When I was a child of about four, my family moved from the big city to a rural country area to live with my grandparents. My grandfather, Paul Davis, was very down to earth and known for his fishing, breeding of fox hounds, and raising of the best and biggest tomatoes in the county. While I was growing up, we would listen on the radio to the baseball game played by the Kansas City Royals. When I got home from school, he would tell me who was playing what positions. He called the players by first name as if he knew them personally and had drafted the lineup himself.
Although he was only educated through the eighth grade, my grandfather was very aware of civic affairs and active in partisan politics, leaning far toward the right on most issues. He had very little to do with any person who didn’t fit in with his very conservative viewpoints. He saw government as everyone’s responsibility, and he never once shirked that duty. Although my grandfather never held an elected office, he helped with campaigns, served as an election official, and attended the political rallies or public meetings that should concern every citizen. He was fiercely loyal to several very close friends from his political affiliations; however, he also had some friends who were on the other side of the political fence. You could count this group on one hand and still have a thumb and a finger left over, but, strangely, he remained closer to them than all the others combined. This remained a mystery to me for several years.

One of these particularly close friends, Ben Corder, would come to our farm to hunt each year. On one of Ben’s visits, I noticed an unusual ring with a Square and Compasses on it. Afterwards, I asked my grandfather what it meant. He described the Masonic Fraternity in such a way that, even at the age of four, it piqued my curiosity. Over the years of my youth, I would think of that ring and what it might mean to me.

Finally, when I was of age, I obtained a petition for the Fraternity. Remembering the conversation that I had with my grandfather about the ring, I consulted with him about what to do. During the time that my grandfather had the opportunity in his life to join the Fraternity, he had several serious hospitalizations that prevented him from petitioning and participating in Freemasonry. He described to me what he knew about it from his observations of the character and accountability of a couple of his friends who were Masons. One could tell from my grandfather’s opinion of the Fraternity and the men who belonged to it that he held the Craft in high regard, even though he wasn’t a member himself. The small group of friends that I mentioned earlier, the ones that were held in highest esteem in his eyes even though they were polar opposites in political viewpoint, were Masons. He told me, “Ben Corder is a Mason, so I know joining the Lodge would be the right thing to do.” Ben was the one wearing the ring that I had noticed when I was four years old. I turned in my petition the following morning.

The author’s grandfather, Paul Davis (left), poses with Bro. Ben Corder, Master of Windsor Lodge #29, Windsor, Missouri, following a successful wild turkey hunt.

On September 16, 2003, my grandfather’s friend, Ben Corder was installed as Worshipful Master of Windsor Lodge #29 in Windsor, Missouri. My grandfather passed away in 2001 and couldn’t congratulate Ben, but I was able to attend Brother Ben’s installation and thank him for wearing his ring that fall day in 1971.

Since joining the Fraternity in 1992, I have had the opportunity to meet many men like the ones who were so highly regarded by my grandfather, men who had the character and accountability that made such an impression on my grandfather that he could overlook his own political standards by which he measured a friend and see the true character of what they stood for. I have met men who actively participate in all branches of the Fraternity—the Blue Lodge, Scottish Rite, York Rite, Shrine, and other Masonic Bodies. Each member brings something different to offer the Craft, but they all have one thing in common, a Masonic ring.
Did you wear your ring today? You might be surprised at who notices it.

W. Brad Bembry Valley of Joplin, Missouri, is a member and Past Master of Laclede Lodge #83, Lebanon, Missouri, and a KYCH in the Lebanon, Missouri, York Rite Bodies. As a County Director, he oversees child abuse, neglect, and income maintenance programs for the Missouri Department of Social Services. Accepted into American Mensa in 1992, Bro. Bembry, is also a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and the Military Order of the Stars and Bars. Contact: P.O. Box 633, Buffalo, Missouri 65622-0633; dalcodir@yahoo.com