Freemasons For Dummies: Thank you. It's Been A Gift

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Thank you. It's Been A Gift

A year ago, after my heart 'n cancer scare, I said everything after Christmas Eve 2007 was a gift, and that has been absolutely true. Alice and I thank each and every one of you for a wonderful year. A new book. The Masonic Society. Meeting new friends, visiting new places, achieving new accomplishments, and now that our business has been sold, our lives are going in a new direction.

We couldn't have done it without you.

4 comments:

Matthew Costa RobertsFri Dec 26, 06:58:00 AM 2008
I'm glad that I was fortunate enough to have met you in this past year, and I hope that 2009 brings good things to you and your family.
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Greg StewartFri Dec 26, 11:16:00 AM 2008
Cheers to you brother, for a prosperous 09.
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Tom AccuostiFri Dec 26, 11:46:00 AM 2008
Okay, maybe it doesn't say much for my year that meeting you when you came down to Connecticut was one of the highlights...

Anyway, I'm glad to see that 2009 is looking to be a better year for you. Travel well, Bro.
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san diego freemasonSun Dec 28, 02:48:00 PM 2008
Glad that all is well with you Brother. I enjoy your postings very much and wish you and yours a wonderful New Year!
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A mythic past.
A visionary future.
A legendary brotherhood.

Freemasonry is the largest, oldest and best-known gentleman's fraternity in the world. Historically, it is based on the Medieval stonemason guilds who built the great castles and cathedrals of Europe. Mythologically it is founded upon the building of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, as told in the Old Testament of the Bible.

Modern Freemasons likewise use the tools, traditions and terminology of those Biblical stonemasons as allegories for building Temples in the hearts of men, using Solomon as our ideal example of wisdom, justice and faith.

At its core, Freemasonry is simply an attempt to make the world a better place, one man at a time. For each man, it can become as simple or as complicated as he himself desires.

It's said that we are a secret society. We do indeed have secrets—secrets that each individual man has to discover for and about himself.

It's not for everybody. It never has been, and was never meant to be. That's the point.

Maybe it's for you.

Christopher L. Hodapp is the author of Freemasons For Dummies, the international, best-selling introduction to the Masonic fraternity; and Solomon's Builders: Freemasons, Founding Fathers and the Secrets of Washington D.C.. His most recent Masonic book, Heritage Endures, was published in January 2018.

Since 2009 he has been on the Board of the Masonic Library & Museum of Indiana, and serves as its Associate Director and Treasurer. In 2021, Chris was named as Public Relations and Marketing Director for the Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons of the State of Indiana.

Chris is also the co-author with Alice Von Kannon of The Templar Code For Dummies and Conspiracy Theories And Secret Societies For Dummies.

As a Freemason, Chris is a Past Master of Broad Ripple Lodge No. 643 and of Lodge Vitruvian No. 767 under the Grand Lodge F&AM of Indiana; he is a member of Indiana's Schofield Lodge 1818 U.D.; and of Internet Lodge No. 9659 in the Province of East Lancashire of the United Grand Lodge of England. Most recently, he served as the Worshipful Master of the Dwight L. Smith Lodge of Research U.D. in Indiana for 2019-21.

In 2018 he was awarded the Caleb B. Smith Medal of Honor by the Grand Lodge F&AM of Indiana for his "distinguished service to Freemasonry in Indiana and worldwide."

Chris is a 33° Mason in the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite (NMJ), Indianapolis Valley. He is a Past Sovereign Master of Imhotep Council No. 434 of the Allied Masonic Degrees. He is a founding member of Levant Preceptory, a medieval Knights Templar period recreation degree team in the York Rite, and he is an officer of the Indiana College of the Societas Rosicruciana in Civitatibus Foederatis. He belongs to numerous other Masonic appendant organizations.

As a Masonic author, in 2012 he was named as Friar No. 101 in the Society of Blue Friars. Chris is a Founding Fellow of The Masonic Society, and was the founding Editor in Chief of The Journal of The Masonic Society. He was the editor and a contributor in 2004-5 to "Laudable Pursuit: A 21st Century Response to Dwight Smith" by the Knights of the North, a Masonic leadership think-tank focusing on modern lodge solutions. He has written for Indianapolis Monthly, Heredom, Masonic Magazine, Templar History, the Scottish Rite Journal, the Knight Templar Magazine, the Indiana Freemason , the Phylaxis, and numerous other publications.

For 23 years, Chris was a commercial filmmaker with Dean Crow Productions in Indianapolis. Hodapp and Alice Von Kannon developed scripts for the History Channel program, Brad Meltzer's Decoded in 2010, and contributed material on conspiracies and secret societies for TruTV and the American Heroes Channel. They have both appeared on National Public Radio, the History Channel, Discovery, National Geographic, Smithsonian, and the American Heroes Channel - most recently in the 2021 episode of America's Book of Secrets - The Freemason Factor for History and Prometheus Productions.

Chris and Alice reside in Indianapolis with Sophie the Flying Poodle who has them both answering to basic commands. However, they can frequently be found alarming the wildlife and dazzling the rustiks in their Airstream trailer as they crisscross the country. Appropriately, their newest books together are RVs and Campers For Dummies, released in June 2021; and RV Vacations For Dummies - 7th Edition, released in June 2023.

APPEARANCES

Contact Chris directly to enquire about speaking at your event.

2024

April 16, 2024
Pelham Lodge, New York

May 21, 2024
Grand Lodge of Indiana Annual Communication, Indianapolis, IN

May 25, 2024
Grand Lodge of British Columbia & Yukon Grand Masonic Day, Vancouver

June 17, 2024
Nutley Lodge #25, Nutley, NJ

September 14, 2024
Maryland Masonic Symposium w/Brent Morris - "An Idiot and a Dummy Tell You All There Is To Know About Freemasonry"

November 9, 2024
Masters & Wardens Association, Indianapolis, IN

2025

June 2025
Denver Scottish Rite, Denver, CO

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