Thursday, January 31, 2013

Which Way Do We Want It ?

One of the great philosophical questions of the ages....is the glass half-empty or half-full?

My last post was on January 22, a Tuesday. The following Saturday January 26, King Solomon's Club of Ancient District 20 held their annual election/installation of officers. Attendance was a little light this year because of scheduling conflicts, but still a good showing.

Toward the end of the evening the President of the club opened up the floor for announcements. Of course we had the breakfast, supper, and fund raising events announced. Following the knife and fork announcements came the degree announcements. This went on for several minutes, everything from Entered Apprentice degrees to Fellowcraft degrees and Master Mason degrees were announced. These were not restricted to one particular area of the county, they came from east, west, north, and south, and went on for quite a long time.

When things seemed to be completed, I arose and brought greetings from the Grand Lodge of Michigan and spoke to the recent good news that for the first time since 1959 the Masonic fraternity in Michigan experienced positive growth in membership numbers. I thought I was going to have the last word and we could end on some exciting positive news.........not.

True to our profession of yesteryear a seasoned Past Master stood up and said, speaking of the decline of the fraternity.....paraphrasing some but not much......speaking of the decline of the fraternity....hmmmmm

So....is the glass nearly half empty or well over half full ??????

We have to overcome this defeatist attitude.

A large portion of our growth is coming via the internet. Many of the young men joining the fraternity are grandsons of Masons. Our fraternity actually skipped well over a generation of young men who wanted nothing to do with what their fathers were doing. Now their sons are intrigued by the Masonic fraternity and in many cases their grandfathers were Masons but did not talk about it, although very proud, they didn't discuss it.

That guarded secrecy of the fraternity did two things. First, it helped deter a whole generation from seeking membership. In the late sixties and through the seventies the age of open minds, free flowing information, and sharing all things....the young men of the time did not "dig" being kept in the dark and excluded from the secrecy going on in those lodges. Second, now we fast forward to present day and the young men today are intrigued by the fraternity because their grandfathers were very proud members and when they ask their fathers what the fraternity is the dads can't answer...because they don't know.

I can picture the conversation going something like this.....hey dad, gramps was a Mason and very proud right....yeah he really enjoyed his lodge....dad, what is a Mason and what do they do......well, I can't answer that because I don't know, gramps never really talked about what went on there, when I asked he told me I would have to join to find out, but he never asked me to join, I never understood that......wow, sounds kind of secretive, I wonder what he did and I wonder what they still do.....well son maybe you should google it and see what you can find out....thanks dad.

So are going to moan and complain about the decline......or..........be excited by our first positive growth in over 50+ years.

If we are not positive and ready to meet the needs of these new young brothers....then the glass will empty out quickly my brothers. We have been hoping, praying, and working toward this goal....now we have reached this goal.....what do we do to respond????

By keeping the same mind-set the glass will quickly empty.......by embracing the changes and rejoice in one each others prosperity we can continue to grow this great fraternity which is bigger and stronger than any of us individually.


Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Crossroads



Brothers my hope and prayer is that everyone survived the holiday season and are enjoying another new year. The weather is brutal cold this morning which seems to go along with the Flint Shrine Circus.

The Grand Lodge of Michigan was extremely pleased to announce that for the first time since 1959 there was positive growth in the membership numbers for the year 2012. What that breaks down to is that we took in more members than we lost through death, transfers, demits, expulsions, and suspensions due to non payment of dues.

Along with growth comes growing pains from inside and outside the fraternity. We are faced with the challenge of meeting and exceeding the expectations of our new members. The lodges that are really growing and making things happen are heavily involved in the community and also have numerous events for the members of their lodges, family, and friends.

Another growing pain is to ensure that the officers of the lodge are friendly, profecient in their work, and are encouraging to the new members without pushing them into things too quickly.

These are just a few of the growing pains from within. Unfortunately growth is also influenced and affected by outside forces.

For many years now, well over 100 years in fact, the fraternity of Freemasonry has had appendant bodies. In fact in the real early years of the the 1800's the Royal Arch had a tremendous amount of members. Of course the Royal Arch is the first step of the York Rite. Through the 1800's into the first half of the 1900's York Rite Masonry was a natural progression for those Masons seeking further light in Masonry. Also during that time the Scottish Rite also enjoyed tremendous success to serve those who sought further light but in a different setting and type of allegory than the York Rite. Both bodies had the same goal but went about it in different ways. The common denominator was Masonic affiliation.

