[vc_row rt_row_background_width=”fullwidth” rt_row_content_width=”default” rt_row_style=”default-style” rt_row_height=”” rt_column_gaps=”” rt_row_shadows=”” rt_row_borders=”” rt_bg_effect=”classic” rt_bg_image_repeat=”repeat” rt_bg_size=”cover” rt_bg_position=”right top” rt_bg_attachment=”scroll” rt_bg_layer=”” rt_bg_video_format=”self-hosted”][vc_column width=”1\/4″ rt_bg_effect=”classic” rt_bg_image_repeat=”repeat” rt_bg_size=”auto auto” rt_bg_position=”right top” rt_bg_attachment=”scroll”][vc_wp_custommenu nav_menu=”34″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”3\/4″ rt_bg_effect=”classic” rt_bg_image_repeat=”repeat” rt_bg_size=”auto auto” rt_bg_position=”right top” rt_bg_attachment=”scroll”][vc_row_inner rt_row_background_width=”fullwidth” rt_row_content_width=”default” rt_row_style=”global-style” rt_row_height=”” rt_column_gaps=”” rt_row_borders=”” rt_bg_effect=”classic” rt_bg_image_repeat=”repeat” rt_bg_size=”cover” rt_bg_position=”right top” rt_bg_attachment=”scroll” rt_bg_layer=”” rt_bg_video_format=”self-hosted” rt_class=”rt-6383189″ rt_paddings=”0,0,,” rt_margins=”,,,” rt_content_margins=”,,,” rt_tablet_paddings=”,,,” rt_tablet_margins=”,,,” rt_tablet_content_margins=”,,,” rt_sp_paddings=”,,,” rt_sp_margins=”,,,” rt_sp_content_margins=”,,,”][vc_column_inner width=”2\/3″ rt_bg_effect=”classic” rt_bg_image_repeat=”repeat” rt_bg_size=”auto auto” rt_bg_position=”right top” rt_bg_attachment=”scroll” css=”.vc_custom_1642968090548{margin-left: -23px !important;}” rt_class=”rt-7685687″ rt_margins=”,” rt_paddings=”,,,” rt_wrapper_paddings=”,,,” rt_tablet_margins=”,” rt_tablet_paddings=”,,,” rt_tablet_wrapper_paddings=”,,,” rt_sp_margins=”,” rt_sp_paddings=”,,,” rt_sp_wrapper_paddings=”,,,” rt_bg_color=”” rt_bg_overlay_color=””][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″ rt_bg_effect=”classic” rt_bg_image_repeat=”repeat” rt_bg_size=”auto auto” rt_bg_position=”right top” rt_bg_attachment=”scroll”][vc_single_image image=”1081″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” onclick=”link_image”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1642968372643{margin-top: -15px !important;}”]<\/p>\n
Rev. Michael D\u2019Isreal Seymour-Jones<\/em><\/strong> [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n CONSECRATION OF NAMIK KEMAL LODGE<\/strong> OF MMM<\/strong><\/p>\n THE ORATION<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Rt W PGM and CO and Brethren.<\/p>\n Perhaps you may not be familiar with Edward Lear, but he is famous for his nonsense\u00a0 rhymes and verse of which the most familiar are his limericks such as:<\/p>\n There was a Young Lady of Norway, He also wrote longer pieces, among which was ‘The Ahkond of Swat’ and, selecting a few verses, it goes like this:<\/p>\n Who, or why, or which, or what, Is he tall or short , or dark or fair? Is he wise or foolish, young or old? The Ahkond of Swat? The Ahkond of Swat?<\/p>\n And so on, ending with, Perhaps, brethren, you will understand that, being merely British, on being told I would have to give an oration for the consecration of a lodge to be called Namik Kemal, I, like Lear, wondered ‘Who, or why, or which, or what is Namik Kemal?’ and whether there was ‘Someone or nobody knows, I wot, who, or which, or what, is Namik Kemal!’ and why brethren of Turkish extract would wish to name a\u00a0 lodge after him.<\/p>\n My first line of enquiry to find someone who knows, was to my good friend the Provincial Grand Director of Ceremonies: well, of course he didn’t know!\u00a0\u00a0 But he knew a brother who possibly did, so my enquiry was directed to your secretary designate who provided me with some links on the web, in which, at my age I’m only inclined to dip my toe!<\/p>\n It is probable that most of you may very well be familiar with what I have to recount, but, for those who are not, and to relate the appropriateness of the name being associated with a Masonic Lodge, I will press on!\u00a0 \u00a0Namik Kemal was born in 1840 of Albanian origin, Albania then being part of the Ottoman Empire, indeed his birth place is now in Turkey.