It's a Big Deal

 It's been far too long since my last posting. It certainly isn't a lack of activity in our local lodges, it's just laziness on my part. It's refreshing and a jab to the gut when I encounter a brother who asks when are we going to see a new post on your blog, so here we go.

Somehow I managed to make it 40 years in the fraternity and was honored to receive my life membership I'm truly honored.

The daylight is beginning to wane, summer is bidding farewell and the Lions play their opening game tonight.....that can only mean one thing....autumn is upon us and we are getting back into doing Masonry after a very nice summer off.

Now is the time that the incoming Masters are hopefully putting the finishing touches on their upcoming installation of officers. The installation ceremony can be very powerful and meaningful or it can be dull and uneventful. There is one issue, that of whether to have an "open" or "closed" installation....meaning either open to the public or closed to the public.

This year hopefully will be different, but last year seemed to disturbingly lean toward .....closed.

There are still many brothers that like to espouse that we are dying, we don't have the members we used to and so on. For our fraternity to supposedly be on life-support, we seem to be scrambling to get all of the degree work done before installation time and the holidays, or getting the work done before Grand Lodge session, or getting it done before we go dark. If in fact we are dying....why are there so many degrees.

Yes, our numbers are less than in the old days but look at the demographics we inherited. We are born, we live, we die....but is death the end of man and the expiring hope of all faithful Masons....no....blessed be God. It seems to me that we are nearing the point where we will start to make some positive growth. It boggles my mind when brothers say that we are dying but we keep doing more and more degrees. Unfortunately many have passed on to the Celestial Lodge above, we have lost some key players but we need to foster and mentor newly made brothers.....and I see some brothers rising to meet the challenge.

Now back to the issue at hand, installations. Open or Closed is the question. My thought is that it's a great time to shine and hopefully expand our reach. We need to remember that we do have some fresh officers and they have never been installed before or maybe only once or so. True we do have some retreads in offices from Worshipful Master on down through Junior Deacon. The fact is that an open installation allows for family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers, etc. to witness what it is that we do. I've heard that we just don't get the turnout that we used to.....this is true.....but have the officers actually invited people to attend, do we send out invites???

To be installed as an officer of a lodge should be something the brothers want to share with their families, friends, co-workers, and neighbors. My view is somewhat slanted I suppose, having come up in DeMolay, installations were a great time for all, then at Fellowship Lodge the feeling continued. It was just a matter of course that the installation would be "open" and the officers were excited to share the honor with ones that matter to them.

Back in the day, it was very rare for a lodge to have a closed installation. Somehow we have lost our way and just go through the paces to get it done, and having a closed installation is far easier. The easy path doesn't always profit the lodge, the brothers, and the craft.

Just a few years ago, Otisville was having closed installations as a matter of routine. When WB Dale Thomas was elected the first time as Master of Otisville he had an open installation. There were 100 people there for that installation, it was the first open installation in some time and WB Dale made sure that he invited people and encouraged them to attend, and they responded accordingly.

There are many challenges facing today's lodges, among them is who will actually fill the leadership roles in the lodge. Unfortunately many lodges don't plan in advance who will most likely be filling which chairs. When a brother is installed as Senior Warden he should begin to plan his most likely installation as Worshipful Master. By doing this he actually has a whole year to put things together for his installation.

By putting this kind of emphasis on the event, it will surely create an atmosphere in the lodge that the installation of officers is a big deal and should foster the brothers to treat it as such and realize that it is in fact a "big deal", one that they will want to share with others.

It's been said before that enthusiasm breeds enthusiasm, the incoming Worshipful Master needs to stress that to his officers and encourage them to invite people to attend. Hopefully inviting more than brothers from other lodges, but invite those who may have never been in a Masonic Temple or attended a Masonic Ceremony. This is the lodge's time to shine and gain some much needed positive exposure.

Are We Ready

We touched on a few things in the last post concerning our readiness as we move forward. As we talked, January finished strong. There has been a strange mix of events in terms of the degree work. Great examples of brilliance with some not so brilliant.

My belief is that the ritual is what separates us from the rest of the fraternities. Men throughout the ages have craved and sought esoteric and philosophical teachings concerning how to live a profitable life. We are richly blessed that the words laid down in our esteemed little black book hold many answers and raise many questions for us to ponder as we journey through this adventure called life.

It has been said many times in this blog that the authors of our ritual were extremely gifted in how they put the ritual together. It wasn't easy getting to the point we now enjoy, but the end result is remarkable. The authors were highly skilled in their choice and placement of words, for example the meaning of a single word may take 10 words to explain.

