The Iowa Masonic Library

The building is 245 feet long and 50 feet wide.  The wing housing the library is 113 feet deep at its west end.  The building was built in 1955 at a cost of slightly over a million dollars replacing the one on the same site that was built in 1884. The exterior is Vermont Marble with gray marble from Carthage, Missouri on its inside walls.  All the metal work used in the construction of window frames, door frames and stair rails is composed of bronze. The building is adorned by many stained glass windows.

It is not a church, a city or college library nor any part of a university.  Neither is it an exposition hall, a function hall nor a restaurant.  It is the Grand Lodge of Iowa building with its Masonic Library taking up a good portion of the building. Over its front door are human figures etched in the marble with these words:

Behold The Lord Stood Upon A Wall Made By a Plumbline

With A Plumbline In His Hand.

 

And on another of its exterior walls is inscribed:

The Spirit Of Masonry

“Gentle Gracious And Wise, Its Mission Is To Form Mankind

Into A Great Redemptive Brotherhood, A League Of Noble

And free Men Enlisted In The Radiant Enterprise Of Working

Out In Time The Love And will Of the Eternal”

Joseph Fort Newton

It is here in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on one afternoon, taking a few moments out of a business trip, that Past Master Kazar LaGrone of Pride of Mt. Pisgah #135, PHA Texas passes through the portals of this beautiful building to discover some of the treasures inside. And what brings him here specifically is the little known fact that this Mainstream Masonic Library houses Grand Lodge proceedings from many different Prince Hall jurisdictions across the USA that date back into the 1800s and a good sized collection of Prince Hall Books and periodicals.

Grand Master Wilbert M. Curtis of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Texas informed us that Iowa has Texas Prince Hall proceedings from 1876, 77 & 78.

I had the opportunity to talk to Iowa Grand Lodge librarian Bill Krueger on the telephone recently and I asked him how what lead to the Grand Lodge of Iowa’s long association with Prince Hall Masonry and the storing of Prince Hall proceedings from many different PHA Grand Lodges as well as a large Prince Hall esoteric collection.  He could only go back so far in his reply but it was his strong belief that the previous librarian, William R. Crawford’s close personal friendship with Joseph A Walkes, Jr. certainly cemented the development of a long term Prince Hall relationship.  Walkes, you will remember, was the founder of the Phylaxis Society and a prolific Masonic author in his own right.

Brother Alton Roundtree, editor of the Prince Hall Masonic Digest and a Fellow of the Phylaxis Society himself had this to say about the resources of the Iowa Masonic Library which he calls a research Mecca.

“The Iowa Masonic Library played a major role in writing “Out of the Shadows.” Seemingly, all needed materials (proceedings, books, periodicals, and collections) are in the Iowa Masonic Library.  The Library collection of proceedings pertaining to Negro or Colored Grand Lodges (today’s PH Grand Lodges) and information concerning allied and appendant bodies were imperative in the research effort.  I could not have written Chapter Four (National Grand Lodge) without visiting the Iowa Masonic Library. Five trips were made to the Library over a period of three years.  Two of the trips were for one week. One cannot talk about visiting the Iowa Masonic Library primarily to review Prince Hall Grand Lodge proceedings without telling the truth about the lack of a central repository of proceedings and other documents pertaining to Prince Hall Freemasonry.”

But the Iowa Masonic Library is not all about Prince Hall.  It has extensive works of Mainstream Lodge material and a large section of religious writings.  It is reputed to be one of, if not the largest, Masonic Library in the world with over 100,000 volumes. The Library website tells us:

“There are books upon every conceivable phase of Masonry, from the time of the organization of the premier Grand Lodge of England (1717) down through the years to the present. Its history, traditions, symbolism, moral teachings, ritual, jurisprudence, Masonic conditions abroad, anti-Masonic propaganda, histories and proceedings of grand lodges, both foreign and American, including those of many individual lodges which have attained age and prominence.  In addition to these may be found many volumes dealing with the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, Royal Arch, Council, Knights Templar, and other rites in Masonry, some of them little known to history.”

The Iowa Masonic Library has bound annual proceedings from all Mainstream USA Grand Lodges and most of them are full and complete from each Grand Lodge’s very first Communication.  In addition it has the same for all York Rite and Scottish Rite Bodies. It carries almost every Masonic journal from every English speaking country plus a goodly number of foreign language publications. And it has a large collection of rare books, such as a copy of Franklin’s reprint of Anderson’s Constitutions (1723).

Over the years The Iowa Masonic Library has been gifted or purchased prized private collections.  The first was the Bower Collection which was the largest private Masonic collection of its time. The Grand Lodge of Iowa bought this collection for the paltry sum of $4,000, well below its true value, in 1882.  Later was added The Arthur F. Waite Collection formerly owned by Masonic scholar H.V.B. Voorhies. Waite was a well known English Mason and mystic whose original works are highly prized. Some of these rare books and collections are housed in a temperature controlled “vault room”.

And it isn’t all Library.  The building also contains two museums and a number of special collections.

Past Master LaGrone spent only a few short hours at the Iowa Masonic Library but he was duly impressed and was greeted and received with a very warm reception.  He recounts his visit:

“This past Wednesday while traveling for work in Cedar Rapids I had the opportunity to visit the Iowa Masonic Museum.  It was truly an enjoyable experience as I had the chance to look through an 1958 issue of Ebony Magazine that had a 8 page spread on Prince Hall Masonry.  I looked through an original pamphlet by GM Upton on Negro Masonry dating back to June 15th 1898 as well as Grand lodge proceedings from the state of Mississippi dating back to the early 1900’s.  While there I also had some fairly enlightening conversations with one of the Grand Lodge officers that works at the library (his name escapes me) and the collection of Masonic material and the subject of mutual recognition. “

Upon returning home he brought with him the lovely pictures you see here and a report that has many of us interested in forming a group trip back to this wonderful Library.  He also communicated with Grand Master Curtis about sending copies of some recent Texas Prince Hall proceedings to the Iowa Masonic Library and with his blessing has mailed the same to them.

If you have some serious Masonic research to do, The Iowa Masonic Library should be at the top of your list of research sources.  Make a vacation trip of it and spend the time to take it all in. And if you can’t go at least visit the Grand Lodge of Iowa Masonic Library.

Freemasonry and El Día de los Muertos

Mictecacihuatl

Mictecacihuatl

Most holidays can be associated into the Masonic calendar and celebrated without much connectivity to the fraternity, patriotism and religious veneration aside.  One holiday, not widely celebrated in the U.S., comes to us from the south in the form of a celebration (and perhaps veneration) of the Dead in the Mexican tradition of Día de los Muertos.

