the other Masons, but this is also something that
they get to learn about for us.
Speaker 6 (08:01):
For me, it's a it's a huge point of pride.
I mean, it's no different than when you know a
parent has a star athlete or you know their kids
doing really well in school. There are on a trajectory
to doing great things like becoming a doctor and whatnot.
Bringing able to bring her into Lodge and essentially show
her off that look at look at my daughter. She's
(08:23):
done these things. She's gone from someone who was demure
and meek and now has a powerful voice.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
She she stands on her own.
Speaker 6 (08:34):
That is a huge point of pride for me, and
you know, to show that to the other brothers that Hey,
this thing that we call masonry, it works for us,
but it also works for young people who will eventually
take over for us as well in the various youth groups.
So yeah, it's it's an amazing thing to have and
(08:54):
be a part of.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
M Let's talk about first.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
This is the first podcast I told you know, Sam
and Melody this like, this is the first podcast I've
done live recording in person with somebody before. This is
also the first podcast on the Craftsman Online podcast that
we've done where we have a father daughter. We've now
not even even had a father son combination. I've heard
from one, but not both of them together, especially in
(09:19):
the same room, so kind of special. Want to talk
about your first What was it like the first time
you went to a JDI meeting. I think a lot
of us that remember being a kid know that our
parents sometimes are like, you're going to go do this thing.
It's like, no, I don't want to take karate Clarins, No,
but you go right? So was there any hesitation and
(09:44):
did it take more than one meeting for you to say, hey,
I'd like to do this again.
Speaker 5 (09:48):
My very first encounter with Jai was in like June
of twenty nineteen, so I'm like a nine year old
and about a year or two before I was.
Speaker 4 (09:59):
Actually in doing like beauty pageants.
Speaker 5 (10:03):
So I'm nine years old, I'm in fourth grade or
third grade or one of those, and I'm like, I'm
just like, oh, I don't want to do you know,
like I just kind of want to live like on
the down well, I don't really want to do anything.
And then I get just like I'm having a conversation
with my parents, and my mom's like, do you want
to wear a pretty cape and crown? And I went sure,
I mean it's a cape in a crown. Who would
(10:24):
say no? So I go into I go to Mount
Moriah and Baltimore, and I love and behold. I see
this whole group of people. I see the girl with
the cape and the crown, and I'm like in awe.
But obviously you don't just get the cape and crown,
so you like you're just sitting. So I got to,
you know, meet all of these daughters, and I got
(10:46):
to meet like these other Masons and these people from
groups that I've never ever heard of, and it doesn't't
really click to me at the time, Like at nine
years old and I'm going to do this, or that
I would be interested in doing this. I just did
this because it was it was always just like, oh,
you know, you're in and out because you got installed,
(11:06):
or you were like welcomed as a Jobe to be,
which is kind of like the younger version program for
ages like six and then to ten ish before they
are able to become an actual daughter. So I'm like
nine and I only have like a term left to go,
and so I was just like, I don't think it
could be that bad. So then I attended the first
(11:28):
meeting only for the first bit. Then I had to
leave when I was not entitled to stay there anymore.
So then I left hung out with the Bethel when
I got more and more into it. Initiated at ten
right before COVID, So I spent my whole like first
two issuears of my JDI life in COVID. So I
(11:48):
had to do everything kind of iffy because I had
to relearn how to teach myself where to walk, how
to walk through the walking lines and everything. Those who
were in the West who did the most walking, ended
up not really knowing how to walk by the time
we started going back in, so I just remember a
(12:08):
bunch of us having to like relearn how to walk
in and walk out, where to go and where to turn,
how to square a corner and everything.
Speaker 4 (12:17):
It was definitely learning.
Speaker 5 (12:18):
Experience, but it's something that I will truly never forget.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
No forbad. We had that same problem in Blue Lunch.
They get carried over still almost five years later.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
One of the things that people don't associate quickly with
Masonry is leadership, and Job's Daughter International is part of
the Masonic family. It appeals to young women. It's one
of our youth groups that we do. And I'm sure
you hear a lot about leadership, especially as someone that's
in high school is like.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Ah, good leader leadership skills.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
You're like, can you think of a time as honored
queen or maybe on your path to becoming honored queen
where you kind of had to step up and be
a leader that you didn't expect that was going to
be the moment or the call you'd have to answer.
Speaker 4 (13:30):
At one point, I was the youngest of my bethel.
