Surely it’s not possible that it’s time for another Stocking Stuffer column—a list of suggested gifts for Holiday giving/getting? But it is, even so! It is, of course, more blessed to give than receive, but as the OU football team can tell you, there’s a lot to be said for receiving as well. So here follows a list of books and goodies to cheer you through the season.

Membership in the Scottish Rite Research Society. $30.00, annual; $500, life membership. This has to be the best deal in all Freemasonry. The SRRS is the most energetic and rapidly growing Masonic research body on earth. So what is Masonic research and why would you care about it? We’re learning more every day about the history and development of Freemasonry. We’re learning how it interacted with government and society. And we’re learning more about the personal histories of some of the men who made Masonry what it is today. Some parts read like an adventure novel, other parts read like a whodunit. For your $30.00, you get Heredom, the hard cover transactions of the SRRS. Dr. Brent Morris, 33°, Grand Cross is the editor. It’s simply the best material around. And not only do you get Heredom, you get four issues of the newsletter, The Plumbline, and a bonus book each year. The 2005 bonus was ESOTERIKA: Albert Pike’s Symbolism of the Blue Degrees of Freemasonry, edited and with an extensive introduction by Ill. Arturo de Hoyos, 33° (a full review will be in a future column). Membership is a terrific value. To become a member, go to the website, www.srmason-sj.org, and click on the SRRS button. They’ll help you from there, or call 202-777-3110. It’s easy.

Another very good reason for joining the SRRS is that you get a 10% discount on things you order from the Scottish Rite Store on the website, and that’s where we are going next. Go to www.srmason-sj.org, then click on Scottish Rite Store, then click on:

Jewelry. If a friend has just received the KCCH or the 33°, you can find some attractive tie tacks and lapel pins featuring the emblems of those designations and Degrees. Or get a set for yourself. It costs next to nothing. The tie tacks and lapel pins are only $5.00 each. You can also get cufflinks (33° shown right) and shirt studs with the emblems for only a little more. And the tie tacks, lapel pins, studs, and cufflinks are also available with the Square and Compasses.

Accessories. There are several nice items here, but I especially like the desk pen set. It has a rosewood base with the 32° Double-headed Eagle laser-cut into it. It’s only $14.25.

Publications. There’s a wealth here, but two I especially recommend. Both are by Dr. Rex Hutchens, 33°, Grand Cross. The Glossary to Morals and Dogma is simply essential if you want to read Pike with ease and understanding. I have a personal crusade to get people to read Morals and Dogma, if for no other reason than it contains some of the most beautiful writing in the English language. But always you hear that it’s too hard to understand. It isn’t, if you simply read it slowly and don’t try to rush through it. Figure you will read at about 1/4 your normal speed. It’s a banquet to be savored, not a fast-food burger to be gulped. But there are many references which are not as well known today as when Pike was writing. The Glossary traces those references, and makes the reading a lot easier. This beautifully printed hardback book is a steal at $11.00.

Pillars of Wisdom—The Writings of Albert Pike is another great book. Here, Dr. Hutchens has grouped Pike’s writing by subject rather than Degree. Material found throughout Morals and Dogma is gathered in Pillars of Wisdom under topical headings and presented with great clarity. The softbound book costs $17.00. A photocopied version is available translated into Spanish for $10.00.

Let’s leave the Supreme Council web site and go to the site of the Masonic Service Association of North America, www.msana.com. You cannot order on-line, but you can download an order form, and you can look at the many wonderful things they offer, very, very inexpensively. Click on publications, and go to Digests. You will find some great material, but I’d especially like to call your attention to the Pocket Digests (so called because they are small enough for you to slip them in your pocket. Two, especially, I think every Mason should own, and which make outstanding gifts for new as well as experienced Masons: Masonic Dictionary has definitions of 448 words which are common to Masonry. It’s a very useful book to carry with you. The cost is only $3.00 + SH. Encyclopedia of Masonic Symbols gives concise meanings for most of the symbols used by the Craft. It is a useful resource and, again costs only $3.00 + SH.

Two recent books should be of interest to Masons and also would make great stocking stuffers.

Teri Louden, On God’s Wings, Coronado, CA: The Louden Network Inc., 2005, hard cover, 211 pages, many photographs, ISBN 0-9753926-0-3 cover price $24.95, available from Amazon. com for $16.47

When M.W. William Simpson, PGM of North Carolina, arranged to have this book sent to me, he wrote: “Brother Louden is both a hero and a miracle. I think you will find the book interesting. Brother Louden is now a resident of the Masonic and Eastern Star Home in Greensboro, as I am . His life in the Army Air Corps (later the U.S. Air Force), his trials following a crash of a B45 Tornado Bomber, his narrow escapes during his service in four war theatres, make for interesting reading.”

That’s putting it mildly. It is a book about the triumph of humor and the human spirit, and a reaffirmation that nice guys do finish first. I think you would really enjoy this book.

H.H. (Pete) Bradshaw, Execution Denied: The Story of Marshal Ney, Napoleon’s “Bravest of the Brave” Baltimore: Publish America, 2004, softbound, 220 pages, several illustrations and photographs, ISBN 1-4137-4621-7 List price $19.95. Available from Amazon.com for the same price new, used copies slightly less.

Speaking of narrow escapes! Let me quote from the back cover: “On December 7, 1815, Marshal of France Michel Ney, stood before a firing squad in Paris. Muskets crashed and he fell. Thirty-one years later he died in North Carolina. This is the dramatic story of Ney’s probable escape from execution, his dangerous years in America, and his transformation into a highly respected educator.” Incidentally, Freemasonry plays an important part in the story, weaving like a thread in some nearly impossible events. The book is listed as a historical novel, but historians have praised it, lauding Bradshaw’s research and concluding that he is almost certainly right. It’s a great read.

So there it is. I hope your holidays are as rich and rewarding as can be. Be sure to browse the two web sites thoroughly. They both are well worth the attention.

Jim Tresner, Valley of Guthrie, Oklahoma, is the Director of the Masonic Leadership Institute; Editor of The Oklahoma Mason, Member of the Steering Committee, Masonic Information Center; Director of Work in Guthrie; and author, among other books, of Albert Pike: The Man Beyond the Monument and Vested in Glory: The Regalia of the Scottish Rite. Contacts: Grand Lodge of Oklahoma, P.O. Box 1019, Guthrie OK 73044; Tel. 405-282-3212; Fax 405-282-3244; okmasonmag@hotmail.com