Suggested to have origins in the ancient past, the celebrations roots grow out of the distant Aztecs dedicated to the goddess Mictecacihuatl, who is the queen of the Aztec underworld and watcher of the deceased’s bones.  Today the celebration is a hybrid of this ancient practice and the more modern Catholic celebration of the All Saints Day, which venerates all known (and unknown) Catholic saints.  In this Latinized tradition, the feast extends to the remembrance of all those who have passed in the previous year to remember their spirits.

The resonance to Freemasonry comes in the veneration of the idea of Hiram Abiff, the Grand Master himself, as the fraternity venerates his role in every Masons making.  It strikes me that the idea of veneration is truly at the heart of our being.  Not to say that it is a ritualized worship, but rather a means of remembrance of his spirit upon the fraternity.

Día de los Muertos altar

Traditionally, Día de los Muertos is celebrated with the construction of private altars to honor the deceased, the making and decorating of sugar skulls which is a gift to both those still living and those departed, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed.  The meaning behind the offerings of food is representative a welcoming gesture (called ofrendas) to bring the departed with the foods spiritual essence.  Further, the celebrants go upon visitation to their graves with these as gifts and stand watch for their spirits through the night.

Again, this resonates with the tradition of Freemasonry, in that it is in the spirit of Grand Master Hiram that all Freemasons strive to emulate and represent, and it’s through the ceremonies of the degrees and that his essence is to be imparted through his wisdom and actions.

Día de los Muertos Catrina figures

Día de los Muertos Catrina figures

Also, there is a tremendous symbolic connectivity in the use of the skull and skeleton imagery, in that their application in the Día de los Muertos tradition closely follows its use in the Masonic tradition as a remembrance of the place where each of us is destined for.  Further, that no matter our status in life, we all are equalized and made to look the same in death.  The Calavera mask (skull mask) and the full calacas (skeleton) led to the more recent Día de los Muertos attribution of the Catrina figures, which are today a prominent inclusion to the day’s celebration.

It is in these symbolic gestures that I suggest Día de los Muertos most resonates on this most spooky of holidays, and that in the giving of sugar treats to young ghouls and goblins to pause for a moment and reflect on the passing and upon the spirit of those brothers who have passed before us and to leave one sweet treat should their spirit be passing by.

In memory of the spirit, for a moment forget the reality of ones life lived and instead remember their presence of spirit.

Happy Halloween.

Día de los Muertos sugar skulls

Día de los Muertos sugar skulls – Photo by Glen Van Etten, licensed under Creative Commons

The Lost Symbol: The Road Best Not Traveled

There’s nothing I like better than a good murder mystery. I cut my teeth on Sherlock Holmes, Lord Peter Wimsey, Perry Mason, and Ellery Queen. Nowadays I turn to such luminaries as John Grisham, Scott Turow, Richard North Patterson, and William Bernhardt. And that is what Dan Brown’s Lost Symbol is a good murder mystery, at least superficially.

Actually, the storyline is a good carrier for philosophy—Masonic philosophy and Dan Brown’s philosophy which somehow become intertwined. Brown has more hidden meanings attributed to Masonry than all the members of any American Grand Lodge would have in a lifetime. But, without all the puzzels, Brown wouldn’t have had a good carrier for his philosophy which he tries to convince you is part of Masonry. The philosophy of Noetics is not part of Masonic thought, nor is a Gnostic religion endorsed by Masonry although you can find many Gnostic Masonic practitioners.

This is the first criticism of The Lost Symbol and the most telling. Millions of people unfamiliar with Masonry will pick up the book (or film) and go away believing that the gospel of Dan Brown is the real deal of what Freemasonry is all about. That the United States was founded by Masons who were predominately Deists is not a fact but a hotly debated hypothesis. The idea that Washington DC was modeled on ancient Rome has some merit but giving the impression that it was the totality of the city is just plain wrong. Not to provide any room for Christian/Jewish thought, Christian /Jewish philosophy and Christian/Jewish symbolism is to steer the discussion and the minds of readers into a mode of Masonic/Deists/Gnostic “God is within you and you are God” philosophy which is not generally representative of where most Masons were two hundred years ago nor where they are now.

Read: Freemasonry and the Hermetic Arts

The second criticism of The Lost Symbol is the constant mentioning of a special knowledge that 33rd degree Masons possess and a certain special inner circle within the secret society. Believe me when I tell you that many Evangelical Christians and “New World Order” conspiracy freaks have made these charges for years. Just ask Pat Robertson. I’ve had these people tell me personally, “Well, if you don’t see it, you just aren’t privy to the inner circle.” So we have the profane telling a Mason that they know more about the Freemasonry than a mason does. The Internet is full of these conspiracy theorists who will tell you how satanic and evil Masonry is. We need another supposedly intelligent and celebrated testimonial affirming this loony vision like we need another hole in our head.

And because Masons like things in threes, let me add a third criticism of the book. Why are we, as Masons, so quick to jump on the bandwagon of sensationalism? Why do we believe that this book will be our Savior; that it will bring us all kinds of new membership? Are we that desperate? Is sensationalizing Masonry not corrupting it? Has the message of Masonry and the true philosophy of who and what we are been somehow compromised for the sake of personal profit? And are we just a tad too willing to sacrifice our doctrine for the sake of popularity? If so why don’t we promote a few books with the hidden Masonic meaning of the phallic symbol? After all, sex sells everything from cars to soap.

Lest you think I have been too hard on the book, there is much to be said in its favor.

The science of Noetics that Brown talks about is a serious scientific investigation today. There is a whole school of Quantum Physics that brings science and religion together. There are tests being performed that show that the speed of light has been far surpassed and that the power of thought is energy, an energy that can be created by human beings. This line of inquiry is not far fetched. And it is a development which I feel is the next human frontier. That being said connecting it into Masonry is a stretch, but one that if you don’t take seriously and see Brown smiling all the way to the bank makes a good story.

The way The Lost Symbol is written is a very effective way to get a message across if that is your intent. That is if you have an agenda or a definite message which you want to put forth, wrapping it within a powerful fictional story is always more effective than a dry recitation of philosophical thought written in the manner of a documentary or nonfiction work. Those who have read Atlas Shrugged will recognize this same technique employed by Ayn Rand. John Galt’s long soliloquy at the end of Atlas Shrugged matches the same dissertations of Peter & Katherine Solomon in chapters 131 AND 133 of The Lost Symbol.

The Lost Symbol is a great read and a book that will bring many newcomers to Masonry. I enjoyed reading it. But I have to ask if going down this road and becoming dependent on the growth of the Craft welded to sensationalism is not a corrupting influence, the road best not traveled.

emblem of industry

More Lessons The Church Can Teach Masonry

Here reprinted with permission is a piece by PGM Terry Tilton of Minnesota.  It is an article with which I am not totally in agreement.  Some of it I heartily endorse while other parts I do not.

But that is precisely what gives Freemasonry its strength, Brothers of different backgrounds, different experiences, different lifestyles and different views coming together in peace and harmony to learn from one another and bless each other in shared endeavors.

