The Masonic Link, Up Close

Here’s the Masonic symbol (or a Masonic symbol):

The compass part is making a 33 degree angle and the square is making a 90 degree angle.

The top part of the steeple, according to Fagan makes a 33 degree angle and the v parts are 90 degree corners. From an angle the steeple is shaped like a Masonic symbol.

The Church of the Mystery Mason

S. and I went down to Fosterville, to the Church of Christ, which did not explode into flame upon my entrance, nor upon my hymn singing, for that thing I said I wanted to go to. It was awesome. First the minister talked for a while about the history of the church and about the church founders and all these folks to whom he’s related. And he gave a really, really touching family history that was almost as honest as you could hope for (that may be unfair, but he talked some about a slave his great-however-man-greats grandfather had owned, who he freed before the Civil War, who then stayed on the farm for the rest of his life, and the minister then showed a picture of the freed slave and his wife the white family had kept. He then told how a descendant of that slave is also a Church of Christ minister and they’d gotten to know each other and then he said something about how nice it was that the slave owner’s descendant and the slaves descendant could be brothers in Christ and I sat very still and bit my tongue to keep from shouting “YOUR GRANDPA HAD A PICTURE OF THE DUDE AND HIS WIFE!!!! You are already brothers!!!!” but I was a guest, so I did not. I did say it to S. as soon as we got in the car, though.)

Anyway, then Jonathon Fagan talked about all the refurbishment he and the minister had done on the church and how, when they were painting and fixing up the steeple, they found a tiny Masonic pin nailed to the inside of the belfry and some graffiti from the dude who had put the pin there. And then, Fagan realized that the steeple is built to Masonic principles and even kind of makes a Masonic symbol. Oh, and plus, the church got hit by a tornado and they used oxen to straighten in back up. Though it still leans a little to the right, which you can see once they point it out. Nifty all around.

Here are some pictures:

The Church of Christ hymnal has weird shapes for notes.

The pastor talks.

Fagan talks.

Oh, hey, this wasn’t a decorative wooden element. It was a stained glass window.

It was Masons!

I probably didn’t do justice to how golden this was, but I liked it.

Cool chandelier.

Stacked stone wall in excellent repair.

The steeple! Oh, and it was so cute how excited they were about getting a bell to ring in it after all these years.

The steeple again.