The year is 1966 and we are living in a suburb of Ipswich Queensland called Booval. I always thought that name sounded strange, but not sure why. This was a rented house, and it is the house that I lived in when I first started work the next year from these events. For now, I am in my last year of school at Bremer State High School, and not really doing all that well in my scholastic life.

My father had been a member of the Masonic Lodge and I remember him being active in the lodge when I was very young. It was all quite a mystery to me what this could be about, but I was actually not that interested to find out too. But in this year, he did ask my brother Bob and I if we would consider joining the Order of deMolay.

Background: DeMolay is modeled after Freemasonry and although not a "Masonic organization" as such, DeMolay is considered to be part of the general family of Masonic and associated organizations. It is open for membership to young men between the ages of 12 to 21 of good character who acknowledge a higher power. Among the requirements for membership in DeMolay is the belief in a Supreme Being, but not one of any particular doctrine, sect, or denomination. A young man's religious convictions are his own. DeMolay's members include Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, and members of many other religious groups.

Read more about DeMolay in the Wikipedia page here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeMolay_International

At that age, I was happy to go along with the idea and look into it and see how it goes if I attend some meetings. I had no idea what to expect. The story that I was given was that the membership of the DeMolay are all the very top young men in the community. They all were just the perfect sons to the most respectable parents, and all striving to better themselves through respect for authority and community service. Well, that was the story that I got, and I totally accepted that I would have to really mind my manners in the company of these people. If lifting my game was what was needed to fit in with the group, and there was only good to come of it, then I was happy to try my best.

Just to cement the notion that this was a very worthy organization, one could only attend the regular meetings if you were very well groomed and you turned up in a suit and tie. Well, that was a bit of a stretch for me, but the folks were keen, found the budget and had me fitted in a nice suit along with a new white shirt and an appropriately conservative thin black tie. I was ready to go and actually felt pretty important when decked out in this gear, so I was approaching the experience very positively.

The regular meetings consisted of participating in some very lengthy rituals where each member played their part and your part was determined by your status within the group. Newbies like me were the lowest and we really did have to know our place and just sit in, shut up, learn, and be enlightened and uplifted. Hmmm, this was getting harder and although it was never intended to be fun, there was surly no risk of any fun being had.

I remember how we were being prepared for a major ceremony, and I really don't remember all the details, but I do remember that I was one of the deacons who had a place at the outer circle, and my "duty" was to place in the "Crown of Youth" one of the "Jewels", those being aspects of character that are required of a man living a good and righteous life. I do remember that I had the "Jewel of Filial Love" and the lines, "I place in the Crown of Youth the jewel of filial love. No other virtue becomes a yound man than the .....". I am sure that these days this is all on line somewhere but it was all solemn sacred ceremonies and outsiders were not "worthy" to come and observe since it was not carried out for entertainment purposes. My little recitation was not so long, about one longish paragraph, and I seem to recall that I even managed to get through it reasonably well, and to the approval of the higher-ups. Perhaps they were already marking me out for promotion through the ranks to higher offices, who knows now.

At the very core of this Lodge for young men was the teaching of righteous lives and virtuous conduct of young men if they were to become strong family men and leaders in the commnity throughout the following years. I was taking it all very seriously and I thought that it was really great to be in a group of such sincere older and younger men and started to believe that this organization could only be good for me. I was enthusiastic to follow the program and it took me a lot of work to remember that "I place in the Crown of Youth.... " story but I sure didn't want to let the team down and stumble over it. I was proud of myself for getting through this first "test" so well.

After the proceedings, most of the guys wandered outside the large hall to relax for a few minutes while the furniture was rearranged. Smoking was common then, and a lot of guys lit up started talking and laughing together and I wanted to join in and find out the conversation and the joking around. These are good guys and I was expecting some good natured camaraderie. But that was not what I heard at all and I really felt disbelief at what I was hearing.

All the guys so sincere with all the righteous stuff, leadership qualities, jewels in the Crown of Youth virtues, on and on with the strength of character and sincerity stuff, were cursing and making gutter talk between themselves in hushed tones so the "oldies" inside could not hear but this was what all the laughing was about. I couldn't say anything, just stood among them all and listened.

This was the first time in my life that I had encountered first hand this blatent hypocrisy and I was very conflicted in how I should deal with it. Am I supposed to continue to be like them and play this two faced game? I decided that I could not pretend to not notice. They showed me who they really were and their true character so I was no longer so enthusiastic to be in their company.

So that was the end of the DeMolay Lodge participation for me. Dad really did want us to follow in his footsteps in the Masonic Lodge, something that I still have no idea much of what it was all about, but if the Order of DeMolay was any indicator, I was not really interested in going along. And I told him so, and I told him why. Dad had almost no comment other than saying, "I understand why you don't want to go any more." And that was it. I don't know if Dad took it up with the higher lodge members leading the DeMolay but if he did I was never told, but I was out and never attended another such meeting or ceremony. It was never mentioned again.

It was not long after this that Dad had given up meetings of the Masonic Lodge and since my brother Bob and I were in Boy Scouts, he volunteered to a Scoutmaster and help in the leadership of the local Boy Scouts group and it was great. At least the scouts didn't pretend to be something that they were not, and the training in the scouts was all of a more practical nature, and I was much more comfortable with that.

Perhaps I judged the entire organization because of a few "bad apples" that I was unfortunate enough to be exposed to at such an early stage in the development and learning about it all. But as the years progressed, I knew for sure that there were way more "bad apples" in that group than genuine, sincere, and honest people and that being the case, I was sure that it was doomed because surely no one wanted to have it demanded of them that they struggle and work so hard to live up to such lofty principles while in the company of the lower grade thinkers of the community.