Freemasonry is a post-collegiate mostly-all male fraternity dedicated to the social development of the member to form a broader sense of the self and their community.
In the Entered Apprentice degree, the new Masonic initiate is taught about Jacob’s Ladder and how it applies to Masonic symbolism. Of course, in Masonic symbolism, three of the rungs on Jacob’s Ladder represent faith, hope, and charity. The story of Jacob’s Ladder and its symbolism is beautiful and a wonderful example of God’s relationship with mankind. However, for many years I have struggled with the fact that Jacob received this vision—and God’s favor—immediately after deceiving his father Isaac and taking his brother Esau’s blessing. How could God let such a sin be committed without any negative reaction? When examining the whole story of Jacob we discover that Jacob’s biography is a great example of religious universality. Just as Jacob’s ladder is a story which appeals to many outside of the Jewish faith, Jacob’s betrayal of his brother and father is atoned for by a principle from the East when he becomes a victim of Karma.
Does the Buddhist idea of Karma exist in Christianity?
Karma is the Buddhist ideal that for every action there is an equal and just reaction. It is the age old principle of cause and effect. Give charity to your brother and in turn you will be given charity when you need it. Wrong your brother and you too will be wronged. It is the Golden Rule: do unto others as you wish they should do unto you. People often visualize Karma as being cosmic, but not necessarily the direct justice of the Almighty. However, when God hands out punishment in the Old Testament, this is in fact a version of Karma. But the story of Jacob is different from most in the Old Testament because no where in the scripture does the author clearly state that God was displeased with his dishonesty. This is where Jacob becomes a perfect example of the cosmic force of Karma.
In the 27th chapter of Genesis, Rebekah helps Jacob deceive his blind father Isaac in order to obtain a blessing meant for Esau. While Esau is out hunting for game in order to cook a meal for his father, Rebekah and Jacob prepare a meal and Jacob takes it to his father, lying when his father asks him if he is Esau by saying “I am.” Of course, Jacob wrongly receives the blessing and when Isaac realizes that he has been deceived he does nothing to correct the error. Later, Jacob has the famous vision of the ladder extending from the earth to heaven where God promises him that his descendants will be as the dust on the earth.
How could God remain silent about this injustice? In Genesis 29, Jacob once again seems to find favor in the eyes of the Lord. Jacob goes to work for a man named Laban and falls in love with Rachel, his youngest daughter. Jacob is so enamored with Rachel that when Laban asks him what he deserves in return for his work Jacob agrees to work for seven years in order to marry Rachel. Laban agrees to this and after seven years Jacob asks him for his daughters hand. However, when the long awaited night comes for Jacob to lay with Rachel, Laban deceives him and sends his oldest daughter Leah to Jacob’s bed. When Jacob awakes the next morning he is incensed at the fact that he has been betrayed. Laban simply states that the oldest daughter should be married first and that Jacob will have to work for seven more years in order to marry Rachel.
This is the perfect cosmic justice for Jacob. Not only is he forced to work seven more years to earn what he wants—essentially a seven year sentence for the betrayal of his brother—he is the victim of a similar birthright situation. Its irony is nearly comedic. We indeed discover that Karma is always at work.
This story shows the true universality of many religious concepts. While Karma may be Buddhist in its origins, we see that it plays a great role in the Old Testament. It also is alluded to throughout the world’s many great religions and one may astutely note that it also has a role in Masonry when one considers the purpose of acting upon the square. Jacob’s story is an excellent example which reminds us that Karma can affect everyone and that no matter what creed we may follow, we share the same values.
Probably the best way to differentiate between a commercial enterprise and a nonprofit organization is by asking, “Who serves who?” Whether it is a small business or a major corporation, the commercial enterprise is primarily concerned with serving its customers. In general, such companies will go to great lengths to keep their customers happy in order to promote repeat business and improve cash flow. They are also fully aware their customers have choices, if they are not satisfied with their product or service there is always someone else waiting to take the business away from them. It’s called the “free enterprise system.”
