USA > Pennsylvania > Berks County > Reading > History of Chandler Lodge No. 227 : Free & Accepted Masons of Reading, Pennsylvania from 1848 to 1948 > Part 18
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Special song sheets containing twenty-nine popular selections were printed for the occasion, and under the capable leadership of Past Master Brother Elmer D. Miller, over 650 male voices united in a rendition which was most pleasing and inspiring. Grand Master Deike was thrilled, as all must have been, and expressed the opinion that he had never heard better singing and the brethren rewarded him for the compliment by repeating his favorite song, "Moonlight and Roses".
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REV. CALVIN H. WINGERT
The Rev. Calvin H. Wingert was born in Mahanoy City and attended the Reading Public schools. He is a graduate of Reading High School, class of 1923, June; Franklin and Marshall College, and Lancaster Theological Seminary. He did postgraduate work in Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania. He was assistant city chemist of Reading in 1923 and 1924.
Brother Wingert was senior Chaplain of Reformed Church Chaplains in World War II. He has served congregations in Read- ing, Norristown, Washington, D. C., and Canton, Ohio. While in Washington he served Grace Dutch Reformed Congregation, of which Theodore Roosevelt, years before, was a member. His Canton congregation, which he is now serving, is the largest single unit in the Evangelical and Reformed denomination, with more than 2,000 members. His mother, Mrs. Sallie A. Wingert, resides in Northmont.
Brother Wingert was made a Mason in Chandler Lodge on November 1, 1932. His services as a speaker at Masonic functions are in great demand.
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The anniversary address, "Thoughts While Flying High", by Brother Calvin H. Wingert made a memorable impression and won the instant acclaim of "Masterpiece". His address, in part, was as follows :
"THOUGHTS WHILE FLYING HIGH"
"Right Worshipful Grand Master, Members of the Grand Lodge, Worshipful Master, Brethren :-
"It is an unforgettable privilege to share with you in the joy that is ours on this memorable occasion-the One Hundredth Anni- versary of our beloved Chandler Lodge.
"The invitation to address you at this Centennial came to me as I was preparing to leave the States on an invitational tour of inspection of religious facilities for the Army, Navy and Air Forces in the Caribbean Area. Thus I related some of my experiences to my responsibility this evening. The result is : a few of my 'Thoughts While Flying High.'
The physical is important, but the spiritual has its own importance.
"As I embarked at Mobile, Ala., for a night flight across the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to Albrook Field, Panama, I was greatly impressed by the many precautions taken for the safety and care of the physical. Detailed briefing was given on what to do in case it was necessary to abandon the plane in the sky or after hav- ing 'ditched' it on the water. Every conceivable need and device had been provided to care for the physical needs. We were equipped with 'Mae Wests', a safety belt (a most unaesthetic looking device that went around you, but despite its name it had nothing to do with Hollywood), and after fastening safety belts we were ready for the take-off. Many additional evidences for the care for the physical were apparent. A rigorous testing of each one of the motors took place. A multitude of lights marked the long pathway necessary for this heavy transport plane. Signals passed from plane to tower, directions in crisp, unmistakable form were given and when every conceivable precaution had been taken, we were ready for the flight up yonder. The screaming motors pulled the plane forward, faster, faster, and then in answer to the question in every passenger's mind, the plane rose into the blue of the Southern skies.
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SCENE AT CHANDLER LODGE ANNIV
BANQUET ON MAY 8, 1948
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"The physical is important and every device of human ingenuity to serve and save it is pleasing to Him who has made our bodies the tabernacle of His spirit, but, the spiritual has its own importance, and the question arises, 'Are we as thoughtful for the serving and saving of the spiritual as we are in our concern for the physical ?'
"Masonry is concerned about the physical. It strives for the perfection of the physical as an ideal that benefits all of life, but Masonry does not allow a man to forget the spiritual. The centrality of the altar and the spirituality suggested by the altar's lights impress upon the mind of every Mason the equal if not the over-arching importance of the spiritual to a Mason's life and to the social life in which he lives.