Brother Tilton’s article is powerful, thought provoking and inspirational and needs to be heard.  And so here’s to you Brother Tilton.  Long may the Craft rejoice in your presence!

MORE LESSONS THE CHURCH CAN TEACH MASONRY

I want to begin by expressing my gratitude for being invited to address this bi-annual meeting of the  Iowa Research Lodge No. 2.  Every couple years my family makes a pilgrimage down to Gowerie and Jefferson Iowa for family reunions and like tonight the hospitality and warm reception is outstanding. As many of you know, I hail from the state of Minnesota – the state with the largest per capita Scandinavian population in America. I was delighted  to learn that when some of my native Minnesotans come to live in Iowa they are addressed as Iowegians. (Iowa Norwegians).

Though very politically incorrect I thought I might begin with a short story about some of my northern Scandinavian neighbors.

LARS WAS STAGGERING HOME AFTER A NIGHT IN THE TAVERN. But this night a Lutheran minister saw him and offered to help him get home safely. As they approached the house, Lars asked the minister to step inside for a moment. He explained, “I vant Lena to see who I have been out vith tonight.”

For over 32 years I have been proud to be [associated] with my friends in the Masonic fraternity. For 35 years I have served under appointment in the Minnesota Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church as a pastor to the local church.  I have often commented that the church and the lodge share many similarities.  For example, both are volunteer not-for-profit associations and both acknowledge faith as foundational to their teachings. Both have long histories as significant institutions which have helped shape our society and values. Both are person-centered in their services and outreach.  Both have enjoyed a peculiar place of honor but occasionally disrepute and indignation  in their histories. I think it is equally accepted that the lodge and church no longer shape the character of our nation as in former years. Both are also struggling to find relevance in a post 9-11 world.  And both have found issues of membership and renewed vitality as the most vexing problems to their continued existence.

Here’s a little story that rings all too true in some churches and will serve as an introduction to my talk.

THERE WAS A FEUD BETWEEN THE PASTOR AND CHOIR DIRECTOR of the Hicksville Southern Baptist Church.  It seems the first hint of trouble came when the Pastor preached on “Dedicating Yourselves to Service” and the Choir Director chose to sing: “I Shall Not Be Moved”.

Trying to believe that it was a coincidence, the Pastor put the incident behind him. The next Sunday he preached on “Giving.” Afterwards, the choir squirmed as the director led them in a hymn: “Jesus Paid it All.”

By this time, the Pastor was losing his temper. Sunday morning attendance swelled as the tension between the two built.

A large crowd showed up the next week to hear the sermon on “The Sin of Gossiping”. Would you believe the Choir Director selected the song: “I Love to Tell the Story”?

There was no turning back. The following Sunday the Pastor told the congregation that unless something changed, he was considering a resignation. The entire church gasped when the Choir Director led them in: “Why Not Tonight”?

Truthfully, no one was surprised when the Pastor resigned a week later, explaining that Jesus had led him there and Jesus was leading him away.  The Choir Director could not resist: “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”.

LEARNING FROM THE CHURCH

Tonight I want to share a talk titled  “More Lessons the Church Can Teach Masonry.” The genesis for this title came from a presentation I made at the 59th Annual Midwest Masonic Education Conference held this past March in [Omaha.] But there is so much more which can be said about the Church and the Lodge and that is the subject this evening.

Perhaps of all the institutions in America none have been more studied and evaluated as to their effectiveness and program design than the church.  And some truths have emerged which I think can be directly applied to lodge.

For example, it has been known for many years that on average it is seven times more difficult to revitalize a dying church than it is to start a new one. Seven times more effort will be used to find the way forward than to begin over again new.  That seems like a startling statistic but it shows just how difficult institutional revitalization can be.

Or perhaps have you ever wondered why it seems so difficult to find a successful lodge program? The answer comes directly out of studies from the church.  If you put up a  new program each year for four years, statistically there will be only one that is deemed successful – successful being that it will be repeated a second year.  If you know that you realize you have to try more and different ideas before you will find the one that works for you.  And of course the kicker is that it is not possible to predict which one of the four will be successful.

Resistance to change is fundamentally a part of all tradition-bound institutions but I would argue more especially the church and the lodge. Each is struggling with issues of outreach to a younger generation. Each finds the vast majority of its buildings in small cities and rural settings.  Each has an aging population base (at least from a main-line church perspective) and is having extreme difficulty in reaching out to the new population centers in our increasingly more urban society.

I hope that I might point out to you some of the significant findings from the institutional studies of the church in our society and ask the question, “Does this not also help us to understand and demand the attention of the lodge as well?”

CHANGE, CONFLICT AND COMPETITION

I want to being by introducing you to some C-letter words which are necessary to help us understand where we are at today.  The words are: change, conflict, and competition.

“….the natural side effect of change is conflict,” reflected Dr. Robert Sloan as he announced his resignation from the office of president of Baylor University. “We moved quickly and boldly to implement the vision (of a new era for the university) and found that Baylor is not immune to the discomfort and insecurity generated by change.” (January 21, 2005)

The central theme of Dr. Sloan’s reflections could be used by dozens of parish pastors every month as they explain their decision to choose early retirement or resign from the ministry. In my own Annual Conference with over 320 ministers under appointment,  it is one of the reasons that I (at age 58) have only less than one dozen colleagues who have been in ministry longer than myself.[1] Church, 2007, 321-366. Change resulting in conflict could be cited  by any public school superintendent or the chief executive officer of any profit-driven corporation or the chief of police in any large American city or a church denomination executive or a city manager or the spouse who is explaining to his or her parents the shock of an impending divorce. A common consequence of change is conflict!

None of us in the lodge have been immune to the tensions which are caused when change takes place.  The resistence of Lodge Secretaries and Past Masters to change is proverbial. From a macro perspective of change, I am reminded of the gut-wrenching story of the guest speaker at the Annual Philalethes Feast and Forum in Washington D.C. this past February.  Most Worshipful Brother Frank J. Haas, Past Grand Master of West Virginia (2005-2006) was summarily expelled from all the rights and privileges of masonry this last November without trial by the current sitting Grand Master.

