Bonfire of the Vanities, by Paterson Burns

Ahhh....the sweet smell of evaporated facade, kinda curls your nose hairs and reminds you of a burnt hand smell,...kinda like when you tell your kid "Don't touch that, it's HOT!", and they don't listen, and learn the hard way.

My brothers, there are those of you here, who know what's going on, and there are those who just keep guessing, because they can't believe that there is really a group of young, concerned Masons who feel compelled to stand up for and defend the honor of the fraternity and the virtue of the Craft, from those who would seek to ally themselves for personal gain or other ill advised motive.

I will say that in the light of watching self-immolation occur, all you can do is hope that what compels a man is his sense of right and wrong, and hope for the best.

This congress of minds that has gathered here, has done so because we believe in the intended purpose of the Craft and the ennobling qualities that come inherent to one who was properly prepared.

The Masonic Fraternity is not a community service organization.

The Masonic Fraternity is not a reformatory for those who are not already whole.

The Masonic Fraternity makes good men better.

The Masonic Fraternity does not make bad men good.

The Masonic Fraternity is not for everybody.

The Masonic Fraternity is an exclusive and private organization.

Membership in the Masonic Fraternity has been prized by kings, emperors, statesmen, philosophers, and the greatest of military commanders, to name a few...

Masons are entitled to be proud of our fraternity, we have helped to shape the world.

We Masons who have met here, do so to share our perspectives on facets of the tenets of the Craft, such as are listed above, and share and exchange our interpretations, journeys, observations and sense of humor.

Unfortunately there are those who are not content in their journey and feel the emptiness inside them should be buoyed by chinking the armor of those they admire and resent for their successes.

One of the most unique aspects of the Masonic Fraternity is the unique culture and jargon and idioms and adjectives, and titles, that are all our own, and sometimes, some folks don't quite understand what it's all for. Sometimes, some folks mistakenly assume that of those peculiarities mentioned, the taking of titles somehow improves the quality of the man who was a lesser man in his own mind, before he had a title. It doesn't, does it?

Recently I read one of the funniest satire based short stories, offered in the form of a blog, about the Masonic equivalent of Orwellian self manifesting destiny, and secret and elusive groups of anonymous men operating to remove negative elements from the Fraternity because said elements had themselves demonstrated their desire to disrupt the peace and harmony of the Craft and her lessons.

What a great idea! I really enjoyed the premise being presented and I would love to read more, as I personally enjoy this kind of a suspense, thriller, Masonic thing, it's very popular these days, the theme of secret conspiracies and the like. I can't wait to hear more.

It's a shame that the author is not revealed to take credit for offering up an interesting perspective and a great start to a Dan Brown novel.

Whoever that author is, I want to say thank you for making me laugh, we do live in such unpredictable times and you never can tell when the sky is gonna fall, so it's nice to crack a grin now and then.

I have only a few suggestions and some positive criticisms to share...I think it's a great start and I look forward to the plot development and character development. It seems as if suspense exists in the characters presented and there is a lot of potential for diverse outcomes, and I think you're gonna get an "A" for effort when you turn it in to your teacher.

I remember grade 9 English too, and one of the most intimidating components was having to have to write a short story for the class, so I just want to say, you keep at it there young man and I'm sure that by the time you're done high school, you'll perhaps pursue a career is Investigative Journalism.

So, I tip my hat to whatever good brother was proud enough of his son, to post such a good little story to the web for the enjoyment of us all.

Good job fella.