"World War II, whose frightful cost will be with us for gen- erations, was fought in no small part because some nations empha- sized the physical and deliberately dwarfed the importance of the spiritual.
"The trestle board of each Mason has on it a plan for the ultimatum of our dual nature. The neglect of the physical or the spiritual is a violation of something very basic in Masonry.
This is a Dark World, but there are lights burning in it.
"Our plane rose higher and higher and after reaching the desired altitude it leveled off and flew on through the night toward the Canal Zone. The 'bucket' seat of loose canvas was not conducive to relaxa- tion and sleep. The hours dragged on and on. I looked out of the nearby port hole in the plane's side and beheld again and again the same sight-a darkness over the whole scene, penetrated here and there by a few bright stars.
"The second 'Thought While Flying High' came to me, 'This is a dark world!' Professor Sorokin, of Yale, has written a book called 'Man and Society in Calamity.' He says the world is dark and will become darker unless moral heroes arise to save us. The world of today is not creating many moral heroes in those positions of influence where their moral heroism can direct the great decisions before society. The ominous clouds of another conflict hang like a pall upon the spirit of men who would be free and of good will toward all men.
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"The darkness of our world is deepened by the lags between what we have and what we are as persons. We have cosmic gadgets of great power, but little of the cosmic sense of the solidarity of the whole human race. That is a serious lag in us. We have highly developed and specialized scientific knowledge and little common sense in how to use our knowledge. That is a serious lag in us. We have a complex social, political and economic world order and our spiritual powers have not kept pace with our inter-relatedness and dependence upon each other. That is a serious lag in us.
"Luther Burbank has said that only man and one species of the ants make systematic and annihilistic war. To which one can say, 'we are certainly keeping poor company.' Yes, this is a dark world, but there are lights, and this evening I salute the lights. They are the promise of a bright, peaceful, and harmonious tomorrow. The light of the stars in the Southern Cross reminded me of the lights in our world by which we live and in which are our hopes.
"We think, on this happy occasion, of those brothers in our fraternity who have gone before us. There were brothers who organ- ized our lodge, laying the foundations upon which a hundred years of history have been laid. In them was light. There were brothers who through the trail of a century have perpetuated the lodge and lived its precepts in the community about us. In them was light.
"But human personality, while possessing light, is but the dim reflection of Him of whom the blessed St. John says, 'In Him was Light.' The Lion of the tribe of Judah, even Jesus Christ, He is the LIGHT in our dark world. It is His Light which penetrates our darkness and provides the power for those needed changes in us which by nature we resist. This is a dark world, but we hail the light towards which slowly but surely we are moving.
The Truth is always with us.
"The sunrise I saw from the plane, in the Southern skies, was a spiritual experience. The colors defied description. Out of a lake of greens, blues, yellow, orange and gold, all distinct yet a part of a whole, came the morning sun and over the face of it a beautiful cross of dazzling brilliance. The traveller in the desert sees the oasis, and often discovers it to be a tantalizing mirage. This cross
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was no trick of wishful thinking. The light was so arranged that it was there, a brilliant cross like unto the cross of Jesus, set against the sun. The words of a Psalmist came to mind, 'Though I take the wings of the morning, Thou art there.' The redeeming purpose of the Architect of the universe follows us. Truth is always with us. The truths of Masonry, so dramatically presented to us in the ever beautiful story of our craft, have a way of lingering in the mind, and influencing life, long after one's degrees have been received and a man can proudly say 'I am a Master Mason.' Masonry makes a man a better man, father and citizen, by the experiences he has had and the truths he has received.
"The light of the sun illuminated the silver wings of our plane, and the propellors as they raced in their airy circles, long before the light had reached the watery depth below us. The higher you ascend the earlier the light reaches you and the longer it lingers with you. The higher you ascend the more light you receive. That is true spiritually, and true Masonically.
