Philalethes Society Award of Merit 2022

by Christopher Hodapp

I had been unable to attend the 2022 Masonic Week festivities in Alexandria in February, and thus missed the annual gathering of the Philalethes Society. And so, at the spring equinox meeting of the Indiana College of the SRICF, our Chief Adept Roger VanGorden presented me with a very special award on behalf of the Society — their Award of Merit. Roger had been in Alexandria last month and was similarly honored with his own Award of Merit for being the founding force behind the creation of the Masonic Society.

Specifically, the Award of Merit was bestowed for “efforts to see the Light of Freemasonry disseminated without prejudice or animus” and for “contributions to create The Masonic Society as a new journal of Masonic education.”

For one research organization to give a couple of upstarts an award for starting another, arguably competing, research organization doesn’t happen every day. The Philalethes Society had been started back in 1928 by some of the biggest names in the fraternity at that time. But for those who were around in 2008 when we started The Masonic Society, you know that it grew out of turmoil, frustration, and bitterness within this very Society. 

Our hope fourteen years ago was never to beat down or sink the Philalethes, but to fill a niche that wasn’t being addressed by anyone else on a national or international basis. The Philalethes at that time was being dominated by a single man’s hubris, who fought beak and claw against anyone who challenged his authority. Such things do happen in Masonry, almost never out of malice, but almost always from a belief that no one else can save the ship. And so, in the lobby of the Alexandria Hilton, Roger formulated a framework for our nascent organization that skewed heavily towards serving the rank and file Freemason, and not just the same well-worn list of ‘celebrity’ Masons. 

As most of you probably know, after serving as the founding editor of the Journal of the Masonic Society for several years, I was compelled by a stack of health challenges to relinquish that position and turn the magazine over to Michael Halleran to edit, who was subsequently followed by Michael Poll, who has done a wonderful and masterful job over many years now; and John Bridegroom, our longtime art director continues to make it the best looking Masonic publication available. While it might have been momentarily gratifying to know it took two or more people to replace me at that time, I was arguably a moron for trying to do it all myself back then. Or at least, that's what the guy in the ambulance said. That's why I'm uniquely qualified to write Dummies books.

While these awards to Roger and me have been bestowed on individual Masons, the gesture is, in reality, a kind and generous acknowledgement between our peer societies. When PS Secretary Terry Tilton spoke in Alexandria last month as he gave Roger his award, he said, “Every organization needs to step up and own its past.” Perhaps, but I regard this much more as an acknowledgement that what we did was worthwhile and beneficial, and, in turn, did as we really intended: a rising tide really did lift everybody's dinghies.  Our sudden appearance compelled the Philelethes Society to do better for itself, to improve the quality of its own journal and organization, not in imitation of what we were up to, but to reestablish its own important place in Masonic scholarship, research and thought. Our publications and goals are quite different, deliberately so, and that only helps the wider fraternity. I salute the many years of fine work Shawn Eyer has done in the pursuit of that mission.

Paths often cross in life, only to join up again at the strangest of moments. Back in the days when the Philalethes had its own internet mailing list and Yahoo group, that collection of ‘electronic’ Masons from all over the world deeply affected and influenced me in my first few years in the fraternity. One Mason in particular stood out as being one of the most remarkably philosophical, thoughtful and deeply spiritual men I’d ever encountered in my life. His name was Rashied Sharrieff-Al-Bey, and whether or not he knew it at the time, his public posts, and several private ones we exchanged, made a profound impact on me all those years ago. And so I find it especially poignant that this award of merit bears his name and signature as the President of the Philalethes Society this year.

So, my deepest thanks to Rashied, Terry, the officers and members of the Philalethes Society for this award and for all it represents. I shall endeavor to be at your next meeting in Alexandria in 2023 so I can thank you in person.