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The Universality of Freemasonry

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“[The Lodge] is of such vast dimensions to show the universality of Masonry and that Masonic charity should be equally extensive.”

Throughout the Masonic degrees, symbols are used to show the universal nature of Freemasonry. The idea that Masonry is universal is a grand idea and there is no doubt that it captures the attention of any new Brother by way of Freemason beliefs. But many Freemasons have probably asked themselves “How is Freemasonry universal?”

When we examine the definition of ‘universal‘ in the dictionary, we find a plethora of definitions. Two of these seem particularly applicable to the universality of Freemasonry. The first of these definitions is “existent or operative everywhere or under all conditions.”

Masonry is existent or operative everywhere, it does not exist solely within a lodge. Freemasons are taught to use the symbolism of the square and compasses in their transactions with all mankind. The charges of our order are intended to give us guidance for our conduct not only in the lodge, but when abroad in the outside world. Freemasonry’s symbolism is the product of those philosophical, moral, and spiritual principles which are universally accepted by man. The ideals of living a virtuous life, acting upon the square and walking upright by the plumb, and providing to relief to our fellow man are universally accepted ideas. Freemasonry only takes these concepts and removes the divisive and argumentative dogma that man tends to attach to them in order to provide a moral code with which all men may agree.

Freemasonry also accepts all men without regard to race, creed, or class. It only asks that they be men of good moral character with a belief in a Supreme Being. It is perhaps the only fraternity in the world that requires no further distinctions in order to become a member. This is a crucial element of Freemasonry for if it ever did distinguish between men because of their beliefs or background, it would no longer be a universal order.

The second definition applies to the universality of Masonic charity: “including or covering all or a whole collectively or distributively without limit or exception.” Masonic charity has no limitations. Recently, this is a concept that has often been forgotten by our fraternity. Masonry is not intended to support one specific charitable cause like many other organizations. Instead, Masonic charity is intended to provide relief to all men and all Brothers for any reason when it is needed. The only limitations for Masonic charity is that those providing the relief should not cause material injury to themselves. Masonic charity can only be described as universal if we accept this all-encompassing approach to relief.

When we take a moment to consider the far-reaching effects of Masonry, it isn’t difficult to see that the fraternity is a universal institution. As Masons, we can use this knowledge to apply the lessons learned within the lodge universally and uphold the dignified reputation of our noble art.

Who Serves Who?

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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.”

A nonprofit organization is another beast altogether.

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

For Tim’s columns, see:
http://www.phmainstreet.com/timbryce.htm

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Tune into Tim’s THE BRYCE IS RIGHT! podcast Mondays-Fridays, 7:30am (Eastern).

Copyright © 2011 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.

Masonic Center for Youth and Families

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Masonry helping the community, a subject near and dear to me especially given its taking shape in California.

The Masonic Homes of California today announced the opening of the Masonic Center for Youth and Families, a not-for-profit, outpatient facility that will provide integrated psychological services to youth ages 4 to 17 struggling with behavioral, academic, emotional, or social difficulties.

“Existing resources to help young people are strained and at times limited. The Masonic Center for Youth and Families is one of the few centers in the nation to bring together testing, assessment and treatment services under one roof,”

says Steffani Kizziar, executive director.

The center, located in San Francisco’s historic Presidio, is now accepting clients. Youth and families are eligible to receive services, which include:

  • Comprehensive assessment of the youth through cognitive, personality, and neuropsychological tests as well as interviews with the parents, teachers, and other individuals for additional insight
  • Psychodynamic psychotherapy, family therapy, and couples therapy treatment delivered through individual and group therapy and analysis
  • Comprehensive treatment management during and after care

“As professionals, we have witnessed attrition and oversimplification of needed services for children and adolescents,” says Dr. Terrence Owens, clinical director. “We are steadfast in our commitment to provide young people and their families the help they need and address psychological difficulties in a complex, comprehensive and thorough manner.”

Many of the staff professionals are nationally and internationally recognized leaders in various disciplines of the mental health field. The center’s integrative model of multidisciplinary collaboration among the clinical professionals provides the benefit of multiple perspectives for each client.

Each member of the center’s clinical staff holds advanced degrees and licenses and has an average of 20+ years of experience. Besides Dr. Owens, clinical director, key staff includes Philip Erdberg, PhD, research and assessment director, and Michael Bronzo, MD, medical director.