It pains me greatly when such little care and respect is given to the words of our rites and ceremonies. There are examples of brothers feeling they don't like the way the ritual is written and feel they can insert their own words and convey the same meaning. That is totally preposterous given the fact that they can't deliver the words that are written....why should they be trusted to insert their own words  when they don't comprehend the ones that have been passed down through the ages 

We or I should say, I am bantering around the word "ritual" quite a bit....in our area we Masons refer to the written text of our three degrees as the ritual....this word has different uses and variations, it kind of reminds me of the mother of all swear words because of it's different uses. For example, I always take my ritual with me to lodge, we enjoy visiting that lodge because they do great ritual work, he's known to be quite the ritualist, 

In reality the word ritual mean a solemn ceremony....or another definition can be a "rite of passage". Actually we are going to a solemn rite of passage at ABC Lodge and we will be carrying our black books which describe the ceremony and how to perform it.....thank goodness we can just say ritual.

Sorry about the tangent but I think I picked up a new subject for the blog....so we had the case of wanting to rewrite the ritual because someone didn't like the style. We also have the case where many young officers busted their hump to make their degree a very successful evening....then we have the lodge who seemed woefully unprepared and completely lost at times. The old cliché was mentioned that my goodness we give the appearance of having never practiced this degree to be followed up by another....there is so much brass here tonight, I froze and completely lost my bearings, and my dog ate my homework.

Also we saw some true leadership displayed by a Grand Lodge Officer, with the newly initiated brother out of the lodge room, he addressed the very poor performance of portraying the EA degree. It was done professionally, politley but firm. He said that the degree is for the candidate not us. We have but one chance to make a good first impression. His question was, how impressed do you think the candidate was, and that it was a true injustice to the candidate to have not presented him with the best degree possible.

This leads to ask, "Are We Ready?" if we aren't how do we get ready? With anything that is done well there are a few things that can be done in preparation not only for degrees but anything we do in life that we want to do well.....we had a series of training tapes here at work and his favorite thing was Practice, Drill, and Rehearse. 

When it comes to degree work, the lodge officers need to study on their own, work with a close brother or brothers to get the words out in the open, and if the lodge knows they are shaky they need a practice degree working together to work out the kinks and rough spots.

It's an involved process. Much studying and preparation needs to be done by each individual officer. The time to study is not on the way to lodge and walking into the lodge room. The hours required depends on the person, but I know I have logged countless hours studying my work.

It is possible for everyone to study individually and come together on the night of the degree and pull it off......if they have some experience in degree work, otherwise it behooves the lodge to actually practice the degree beforehand.

According to the Great One, WB Bennie King....when studying a part, always recite it out loud to yourself or the steering wheel while driving or your dog....many dogs have received many fine lectures over the years....but, yes verbalize it....this will enhance one's practice.

As mentioned above we get one chance at a first impression. Imagine if you will, a young man discovers his grandfather was a Mason. He begins his research into the mysteries of Freemasonry, usually this is done online. Many things are unearthed, secret handshakes, certain gestures known as signs, many of the founding fathers of this great country were Masons. Mystery, intrigue, and suspense. The young man stumbles on to the Michigan Grand Lodge site, and after a few emails and phone calls and spending some time with men who are unknown to him. He's investigated maybe some of his friends and business acquaintances are contacted......then he finds himself at the lodge. After arriving he is prepared for initiation and is led into the lodge room. He finds himself being quizzed and his escort or conductor is supplying the answers .....and then it happens, the conductor and the one asking questions quite clearly have no idea what they are talking about. The candidate surely asks himself, is this why it's a secret....it's so secretive that they don't know how to communicate it to each other.....or is it that they don't care to the point it makes them look like bumbling fools......there goes the first impression out the window.

All of the mystery and intrigue are gone as the Wardens and Senior Deacon stumble around trying to communicate the word, the handshake and the sign. Suddenly the prospect of these men ruling the world and being movers and shakers is gone. I'm not suggesting that we are movers and shakers but we should be proud enough of our fraternity that the modes of recognition is something we highly regard and treat them with the respect that their history and heritage deserve.

This is why practice, drill, and rehearse has to be part of our routine. The questions and responses to the Wardens before and after the obligation need to be routine and come so natural the impression is given that they have been practiced so much that they come off as second nature. If you've ever talked to someone who was in military service, regardless of how long they've been out they can rattle off their number in the blink of an eye, they never forget and they know how to recite it instantly.

There are a few keys to being ready to move forward. First, the work...the ritual needs to be impressive to the candidate. Secondly a brother needs to take the newly made Mason under his wing, mentor and guide without pushing. Get the new Brother involved doing something, even a small job or a small part in a degree, get them involved. Be sure to include the newly made Brother in all things, invite him to travel...make him feel that he is a part of something, because he is.