What were the changes Most Worshipful Brother Haas brought to the Masons of West Virginia? Essentially they were all clarifications or enlargements to the existing Grand Lodge Constitution to bring it more in line with mainstream masonry. All were overwhelmingly voted into law at the 2006 Annual Communication.  West Virginia masonic law did not allow masonic youth organizations to meet in lodge rooms or lodges to give financial support to these organizations. The Brothers voted to change this. Language was voted in declaring it to be unmasonic conduct to refuse to seat a visitor in lodge if race was a reason.  The brothers voted the option of saying the Pledge of Allegiance at lodge meetings and also allowing handicapped candidates to petition for degrees.  Being the only Grand Lodge in the United States not to recognize the DeMolay, Rainbow Girls or Job’s Daughters;  the only grand lodge which are not members of the Masonic Service Association;  the only grand lodge not belonging  to a regional conference of grand masters; and the only grand lodge to order the Scottish Rite not to perform the Washington/Arnold 20th degree; the brothers voted to accept all these changes, none of which were precedent-setting among Grand Lodge jurisdictions in the United States. The consequence of change – conflict.  In this case a concerted effort by a few determined Past Grand Masters to go back to the future.[2] Glass© The Philalethes Society, 2008.

DR. LYLE E. SCHALLER, pastor, sociologist and author of more than 60 books on religious life in America, has summarized the theme of what he sees going on in American religious life today in the title of a new book, “From Cooperation to Competition” (Abingdon Press, Nashville, 2006).  He puts into context the changing dynamics of the institution of the church (and I would argue the lodge) in ways which help us to understand what is happening and what responses are most helpful for us to act creatively.  He writes, “A common consequence of change is conflict! But rather than focus on whether that conflict can and should be avoided, a more useful discussion can begin by expanding the subject from these two C-words to four. One common consequence of change is conflict. A second common consequence is change frequently alters the range of choices available to people. When change reduces the range of attractive choices, that may generate feelings of resistance, hostility, alienation, and anger. That is one reason, whenever feasible, to introduce change by adding to the range of attractive choices rather than proposing changes that will reduce the number and variety of choices. Make change by addition, not subtraction.”[3]

In the church, this change by addition, has seen the rapid rise of more non-denominational or independent churches, often tailored to reach out to a younger generation.  The concept of mega-churches did not exist before the 1960’s.  Today there are more than 7,000 churches in the United States which have average worship attendance of over 2,000 and many with over 3,000.  Fully twenty percent of all church members in the United States belong to these churches. Perhaps, no greater conflict over the  number of choices has been brought to the church than that of worship styles – coffeehouse, contemporary, traditional, or blended to name only a few.  And speaking from my own main-line denomination, this range of choices (which my own denomination has found difficult to embrace) has been the reason why the average age of our membership continues to climb, the average worship attendance continues to fall and total membership has continued to decline at a rate of one to two percent each year for the past forty years.  Does that sound a little bit like North American Freemasonry?

And still, overall the average worship attendance in American churches  has been growing each year. Weekend worship attendance in American Protestant congregations sets new records year after year. ….part of the answer is in the 50% increase of population in the US from 1965 to 2005.  And another part has been described as the fourth great religious revival in American history.

This is the trend of larger non-denominational  mega-churches, thousands of new churches reaching out to serve immigrant communities, and the even larger total impact of American religious bodies including the Southern Baptist Convention, the Assemblies of God, the Baptist General Conference, the Evangelical Free Church in America, the Seventh-Day Adventist, the Church of Christ, and scores of other movements, associations, conferences, conventions, and denominations that have opened new churches and multiplied worship opportunities.  “Come and help us pioneer the new” often has more appeal than “Come and help us perpetuate the old.” As Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Congregationalists and others cut back sharply on organizing new congregations, the resulting vacuum in the ecclesiastical free market was filled by others. Sam Walton and his colleagues invented a new way to do retail trade with younger generations. These non-traditional religious bodies have been inventing new ways to do church in an exceedingly competitive ecclesiastical marketplace. The fourth C-word then is competition and this competition has brought conflict, conflict has brought change, change has increased the number of choices available today.[4]

Though it is my observation that Freemasonry in America is much slower to react to change than the local church, the reality is that we are seeing the nascent pangs of a revival as there has come this increased competition in our Fraternity.  Right Worshipful Brother Tom Jackson, Past Grand Secretary of Pennsylvania and Secretary of the World Conference of Grand Lodges, has stated that the greatest threat he sees to regular mainstream Freemasonry today is the dramatic rise of irregular or clandestine grand lodges. He obviously sees these irregular and clandestine grand lodges as being in direct competition to  historic mainstream masonry.  In the United States today there are more than 200 grand lodges operating outside the regular mainstream and Prince Hall grand lodge system.  Many of these, of course, have been breakaway groups of Prince Hall Freemasonry but increasingly we are seeing attempts to form new grand lodges or groupings of breakaway constituent lodges into new organizations.[5]

Being the Vice-president of the Philalethes Society, America’s oldest premier research and education group, it was with some concern that their came the announcement last May of a new education and research group called The Masonic Society. Their first publication of The Masonic Society magazine just came out last week.   This is a new movement which says it is “interested in education, research, and fostering the intellectual, spiritual and social growth of the modern Masonic fraternity.”[6] I personally know many of the founding members and many already have membership or are Fellows in the Philalethes Society.  Quite frankly many are unhappy with the direction of the Philalethes Society and have decided that they cannot wait for changes to be made.

How are we to react to these developments?  As an officer of The Philalethes Society, a knee-jerk reaction would be to say that they are in competition with mainstream masonry and the historic and venerated  traditional venues of communication.   Is this competition? Does it give more choices?  I think there can be no doubt!  Whether they will be in conflict depends on how we see them.  If we believe they are simply taking resources from an ever shrinking pie then these new groups and programs represent a direct threat to our existence.  On the other hand, if they spur us to be more pro-active, tailor our message to a well-defined audience and encourage us to improve our methods of outreach and communication, they may just be the impetus for change that will bring about renewed vitality.

There is no doubt that changes in the ways our Grand Lodges have responded to the pressures of a different economic and work environments for men in North America have brought dramatic conflict to Masonry.  Even twenty years after of the first mid-west Grand Lodge allowed one-day classes we have not reached a consensus on their value to masonry. It is evident that they are not the panacea to remedying overall membership losses.  But on the on the other hand, survey after survey has shown that these masons are no more likely to demit from the lodge than those brought in by the conventional ritual degree system and some studies have even indicated these “one-day” masons have taken a more active role in leadership.  No doubt, this is because they represent an untapped segment of men in our society who share the values of masonry but were unable to join through our traditional degree programs.

We live in a world of increasing competition.  Just think back to when the discount stores arrived in the 1960’s, they created new competition for the five-and-dime variety stores on Main Street. But when Wal-Mart began to sell clothing, shoes, auto supplies, jewelry, prescription drugs, and groceries, that created a another level of new competition for many other retailers on Main Street as well!

Last year’s Midwest Masonic Education Conference focused on some of the new North American recreations of masonry in the traditional practices or European-style lodge model. Though my initial reaction was to write off this “philosophical” model of masonry as be too narrowly exclusive with its pre-requisite high level of commitment, membership standards and defined size, I am becoming increasingly convinced that it serves an important niche in American Freemasonry. Quite frankly it offers another choice which we can either view as competition to our historic low-commitment membership model of declining  North American Freemasonry or as a catalyst for needed changes, perhaps, being the leavening which will help to leaven the whole North American system.