Charitable funding provided by the Masons of California allows the Masonic Center for Youth and Families to offer accessible treatment and flexible payment options. The center reviews each potential client on a case-by-case basis to ensure that all in need receive treatment, regardless of financial limitations.

“Our organization has been an advocate for youth and seniors for more than 110 years,” says Melvin Matsumoto, executive vice president of the Masonic Homes of California. “The founding of this center demonstrates our commitment to helping young people feel understood and empowered to realize their potential.”

For more information about the Masonic Center for Youth and Families, including the application and treatment process, visit www.mcyaf.org.

The center, from theirwebsite, says of its service:

The Masonic Center for Youth and Families is a place where young people who struggle with behavioral, learning, and psychological problems can unlock their full potential.

We form a complete picture of the young person’s life: how cheerful she is in the morning and how difficult her tantrums can be. That his report card shows Cs, but he invented a new axle for a truck when he was five. Then we base our treatment on what we learn.

We help young people find their voices, and then themselves.

This sounds like a terrific asset to the Golden State, and I’m really glad to see Masonic relief action.

How much Masonic Charity is enough?

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This story comes from the Concord Monitor story – Make Masons prove they shouldn’t pay from February 10th.

New Hampshire Freemasonry wants some relief, tax relief, under the umbrella of being being a charitable organization. The question from the state – how much charity is enough to BE a charity?

The push comes from five state representatives including Concord Democrat Stephen Shurtleff, all Freemasons, want to exempt Masonic temples from property taxes. The Bill is sponsored by Rep Alfred Baldasaro, Rep Stephen Shurtleff, Rep Shawn Jasper, Rep Sherman Packard and Rep Kenneth Weyler.

The test comes from a state Supreme Court ruling on a similar request from the Home Care Association of New Hampshire which sought an exemption from Concord property taxes too. In the ruling Associate Justice Gary Hicks wrote:

“charitable mission must be its dominant or primary purpose; if the dominant or primary purpose of its work is to its members or a limited class of persons, the organization will not meet this requirement, even if the public will derive an incidental benefit from such work.”

The language of the New Hampshire House Bill 396 would add the same exemption to Grange Halls too and reads:

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Eleven

AN ACT exempting the land and buildings of Masonic temples or building associations from property taxation.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 Property Tax Exemption; Annual List. Amend RSA 72:23-c, I to read as follows:

I. Every religious, educational, and charitable organization, Grange, Masonic temple or building association, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, the Disabled American Veterans, the American National Red Cross, and any other national veterans association shall annually, on or before April 15, file a list of all real estate and personal property owned by them on which exemption from taxation is claimed, upon a form prescribed and provided by the board of tax and land appeals, with the selectmen or assessors of the place where such real estate and personal property are taxable. If any such organization or corporation shall willfully neglect or refuse to file such list upon request therefor, the selectmen may deny the exemption. If any organization, otherwise qualified to receive an exemption, shall satisfy the selectmen or assessors that they were prevented by accident, mistake, or misfortune from filing an application on or before April 15, the officials may receive the application at a later date and grant an exemption thereunder for that year; but no such application shall be received or exemption granted after the local tax rate has been approved for that year.

2 Granges; Masonic Temples or Building Associations Added. Amend RSA 72:23-h to read as follows:

72:23-h Granges and Masonic Temples or Building Associations. The real estate and personal property owned by Granges or by Masonic temples or building associations which are incorporated in this state shall be exempt from property taxes. If such property is rented for business purposes, the real estate shall not be exempt.

3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect April 1, 2011.

The Bill is presently in the New Hampshire House Municipal and County Government Committee.

On the surface, the change puts Masonic Lodges in good company with the VFW, American Legion, and the Red Cross but as the Concord Monitor reports, unlike these similar organizations New Hampshire Masonry does not implicitly include charity as its reason for being rather it is a by product of its teachings – Not a charity but an organization that teaches Charitable ideas.  If memory serves, the Grange is a similar institution, a meeting hall social development organization for the farming community, but non religious, and not entirely charitable conscious.

When queried in an earlier article on the subject, Masons seek tax-exempt status, the Bill Sponsors said of seeking the tax exemption status:

“We represent what is hopefully the best of mankind,…We’re trying to teach how to better men. We refer to God, but we speak of God as the supreme being.”

“The Masons do a lot for charity,” said Shurtleff, a member of the Penacook chapter and a Freemason for more than 25 years. “I can see if a lodge rented out to another agency and generated money from it, it should be taxable. But if money comes only from membership and it works as a charitable entity, I don’t see why it’s not tax-exempt like other organizations.”