"Each of us remembers especially this evening, some brothers now living and some in the immortal who had in their souls the strength of Masonic light. It was not simply a matter of degrees received, but of light and truth possessed by them.
"Chandler's Century of history has been fruitful in blessing the lives of those who came to her doors seeking light, and who, given that light, were sent forth into our city and the world to bless and help the race of men in its upward march.
"Each of us must resist with all that is in him the inexcusable tendency of movements which black out truth, to eliminate all light but THEIR light. Masonry has in it the spirit of freedom, in all things, governed and guided by those precepts that come not from the mind of mortal men alone but from the revelation of the Great Builder Himself. Our light is the reflection of His Light and in this there is no coercion but the coercion of self respect and brotherly love.
There Are Rough Spots
"As we neared our destination we met with those not too pleas- ant experiences called 'rough spots.' To the novice it would seem that the plane falls as it reaches vacuous areas where there is no air
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for the propellors to sweep against. The scientific explanation is that the plane comes upon the upward thrusts of a rising column of air and then falls as it passes over it. Explain it how you will-there were rough spots.
"It would be interesting accurately to contrast 1948 with 1848, when Chandler was founded. Even a hasty comparison would show that when the lodge was founded, in the ante-bellum days, there were few of the major devolpements and conveniences so common today. The railroads were in their infancy, the telephone was hardly known, radio was unknown, air travel was a dream. On the political side movements well known today were mere theories. Democracy was girding its strength. The concept of slavery was poised for a major testing. The Union hung in the balance. 'To be or not to be', that was the question. At least six wars have come and gone in the na- tion's history in this century. The science of inventing and the fruits of laboratory and workshop have produced changes during the cen- tury which will be surpassed only by those in the century before us.
"Changes are the rough spots that tempt us to growth and strength. Man and his institutions, as well as the fir tree, needs the North Wind. There were rough spots in Chandler's history. The Civil War nearly depleted the strength of the struggling fraternity. There were seasons of comparative well-being and then the rough spots of recessions.
"Just so, in the lives of those who are Chandler's sons, the pass- ing of time brought the inevitable rough spots that are the elements in human existence. It is at those times especially that the witness of our brotherhood is most outstanding. The friendly word of sym- pathy and encouragement passed from brother to brother-who can measure the value of that? The succor given in the midst of mis- fortune by an almost unknown hand-who can measure the meaning of that? As the ancient operative Mason made a thing of beauty out of rough hewn stones, so the Mason has ever used the rough spots of life as occasions for extension of Masonic works and faith.
The Shoreline Will Be Beautiful.
"It is natural that through the long night of flight the weary traveller would think of the beauty of the shoreline, with its safety, after the dangers of trackless watery wastes. To our anxious eyes
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no shoreline ever looked better. The regularity and beauty of Coco Solo and Colon made an appeal to our hearts, and suggested our final thought 'While Flying High,' i. e., God has other shorelines for us to which in his love and mercy he will lead us. The sprig of acacia dropped into the graves of our brothers departed is our way of saying there are other shorelines. The fraternity is endless, reach- ing from here into the hereafter. Treasured in Masonry is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. The Mason sees in him an exemplification of the power of the Great Giver of Life. This is the basis of our hope and the assurance of an ultimate realization of our faith.
"Our memories dwell on the pages of a century. With this as our foundation, our hearts look forward to the joys of coming days. The challenge to growth in the century before us rises in our souls as a poem beautifully said and now to be beautifully lived.
"Build thee more stately mansions, O my Soul While the swift seasons roll Let each new temple nobler than the last Shut thee from Heaven with a dome more vast, 'Till thou at length art free Leaving thine outgrown shell, By Life's unresting sea."
Brother Wingert's outstanding address concluded the program. At the close of this truly memorable anniversary celebration, a slice of the great cake was placed in an envelope and handed to each person.
The entire picture-hall decoration, mellow music, masterful addresses, excellent food, flawless service-blended so perfectly, that the members and guests generally acclaimed it to have been the out- standing event of their time.
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