Patronizing the Assemblies

 Well....well....well....seems to be the current state of the "Craft" in our little area here. Lately some lodges have been overwhelmed with the response of visiting brothers attending degree work. For several years, many skeptics and nay-sayers have been saying that we are on the brink of our own demise.

It seems that the words of the Fellowcraft recap ring true once again....Freemasonry nothwithstanding, has still survived.....through a succession of ages, are transmitted unimpaired, the excellent tenets of our institution.

The numbers attending degrees here of late are staggering for our time. They remind many of the "good old days" when large numbers were the norm. Perhaps we are establishing a new "norm". Another encouraging factor is that the age of the candidates seems to be decreasing, young men seem to be the ones really embracing the craft and for a variety of reasons.

For some time, I've been commenting that it sure seems that we are doing a lot of degree work and wondering if it will pay off. My brothers, it seems to be paying dividends. It appears that several factors are driving the increase in numbers. First and foremost is traveling, the lodges that travel are reaping the rewards, sometimes it can be only one faithful brother and that brother will influence brothers to travel to his lodge. Some of the new brothers are being encouraged to travel with some of the more seasoned brothers, imagine that, including new brothers to participate in perhaps the greatest influencer the act of traveling to other lodges. For a while it seemed that first the TV, then the internet, then the phone were big distractors of people attending lodge.....but I think brothers have grown bored with those things and they realize.....thus man was formed for the social and active life, the noblest part of the work of God.

So, for the ol' timers out there.....occasionally pinch yourself, keep your head down and keep going....the greatest and best of men in all ages have been encouragers and promoters of the art, and have never deemed it derogatory to their dignity to level themselves with the Fraternity, extend their privileges, and patronize their assemblies.

How Good and How Pleasant

 

Behold How Good and How Pleasant it is for Brethren to Dwell Together in Unity. The above scene is starting to become more prevalent as of late. This was last evening's Entered Apprentice degree at Swartz Creek #458.

The remark was made that it felt like the "Old Days", meaning that in the not too distant past this scene was quite commonplace throughout the county. Traveling to other lodges is in my opinion what makes this fraternity great. The coming together of brothers with one goal in mind, to put on the very best degree a brother can receive.

There were about 48 brothers in attendance, among them 5 current Worshipful Masters, Grand Steward, 3 District Deputy Instructors, and 1 Board of General Purposes member. Numerous Past Masters, Vienna Lodge had at least 5, and 14 from Linden Lodge #132 to take the travelling gavel. This comes on the heels of a Tri-District Lodge of Instruction that had 63 brothers in attendance.

It's been said many times that we seem to confer quite a number of degrees, and the hope is that we continue to see these new brothers come back to lodge and get involved. This was demonstrated by Swartz Creek and Linden Lodge. I noted several of Swartz Creek's new brothers in attendance with two of their new brothers assuming offices in line. Linden was travelling with their newest Master Mason.

As we move forward, this momentum will help propel the craft into the future. The challenge is to get those lodges who seldom engage with other lodges to move out of their comfort zone and take part in the fellowship and camaraderie that takes place at an event such as the one we enjoyed last evening.

The key is getting the new brothers involved in the work of the craft. This can be accomplished in several different ways, such as getting them working on a small project, if they have a desire to get involved in the "work" give them a small part to memorize, be sure to include them in any travelling the lodge may do.....bottom line is to get them involved in something, a reason to come back.

It seems that the fraternity as a whole is making some real strides to a robust future. Although overall we still have too many lodges for the population, we need to slow the consolidations and help one another build up the smaller lodges to become viable once again.

I think our culture is beginning to realize that there is more to life than sitting behind a computer screen or staring into a phone. As we learn from the MM lecture concerning the beehive.....thus was man formed for the social and active life, the noblest part of the work of God, and he who will so demean himself as to not be adding to the common stock of knowledge and understanding may be deemed a drone in the hive of nature and unworthy of our protection as Masons.

We are actually beginning to hear from new brothers that they have been looking for something for that fellowship and community among good men. The fraternity of Free & Accepted Masons is one of the original social networking groups and it's importance and time tested beliefs can meet the needs of a society so lacking for that all important human interaction for the betterment of mankind.