The savings in property tax, for one lodge at least would be close to $8,411.

Inherently, I think its a great idea to proclaim lodges and Temple associations as a charity, but with the mandate that there be some proscribed measure of charitable activity like the Red Cross or the VFW or some other activity that benefits society more so than just making charitably conscious members.  Occasional donations and scholarships are a stretch to being an institutional charity – but their a good start.  Like the Red Cross or the VFW create mission of Relief, one of the three principal tenets of Masonry.  And, in the end, that may be what the Bill sponsors are intending to do.

Faith, Hope, and Charity

Masons seek tax-exempt status

How Bill Gates redefines charity

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Charity has existed for as long as man has had enough to share.  Compassion is our basic drive to give for those less fortunate than ourselves.  Be it alm coins to the poor from the church in the 1500’s or Bill Gates giving 50 Billion dollar checks to foundations to give in his name.  The idea of what charity is has just been turned on its ear.

This is important because one of the more important elements of Freemasonry is its outlook towards Charity (faith and hope too).

How it came to be is likely a jumble of one time benefit societies, widows of workman, and an endearment towards mankind, especially as those of affluence looked towards those who were without.

It was an alms to the poor, the act of compassion, of love. Love in the sense of a divine love, not an expression of passion , rather a fraternal love. In a sense, the way the great Architect looks down upon you and I.

Over time, that Charitas, Charity, has evolved. Still the giving of alms, but instead of throwing gold coins to the masses, charity is now and endowment towards an institution. Think of the proverb that says instead of giving a man a fish, you teach him how to catch one.

Now, at the pinnacle of the pyramid of giving, Bill Gates has upped the anti. Rather than give his fortune to his children, instead he’s opted to give it back to the world.

Dust to dust, money to money….

But Gates with his friend and philanthropic colleague Warren Buffet are together asking other American Billionaires to donate half of their fortunes too.

It is an epic undertaking to imagine – so much accumulated wealth spread out to so many organizations. Gates and Buffett in asking other billionaires who make a pledge to do so publicly, with a letter explaining their decision.

“The pledge is a moral commitment to give, not a legal contract. It does not involve pooling money or supporting a particular set of causes or organizations,” they explain in a written statement about the project.

With such monumental giving, it makes me wonder if at the end of the day, those that need the help most will receive it, or if the distribution of money will just go to make other rich.

An alternative might be something like a kiva.com giving micro loans to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd world recipients to establish a business or materials to make an income.

Or, give it in a manner like Percy Ross who said of giving and the results of it

“He who gives while he lives also knows where it goes. . . . I’m having a ball, the time of my life.”

Why not give to those in need instead of funding new businesses to distribute the wealth?

But, Ross was considered gawdy and vulgar for his self promotion, and Gates,  rather than allow himself to be portrayed the happy vulgar giver, instead operates on the down low and letting others be the decision makers to how his money is spent.

Either way, charity has a new face in 2010 and it seems like Gates and the Billionaire Club are leading the way for giving.

With such epic giving as they do, is our lesser run of the mill giving any less valuable?

All things Shrine International on Masonic Central.

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The song bring out the clowns starts to ring in my head when ever I start to think about the Shrine in a large way.  Not out of any misanthropy but because of their excellent work and commitment to the happiness and well being of so many children.

To say the name of the Shrine International and instantly the image of charity, children’s hospitals, and Red Fez’s comes to mind, but behind those iconic images is an organizational powerhouse that, some suggest, drives the future of the Masonic fraternity.

Missed the Live Program?  Listen Now!

or, Download the Mp3

Joining Masonic Central this week is Imperial Sir Jeff Sowder who is Imperial Outer Guard for Shriners International to talk about all things big and small as it relates to the Shrine.  Of particular interest:

  • The History of the Shrine – How it formed, why it formed, and how its original formation has evolved.
  • The Present Day Shrine International – The Hospitals, Conventions, the 1.8 million a day in Charity, The iconic Clowns, and some of the recent controversy.
  • The Future of the Hot Sands – Growth, Diversity, and Its lineage to the ancient fraternity.

So many questions have swirled about the connections of the Shrine and the blue lodge that its time to put them to task and ask them of the Shrine themselves, and Imperial Sir Jeff Sowder has graciously stepped up to explore these topics and more about the “world’s greatest philanthropy.”