In theory, a nonprofit is supposed to provide a service or product for its constituents. Such people are pooled together primarily due to a common interest of some kind, be it a professional trade group, a homeowners association, a sports club, a fraternal/civic organization, a union, etc. Such organizations are usually legal entities operating under the sanctions of a state government and perhaps a parent organization. Normally, nonprofits are administered by a board of directors which include officers serving for a specific term of duty involving various responsibilities, such as a President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Committee Chairman, etc. It is not uncommon for people to covet such titles as it looks impressive on a resume and is often used to climb a social ladder. Whereas the intent for the administration of the nonprofit is to serve its constituents, quite often the reverse is implemented whereby the membership is coerced into serving its officers thereby creating a monarchy where one should not exist. As trivial or petty such organizations may appear, there are certain types of people who become drunk with power, probably because they never accomplished anything of substance in their professional lives.
Ideally, in a nonprofit, the officers should be ego-less and ever reminded that such groups are typically volunteer organizations and, as such, are under no obligation to follow orders. True, such groups will undoubtedly have governing documents defining specific duties and responsibilities; regardless, it is a volunteer organization where people participate as it suits them. The last thing a nonprofit needs is a bully or someone exerting his/her will to disrupt the harmony of the group.
Then we come to governmental bodies and agencies, be it at the municipal, county, state, or federal level. Like nonprofits, officers are elected from the constituency and, in theory, they are intended to represent the interests of the citizenry. As government bodies become too massive and complex we tend to become somewhat attached to our officials and less inclined to change them fearing it may hurt the system and services. This, of course, lends itself to the monarchy phenomenon and creates career politicians. If officials are left unchecked, a dictatorship begins to take root representing a genuine threat to freedom and democracy regardless of the institution.
So, what should we do when we find the constituents are serving the officials?
Voting is obviously the first alternative that comes to mind, but people can be rather apathetic and behave like sheep, which officials count on to manage the flock. Brainwashing and information management (aka “spin”) are devices commonly used for such control. Term limits is another alternative, unless it is discovered a one party system has been implemented whereby cronies take turns running an operation for someone else behind the scenes.
Perhaps the best approach though is to privatize government or nonprofit organizations thereby causing administrators to truly work for the people. Such institutions are certainly not new. To illustrate, commercial management companies are proliferating throughout the country to serve homeowner associations (since the officials are too lazy to assume responsibility themselves). Although you have to pay for such service, you can change companies at a moment’s notice. Privatizing government and nonprofit organizations offers one important advantage; since they are run by commercial enterprises, who understand the need for properly serving their customers, we would at least know “who serves who.”
Keep the Faith!
Note: All trademarks both marked and unmarked belong to their respective companies.
Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M. Bryce & Associates (MBA) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 30 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb001@phmainstreet.com
The following is the introduction to The Apprentice, a book I’ve been working on for some time and I needed to let it see the light of day before it strangled me. It is not the complete work, rather the first paragraph of twenty pages that follow behind it which explore the ideas and claims made here-in. In a nut-shell the work is an exploration of Freemasonry to the Hermetic system of Kabbalah that, I believe, matured into the systems that practice it today. Those systems, I believe, would not of evolved into what they have were in not for Pike’s work in crafting the Scottish Rite in the the manner he did.
So, I respectfully submit this to you and would delight in hearing your thoughts.
To say there is a first degree of Scottish Rite masonry may come as a surprise. As most commonly practiced, the Scottish Rite is a system of degrees that begins following from the traditional Masonic system in most prevalent practice today of blue, or craft, lodge masonry. Specifically the Scottish rite craft lodge degrees parallel the first three degrees of the Webb Preston York Rite System which is the dominant system of lodge ritual adopted in American Masonry in the early 1800’s.
In an earlier era, and along a parallel development, there existed a similar series of degrees that lead seamlessly into what we know of today as the 4th through 32nd Scottish Rite system. Sadly, only a few lodges today still practice the Rite’s precursor degrees, most notably the blue lodge in Louisiana, as the degrees are said to retain much of their earlier European and French roots[1]. Much of what is contained in those degrees mirror what is common practice in the York degrees, but there are differences and it is in those aspects of divergence that these earlier rituals hold some parlance for the Scottish Rite. To see this we must look to the earlier rituals so that we can find in them the fundamentals of the esoteric scholarship and taught in the Rite as applied by Brother Pike in the present day system. These differences become especially obvious in his degree analysis in Morals and Dogma giving us the opportunity to find out why. For those reading who are not already Scottish Rite masons the degrees, as they are taught in the multitude of valleys across America today, suggest a link between the Scottish Rite teachings by degree to the teachings of mystical Kabbalah, more precisely to the Kabalistic Tree of Life, something brought to the attention of the Scottish Rite candidates in the lecture of the fourth degree. In that fourth degree the connection is made loosely but in close analysis of the progressive degrees it becomes very clear to say that there is a distinct connection between the degrees, the 10 Sephirot and the 22 paths that compose the most universal representation of the esoteric Tree. As the fourth degree mention is a superficial reference it is our starting point to see the two as related and necessitates an extensive exploration of the following degrees within which we can find a multitude of parallels in the Rite’s construction.