Speaker 5 (13:32):
I had a lot of girls that were eighteen and
usually by the time you're eighteen, that's when you start
to go dormant in your jobey life because you're graduating
high school, you're getting ready for college.
Speaker 4 (13:42):
So we call it like the dormant phase.
Speaker 5 (13:46):
But you had some that were sixteen, some that were eighteen,
some already on their way to college, some fourteen and thirteen.
But I'm just a ten year old who literally knows
nothing better. So I'm going in there, and I as
time starts to go on, this is pushing after my proficiency,
and I started making my way up into the East.
I realized the numbers of daughters were depleting creat like crazy,
(14:14):
and I knew sooner or later I.
Speaker 4 (14:17):
Was going to be the oldest. And that was it,
like we draw the line at that.
Speaker 5 (14:21):
So what I ended up having to do is like
I had to teach these girls how to, you know,
put on your regalia, what to do and where to square,
and how to pray and how to open something or
close the door or knock on a door, or what
you have to.
Speaker 4 (14:38):
Do for X Y and Z, the protocol for X
Y and Z.
Speaker 5 (14:42):
I had to learn that and I had to teach it,
and I I think at the same time, it's like
a blessing and occurs because at the same time, it's
like I think I've I've done this so many times
before that I'm like, oh yeah, I could do this blind.
But at the same time, it's just like I need
to not sound like, oh my gosh, I have to
teach this to you, so I have to be like,
this is how we do it, and this is why
(15:02):
we do it.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
So nice, All right, let's talk to dad here. It's
it's probably the best title in the world, is getting
to be dad. You know, I was thinking of Kobe
Bryant and he famously said he was a girl dad. Well,
you're a joby dad as well, So what is that like?
Being a joby dad.
Speaker 6 (15:20):
It's interesting because you won't have to get used to
being called dad and Sam by everybody, by everybody, not
just you know, like your kids, but by everybody. So
now it's like, oh, well, I'm not just a dad
to my kids. I'm a dad to all of the kids,
which means I have a great responsibility. I have to
watch out for all of them and all their wellbeings
(15:41):
and making sure that you know, they are progressing and learning,
and you know, even with missteps, you know, the parents
we're there to guide and correct and adjust. But we
have to kind of be as hands off as possible
because this is for them. You know, the Jobe Organization
is masonry, but for young girls, and it gives them
(16:01):
the opportunity and the safe space, much like our Blue
Lodge does, for them to experience different things and run
two different scenarios and different issues and learn from them
and correct and adjust so that when they get out
into the real world or in class or with teachers
or various adults, they know how to act and they
know how to react to certain things because we all
(16:24):
know that the real life.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Can be challenging. Well, I want to talk about the
real life stuff. So you're the dad.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
You know, parents have a keen eye on their kids,
seeing changes and their personalities and their characters from and
they were like little people to now and their you know,
young women. Beyond leadership, what other kind of skills have
you seen Melody begin to develop or just really take
a strong mastery of thanks to being involved with JDI.
(16:56):
So leadership obviously is the big, easy one.
Speaker 6 (17:00):
But I've also seen a change in her level of
assertiveness because when she first started, I mean, my wife
will always say this that she was supposed to motion,
give a second on something. As we all know, seconding
emotion is relatively easy. You stand up and say I second.
And she was afraid at first, you know, but over
(17:23):
time that doesn't become an issue. It's easy to second emotion,
and then it becomes oh, I'm going to give the motion,
you know, and then I'm going to lead the discussion
on this, you know. So the assertiveness that has come
out of her has you know, one blossom within the
within the Bethel, but I see it outside as well.
(17:45):
When she's in school, she's like, oh, I'm going to
do this. She doesn't even ask us for a lot
of things anymore because she just knows that she wants
to do it, and she does the work to go
and do it. She's already looked at like her future
into college and we didn't have to guide her. She said, hey,
there's this program and I'm going to follow this. They
(18:05):
say these are the courses that will get me there,
and she has her classes. She's only a sophomore, and
she's planning the classes all the way through her senior
year and some into college already. So she has taken
an initiative to just go and do without very much
direction from us.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
Let's talk a little bit about the operation of JDI.
For our listener who's a Mason, you're familiar with the
term trestle board and community service and the relief and
the charity that we provide as Freemasons, it should not
be a surprise to hear that JDI it also has
a strong focus on community service. That was one of
(18:43):
the things getting to attend some of Melody's meetings as
Honored Queen to hear about the various charities and nonprofits
that you were supporting. Was there something that was really
meaningful you. Was there a particular initiative or project or
program that you did that you felt really proud to
be a part of.