You can join the live Masonic Central program on Blog Talk Radio Sunday May 2nd, at 6pm PST/9pm EST and join our live interactive chat room to send us your questions and talk about the program, or you can call in with your live questions to 347-677-0936 during the show.

It promises to be an interesting and entertaining evening to say the least and a great way to discover more about this charitable powerhouse of the Masonic family. on Blog Talk Rad

For more information on the Shrine, visit: Shrine International

To Be a Shriner Now, visit: Be A Shriner Now

The Worshipful Master’s New Clothes

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the emperors new clothsAn updated version of “The Emperor’s New Clothes” by Hans Christian Andersen

Once upon a time there was a Worshipful Master who was so fond of his Lodge that he spent most of his time rehearsing degrees and attending meetings. There was plenty of fun going on in the Lodge where the Master lived. Bills and minutes were read time and again, and the Brethren thrived on hot pasta dishes.

Visitors occasionally visited the Lodge. One day there came two representatives from Grand Lodge. They said they wanted to help the Lodge, but first the Master would have to hold fundraisers for the Grand Master’s charity and support his agenda. The Master found the GL representatives hypnotic, especially when they promised to increase membership, offset the Lodge’s growing financial burdens, and simplify the operation of the Lodge. Not only were their promises unusually attractive, but their programs had the peculiarity of being invisible to anyone who was not fit for his post or who was hopelessly stupid.

“I say! These must be wonderful ideas,” the Master thought. “If they are true, I would have the best Lodge in the jurisdiction. Yes, I must implement these programs all at once.” And he set the Craft to work under the guidance of the GL representatives.

And so it came to pass that the programs were implemented immediately. Spaghetti dinners, pancake breakfasts, and fish fries became the norm. The Lodge dug into their pockets and produced handsome sums of money for the Grand Master’s charity. Lodge delegates attended Grand Lodge functions and followed the party line unquestioningly.

“Well, now, I wonder how everything is going?” the Worshipful Master said to himself. But there was one point that made him feel rather anxious, namely, that a man who was stupid or quite unfit for his post would never be able to see the benefits that had been produced. Not that he, the Master, need have any fears for himself – he was quite confident about that – but all the same, it might be better to send someone else first, to find out how things were going.

“I’ll send my honest old Secretary to check on the results as promised by the Grand Lodge representatives,” the Master thought. “He’s the best one to see what is going on, for he has plenty of sense and experience, and nobody fills his post better than he does.” So off went the honest old Secretary to a meeting with the Grand Lodge representatives who assured him that everything was going well. “Lord, bless my soul!” thought the Secretary, with eyes staring out of his head.

“Why, I can’t see any improvements in the Lodge.” But he was careful not to say so.

The two Grand Lodge representatives begged him to take a closer look – wasn’t the Lodge running just fine? Although the poor old Secretary opened his eyes wider and wider, he couldn’t see a thing, for there wasn’t a thing to see. “Good Lord!” he thought, “Is it possible that I’m stupid? I never suspected that, and not a soul must hear of it.” “Well, what do you think of it?” one of the representatives asked.

“Oh, it’s excellent! Things couldn’t be better!” the old Secretary said, looking through his spectacles. “I shall certainly tell the Worshipful Master how pleased I am with it.”

By and by, the Worshipful Master sent another honest Brother to see how the Lodge was running. The representatives accompanied him on his journey. As they traveled throughout the Lodge, the representatives made sure that the Brother saw only what they wanted him to see. He saw the Craft working on obscure projects, money being collected for the Grand Master’s Charity, and attendance at Grand Lodge workshops. “But our membership is still in decline, apathy among the Brethren is getting worse, and our financial situation is becoming dangerous,” the Brother thought to himself. And then he praised the programs, which he knew were compounding problems for the Lodge. “Yes, it’s quite sophisticated,” he said to the Worshipful Master when he got back.

The splendid programs became the talk of the district. And now the Worshipful Master himself said that he would check into the new programs himself. Quite a throng of select people, including the two honest old Brothers, went with him to where the Grand Lodge representatives were overseeing the programs.

“Look, isn’t it magnificent!” the two honest Brothers said. “What’s this?” the Worshipful Master thought. “I don’t understand a thing – this is appalling! Am I stupid? Am I not fit to be Master? This is the most terrible thing that could happen to me…”

“Oh, it’s quite wonderful,” he said to them. “It has our most gracious approval.” And he gave a satisfied nod. All the courtiers who had come with him looked and looked, but they made no more of it than the rest. Still, they all said just what the Worshipful Master said, and they advised him to discuss the programs for the first time at the next Lodge communications that was to take place shortly.