As the church has learned ever so dramatically the level of competition for the time, attention, energy, money, allegiance, and participation of Americans stands at an all-time high. The level of the quality of our programs must be competitive with the secular world.

THE PLACE OF TECHNOLOGY

In the church one of those areas of competition has increasingly been in the useof technology.  To reach out to a new generation who has grown-up in a mediasaturated environment we must use every means of making a connection.  In many of our churches this has meant massive investments in audio-visual projection equipment, computer-generated graphics and sophisticated sound and light systems.  It has also meant the use of the web in advertising and giving access to a generation who would never consider buying a newspaper or reading a printed book.  Historically, I suppose we could liken this development to the popularity of the Scottish Rite in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries whose degrees which were staged in some of the most expensive venues and theatrical trappings –  the media of their day.

I mention this because just the other day I was reminded of the significance of mass communication through the internet in helping us to draw the attention of new members.  Some estimates are that easily half of all new candidates for masonry come to our lodges today through interest and research of our fraternity over their computers.   Here is a typical note from a prospective candidate picked up on the masonic-ed blog.

Thank you so much for getting back to me.  I want to just learn more about the history of the masons. I first got interested in the masons after seeing a show on the History channel. Very interesting, and after seeing that I knew I wanted to be part of something very historical. Then after talking to some masons and after reading the Freemasons for Dummies book  I was even more shocked on the history and the brotherly love and fellowship of the masons. I am so excited about starting my journey.   John[7]

In John’s case it was a two-hour History channel program produced with the cooperation of the Grand Lodge of Washington D.C. that peeked his interest.  When “National Treasure” was released in 2004 the Masonic Information Center and many grand lodges reported a 30% rise in hits by persons seeking more information about Freemasonry.[8] at a meeting in February 2005  I have personally talked to many new brothers who joined Masonry because of this communication tool.

I want to quote an article published in the May 18th issue of Los Angeles Times titled “Freemasons in midst of popularity, membership boom”

IN LOS FELIZ, across from a 7-Eleven on North Vermont Avenue, a few dozen men in their early 20s to late 80s share a dinner behind closed doors. Some wear full tuxedos with bow ties and jeweled cuff links, some have shoulder-length hair, and others wear open-collared shirts that reveal the slightest filigree of tattoo arching across their chests.

Meet the millennial Masons. As secret societies go, it is one of the oldest and most famous. Its enrollment roster includes Louis Armstrong and Gerald Ford, and it has been depicted in movies such as “The Da Vinci Code” and “National Treasure.”  Once more than 4 million strong (back in the 1950s), it has been in something of a popularity free-fall ever since. Viewed with suspicion as a bastion of antiquated values and forced camaraderie, the Masons have seen membership rolls plummet more than 60% to just 1.5 million in 2006

For a time it looked as if Masonry was going into sharp decline, if not the death throes,”said UCLA history professor Margaret C. Jacob, who has written extensively about the fraternal order. “But it looks like it may be making a comeback.”

That’s because the Freemasons, whose tenets forbid soliciting or recruiting members, have enthusiastically embraced the Internet as a way to leverage curiosity about an organization with its roots in Europe’s medieval stonemasons guilds. Freemasonry today sees itself as a thinking man’s salon, a learned society with a philosophical bent.

“We had a record number of new members last year,” said Allan Casalou, Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of California. “We added 2,000 men, which is the most since 1998 and our seventh straight year of membership increases.”

The article goes on to speak about Santa Monica-Palisades Lodge No. 307, one of the youngest and most diverse lodges in the state (the average age of active brothers is just 33). The lodge’s senior deacon, Jim Warren, calls it ” ‘Star Trek’ without the chicks.”  He goes on to say, “We have every possible national origin, ethnicity and religious denomination you could imagine.”

Warren credits the Internet. “We were one of the first lodges in the state to have a website up,” he said. “That led to a huge spike in membership.”

Other lodges followed suit, putting up their own sites and drawing a crowd. That’s how prospective Mason Johnny Royal ended up at the door of Elysian Lodge No. 418 last month.  “My generation wants to be part of something beyond itself,” Royal said. “I want to learn; I want to participate.”

THE INTERNET hasn’t only made it easier to learn about the Freemasons, Casalou says, it’s changed the type of men coming forward.  “There is so much information on the Internet that by the time someone comes to a lodge to seek membership, they already know a lot about Masonry.  Which is a big departure from previous generations. And it means they are more likely to be active participants.”

The article concludes by saying that California’s contingent of Freemasons is expected to grow, as the average age of its members, once 71 is now 65, and is expected to drop.  The Grand Secretary predicts that in ten years the state will be  awash in 55-year-old pre-retirement Masons.[9]

At a recent meeting of the Masonic Information Center in Washington D.C. we discussed the proposed third film by Disney’s Dreamworks Films in the National Treasure series.  Although National Treasure Two: Book of Secrets did not nearly have as much masonic history as the first film interestingly it grossed more income and was seen by more people than the first film.  The Scottish Rite Southern Jurisdiction assisted in some publicity for this second film by opening up the Scottish Rite Temples in six  locations across America for a geocache scavenger hunt promoting the film.  It is anticipated that they will be requesting this help from all the Valleys in the United States this coming year hoping to piggy-back on the geocaching craze among young men and giving them an opportunity to learn  more about Freemasonry by visiting their buildings and talking to the Masons who are sharing the story of our Craft, through its symbols and meanings.

Being more welcoming. Being intentional in your outreach efforts to attract new members. The mainline church, like the lodge, is learned that it is not enough to open the door and expect new members to come in.  Internet, and new media venues, can attract and piggyback on the interests of today’s generation. Programs of education and outreach into the community intentionally seeking persons of color, differing ethnicity,  creed or life-style are basic to any successful program today.

RELATIONSHIPS AND MEASURING SUCCESS

Here is another set of statistics from the church that I believe have a direct bearing on our lodges. In the 1950’s life in America was still organized around functions and respect for authority. Today far greater value is placed on relationships.  For example, in the church we have known that longer pastorates tend to show the greatest growth and stability – longer pastorates being at least ten to twenty years in length verses those of only 2-7 years.

But the pastor cannot do it alone.  The church has had to learn and relearn the importance of personal invitations to build the bridges to get new members.  The most effective inviting-bridges happen between people who already know one another, not between church members and strangers.

If you were to ask the last ten or twenty people who joined your church this question: “Through whom, or by what means, did you first visit our church? What got you on the property for the first time?”  You will discover that in the average church 75 to 90 percent of all new members say they came because someone invited them.