Speaker 5 (19:02):
I think a lot of the community service, a lot
of people just think, oh, you're just doing it because
it's designated and your bylaws. Are you doing it because
you know it's designated within the supreme level on the
Constitution and everything, And I'm just like yeah. But at
the same time, it's like you do something for the
purpose of the good. I mean, we send we have
some grandparents for Bonnie Blank like them like Missonic Home,
(19:27):
and we send cards to them and we signed them
for every every month and we send them out and
they seem to love it.
Speaker 4 (19:34):
Every time.
Speaker 5 (19:36):
I plan to do soup kitchens. I would really like
to attend a soup kitchen and do one for my Bethel,
but that's kind of in the works. I've worked with
Losien Lodge doing a canned food drive for them, and
our Bethel has actually helped quite a bit for that.
And then as you're when you're honored queen, you have
to choose a like a charity that you would like
(19:58):
to donate to, and sof I've done for I've done
like Comfort Care, which is basically for like foster care kids.
We send like care packages for them so that they
don't have to carry their stuff in trash bags.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Mmmm.
Speaker 4 (20:12):
And then wow, yeah.
Speaker 5 (20:14):
And then my current one is for the PBS Foundation
because PBS is getting their phones cutted and that's free
education for a lot of children from a lot a
lot of children. And I got that because I am
a big fan of Sesame Street. I got that, and
I was I was kind of taken it back at
the fact that we can't or the next generation can't
(20:34):
have that, and so I would like to, you know,
give that to the next generation.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
That's awesome, that's very Yeah, it's interesting because I think
when people think of community service, they instantly think of
picking up trash on the side of the road. Yeah,
you know, maybe volunteering at like a food kitchen or
a community you know, a food area, which that's important
blood drives, but it does go so much deeper than that,
and it's I find it rewarding to hear young people especially,
(21:03):
and you know, for our older listeners and dad across
the table, like the older we get like you just
feel like, you know, we get more cynical, and it's
just refreshing to see that there's hope and there's a
future for the country because there's these young people that
are kind of stepping in and answering that same call
that the adults are trying to answer as well. And
it's even more special when we get to work together.
(21:25):
Kind of leads me to my next question. So, a
few months ago, well more than a few months ago,
over the summer in twenty twenty five, you got to
visit my home state of Arizona. Probably the worst time
of the year was it August, second worst time of
the worst month of the year, where I told you
(21:47):
guys like you could crack an egg and fry on
the sidewalk, pick the road right out of the street
because it's all melting and it's disgusting. But you got
to attend the JDI conference. And if I'm calling it wrong,
feel free to correct me. But what was that summit
like and what were some of the big takeaways or
(22:09):
the things that you're going to remember from that.
Speaker 5 (22:11):
Okay, quick little back story history on the conference.
Speaker 4 (22:16):
It's jdi's Supreme Session.
Speaker 5 (22:20):
It happens every year usually last week of July or
early August. It's a week where the Supreme level so
that everybody internationally will have people from Canada, from Brazil,
the Philippines, Australia, and the US. They meet up and
they witness a weekend long filled with events that you
(22:43):
can do. They install the next Supreme Guardian Council that
will be the set of guardians to overlook the whole
organization and also elect to leadership roles that are known
as the Miss International Jokes Do ought Or through pageant
and Supreme Bethla Honor Queen who will lead. They travel
(23:04):
the world and they advocate about JDI to various Masonic events,
I got to this year, I got to be a
daughter delegate for the first time, which is a fairly
new thing. I'm actually the second to do this ever,
where the daughters now have a say in what goes
in the bylaws and the Constitution and the amendments. So
(23:28):
I had the chance to sit in and vote on
whether amendments should pass or should they be held back,
should they be rewritten, should.
Speaker 4 (23:36):
They be X Y Z.
Speaker 5 (23:38):
And I think I have never witnessed a meeting that
felt so long, but I felt.
Speaker 4 (23:47):
Like I wanted more.
Speaker 5 (23:50):
I always, I think when hearing first hearing about the
daughter delegation and everything, it was always like it was
because of we have our ritual changing every ten years.
So everyone was upset with the ritual and so about
the new changes, the proposed changes, and so I think
I sent in. They had like Google forms that you
would send in if you were like, hey, this is
(24:12):
a suggestion. I think I sent in like fifty forms.
I read that ritual book from things that I from,
the things that I needed to walk, how I need,
what I needed to say. The new simplified things, if
things were cut out, if things were too short, things
were too long, and I wrote it all down and
I sent it out to this organization.
