The year was 965 B.C. when Solomon succeeded David as the king of the Israelite Kingdom of the Twelve Tribes. One year later, Solomon ordered the construction of the First Temple and he sought out the best masons around to assist with the task that would one day create a structure of such grandeur that it would eventually become one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
“The philosophy of Masonry dates back to building of King Solomon’s Temple,” said Bill Mitchell of the La Jolla Masonic Lodge. “These masons laid the stone and did it with such perfection at a time when people were accustomed to mud huts with grass roofs. They built this edifice that was so huge that people marveled. They had these giant rocks, or ashlars, that they chiseled into perfect cubes that fit together so well that they did not even need mortar. There were no sounds of hammers or saws during the building, and when they put together these wood beams they had no nails or bolts or glue ” it was engineering genius that held that whole edifice together and it was so perfect that people thought that it must have been done with the hand of God.”
Mitchell, who lives in La Jolla, knows well the history of the brotherhood that he has belonged to for almost 50 years. His efforts will be rewarded when he is named Mason of the Year of the La Jolla Lodge No. 518, 5655 La Jolla Blvd., on Saturday, Sept. 2, at 6 p.m., at the Scottish Rite Center, 1895 Camino del Rio South.
“When I found out, it knocked me over because there are a lot of the people in the lodge who I thought would be in the running, and I even dreamt that I would be considered and it was just a complete and great surprise,” he said. “There are no particular duties given to Mason of the Year, but now I feel like the standard has been raised and now I have to keep it up.”
One of the most telling aspects of Mitchell is that no one has to ask him to do things, because as a Mason he feels compelled to help. At the lodge he has fixed doors, hung paintings to color up the place and maintained the tree out front. Luckily for the lodge, he lives close and has a taste for estate sales, where he located a giant medieval sword that now bears the Masonic lodge logo and name.
Masons belong to the oldest and largest fraternal organization in the world, and part of their mission is to educate its members on masonry. The educational aspect had dropped out of the La Jolla lodge.
“Up to 2004, our lodge had died on the vine,” Mitchell said. “In doing that, the Grand Lodge of California had taken our charter away because we weren’t giving any degrees and we weren’t doing anything in the community and we were just dead. Then George Geanoulis volunteered to come over from Point Loma and agreed to take over as our Master and has been getting us back on our feet, and we call it the phoenix rising from the ashes. We got back our charter in 2005 and have been going strong ever since.”
Mitchell saw what was missing at his lodge and set out to change it by introducing a new educational agenda geared to attract new members. His efforts paid off and now the La Jolla Lodge is processing seven new members.
“‘The Meaning of Masonry’ by W.L. Wilmshurst is the book I recommended to the lodge and we adopted it as the book that we give to every new member,” he said. “The philosophy of the book is amazing because so many people are looking for guidance and a way of life. These young people are searching for something and they can find it in masonry. We want to take the outstanding young men in our society and teach them to be better. We want to take these ashlars and chisel them to perfection.”
Mitchell also served as City Councilman for District 1, where he was lauded for his efforts to increase community alerts in the neighborhood.
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