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.