Speaker 4 (24:31):
Whether they hurt me or not, I guess people truly
never know.
Speaker 5 (24:34):
But everyone was so upset at it that I was like,
I want to advocate for this, I want to do this,
and unfortunately the first.
Speaker 4 (24:44):
Time I was held back by age.
Speaker 5 (24:47):
But thankfully with the letter of intent this year and
my guardians knowing that I had a cause and I
had a purpose for this, I was able to get
on to be a daughter delegate. I got to sit
through these weekend long means, but also know that I
just helped. Even if I was a small fraction, I
helped in some way, shape or form. So I think
(25:09):
that was the most rewarding out of the Supreme Session.
In the past, I've gone to Supreme Session mainly for
a ritual competition because I am a ritualist myself, so
I've gotten a few awards from them in years past.
I actually got third place for one of my lectures
this year over the summer, which was a word perfect score,
(25:32):
meaning everything that was placed got down to things like
your cadence, things like your movement and your like pacing it.
It was tough and so it's definitely tricky in the
competition realm, but it's nice to see that there are
so many different jurisdictions that will willingly come together just
(25:54):
to know that they have a whole family out here.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
What was it like beating some of the other Jobe's I.
Speaker 5 (26:01):
Made a friend from the jurisdiction of Washington, so that's
quite literally across the country.
Speaker 4 (26:09):
I've wanted.
Speaker 5 (26:10):
I think I would like to try and make a
friend from Brazil, because I think Brazil is actually a
really good, like cool place. I vaguely talked to some
people from the Philippines, talked to very few people from Canada,
but I definitely think seeing everybody was a really really
nice thing.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
Yeah, yeah, it's cool, Like it must feel really good
to know that you're like a part of something bigger
than you, but you still get a voice in it.
And then you also get to meet other people kind
of like you, you know, but in other parts of
the world, and you're connected through this bond. Like we
talk about the mystic tie and Freemasonry as being Freemasons,
(26:53):
but you have that as well too, and it's like
you must feel less lonely in the world knowing you
have other people out there like you. That's right for sure.
And by the way, so that was in Phoenix, Arizona.
This is Lendale, Glendale, same thing. Where is next year's
grand session?
Speaker 5 (27:13):
Next year will be in Springfield, Missouri. Yeah, they've hopped
around all over the country. It's only been a very
few times where they've jumped out of the US. So
they've gone to Alberta, or they've gone to British Columbia.
They've gone to Australia once and for Canada maybe twice.
(27:38):
They planned that in twenty twenty nine they should make
it out to Brazil for the first time. So it's
going to be interesting, all right.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
I want to talk to dad about the role of
parents and the things that you do and jdi voluntld
is something we hear a lot as a parent when
our kids get involved in I'm sure we have a
listener that's sitting here going, well, this sounds great, But
I'm not a Freemason. Can my kids still be a
part of it? And if I'm not a Freemason, or
(28:31):
if I am a Freemason, if I walk in there,
are they going to make me do everything?
Speaker 6 (28:36):
So if you're not a Freemason, but you would like
your daughter to be a part of it. They just
need a Mason to a vouch for the daughter. Someone
related to a Mason works and that is the kind
of easy way in if you are a Mason and
you're already covered.
Speaker 3 (28:54):
Okay, so that's that's nice.
Speaker 6 (28:57):
How easy the access they they've opened it up because
in the past it's been challenging, and now they've really
challenging exactly they they've they've realized by opening it up,
there are so many more avenues to get more young
girls in to participate and join this great organization.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
It's the secret word of a master Mason, which is no,
are you allowed if you get involved with this, do
you run the danger of like, yeah, they're going to
put you in the line, they're gonna get you involved
with everything, or uh not exactly because and as parents people,
we know that we have for Masons, we have cable toes,
so that kind of allows us or restricts us from
(29:38):
doing certain things.
Speaker 6 (29:39):
And as long as communications open, you know, the Bethel,
the Council, the Grand Guardian, the Grand Council, they all
know that adults can and can't.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
Do certain things. And as long as you're open with them,
it's it's not a big deal.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
So hopefully our listener has gotten to this point where
we're getting ready to wrap things up here and they're like, hey,
this sounds like this would be awesome for me, I'd
really like to try this, Or they're like, this would
be awesome for my kid.
Speaker 3 (30:04):
I think that they would really flourish.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
My daughter would just really take this in and this
would be really sweet for their life. What would you
say to someone that's just kind of sitting there going
I'm still a little hesitant about joining.