As one begins to climb the allegorical Tree, very quickly it becomes obvious that veiled in its canopy are metaphorical links, ineffable symbols, and outright allegorical references to the connections between them — something that many writers, both Masonic and lay, have traced through a variety of esoteric systems of study. Was this system intended to mirror an ancient Jewish system of esoteric theology, or a device made use of by Pike to capture with such detail the similarities that he saw between them?
As you will begin to see it is the latter as the degrees lack the theology of Judaism, rather it takes on a parallel structure borrowing from this older tradition in a way that they become a natural compliment to one another, such that the two have become intricately linked — the Kabbalah of old intermingled with the Christian Mysticism of Cabbalah to become a syncretic blend of spiritual Qaballah unencumbered by strict religious dogma. Throughout his work Pike keeps the systems separate, acknowledging the idea of the one true God keeping the system in a predominately Christian worldview. With the skill of a master artisan, Pike weaves a tapestry of old and new thought together to knit the details of what he sees as the ideas that underlie all modern religions illustrating that importance into the system that is the inheritor of those combined faiths into the Scottish Rite. That choice to link the three degrees of Freemasonry, an old system at the time of his own contributions, revived as best he could the systems of the Hermetic esoteric tradition that we find in several modern magical systems today.[2] But, before those traditions could build on that work Pike welding these disparate systems together into an amalgam of esoterica, such that I believe they have become inseparable from the deeper meaning of the degrees. The lesson with their Qabalistic teachings has been interlaced in a way that to change their composition would change the very nature of the Scottish Rite itself. To that end the degrees, both the lower three and the higher 29 are — in and out of themselves — a complete loop which are formed into a circuit of learning that is its own birth, baptism, and maturation, that ever climbs the Tree towards a pinnacle of completion ending at the 32 degree. But before we get to that zenith, we must first start in the beginning, in the very roots of the Tree of Life, at the point just before the degree system begins where we can start to construct this understanding. That starting point is outside in the space before the door of the lodge room as the aspirant makes his first fateful knocks, which is the essence of what the first degree represents. To enter that space we must start with an explanation of the Kabbalah and our entry point through the degrees of Masonry into the Tree of Life through chaos of Ain Soph becoming the Sephirot of Malkuth.
[1] No known catalog of ritual practice comparisons is believed to exist.
[2] Such traditions are likely, in the opinion of the author, outgrowths and parallel developments of the work of Pike in Morals and Dogma and the Scottish Rite. Such groups include the Golden Dawn, Ordo Templi Orientis, Thelema, Theosophy, and other like Hermetic systems.
The Beehive is proud to present the second article on the Wilbert M. Curtis Library Museum of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Texas opened this June, 2011. This article was written by the Grand Editor of The Grand Lodge Publication, “The Texas Prince Hall Freemason” and will appear in the Fall 2011 issue of that publication. We get to read it now. My thanks to Brother Burrell Parmer, Grand Editor, for a much more detailed article than I penned.
Telling Our Own Story: Wilbert M. Curtis Texas Prince Hall Library Museum Unveiled
Story By:
Grand Editor Burrell Parmer (1)
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Texas
FORT WORTH, Texas – By the authority vested in the office of the Grand Master and in accordance with the constitution of The Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons of Texas, the Honorable Wilbert M. Curtis hereby called all Prince Hall Masons of Texas into the Grand Lodge’s 136th Annual Grand Communication held at the Grand Masonic Temple, June 24 – 25.
On June 25, the Wilbert M. Curtis Texas Prince Hall Library Museum was officially opened with a ribbon cutting ceremony and name unveiling at the Grand Masonic Temple.
