virtue, hope, faith, symbol, freemasonry

Hope in Freemasonry

In this installment of the Symbols and Symbolism of Freemasonry, we examine the text of Albert Mackey’s Encyclopedia of Freemasonry on the symbolism of Hope.

Much derided, today, hope is one of those indispensable utilities that carries many of us over the final miles of a trying journey through life. In a masonic context, the symbol is simplified (almost overly) to represent a moment by which the individual may enter into the bliss of eternity.

In the video component, we explore the more broadly understanding of Hope and its origins from a small box out of the mists of antiquity.

Hope in Freemasonry

The second round in the theological and Masonic ladder, and symbolic of a hope in immortality. It is appropriately placed there, for, having attained the first, or faith in God, we are led by a belief in His wisdom and goodness to the hope of immortality. This is but a reasonable expectation; without it, virtue would lose its necessary stimulus and vice its salutary fear; life would be devoid of joy, and the grave but a scene of desolation. The ancients represented Hope by a nymph or maiden holding in her hand a bouquet of opening flowers, indicative of the coming fruit; but in modern and Masonic iconology, the science of Craft illustrations and likenesses, it is represented by a virgin leaning on an anchor, the anchor itself being a symbol of hope.


More on Masonic Symbols.

masonic faith, hope, charity, virtue, apprentice

Faith in Freemasonry

In this installment of the Symbols and Symbolism of Freemasonry, we consider a reading of Albert Mackey’s text on the subject of Faith as it pertains to Freemasonry. Distilled to a single word, Mackey gets to the essence of what that faith means in the fraternity and why it is so critical to the becoming of an Apprentice mason. Rather than give away Mackey’s conclusion, I’ll let his words speak for themselves as we explore them.

Faith in Freemasonry

In the theological ladder, the explanation of which forms a part of the instruction of the First Degree of Masonry, faith is said to typify the lowest round. Faith, here, is synonymous with confidence or trust, and hence we find merely a repetition of the lesson which had been previously taught that the first, the essential qualification of a candidate for initiation, is that he should trust in God.

In the lecture of the same Degree, it is said that “Faith may be lost in sight; Hope ends in fruition; but Charity extends beyond the grave, through the boundless realms of eternity And this is said, because as faith is “the evidence of things not seen,” when we see we no longer believe by faith but through demonstration; and as hope lives only in the expectation of possession, it ceases to exist when the object once hoped for is at length enjoyed, but charity, exercised on earth in acts of mutual kindness and forbearance, is still found in the world to come, in the sublime form of mercy from God to his erring creatures.

More on Albert Gallatin Mackey.

I Shall Return

Perhaps you remember the story of Brother Salman S. Sheika resigning from Freemasonry. We covered the story: Masonic Anti-Intellectualism A Crying Shame.

Good news. Brother Sheika is returning to Freemasonry and here is his story:

Brother Salman S. Sheika and Grand Master of Pennsylvania Hon. S. Eugene Heritt.

Why I Am Returning To The Masonic Brotherhood: Salman S. Sheikh

Disclaimer: This is of my own personal thoughts, opinions, and experiences and does not represent any Grand Lodge or its leaders/statements in any way. Please read with an open mind and don’t take anything out of context as I had several Masons review this before publishing. Thank You!

Greetings to one and all wherever you are reading this from. My name is Salman Sheikh and as you know I had an article that went viral when I resigned from the fraternity due to many issues which I felt did not meet my expectations of individuals I wanted to associate myself with. As you read this, I will try my best to break every subject I feel necessary to address in different headings so my message is understood rather than receiving criticism which is common for any Mason that cares and makes the effort to put it in writing. I found it in my heart to make the intention to return and reserved my right as a resigned Master Mason in good standing doing so. I want to clear the air on many things so I can return with a full heart. And away we go:

That is what I joined for to see guys learn something they can apply to their lives instead of repetitive meetings, lodge politics, and online arguments which is common now in the current environment.

My Background and Why I Left The Brotherhood

As I was growing up as a first generation American Muslim, I felt lost when I arrived to the USA at age 5 and did not know a word of English when I arrived in Cleveland, Ohio. I went to a local school which was a K-8 school and I am thankful to a teacher from India who took me under his wing and taught me English in terms of watching and reading all materials that presented itself in the required Lingua Franca. As time went on, I eventually made my way to the Greater Philadelphia area and have been here ever since. I was always misunderstood and found myself in trouble going through the school system and in middle school as I was only 1 suspension away from expulsion but was saved due to the advice I took from my 7th grade history teacher at the time who cared. I am thankful that to this day I maintain a clean record on all fields as a productive member of society especially growing up as a Muslim in the post 9/11 era. I am thankful to people like my Ohio Indian teacher and my 7th grade history teacher who showed up at the right times to guide me when they did so I could have a foundation to build upon. These individuals didn’t see me as a Pakistani Muslim but someone that they showed compassion for as a human being because I had always seen the world from outside the box and would often rebel against things I did not agree with. After finishing high school, I became the first person in my family to obtain a college degree and I am thankful of the opportunity of growing up in the USA and will always be thankful to my father who brought me here.