On the eve of the meeting, the Grand Lodge representatives sat up all night preparing a report for the Worshipful Master to read on the results of the programs.

Then the Worshipful Master went to the communications with the representatives and explained the programs to the Craft. Not wanting to appear unfit for their positions or to seem stupid, they all praised the Worshipful Master for the programs. “Marvelous! Sensational!” they all said. Never had the Worshipful Master’s programs been such a success.

“But you still haven’t solved your problems!” a young Entered Apprentice said. “Our membership is in decline, Brothers are staying away from the Lodge, and our finances are diminishing rapidly. At this rate, we’ll have to close our doors soon.”

“Goodness gracious, do you hear what he is saying?” the Craft whispered from one to the other. Then they all shouted, “But you still haven’t solved our problems!” And the Worshipful Master felt most uncomfortable, for it seemed to him that the Craft was right. But somehow he thought to himself, “I must go through with it now. I have too much invested in it already.” And so he drew himself up still more proudly, while the Grand Lodge representatives chased after him with him with more new ideas, even in spite of the obvious.

Keep the Faith.

Freemasonry From the Edge
Freemasonry From the Edge

by W:.Tim Bryce, PM, MPS
timb001@phmainstreet.com
Palm Harbor, Florida, USA
“A Foot Soldier for Freemasonry”
Originally published in 2008.

NOTE: The opinions expressed in this essay are my own and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of any Grand Masonic jurisdiction or any other Masonic related body. As with all of my Masonic articles herein, please feel free to reuse them in Masonic publications or re-post them on Masonic web sites (except Florida). When doing so, please add the following:

Article reprinted with permission of the author and www.FreemasonInformation.com

Please forward me a copy of the publication when it is produced.

To receive notices of Tim’s writings, subscribe to his Discussion Group.

Copyright © 2010 by Tim Bryce

Always Been Good Enough – The Emblematical Instant Coffee of Refreshment

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vintage sanka adA budget debate in Excelsior Lodge focused on memorial contributions for deceased brethren.  In the jurisdiction, it is customary for Lodges to remit a nominal amount as a memorial contribution to the state-wide Masonic charity, and I may reliably report that since time immemorial, that amount has been ten dollars.  I know this because several brethren of Excelsior Lodge have been Masons since time immemorial ;  one of them – Roy Mantooth —  was even Past-Master of Antediluvian Lodge No. 1, before he transferred, and his membership number, barely visible on his faded dues card, is four.

You read that right: Four.

Mine is 127598.  His is 4.

So the story goes, when they decided they ought to assign membership numbers, Solomon took number one, then Hiram King of Tyre, then the other Hiram, and then Mantooth because he was the one who always filled the coffee pot. With Sanka.   Anyway – so since forever Excelsior Lodge has sent ten dollars as a memorial, until this year’s  sitting master – a dangerous and revolutionary firebrand, not to mention a financial daredevil  – decided to make the contribution twenty-five dollars and chaos ensued.

As discontent is concerned, it was pretty mild, like most things Masonic. No shouting or anything (that’s for The Elks, or worse: The Eagles). No, it was more like watching dandelions taking over your garden, slow, inexorable, and not really noticeable, but you wake up one morning and think,  wow – where’d all those weeds come from?  But like discontent everywhere, it was deeply rooted.

“We need to lower that memorial contribution back down to ten dollars,” Mantooth was saying in his forceful manner, “it’s been ten dollars since I’ve been here and that’s always been good enough in the past.”

Always been good enough in the past.  You run into this sentiment a lot in Masonry.  In fact, I think it’s a Masonic motto: Is est satis pro habenae opus. A few nods from some of the older fellows and Mantooth started gathering more steam, “ I mean, if we were going to send flowers to the funeral – instead of sending a memorial to the Charity – we wouldn’t spend more than ten dollars, anyway…”

To be fair, Mantooth is not a florist, but one of the younger fellows piped up at that, saying  “that would be a pretty lame bunch of flowers for ten bucks,” but  it didn’t register.