Yet, research indicates that, on the average, only 46 percent of church members say they have invited at least one person to a worship service during the last twelve months.[10]

What would be the average if Masons were asked, “When was the last time you  discussed with someone or invited someone to learn more about Masonry?”  I would propose that this is the single greatest reason we have seen a nearly 50-year decline  in our membership rolls. Every lodge and every Master of his lodge must at least once or twice a year challenge his members to invite and reach out to prospective new members. I do not know any growing lodge who does not utilize this formula.

As a corollary how do we foster those relationships when lodge leadership changes each year?

Here is another interesting statistic. After a quarter century (some will argue no more than 40 years) of meeting in the same address the natural tendency of churches is on taking better care of the current constituency and their children, than on evangelism. In other words if more than one-half of a denomination’s congregations have been meeting in the same building at the same address since before the mid-1960’s, you probably are a numerically shrinking religious body.  Is it feasible for churches to move locations every 25-40 years. Probably not!  So what is the solution?

In Christianity the solution is plant more churches. As difficult as that may be inviting younger generations to help pioneer the new is the only real solution. We have learned that you cannot expect them to be eager to come and help perpetuate the past.

The obvious implication for the masonic lodge is that particularly in those urban and suburban growth communities we need to plant new lodges.  We have forgotten that the  greatest eras of growth in the history of  Freemasonry were also times  when lodges replicated themselves by helping to charter sister lodges.  I predict that when Freemasonry gets back to this model we will then truly see a national resurgence and renewal.

FINALLY I WANT TO ASK, HOW DO YOU MEASURE THE VITALITY OF FREEMASONRY? In masonry as well as the church we measure membership to talk about growth but in the church we have discovered that probably a more useful statistic is average worship attendance.   I find it interesting that in the lodge our annual reports measure number of members, deaths, demits and those stricken from the rolls, the current assets and annual per capita dues, but no where do we measure the average attendance at our lodge meetings. I would like to humbly suggest that the church learned long ago that who is on the rolls is not nearly as important as counting how many show up for worship and participate in the activities during our principle time of gathering which is usually for Sunday worship.   The measure of real growth and vitality in every institution is found in those who act on their commitments, share their time, talent and treasure and experience a sense of worth and well being that helps them make positive contributions to others.  Is this also not one of the foundational principles of our Fraternity?

And so tonight I have suggested to you that in many ways the church and the lodge are really not much different.  As faith-based, volunteer associations dedicated to self-improvement and service they historically have stood side by side in the building of our nation and society.  Today both suffer as whole generations have turned away from the historic values of virtue, integrity, service and commitment. Both have suffered drastic membership and participation declines in this past half-century and both face the daunting task of reaching out to a new generation in ways which attract their loyalty and participation to help these institutions survive.  I believe as Freemasons we do not have to go it alone.  We do not need to invent the wheel. There is much that we can learn from our sister the church.

I have suggested that change, conflict, choice and competition are the operative words in our society today. And I would like to believe that as Freemasons we are approaching the nadir of our membership decline and lodge closings and mergers.  Time will tell if society swings back to us again. But in the meantime we cannot afford to wait for the future to happen to us, we must shape our own future.

As Lyle Shaller so bluntly states in his analysis of the church landscape: “…. the historical record is clear, given the choice between making the changes required to become competitive or gradually fading into obsolescence, the majority of individuals, voluntary associations, religious congregations, profit-driven corporations, and nonprofit institutions find it easier to adjust to obsolescence rather than initiate and implement the required changes.”[11]

Thank you, my brothers and friends, for allowing me be with you tonight.  I think you might agree, surely there are important lessons the church can teach masonry.

Paper Presented By:  The Rev. Terry L. Tilton, PGM-MN 2002-2003, FPS


[1]Official Journal and Yearbook, Minnesota Annual Conference of the United Methodist

[2]Paper by M.W.B. Frank J. Haas, MPS, “Masonry Through the (Rearview) Looking

[3] Lyle Shaller, From Cooperation to Competition, (Abingdon Press, Nashville, 2006) 1.

[4]Lyle Shaller, From Cooperation to Competition, (Abingdon Press, Nashville, 2006) 7.

[5]Paul Bessel, retrieved 04/15/2008  from (All Masonic Grand  Lodges with website links)

[6]Chris Hodapp, an email invitation recovered April 24, 2008.

[7] Recovered from  org on April 21, 2008

[8]Reported by M.W.B. Richard Fletcher, Executive Director, Masonic Information Center,

[9]“Freemasons in midst of popularity, membership boom,” Los Angeles Times, May 18, 2008 story in Lifestyle features.

[10] Herb Miller and Lyle Schaller, Co-editors, THE PARISH PAPER -Ideas and Insights for Active Congregations, “Attracting New People: Are We Building the Bridges?”  July, 2007.

[11]Lyle Shaller, From Cooperation to Competition, (Abingdon Press, Nashville, 2006) 16.

Building Boaz – Author John Nagy on Masonic Central

Building Boaz by Doctor John Nagy

Building Boaz by Doctor John Nagy

Join us on Masonic Central this Sunday as we meet and talk to Brother John Nagy who is the author of the new book “Building Boaz – Uncommon Catechism for Uncommon Masonic Education.”

Missed the live show?  listen now!

Once you start something, what do you do next?  You take the next step of course but as with any journey into the unknown (or the unexplained) the question is where that next step should land.  “Building Boaz” is the exactly where the next step in becoming a Mason should take you.  In his New book Br. John Nagy sets out to help the reader find the means to answer A few of the touch points in this paths first step is the idea of Threshing to masonry, the flanked circle, the Broached Ladder, and the Chamber of Reflection.

Join us as we talk to author and past guest  Br. John Nagy about his book, Masonic education, and this 2nd step in this non-fiction series in this hour long program on Masonic Central Sunday, October 25th starting at 6pm PDT / 9pm EST. We encourage your questions and comments to the show by calling (347) 677-0936 during the program. The show goes live promptly at the hour.

On Blog Talk Radio at 6pm PST/9pm EST

Download the program.

Listen to Masonic Central on Blog Talk Radio

Freemason Tim Bryce.

Seeking Further Light

faithhopeandcharity

Shortly after I wrote the Masonic Manifesto last September, I happened to attend a local Masonic meeting. Afterwards, a group of Brothers stopped by a local watering hole to have a drink and shoot the breeze. One of the Brothers there caught me off guard when he asked me, “Why do you hate the Fraternity so much?”

Frankly, I was startled by the question and asked him why he thought this was so. He contended that I was overtly trying to change the fraternity when there really wasn’t anything wrong with it. He even went so far as to suggest that I should start my own fraternity and leave Freemasonry alone. Please keep in mind this was not a malicious attack as the Brother and I have known each other for a long time and have worked together on many projects. However, my various Masonic activities have not gone unnoticed and is starting to be perceived as a threat.

Let me now change gears for a moment and describe another Masonic meeting I recently attended where various Brothers were asked to describe their views of Freemasonry.

