Back to the Future???

With the influx of "younger" new Masons, I'm always curious how and why they wound up petitioning the lodge. The majority of the time the answer is the same, their grandfather was a Mason and their curiosity lead them on a search. At the end of the search they concluded that Masonry is a worthwhile endeavor and they sought membership to take part in what their grandfathers took part in.

A couple of things jump out right away. What happened to their fathers? How did they satisfy their curiosity?
The answers to the above questions are very similar in most of these situations. Their fathers didn't want to have anything to do with what their fathers were doing and the candidates satisfied their curiosity by researching the craft through the internet and the history channel.

So with that background, how are we as a fraternity satisfying the needs of these "younger" new Masons. We've made a huge deal out of down-playing the whole secrecy thing. One wonders if we have gone to far in that regard; granted there really are not many "secrets".....but do we have to shout that from the mountaintops....maybe a certain degree of "secrecy" is part of the attraction.

Have we made it too easy to enter the fraternity? Is it too easy to progress from one degree to the next?

There is a fine line between making it accessible and making it too easy. With the proficiency being eased it has allowed for some to become brothers that simply could not have made it through the old style proficiency, or could they have made it with their dedication and hard-work along with dedication and hard-work of the brother teaching him the lesson. I can remember my dad studying his butt off, he made it with his 10th grade education, hard-work, sheer determination and a couple of great mentors who he adored and became great friends with.

Recently there has been a lot of discussion concerning a partial return to the "old style" proficiency. With all the talk I drug out an old copy of the ritual and looked over the "lesson" from the old days. After looking at it and dusting off some brain cells I was actually able to read most of it. Once again I was proud of my dad and some other things jumped out at me.

First and foremost there is a wealth of knowledge in the lesson and it required one heck of a commitment on the part of the candidate and the mentor/teacher. In the lesson there are several things taught: the preparation and why, the floor-work, the signs and how and why they are used, and the working tools.....the working tools?,,,,,yes the working tools.

Something I realized was that at the completion of the lesson a candidate could do the obligation, know how the floor-work went, the questions from the wardens and the answers, know how to prepare a candidate and why, and do the working tools. Now that's a lesson, and giving that from memory represents a true education.

At times I use a rather brash term, I call it "the dumbing down of the fraternity"....I realize that dumbing is not an actual word but at times it seems to fit. Not only does this happen in the Blue Lodge but I've also noticed it at Scottish Rite as well.

As many others have questioned before me; have we sacrificed quality for quantity and have we really achieved the quantity we were hoping for. Have we sacrificed a valuable part of our institution, that of mentoring, teaching and forming a bond with the new brother for the sake of percieved good numbers?