What a Week

 This has been quite the interesting week in Masonry. We actually started off last Saturday by visiting Roseville Lodge for an all-degree day. That Masonic Temple is just a very fine specimen of what lodge rooms should aspire to be. We were able to stay for the Entered Apprentice and Fellowcraft degrees which were very well done and interesting in their interpretation.

Monday we had a King Solomon's Club Round-Robin at Linden Lodge and conferred the Master Mason degree on a very worthy brother from Swartz Creek Lodge. There were about 40 brothers in attendance for a great portrayal of the Master Mason Degree.

Tuesday at Fellowship Lodge the Master Mason was conferred on one of their very worthy brothers. The attendance was near 50. This was fantastic coming on the heels of Monday night. WB Austin Conquest of Fellowship Lodge put on a Master class on how a Worshipful Master should conduct the Master Mason degree.

Wednesday at Metamora Hadley was a Fellowcraft degree with 20 brothers in attendance. An excellent degree with the Worshipful Master doing his first degree along with the Senior Warden, another great evening in Masonry.

Thursday closed out the week with a Fellowcraft degree at Vassar Lodge. There were probably 30 in attendance for a fantastic degree on a very attentive candidate, and again the work was done very well.

To the nay-sayers and the skeptics it's hard to say that we are on the decline when just in our little slice of the world we had such a plethora of activity.

The glass is above half-full my brothers. Hopefully we continue on this trend, I am convinced that we will because success breeds success.

Masonry Unites Men

 As I've mentioned it's not a lack of experiences to share. This will shock a few but I have to share our experience last evening at Fellowship Lodge #236 last evening. We gathered for a Master Mason degree at Fellowship Lodge which meets at the Swartz Creek Masonic Temple. Keep in mind we had a King Solomon's Club event in Linden where the Master Mason degree was conferred the evening prior.

Both events had over 40 in attendance and last evening was probably closer to 50. Fellowship has been struggling trying to find it's way while sharing facilities with two other lodges. Thankfully the Worshipful Master Austin Conquest is serving his third consecutive term to keep stability in leadership and he has done a great job.

Last evening the brethren showed up in force and put on an extremely great Master Mason degree. We were also honored by the presence of several of our brothers from Eureka Lodge PHA including the Worshipful Master. In fact I believe there were 5 sitting Worshipful Masters in attendance along with 7 Grand Lodge representatives.

It was just one of those magical evenings in Masonry, the work went very good. The lectures were spot on, the vocals on the song was tremendous, Honorary Member WB Eddie Booth PHA served as Junior Warden and WB James PHA gave the final charge.

This will resonate in my memory bank for a long time to come. It was an incredible evening and a testament to the Craft as a whole. Just when the critics say we are on our death bed we have the opportunity to enjoy a wonderful evening and demonstrate that the glass is half-full and increasing everyday. Freemasonry not withstanding has still survived.

...Masonry unites men of every country, sect, and opinion and conciliates a true friendship among those who might otherwise have remained at a perpetual distance.

Am I a Builder

 Again I've been very remiss in adding anything new to the blog. It's not for a lack of material for sure. Here we are starting another Masonic year. January seemed to be a little slow but there are many things on the horizon. 

We just had another very successful Tri-District Lodge of Instruction with over 60 brothers in attendance from at least 3 different districts. Also, the Right Worshipful Grand Lecturer, Tom Braun added to the instruction.

Last evening King Solomon's Club had a Round-Robin Master Mason Degree at Linden Lodge with 40 brothers in attendance. The candidate was supplied by Swartz Creek who had a great showing to support their candidate. There is a very healthy competition between Swartz Creek and Linden lodges, these 2 lodges have become the power houses of District 16.

The driving force of both of these lodges are the younger members who are joining both lodges. By younger I mean any brother under the age of 50 is considered "Masonic young" . The younger brothers are eager and hungry for tradition, history, why we do the things we do and how can they learn more. This in turn encourages the "Masonic Mature" (which is nice speak for old farts) to teach, guide and learn.

Imagine that, the elders teaching the younger and showing them the way to foster their growth and to empower those young brothers to be the future leaders.....hmmm it's interesting how that works.

While these 2 lodges are growing there are several lodges on the other end of the spectrum. In the same district we have at least one lodge that will be consolidating into another lodge, with at least one more lodge that is contemplating it's future, there is one bright spot, we had a lodge from a neighboring district merge into one of our lodges. In other neighboring districts we have several lodges that are at a crossroads and their future is in question. 

"Travelling is one of the hidden gems of the fraternity", a quote from the late WB Michael Burt. Travelling is the one thing that Swartz Creek and Linden have in common that the lodges that are floundering don't have in common. By serving as Board of General Purposes, I attend many regular business meetings. The lodges that are successful spend a lot of time discussing how they can do more, make the lodge look better, get in the community more and plan out travelling to other lodges for degree work.....there definitely seems to be some correlation there.

It would be refreshing to see the consolidations and dissolution of lodges slow to a minimum ...the goal should be for those lodges losing their way to regain a foothold in their community and get back to doing Masonry. The challenge is that they have to "want" to make a comeback first in the community of their lodge but also the community at large.....and those lodges somehow have to juggle the finances of utilities, insurance, and property taxes while trying to nurse their lodge back to health.....not an easy feat once the pendulum swings to far to the negative side.

There are 2 very under-utilized resources available to Michigan Lodges they are PGM Fred Kaiser and PGM Bob Conley. These two brothers have a vast knowledge concerning best practices for lodges and lodge renewal. Honestly I've been hearing the term "lodge renewal" for 35 years, some lodges embrace the help and guidance and use them to their advantage while it seems the majority of lodges bristle at the notion of receiving guidance, ideas, and help from these Past Grand Masters. The catch is that the lodges have to do the work themselves, the very hard work of getting the lodge back on track and serving the needs of their Masonic community and their local communities where these lodges reside. The bottom-line is Leadership or the lack thereof that separates the successful lodges from the floundering lodges. Strong leadership is a must to bring these lodges back to life. Jurisdictions around the country bring in PGM Conley to present lodge renewal programs to get lodges back on track, and we have him right here in our state, and he is always very willing to oblige those who will help themselves.

In closing I would like to share a poem which used to be a part of our DeMolay installations....there appear to be many authors from anonymous to Brother Edgar Guest so we will go with Brother Guest

I watched them tearing a building down,
A gang of men in a busy town.
With a ho-heave-ho and lusty yell,
They swung a beam and a sidewall fell.

I asked the foreman, “Are these men skilled,
The men you’d hire if you had to build?”

He gave me a laugh and said, “No indeed!
Just common labor is all I need.
I can easily wreck in a day or two
What builders have taken a year to do.”

And I thought to myself as I went my way,
Which of these two roles have I tried to play?

Am I a builder who works with care,
Measuring life by the rule and square?
Am I shaping my deeds by a well-made plan,
Patiently doing the best I can?

Or am I a wrecker who walks the town,
Content with the labor of tearing down?

This poem by Edgar Guest raises an important and serious question for all of us: “Am I a builder or a wrecker?”

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.

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.