And the problem is, it usually doesn’t register, because the divide between the older and younger members is very deep.  We’ve all noticed them in a hundred small ways – the emblematical instant coffee, for example, which, with a plate of day-old snickerdoodles from Albertson’s, is the Alpha and Omega of a typical Masonic fête.  Our meetings are slack, our regalia tattered, and our dress codes are either from 1974, or would shock the staff at the City Rescue Mission, take your pick. But more alarmingly, our lodge halls are crumbling.  In some halls this occurs because the members have fled the instant coffee for the latte house, but in others it comes not from penury but from pure parsimony, and heaven help the master who suggests raising dues.

These are all symptoms of  doing Masonry on the cheap, and its effects are insidious.  It means not paying proper attention to good form because it’s easier not to, and it means that the way things were in the past is not only good enough now, but for the foreseeable future.  This is why members think that flowers still cost ten dollars, that instant coffee is an elixir, and that red Bee Gees jackets present the image of the fraternity that will attract members in the critical 25 – 40 age group.  Because it’s always been good enough; no further analysis required.  If the goal of the fraternity was to rival the AARP in members over 65, we’d be in fine shape.

If not, it’s time to unplug the percolator. Go digital instead of analog.

I don’t pretend knowing how to pry the dead hand of the past off the steering wheel, but a good place to start is your officer line, you incoming masters.  Pack that sucker as full of young brethren as possible, giving yourself a coterie of men who share your priorities and who can withstand the insistence that the old way is the only way. With a young line, you still might have an antediluvian secretary (or treasurer), but with no voting bloc of his own, that’s a majority of one. Too often, the young men are sidelined because they don’t know the work, or because the master wants “seasoned” brethren in line to help him out.  This can be helpful in the short term, but it will defer our younger members assuming the mantle of leadership for as long as it continues.

And if you hate Sanka as much as I do – the sooner you start, the better.

This was originally published under audevidetace

Walking the Walk

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euphratesbanner

walk the walkEvery once in a while, I’ll meet someone that asks me “So what is a Freemason?”

Like most Brothers, I want to tell them how great of an organization is, how it is so important in society, and how much it has enlightened me personally, and usually I do. However, sometimes I feel a bit apprehensive about giving give these inquisitors the old Masonic sales pitch: “It’s the world’s largest and oldest fraternity. It is a group of men with good morals that gather to improve themselves through a philosophical education, fellowship with like-minded people, and improve the world through charitable acts.”

Now most of you are probably asking “What’s wrong with that?”

Well…nothing if you are encouraging men to join the fraternity, but there might be something wrong with it if you feel that it is very important to tell the truth. It is easy to use some flowery language and an impressive description to sell the fraternity, but to be truthful about what really goes on within a Masonic lodge can be difficult.

Would you really want to explain to a prospective Mason what really goes on at a typical lodge meeting? Let’s imagine how that conversation would play out.

Inquirer: So what do Masons do?

Mason: Well, we have a couple of lodge meetings a month.

Inquirer: What do you do there?

Mason: We read the minutes of the previous meeting and make any necessary corrections to them. Then we pay the bills, read any correspondence, and vote on any new petitioners. Then we proceed to discuss business for about an hour. Like, last week we were discussing how we were going to put on a spaghetti dinner. Our Junior Warden had it all planned out and then one of the older Past Masters told him how he ought to do it. We also discussed how we might go about making the necessary repairs to the building. Then we closed the lodge and went downstairs to eat some generic-brand cookies and drink some coffee before going home.

Inquirer: I thought you had philosophical education.

Mason: We do when we perform the degrees.

Inquirer: How often does that happen?

Mason: Sometimes once a month. Sometimes we will go several months without doing any degrees.

Inquirer: What about the fellowship you were talking about?

Mason: That’s what the coffee and cookies are.

Inquirer: What about the charity?

Mason: Well, that’s why we’re doing the spaghetti dinner, so that we can raise money in order to write a check to the Grand Lodge’s charity.

Inquirer: That sounds kind of boring.

Mason: Want a petition?

Freemasons view the organization in the proper light, but they don’t always run the organization with that same philosophy. Freemasons need to take all of the great things that they have to say about the fraternity and actually accomplish them in lodge.

We need to walk the walk, not just talk the talk.

At your next lodge meeting, take a chance and walk the walk. If someone talks about the greatness of Masonic charity, stand up and make a motion to go visit a sick Brother or provide some service for a Masonic widow. Read a paper on Masonic teachings and discuss it with your lodge. Go out to dinner with your Brothers and have some real fellowship.

That way, the next time someone asks you “What is Freemasonry?” you can answer them with a clear conscience.

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