The Library Museum adds another repository for the collection of Prince Hall Masonic History in the city. It will possess collections and preservation of Prince Hall Masonic History and activities in Tarrant County and throughout the state in the form of photos, paintings, books, articles, original lodge charters, cornerstones, ledgers, uniforms, a Lodge Room, etc. Many of the items date back to the late 1800’s.
Government officials from Tarrant County and the Texas House of Representatives, officials from the Tarrant County Black Historical & Genealogical Society and the Fort Worth Public Library were in attendance. Special guests included Grand Masters of Prince Hall Grand Lodges: G.M. John Miller of Arizona, G.M. Arvin Glass of Tennessee, G.M. Cleveland Wilson of Arkansas, G.M. Anthony Stafford of Florida, and G.M. Deary Vaughn of Oklahoma, who also serves as the Sovereign Grand Commander, United Supreme Council, Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Prince Hall Affiliation, Southern Jurisdiction.
Every Texas Prince Hall Masonic Organization was represented to include Grand Worthy Matron Martha Wolridge and Grand Worthy Patron Robert B. Calloway Jr. of the Norris Wright Cuney Grand Chapter; Grand Most Ancient Matron Jackie Levingston and Grand Joshua Isaac Cary Sr. of the Grand High Court, Heroines of Jericho; Grand Princess Caption R. Lucille Samuel of the Lone Star Grand Guild, Heroines of the Templars Crusade; State Grand Loyal Lady Ruler Shirley Gideon of the Texas Council of Assemblies, Order of the Golden Circle; Most Excellent Grand High Priest Willie Tate of the Most Excellent Prince Hall Grand Chapter, Holy Royal Arch Masonry; and Right Eminent Grand Commander Ronald Gerac of the Lone Star Grand Commandery of Knights Templar Masons of Texas.
After the opening prayer by Deputy Grand Chaplain Rev. F.D. Sampson Jr. and the occasion delivered by Grand Junior Warden Frank Jackson. Grand Marshal Ronald Gerac made the Proclamation and the Consecration was then performed by Deputy G.M. Michael Anderson, Grand Senior Warden Bryce Hardin I, and G.J.W. Jackson overseen by the Hon. Edwin B. Cash, the only living Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge.
With the Consecration of corn, wine, and oil complete, G.M. Curtis with tears in his eyes cut the ceremonial ribbon and provided comments.
“We will now be able to tell our own story,” said G.M. Curtis. “I hope that the city of Fort Worth, Tarrant County, and the state of Texas will embraced this Library Museum and utilize it as a research resource.”
“The Library Museum has been on the Trestle Board of the Grand Lodge for many years. Now it has come to fruition,” said G.M. Curtis. “Getting to this point of the grand opening has been a rewarding experience not only for me but also for the team members that assisted me.”
After G.M. Curtis comments, he opened the door to the Library Museum and guests began to pour in to view its treasures.
The original design of the Library Museum was conceived by Nicole Hawthorne, daughter of Past Master Benny Tucker, the Chairman of the Archives Committee.
Hawthorne, a graduate of Baylor University with a Bachelors of Art in Interior Design, had been performing interior design since 2007. She was asked in June 2010 by her father to produce some drawings.
According to Hawthorne, she wanted to create something that reflected what the space would be used for.
“I wanted the look and feel of the area to resemble a turn-of-the-century, new world library. The antiquated, over-sized portraits displayed there were inspiration for the rest of the design and everything else branched from them,” said Hawthorne. “The design of the Library Museum was intended to be like a time capsule with a rich historic atmosphere.”
G.J.W. Jackson, who also serves as the Grand Lodge Historian, provided background on the Library Museum’s conception.
“The Library Museum is a labor of love, it came from a vision by G.M. Curtis and we are thankful for him and his leadership. One thing that alarmed us was that we were losing a lot of our history and archives at a very disturbing rate,” said G.J.W. Jackson. “If we were to look forward from today, maybe 50 to 100 years, it will be highly likely that people will know our story and I truly believe that you cannot really tell the story of Texas without telling the story of The Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Texas.”
“We are proud of our legacy, we are proud of our heritage. If we don’t tell our story, no one is going to tell it for us,” said G.J.W. Jackson. “We have numerous materials. We haven’t even been able to go through all the archives, and materials are still being donated.