\u00a0\u00a0 Of note to those who are unaware, surnames were not used in the time of the Ottoman Empire so Namik and Kemal were his given names.\u00a0\u00a0 He died at the age of 47, but in his relatively short life he established himself, as you may have read in the publicity for this event, as an Ottoman democrat, writer, intellectual, reformer, journalist, playwright and political activist, but not, as far as I am aware, a Freemason.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Correct me if I am wrong!\u00a0 As a young man Kemal travelled throughout the Empire, staying in Constantinople, Kars and Sofia.\u00a0\u00a0 He studied a number of subjects including poetry, of which more later.<\/p>\n His first job was in the Translation Office of the government, but as a result of the political nature of his writings, he was dismissed and so joined a friend and fellow Young Ottoman, which he had become in 1862, as a journalist.\u00a0\u00a0 His essays on urging political reform in favour of a parliamentary democracy as opposed to the Sultanate led to the first of his three exiles.\u00a0\u00a0 Perhaps his actions were perceived as ‘having a tendency to subvert the peace and good order of society.’!\u00a0\u00a0 Which, of course, would certainly be considered unmasonic.\u00a0\u00a0 However it is clear he and his fellow Young Ottomans were reformers not revolutionaries.\u00a0\u00a0 As a result of his time spent in Paris during his first exile he became an admirer of the constitution of the French Third Republic in particular but of Western European ideals of statehood and democratic government in general.\u00a0\u00a0 He summed up the Young Ottomans’ political ideals as \u201cthe sovereignty of the nation, the separation of powers, the responsibility of official, personal freedom, equality, freedom of thought, freedom of press, freedom of association, enjoyment of property, sanctity of the home.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Of which, \u201cpersonal freedom, equality, freedom of thought and\u00a0 freedom of association\u201d must surely resonate with Masonic thought.\u00a0\u00a0 It was with the spread of these concepts throughout Turkish society that led to a wider acceptance of Freemasonry in Turkey.<\/p>\n Though apparently, as I have already stated, Kemal was not a mason, there are passages in his writings, particularly in his poem ‘Ode to Freedom’, which particularly resonate with Masonic sentiment.\u00a0\u00a0 Three quotations from M Bahadirhan Dincaslan’s non poetic translation:<\/p>\n Those who consider themselves human do not grow weary of serving people, the generous never hesitate to give the helping hand to the oppressed.<\/p>\n That one considers himself the most humble that he pays no attention to his own desires.<\/p>\n The wonders of benevolence is born to the conflicts of people’s thoughts.<\/p>\n It strikes me that his career has a remarkable parallel with that of the craftsman represented by the candidate in our Mark ceremony of advancement.\u00a0\u00a0 The, possibly precociously skilled, craftsman, having probably\u00a0 seen a copy of the plan of the keystone, decides that it is a piece of work well within his capabilities and so executes the work with great skill and artistry only to have his work rejected three times, through lack of vision bound by the mentality of blind obedience to the rules, and finally condemned.\u00a0\u00a0 Never-the-less he had persevered, ignoring the rejections of the Junior and Senior Overseers, confident in his own ability and the skilfulness of his work, to the final arbiter the Master Overseer.\u00a0\u00a0 Fortunately the worth of his work was eventually recognized. Similarly is the work of Namik Kemal in campaigning for the democratization of the Ottoman Empire symbolically thrice rejected by his exiles.\u00a0\u00a0 Apart from seeing the establishment of the first token parliament he must have felt, during his last exile in Chios, like saying \u201cAlas, alas my labour is lost.