Cause and effect, and other fables

It’s late, late, and I’m filing stuff online at the Federal District Court, and writing some political stuff and generally being grumpy.

An observation: Normally, large action gets large consequence; small action gets small consequence. But there are lots of exceptions, times where something small may cause large things to happen. Perhaps, hopefully, I encountered one such event tonight. I stopped at WalMart for odds & ends on my way home from Mon General Hospital (seeing Bill Reid). As I was checking out, a young man who was the cashier spied my ring and asked me if I was a Mason, and what it was all about. In a crowded line, there wasn’t a lot of time for much explanation, but I gave him about two sentences, and gave him one of my private cards, and told him that if he wants to pursue this, to call me. A cashier from WalMart? OF COURSE. The lodge is not a hangout of the “elite” (whoever the hell they are) or the intelligentsia (ditto), it’s a place for good men who aspire to become better men. President Truman was a well-known Mason, having been Grand Master in Missouri. While he was in office, he went to a lodge meeting. That was presided over by the “Master,” who happened to be employed as a White House gardener. Someone gave Harry noise about that, and he reacted angrily, that there is no such thing as a “better” person, that indeed all men are created equal. I didn’t do anything extraordinary in giving this kid a card. I hope that what I did was simply the right thing. Maybe if there is a secret to life, there it is – keep doing the right thing. If this guy “asks the question,” the term of art for seeking to join, it will be an important step in his life. Perhaps he will become a Master Mason. Perhaps he will even affect someone else’s life like Bill Reid has affected my life. Casting your bread upon the water is a small action that can have a large consequence. We’re all in this together, remember?

Oh - we hired a paralegal today. One of those thing-that-just-happened-for-some-unknowable-reason things. Oddly, we received a terrible, negative reference by someone for whose opinion we have such a respect that it counted very much in her favor. (“Such a respect” doesn’t denote anything positive, you know.)

I’ve been catching some noise about my support of Justice Maynard. No big deal, this is not the grade school playground, this is politics. Screw ‘em. The First Amendment applies to me, too. Why is it that in political discourse, it’s never appropriate to say that “so and so is wrong because . . .”, but rather we must say that “so and so is a son-of-a-bitch.”? Puerile.

Pippa passes.

R