Most talked about the virtues of the Brotherhood, where a man’s word is his bond, that we can talk “on the level,” and that a support network of Brothers is very comforting. When my turn came, I described Freemasonry as “further light.” Yes, I enjoy the Brotherhood as much as the others did, but I see Freemasonry as a beautiful concept that, if practiced properly, would lead to world peace and prosperity (I guess it is the idealist in me that causes me to think this way). Nonetheless, I see the fraternity in terms of where it should be and believe as Masons we have a duty to evolve and constantly seek perfection.

Now, tying the two stories together, do I hate Freemasonry? Absolutely not. Would I be so active in it if I didn’t believe in its concepts? I enjoy our degrees and am proud of our Masonic heritage, as I believe all Masons should be. However, Freemasonry is a society that is not without its faults. It is far from perfect and we should always aspire to improve it. I am not one to sit back and simply grumble about something from the sidelines. Instead, I have chosen to take a proactive role and have introduced ideas and legislation to help improve it. This does not sit well with the powers that be (the “old-guard”) and I am eyed suspiciously as to my motives. Some demand total obedience and suggest I should be in lockstep with the current policies and keep my mouth shut. I’m sorry, but I live in a free country where the individual is encouraged to think and innovate.

I even had some Brothers advise me to be a little more “politically correct,” otherwise I would never be appointed District Deputy Grand Master for our area. I countered, “What’s more important, Freemasonry or whether I get an appointed position?” In other words, they are suggesting I do nothing, get advanced and allow the fraternity to stagnate. This is troubling to me. I don’t want to see the fraternity castrated due to apathy.

In the various professional and nonprofit groups I am involved with there seems to be an escalation in the viciousness of our discourse. Instead of discussing problems rationally, we must immediately choose sides and defend it to the bitter end. I am also seeing this viciousness permeate Freemasonry where I never dreamt it would occur. I always believed when a Brother took the floor, he was allowed to speak his mind, right or wrong, without fear of retribution. Following this, an opposing dialogue can be conducted by other Brothers and the Craft could formulate its decisions accordingly. But I’m afraid this is no longer happening as the powers in authority tend to manipulate opinion and suppress opposing views. Consequently, harmony in the Lodge is often sacrificed.

Bottom-line, in order for Freemasonry to flourish and aspire towards “further light” the Craft must be allowed to discuss and debate Masonic issues on the level and without fear of persecution. No subject should be considered taboo. A healthy dialog is vital to the perpetuation and continued improvement of Freemasonry. Such discourse must be done with candor, honesty, and respect for the rights of all participants. If we fail to do so, we are sticking are heads in the sands and our light will undoubtedly fade away. This would be a tragedy.

Keep the Faith.

Freemasonry From the Edge
Freemasonry From the Edge

by W:.Tim Bryce, PM, MPS
timb001@phmainstreet.com

Palm Harbor, Florida, USA
Originally published on FmI in 2007
A Foot Soldier for Freemasonry

NOTE: As with all of my articles herein, please feel free to reuse them in Masonic publications or re-post them on Masonic web sites (except Florida). When doing so, please add the following:

Article reprinted with permission of the author and “FreeMason Information” https://freemasoninformation.com

Building Boaz by Dr. John Nagy

I have come to find that modern Masonic literature can be compared to the preparation of food. Some Masonic literature is too light to satisfy the appetite and too bland to excite the senses. Other works on the subject of the fraternity are too rich and overpowering to the palate and leave the reader with a case of indigestion as he struggles to comprehend the knowledge contained within them. It takes an expert chef—or in this case author—to find the right combination of ingredients so that the flavor is complex but not overwhelming and the reader is left full but not gorged.

Dr. John Nagy has found this balance again in Building Boaz, the second volume in his Uncommon Catechism for Uncommon Masonic Education series. Building Boaz focuses on the symbolism of the Entered Apprentice degree using the Inquiry-Response format of the time honored Masonic catechism. It examines the lessons taught to us in Entered Apprentice degree and expands upon these themes in order to unveil a deep, intertwined network of the order’s philosophical precepts.

Building Boaz facilitates the advancement of Masonic comprehension for both the newly initiated Apprentice as well as the experienced Master. The book challenges the reader to form a deeper understanding of the initiatic rituals throughout the book. Dr. Nagy finds a way to connect Masonic ritual with the Bible, the Nag Hammadi Scrolls, Greek mythology, classical literature, and other great sources of moral instruction without making the subject matter cumbersome to even the most novice student of Masonry. This makes Building Boaz a refreshing and insightful review of the first degree of Masonry.

Building Boaz Uncommon Catechism for Uncommon Masonic Education Volume 2 by John Nagy

Dr. Nagy’s efforts have created an educational product which fills a void in today’s Masonic literature. For hundreds of years, the Freemason’s catechism has formed the backbone of the institution’s moral instruction. The catechism has instilled the basic principles of the fraternity in the minds of it’s initiates and served as the gateway to further exploration of Freemasonry’s allegorical concepts. However, in modern Freemasonry we find that the catechism is often seen in one of two opposing viewpoints: archaic and out of date or as the be-all and end-all of Masonic instruction. Building Boaz, like Nagy’s previous work Building Hiram, restores the catechism to its rightful place in Masonic education as both the staple of the Mason’s instructional diet and the springboard to a higher understanding of Masonic teachings. Not only does this format make the information contained within the book easy to comprehend for the reader, but it also allows the book to be used in the lodge for Masonic education without any further digestion. This eliminates the intimidation which many modern Freemasons face when trying to develop an educational presentation for their assemblies.

I will personally be making Building Boaz required reading for all of my future Masonic proteges and encourage all Freemasons to read this book and address the questions that it will cultivate in their minds. I hope that Building Boaz may enhance your Masonic experience as much as it has enhanced mine.

You can purchase the book here.

Crown of Serpents on Masonic Central

Crown of Serpents

Crown of Serpents

Where does National Treasure meet The Lost Symbol?  Wound together into a Crown of Serpents.

Masonic fiction is an infrequent thing, especially when written by a brother. The Lost Symbol is a good example of the fraternity in a modern fiction, in the same way that National Treasure brought the fraternity to the cinema. This Sunday, we have the opportunity to talk about the latest edition of Masonic fiction from author Michael Karpovage, who has just released his new book Crown of Serpents.

From the books website the Crown of Serpents is a mystery thriller set in the former heartland of the Iroquois Empire and takes its hero, Jake Tununda, on a fast-paced hunt to find and protect the elusive crown. In the story he teams up with Rae Hart, who is an alluring state police investigator, and together they snake their way across a politically turbulent landscape marked with murder, lies, and deceit, deciphering codes, digging up war loot, and fending off a ruthless casino magnate. Their survival skills are put to the test when the clues to the crown ultimately lead them deep within sacred Indian caves hidden under the abandoned Seneca Army Depot where the magnitude of the crown’s power is revealed.