In the late 1800's the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine was created by Dr.Walter Fleming and William Lawrence a prominent actor at the time. It was created to be the Mason's playground for several reasons. First and foremost to promote a lighthearted venue for socializing and fellowship. It was thought that the Masons of the day having gone through the "three degrees" and then completed either the York Rite or Scottish Rite needed to a place to unwind and have fun with their brothers.

Masonic membership has always been a prerequisite for any of the appendant bodies and it was only recently that membership in either the York or Scottish Rite was no longer required to be a Shriner; Masonic membership is the only required prerequisite to gain membership in the Shrine.

A favorite blog of mine is Freemasons for Dummies by Christopher Hodapp. Hodapp does a tremendous job of reporting on Masonic events worldwide. Currently their is posted a letter from the Grand Master of South Carolina to the Imperial Potentate of Shriners International. The letter is requesting that all expelled South Carolina Masons be dropped from the roles of membership in Shriners International. Add to this the friction between the Grand Jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Arkansas which involves the question of expelled Masons remaining on the Shrine membership roles and our recent breakdown in fraternal relations between the Grand Lodge of Michigan and Shriners International ( which thank God has been restored ) and other debates between Grand Lodges and Shriners International and you have a recipe for seperation.

In other words....it appears that through numerous breakdowns of mutual respect and recognition, Shriners International is poised for severing of relations between the two fraternities. If such a separation were to occur, Masonic membership would no longer be required to be a Shriner. I must stress that views expressed on this blog are strictly my opinion based on observations made by me.

If such a separation were to occur what would be the effect on both fraternities? It's hard to guess what the numbers would be after the initial rumblings such an event would create. My thought is that there would be large numbers of defectors from both organizations. There are many Masons who feel very strongly that the Shrine needs to be tied to the fraternity of Freemasonry to remain grounded.....those brothers would probably forgo their Shrine membership. On the flip side there are a fair number of Shriners who for whatever reason have never appreciated the benefits of the Masonic fraternity, in some cases it's just not their "thing", those Shriners would probably not hesitate to relieve themselves of Masonic membership.

I think that the end result would be very negative for both organizations. It would be a tough decision for me to make. I have had a tremendous amount of fun in both sides....actually three sides if you include the Scottish Rite. My roots are in the Blue Lodge, over the years I have grown to love the fraternity...but it made a tremendous impact on me from the start....maybe I had a jump start in DeMolay. The Shrine is a terrific source of fun...of course having been in the clown unit for a number of years probably helped. The work that is done in the hospitals takes one's breath away. The Scottish Rite while ritualistic in nature is a great time, it allows for fellowship with fellow Masons from the local region as does the Shrine.

My hope is that Masonic membership remains a prerequisite for Shrine membership. Hopefully cooler heads will prevail and that all involved will remember the tenants of our profession. Through mutual cooperation and respect all will prosper......that's my opinion, which along with $2 will get you a good cup of coffee !!


Monday, January 14, 2013

Grave ????

A special thank you goes out to WB Dale Kuehn, Regional Grand Lecturer for 2A....a former Ancient District 20 brother I might add for the following contribution.


Grave?
     During the Fellowcraft degree Lecture we refer to music as one of the sciences.  In this portion of the lecture we refer to acute, grave and mixed sounds?

    Wow a grave sound? 
 
    I always thought that the grave was west of Mt. Moriah? I was corrected by a very knowledgeable DDI who had himself been corrected by a retired Professor of Music.  This retired Professor taught at one of our States finer Universities.  He clearly understood the proper use of the word Grave.  I myself included have been pronouncing this word wrong all along (shame on me). 
 
Grave
Definition: Adjective; slowly; with solemnity
Proper pronunciation: gra veh
Also Known As: Music that sounds serious and is played slowly.
Italian for "slow and serious"
Not: grāv which is a Noun; a place of burial for a dead body, typically a hole dug in the ground and marked by a stone or mound!)

    Our ancient brothers who set up our ritual clearly understood the words and their meanings. It always amazes me at what words they chose and understood.  If we would just dig a little deeper into some of the lectures and their meanings we would understand a lot more and continue on teaching new brothers about the history of our ritual.

    So how will you pronounce the word grave in a future lecture?  I know how I will!

Dale Kuehn, RGL2A