Currently the Library Museum only shows you just a glimpse of our treasures. So when people come here, we want them to see the vision that our Grand Master has shared with us and for researchers to see the culture and history that Prince Hall Masons have contributed to the great state of Texas.”
The mission of the Wilbert M. Curtis Texas Prince Hall Library Museum is as follows:
To collect, organize, describe, make available, and preserve primary and secondary resource materials emphasizing the historical documentation of the M.W.P.H.G.L. of Texas and its impact on the cultural milieu on the broader local communities, the state of Texas, the Jurisdictions under its authority and the larger expanse of human kind.
To provide adequate facilities for the retention and preservation of such records.
To serve as a resource and research center to stimulate and promote creative teaching and learning through the use of primary research materials; and provide instruction in the use of those materials.
To promote research and scholarship by providing access and encouraging the use of its collections by members of the Masonic Family and the public at large.
To implement records management by formulating policy and procedures that will ensure the collection and preservation of the Library Museum’s materials.
The Library Museum is available to the public by appointment Monday thru Thursday from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Information about the Library Museum can be obtained by contacting the Grand Lodge Office at 817-534-4612 or by visiting www.wmctphlm.com.
Lt to Rt: G.M. Wilbert M. Curtis shakes hands with Territorial G.M. Dr. Osiefield Anderson of Florida, who was the guest speaker for the Masonic Banquet in the Lodge Room of the Wilbert M. Curtis Texas Prince Hall Library Museum, June 25. Standing behind them are Grand Master John Miller of Arizona, G.M. Anthony Stafford of Florida, G.M. Cleveland Wilson of Arkansas, G.M. Dr. Deary Vaughn of Oklahoma, G.M. Alvin Glass of Tennessee, and Grand Secretary Albert Kelly, Sr. of Louisiana.
Lt to Rt: Bro. Willie High Colman, Jr., chairman of the Prince Hall Charitable Foundation of Texas, Chairman of Archives Bro. Benny Tucker, Grand Editor Burrell Parmer, and Grand Junior Warden Frank Jackson sitting in front of portraits of Past Grand Master and officers of The Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge, F.&A.M. of Texas in the Wilbert M. Curtis Texas Prince Hall Library Museum June 24. The portraits are on loan from the Tarrant County Black Historical & Genealogical Society.
Lt to Rt: Grand Junior Warden Frank Jackson, Chairman of Archives Bro. Benny Tucker, and Bro. Willie High Colman, Jr., chairman of the Prince Hall Charitable Foundation of Texas reads through pages of a ledger belonging to the Fraternal Bank and Trust in the Wilbert M. Curtis Texas Prince Hall Library Museum, June 24.
Grand Master Wilbert M. Curtis cuts the ceremonial ribbon of the Wilbert M. Curtis Texas Prince Hall Library Museum at The Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge, Free & Accepted Masons of Texas’ Grand Masonic Temple, June 25.
Worshipful Masters and Brothers from throughout the state attended the 136th Annual Grand Communication of The Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge, F.&A.M. of Texas, June 24.
FACT SHEET
WILBERT M. CURTIS TEXAS PRINCE HALL LIBRARY MUSEUM
The Wilbert M. Curtis Texas Prince Hall Library Museum, located in the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge Free and Accepted Masons of Texas & Jurisdiction’s (M.W.P.H.G.L.) Grand Temple, at 3433 Martin Luther King Freeway, Fort Worth, Texas 76101 serves as the final repository for the historical records of the Grand Lodge, and as an archival repository for historical materials documenting the history of selective Texas Prince Hall Masons Masonic achievements related to: (1) the cultural history (to include the political, social, economic, religious, histories etc.) of the state of Texas and the Jurisdictions under the authority of the M.W.P.H.G.L. of Texas, (2) the activities and services rendered by the local Lodges to their respective communities, (3) the general interests, activities and services rendered to numerous communities within the state of Texas under the authority of the M.W.P.H.G.L. of Texas by its Appendant & Concordant Bodies.
The Library Museum welcomes gifts of books, papers, manuscripts, photographs, artwork, records, audio tapes, video tapes, maps, pamphlets, scrapbooks, oral history, memorabilia, and other archival records of historical value which will enhance the teaching, learning, research and service of the members affiliated with M.W.P.H.G.L. of Texas and or is interested in the advancement of knowledge related to Free Masonry.