Now We Move Forward

 It's that special time of the year when the lodges are coming off the installation hangover, the holidays, etc. Now it's time to move forward into another year in Masonry.

One thing that really stood out about this most recent installation season was the number of closed installations. In talking with some of the brothers it was mentioned that when you've seen one installation you've seen them all. That may be true for some that have been around for a while but not true for everyone.

Years ago, shortly after the disappearance of the dinosaurs I went into line. I served two years as steward before moving on to Junior Deacon then all the way up through the ranks. My wife at that time, my kids, parents, in-laws, friends etc came out for every installation, they were all open. At that time a closed installation was very rare and almost unheard of.

An open installation does many things. It brings out family, friends, and relatives so they can see our buildings and meet those we are spending our time with. It is an outward symbol to the community, because they see an unusal amount of vehicles in the parking lot of the local Masonic Temple. While doing all of the above, those attending witness the fellowship and perhaps pick up on a few of our teachings.

I'm sure that my family thought they had seen plenty of installations but I was proud to have them there and to show that I was making progress in the fraternity. Pride of membership was something that we cherished in the old days and we were always eager to demonstrate that to our families and public at large.

An installation was something of a gala event. The officers had their boutonnieres and the ladies their corsages. The officers were all dressed in tuxedos, it was a formal affair for sure.

I feel the lodges lose out in many ways when the installation is closed, just my opinion. Well enough about installations time to move forward.

As we are now moving forward once again after the stagnation of the season of Covid we can get back to doing Masonry. The beginning of January was a little slow in the degree department but it appears that the closing weeks of the month are producing very good results.

Again, we are seeing many men move into the ranks of Masonry. A good variety of degrees in all three degrees. My worry stays the same, can we make a good enough impression, display enough brotherly love and friendship to entice them to come back and get involved.

Invariably when there is a decent size crowd, the old timers(myself included) begin reminiscing about the old days and the hustle and bustle of the work and the vast number of lodges and brothers at that time. I'm sure they are all thinking as I am.....what happened? Why are we struggling to make a comeback.

It appears that with all of the work we do that we should be making a comeback based on the numbers of newly made brothers and the number of degrees throughout the entire area. But, it seems that in a few months when we go back for another degree those who were just raised are not in attendance.

The Grand Lodge of Michigan has instituted the 6-step program for aspirants, and they also encourage mentoring new members. My fear is that the lodges only follow these initiatives half-heartedly. Recognizing of course that these newly made brothers need to be somewhat self-motivated in seeking more light on their journey.

As we move forward are we willing to bend our standards, traditions, heritage, and basic lessons that were taught  and embraced by local lodges not that many years ago.....or should we keep some of those standards and teachings in place moving forward....after all it brought us this far.

Scheduling of degree work.....again they are joining us, I realize some flexibility is needed but we should dictate when and where. When entering the line, certain parts of lectures need to be learned as well.....and what about memorials....there are some nice small parts that the line officers could learn and this would foster them to actually attend memorials.

Mentoring should be happening during the 6 steps, when the petitioner begins his degree work, after the degree work, after the brother is raised, and for as long as it takes for the new brother to become acclimated to what is going on. Involvement is the key.

This week I've been to 2 Master Mason degrees and witnessed 4 new brothers raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason. Where will they be 3 months from now? Will they be floundering on their own without guidance or will they be guided and encouraged by a brother or brothers of the lodge?

In addition to getting the new brothers involved in the busy work of the lodge such as cleaning, building repair, fund raising, and so forth; we need to get them involved in the "work" of the craft. There are many smaller parts in our ritual that are easy to learn and easy to recite.....along with these parts there are non-speaking fellowcraft parts. We should really encourage the brothers to get engaged with the ritual. Some will really enjoy it while others may not, now is the time to find out.

During these "modern times" there are far too many Worshipful Masters that cannot open or close lodge, there are even more that stumble through the opening and closing but can't do degree work,. I feel this is an indication of their leadership skills and lodge development skills as well. However, the title of Past Master will be bestowed and $300-$500 spent on a Past Masters apron.

It seems to me that the installation ceremony describes the incoming Master as an expert craftsman and highly skilled. We have to get beyond the fact that a brother has served as Warden and meets the mirror fogging requirement to gain the seat in the East. A bother's performance in either the South or the West seems to be an accurate indicator of the type of Worshipful Master he will be.

We all bear responsibility in making this fraternity prosper. From the youngest EA who stands in the northeast corner to the Worshipful Master who has been elected to preside over his lodge.....first-line signers of petitions, mentors, Past Masters, officers, and members....we all have to be more engaged in teaching and leading.....and voting qualified people into line and voting for those who are duly qualified to advance through the ranks.