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 However his work did come to fruition and his persistence in pursuing his ideals justified by the fact that Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern state of Turkey often remarked how he was influenced and inspired by Namik Kemal.\u00a0\u00a0 So he would have been justified in exclaiming \u201cThanks be to God I have marked well.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 I feel sure brethren that you will agree with me that, although not a mason himself, the name Namik Kemal is one that is well suited for\u00a0 that of a lodge of Turkish Mark Master Masons.<\/p>\n As has become my custom I will finish by quoting from Psalm 118 (NRSV) <\/em>in which we first read of the stone rejected by the builders.<\/p>\n The stone that the builders rejected Brethren, I pray that by persistence in pursuing the principals of our order success may indeed come in abundance to Namik Kemal Lodge and its brethren!<\/p>\n W.Bro. Rev. M.D. Seymour-Jones [vc_row rt_row_background_width=”fullwidth” rt_row_content_width=”default” rt_row_style=”default-style” rt_row_height=”” rt_column_gaps=”” rt_row_shadows=”” rt_row_borders=”” rt_bg_effect=”classic” rt_bg_image_repeat=”repeat” rt_bg_size=”cover” rt_bg_position=”right top” rt_bg_attachment=”scroll” rt_bg_layer=”” rt_bg_video_format=”self-hosted”][vc_column width=”1\/4″ rt_bg_effect=”classic” rt_bg_image_repeat=”repeat” rt_bg_size=”auto auto” rt_bg_position=”right top” rt_bg_attachment=”scroll”][vc_wp_custommenu nav_menu=”34″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”3\/4″ rt_bg_effect=”classic” rt_bg_image_repeat=”repeat” rt_bg_size=”auto auto” rt_bg_position=”right top” rt_bg_attachment=”scroll”][vc_row_inner rt_row_background_width=”fullwidth” rt_row_content_width=”default” rt_row_style=”global-style” rt_row_height=”” rt_column_gaps=”” rt_row_borders=”” rt_bg_effect=”classic” rt_bg_image_repeat=”repeat” rt_bg_size=”cover” rt_bg_position=”right top” rt_bg_attachment=”scroll” rt_bg_layer=”” rt_bg_video_format=”self-hosted” rt_class=”rt-6383189″ rt_paddings=”0,0,,” rt_margins=”,,,” rt_content_margins=”,,,” rt_tablet_paddings=”,,,” rt_tablet_margins=”,,,” rt_tablet_content_margins=”,,,” rt_sp_paddings=”,,,” […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-932","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markmastermasons.com\/namikkemal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markmastermasons.com\/namikkemal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markmastermasons.com\/namikkemal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markmastermasons.com\/namikkemal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markmastermasons.com\/namikkemal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=932"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.markmastermasons.com\/namikkemal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/932\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1084,"href":"https:\/\/www.markmastermasons.com\/namikkemal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/932\/revisions\/1084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markmastermasons.com\/namikkemal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nPAGSwdB<\/p>\n
\nWho casually sat in a doorway;
\nWhen the door squeezed her flat.
\nShe exclaimed \u201cWhat of that?\u201d
\nThis courageous Young Lady of Norway.<\/p>\n
\nIs the Ahkond of Swat?<\/p>\n
\nDoes he sit on a stool or sofa or chair,
\nor Squat’
\nThe Ahkond of Swat?<\/p>\n
\nDoes he drink his soup and his coffee cold, or Hot<\/p>\n
\nDoes he wear a turban, a fez, or a hat?
\nDoes he sleep on a mattress, a bed, or a mat, or a cot,<\/p>\n
\nSomeone or nobody knows, I wot,
\nWho, or which, or what,
\nIs the Ahkond of Swat!<\/p>\n
\nhas become the chief cornerstone.
\nThis is the Lord\u2019s doing;
\nIt is marvellous in our eyes.
\nThis is the day the Lord has made;
\nlet us rejoice and be glad in it.
\nSave us we beseech you, O Lord!
\nO lord, we beseech you, give us success!<\/p>\n
\nPAGSwdB, PPrGSW, ProvGChap[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"