Speaker 4 (30:16):
It's more than what meets the eye.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
Mm.
Speaker 5 (30:20):
It is forever and always will be more than what
meets the eye you look at it on the surface.
I've had people who thought that it was a completely
different religion. I've had people who have thought I'm a cult.
I have thought what was the purpose of being here?
And honestly, JDI goes way deeper than it seems. It
(30:44):
will forever and always go beyond what people to find.
Leadership is. When you think of leadership, a lot of
people just say, oh, you know, like you're the head
of a club, you're the head of a RGC thing,
you're ahead of something something, But here leadership is for
me at least, can you take what you know? Can
you really understand what you know? And can you impart
that to the next person down?
Speaker 3 (31:07):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (31:08):
Or are you just going to sit there and just
be like, I don't know what I'm doing either.
Speaker 2 (31:12):
It's kind of interesting to say that because the next
person down is literally being very quiet and seeing another
chair in this room, and that's your sister, Susie, your
younger sister, And that was really special to see her
come in. I don't remember what it's called, but as
us as Mason's it was similar to like her being
obligated or coming into the Bethel. What's it like having
(31:36):
your little sister come through this and what are you
hoping about for her future?
Speaker 5 (31:40):
And Jdi, I was really really a static that my
sister would be joining. I think in the very beginning stages,
I was still like at that age where I was like,
does she really have to do what I'm doing? But
like I think now, I definitely want to live with
the utmost bride, Like no one truly understand that bond
(32:00):
of sisterhood, like especially if you have a sister duo
in the organization. I know a few that have actual
like sister siblings like in the like in JDI at
the same time as they are, and they're really really
good duos. And I know that my sister will do
great things. I know she can do great things even
(32:21):
when I'm out of the bethel, even when I can't
be there because of a volleyball game or because of
school or something else. I know that she knows what
to do and that she knows how to handle things.
I definitely think the leadership opportunity will definitely be right
in front of her very soon. Nice masonry is everywhere
for you and my dad to be so close as
(32:41):
you are. I ended up having a friend that I
grew with in this organization as well, even when she
came into my bethel a little later after hers closed down,
we ended up being very very close, and I always
would think, like, this is my like, this is my
mister RC, like that is if that is me and her,
(33:05):
it is definitely my dad and mister ours.
Speaker 3 (33:07):
Nice.
Speaker 6 (33:08):
But I did want to go back and mention that
for JDI, you don't have to have a daughter in
order to be a part of it. Really, yes, so
you cool you have a daughter, but she's a little
old for Jada a Mason who wants to be a
part of JDI and just be an adult as a
part of the council, They're more than welcome to join
(33:29):
as well. And in fact they need more adults also
to help be there to help foster these the growth
in these kids. So it's good to have kids, but
you kind of need, you know, the adult there as well.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
So I thought you're going to say, my favorite thing,
it's good to have kids, but it's better when there's
someone else.
Speaker 5 (33:50):
Also, keep in mind for those who do have sons
instead of daughters. There are other youth groups out there.
There are mainly three major Masonic youth groups. So there's
one for girls JDI. There's one for boys that's I
think twelve to twenty twenty one question Mark. They're called
d Malay the Order of de mala and that follows
(34:12):
the story of Jacques Dmla and they do pretty cool
stuff too. And then there's one more that is also
for girls, and it's called Rainbow Girls. I think they're
also around the same age. We all do similar things.
We all do the same things that a Mason does.
We just have a different name in different regalia, in
different practice.
Speaker 4 (34:33):
That's it.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
So, as we mentioned, this is a first for in person,
we actually have a live studio audience. They've been quiet
and sitting just a few feet away from us, but
for this moment, if they.
Speaker 3 (34:43):
Want to go ahead and give a round of applause. Yeah,
he did an awesome job. She did an awesome job.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
She did not sound like a teenager for one second,
and I love it. Thank you, Amility, and thank you Sam.
Speaker 3 (34:58):
Hey.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
If you've enjoyed this episode the Craftsman Online Podcast, you
can help us out by subscribing on Apple Podcasts or
following on Spotify Plus just let everybody know you can
get new episodes every Monday morning. And on Patreon. You
can really help us out by subscribing and trying to
hit that goal of twenty new members on Patreon. Get
started with your free seven day trial with the link
(35:20):
in the notes of this episode. I'm right worship for
brother Michael Arsa. I always enjoy our time together and
looking forward to next Monday. Until then, let peace and
harmony prevail.
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