Mission Statement:
The mission of the Wilbert M. Curtis Texas Prince Hall Library Museum is as follows:
To collect, organize, describe, make available, and preserve primary and secondary resource materials emphasizing the historical documentation of the M.W.P.H.G.L. of Texas and its impact on the cultural milieu on the broader local communities, the state of Texas, the Jurisdictions under its authority and the larger expanse of human kind.
To provide adequate facilities for the retention and preservation of such records
To serve as a resource and research center to stimulate and promote creative teaching and learning through the use of primary research materials; and provide instruction in the use of those materials.
To promote research and scholarship by providing access and encouraging the use of its collections by members of the Masonic Family and the public at large.
To implement records management by formulating policy and procedures that will ensure the collection and preservation of the Library Museum’s materials.
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge Free & Accepted Masons of Texas Prince Hall Masonry in Texas:
Under the leadership of Captain W.D. Mathews, Most Worshipful Grand Master of Kansas, Lodges of Free and Accepted Masons were established in Texas in 1871 and 1873 to wit:
These were the first Negro Free and Accepted Masonic Lodges organized in Texas.
In the early part of June 1875, Norris Wright Cuney, Deputy Grand Master, and Richard Allen, District Deputy Grand Master, acting under the authority of the Kansas Jurisdiction, issued a call requesting the above named Lodges to send representatives on August 19, 1875, to meet with Mount Lebanon Lodge No. 26, located in Brenham, Texas. The purpose was to organize then the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Texas.
Key Facts:
On August 20, 1875, the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge Free and Accepted Ancient York Masons of the state of Texas was organized in Brenham, Texas.
The first Grand Master of Prince Hall Masons in Texas was the Hon. Norris Wright Cuney.
The first 5 Prince Hall Lodges in Texas were charted by the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Kansas.
On June 28, 1950, the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge Free and Accepted Ancient York Masons of the state of Texas was renamed to The Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge Free and Accepted Masons of Texas.
The Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Texas is a descendant of the first Prince Hall Grand Lodge.
From 1875 to 1906, the Prince Hall Grand Lodge had no permanent meeting place. Its annual meetings were held in various cities in Texas. In 1906, Fort Worth became the Prince Hall Grand Lodge’s permanent home.
20 Grand Masters have served the Prince Hall Grand Lodge; currently the Hon. Wilbert M. Curtis currently presides as Grand Master.
There are 160 Prince Hall Lodges in Texas with more than 3,000 members.
Concordant Bodies of the M.W.P.H.G.L. of Texas include:
Most Excellent Prince Hall Grand Chapter Holy Royal Arch Masons
Lone Star Grand Commandery Knights Templar Masons
Orient of Texas, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite Masons
Appendant Bodies of the M.W.P.H.G.L. of Texas include:
Norris Wright Cuney Grand Chapter
Prince Hall Grand High Court Heroines of Jericho
Lone Star Grand Guild Heroines of the Templar Crusade
Order of the Golden Circle Auxiliary to the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry
How could God remain silent about this injustice? In Genesis 29, Jacob once again seems to find favor in the eyes of the Lord. Jacob goes to work for a man named Laban and falls in love with Rachel, his youngest daughter. Jacob is so enamored with Rachel that when Laban asks him what he deserves in return for his work Jacob agrees to work for seven years in order to marry Rachel. Laban agrees to this and after seven years Jacob asks him for his daughters hand. However, when the long awaited night comes for Jacob to lay with Rachel, Laban deceives him and sends his oldest daughter Leah to Jacob’s bed. When Jacob awakes the next morning he is incensed at the fact that he has been betrayed. Laban simply states that the oldest daughter should be married first and that Jacob will have to work for seven more years in order to marry Rachel.
Probably the best way to differentiate between a commercial enterprise and a nonprofit organization is by asking, “Who serves who?” Whether it is a small business or a major corporation, the commercial enterprise is primarily concerned with serving its customers. In general, such companies will go to great lengths to keep their customers happy in order to promote repeat business and improve cash flow. They are also fully aware their customers have choices, if they are not satisfied with their product or service there is always someone else waiting to take the business away from them. It’s called the “free enterprise system.”
Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of 