The Crown of Serpents is every bit as exciting as its synopsis suggests, and its weaving in of the fraternity of Freemasonry makes the mystery thriller all the more exciting.

Join us in this episode as we talk to author Michael Karpovage about his book, Masonic fiction in general and the real life history of Freemasonry that swirls around his new novel, in this hour long program on Masonic Central recorded Sunday, October 18th , 2009.

Missed the live program?  Listen now!

Download the program!

emblem of industry

The Meaning of Masonry For One Long Time Aging Brother

I hear frequently asked the question, “Why did you want to become a Mason?”  But I hardly ever hear anyone ask why you are still a Mason.  What are you getting out of it now that you have been in it awhile and explored its philosophy?  What have you found out to be the “big thing” for you in Masonry now that you are a veteran?

These are questions that have been going around and around in my head lately. You see I am a very divided person, a Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde so to speak. One part of me is very introverted, quiet and studious and another part of me is outgoing, gregarious and into community. And by community I allude to what M. Scott Peck wrote about in his book “The Road Less Traveled.” In case you have forgotten here is what Peck said:

Peck describes what he considers to be the most salient characteristics of a true community[7]:

  • Inclusivity, commitment and consensus: Members accept and embrace each other, celebrating their individuality and transcending their differences. They commit themselves to the effort and the people involved. They make decisions and reconcile their differences through consensus.
  • Realism: Members bring together multiple perspectives to better understand the whole context of the situation. Decisions are more well-rounded and humble, rather than one-sided and arrogant.
  • Contemplation: Members examine themselves. They are individually and collectively self-aware of the world outside themselves, the world inside themselves, and the relationship between the two.
  • A safe place: Members allow others to share their vulnerability, heal themselves, and express who they truly are.
  • A laboratory for personal disarmament: Members experientially discover the rules for peacemaking and embrace its virtues. They feel and express compassion and respect for each other as fellow human beings.
  • A group that can fight gracefully: Members resolve conflicts with wisdom and grace. They listen and understand, respect each others’ gifts, accept each others’ limitations, celebrate their differences, bind each others’ wounds, and commit to a struggle together rather than against each other.
  • A group of all leaders: Members harness the “flow of leadership” to make decisions and set a course of action. It is the spirit of community itself that leads and not any single individual.

So , as a split personality, part of me is into esoteric stuff, spirituality, the connection between science & religion and the symbolism and hidden meanings of Freemasonry.  This part of me reads books, studies other Mason’s thoughts on attaining the “higher self” and contemplates and mediates on the meaning of it all.

The other part of me attends Lodge, partakes of Lodge social functions and gathers with Brothers individually to cement the ties of brotherly love and affection.

This dichotomy is reinforced by the two distinct styles I observe in Brothers.  Type A is a Brother who reads and studies and is into all the esoteric philosophy that is a kin to Freemasonry such as the Kybalion and Hermetic philosophies and the Rosicrucians. This Brother attends Lodge now and then but rarely becomes an officer.

Type B is a Brother who doesn’t read much, especially all that way out fancy stuff.  But he is a regular Lodge attendee, is or has gone through the chairs and participates in his Lodge’s activities and social functions all the time.  He also tends to be an excellent ritualist.  In addition he also has joined the York Rite and Scottish Rite and the Shrine and attends all those meetings regularly.

Type A does not have the time to attend all these functions and meetings on a regular basis, memorize ritual to a T and also be active in the Concordant Bodies AND have time to do all his research and study too.  Type B is so busy going to functions and meetings and taking a management position within multiple Bodies that even if he liked to read, research and study he wouldn’t have the time for it.

MY PROBLEM IS I AM BOTH – type AB.  In addition I take a very active part in reading, researching and writing about politics, so I have divided loyalties.  For me there is life after Freemasonry.

But while you are thinking I am patting myself on the back here what I am really doing is bemoaning the fact that I am a Jack of all trades but a Master of none.  Rather than seeing this as a plus I view it as a minus. Right now I am reading two Masonic books at once – “Nobly Born” and “The Lost Symbol.”  And they, like me, are works of opposite contrasts.  One is a historical documentary that sets the record straight and another is fanciful fiction from the dream world of an author with an overgrown imagination.  It is much like the difference between Operative & Speculative Masonry. One might tend to regard the other as good but secondary.

So that leaves the question still hanging and one which the reader knows that I want to answer – what’s the “big thing” for me now in Masonry? Considering all my drawbacks and all that I am missing because I refuse to be totally a Type A or a Type B what do I have to say as regards what has true meaning and benefit for me in the Craft right now in the year 2009. Which side am I going to throw more weight to – the A or B side?

Before I give you my answer I must tell you I was very influenced by reading a piece from H.L. Haywood.

“Freemasonry does not exist in a world where brotherhood is a mere dream flying along the sky; it exists in a world of which brotherhood is the law of human life. Its function is not to bring brotherhood into existence just as a hot-house gardener may at last coax into bloom a frail flower, though the climate is most unfriendly, but to lead men to understand that brotherhood is already a reality, a law, and that it is not until we come to know it as such, and practise it, that we can ever find happiness, together. Freemasonry does not create something too fine and good for this rough world; it “reveals” something that is as much a part of the world as roughness itself. In other words, it removes the hoodwink of jealousy, hatred, unkindness, and all the other myriad forms of unbrotherliness in order that a man may see and thus come to know how good and pleasant a thing it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. The hoodwink of cloth or leather that is bound over a man’s eyes is not the real hoodwink at all, but only the symbol thereof; the real hoodwink, and it is that which Freemasonry undertakes to remove from a man’s eyes, is all that anti-social and unhuman spirit out of which grow the things that make life unkind and unhappy. “Brotherhood is heaven; the lack of brotherhood is hell.”

So then for me as I approach the years of retirement, as to distinguish myself from a much younger Freemason, it is precisely COMMUNITY and RELATIONSHIPS that hold the greatest meaning for me. It is making friends so deeply, so closely and tightly bonded that the meaning of friendship itself has been changed. It is knowing not just one but dozens of human beings that you would be willing to die for without question. It is a joy one usually finds just with one’s spouse.  But I have been fortunate enough to forge many, many soul mates and I don’t think very many people outside the Craft could claim that. And it is what many soul mates collectively can experience in Community that blows my mind away.

And it is also very much about something that I wrote about in “World Peace Through Brotherhood.” The ability for men of different faiths, different cultures, different races, different political persuasions and different economic status to come together leaving their differences outside the Lodge door is what makes every Masonic Lodge a sanctuary of Peace in the world and what holds true promise for mankind as a model to be emulated by the rest of the world. It all comes down to something we all learn very early in the first degree – “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for Brethren to dwell together in unity!”