I was always curious about the world and humanity’s purpose in it as I would spend hours during my high school weekends searching Freemasonry including different secret societies, the occult aspects, and why things in our world worked the way they did in a script mode as I observed with the practice of Gematria/Kabalah. After high school, I operated a family business for a few years in the Philadelphia area while finishing my college and the thought of the craft had left my mind until the summer of 2015. I was working a summer job in the Upper Darby area when I had met an immigrant from Jamaica and a wonderful human being who showed up as a customer. I saw the square and compass on his hat and asked him that I wanted to join knowing the process myself that I had to ask with my own free will. He was old school and wanted to test me out for a bit as time went on of us becoming friends, hanging out, and learning from each other before He decided to present me with a petition to lodge. I was 23 at the time and really excited and went right away to my local Grand Lodge to take a tour. The night I became an Entered Apprentice, I was so excited because I never saw the sight of men of different backgrounds all sitting together and breaking bread. That’s when one of the Past Master’s of my former lodge who is a wonderful individual told me, “People will still be people.” I disregarded his words just like any youngster that talks to an elder but as time went on I came to appreciate his words more and more. I was initiated, passed, and raised by a Jewish Past Master who is often overlooked and I want him recognized for his awesome contributions to the craft and for the countless individuals he has raised. I thought to myself that where else in the world do you see this where we can all come together as one regardless of our faith, race, socio-economic status, etc?

I decided to faithfully attend all events of lodge which consisted of instruction(practice) nights, stated meetings, and extra meetings which is used for conferral of degrees. As soon as I was raised in the Spring of 2016 I was put into the Junior Deacon role which I faithfully honored with perfect attendance and effort till my Summer 2018 resignation. I also joined other appendant bodies and made the effort to honor all with participation, attendance, mentoring(education), bringing in worthy candidates which in my case still allows me to make an impact as one of the candidates I recommended for my former blue lodge is serving them in an exceptional way and things would have turned out differently for them had I not recommended this worthy individual so in the end I am thankful in many ways because we all have our parts to play to guiding each other to wherever we are meant to be and serve. I am no one special in the end but I am thankful to have played my role.

The one thing which amazed me was seeing men who would call me brother in lodge just for the sake of being there but would later post Anti-Islamic/Anti-Immigrant rhetoric on their social media pages or my spirit would be able to pick up on their vibrations on how they really felt about me. I tried to change them by showing them how a real Freemason makes a difference in the world. I made the effort to get involved in every appendant body and visited different lodges, went up to brothers that were sitting alone, and gave hugs to many as a I could to let them know that there was still some good left in the world including in the world of Freemasonry. The only way there will be a renewal in this brotherhood is when brothers like myself and others make the effort through action to show them how we can be a shining example of light to the world rather than empty words or promises. The doubts also started to cloud my mind is when how some brethren would make subliminal derogatory comments towards me in person and the way they conducted themselves on social media which made me more disillusioned no matter how many times I tried to stay active, help, do education programs, publish articles in Masonic magazines or any other Masonic effort I tried to make with a clean heart to spread unity in my short 2.5 years. I operated myself in a duality existence where I wore my Islamic prayer cap and kept my Masonic ring on as I had learned from the craft and the Scottish Rite Double Headed Eagle to represent all of our existence in a singularity because all other labels and identities are worldly illusions. My intention doing this living in USA was to show those I had interacted with that not all Masons and Muslims are bad and to erase the doubts in their minds through my own character. One thing I learned is that you can only influence and teach others through your displayed character which means a lot more than words.

I joined Freemasonry because I wanted to escape the judgemental attitudes I experienced in America and wanted to be with men who shared the same vision as me and great men in history like Haile Sellassie, Swami Vivekananda, Mustafa Kamal, and many other great revolutionaries that changed the world. I believe they only succeeded because they came together for a common cause and not petty issues like how I can make myself stand out from the next brother or who is taking the chair next year. If they had the attitudes we have today then maybe the USA would have never been created.  I believe we leave all those fancy titles and honors behind when we face the creator because at that point the only thing that will matter is what good did you do for yourself, the world, and others? I can proudly say that I can face the creator with a clean heart and say that I loved my brothers, did right by all, and asked for forgiveness from all that were hurt by my actions unintentionally. That my beautiful brethren, I believe is true Freemasonry and I did not get that from those who are quick to make comments about the West Gate and how we need to better screen everyone. These are the same people who drive others out and maintain their own control as we see with the mass decline on how good of a job they are doing. My intention is to not condemn anyone or the fraternity but to raise the necessary awareness for revival and education because I saw no one else having the courage to stand up so please keep this in mind as you read on. If not me, then who?

I left Freemasonry because I did not like the corporate mindset that creeps into the lodge system. My intention of joining Freemasonry was to gain esoteric knowledge by spreading my own and humbling myself to learn from others also when required. I dedicated my heart and soul for all events and in the end I was called a liar, a spy, and other names by those who find it easier to criticize behind my back and on the computer screen rather than to my face because I chose to call out all those guilty of UnMasonic conduct rather than look away. These are the same individuals I called my brothers and they left me out to dry just like we see in the corporate world of the seller being nice to the client to gain as much as possible out of him but won’t hesitate to look the other way and walk right past them if they see any issue of any kind. I forgive them and moved on with my life peacefully and I hope they can become true Masons in all that they do because at the end no one is perfect but that should not be an excuse for lacking basic decency or empathy for your fellow man regardless of your biases, race, or religion viewpoints. The mindset of everyone being expendable needs to go away where focusing on numbers and petitions is the priority but not on why young men are leaving disoriented. Men come to the craft to learn and not appease those with a shopkeeper’s mentality who gets upset when you decide not to take a chair or anything else and won’t hesitate to replace you in a heartbeat. We see that as all the “higher ups” find it easier to hold fancy seminars about how to attract younger men and increase numbers(profits) while never talking about why did they join, how did we fail, and what drove them away? How you present yourself in person, on social media, and other things will determine if the young person joining will find you worthwhile or not to their spiritual growth. The young generation of today is keen with technology, Artificial Intelligence, and can flood the internet with memes in the seconds of any event happening in the world. These are the kids who are becoming leaders of tomorrow and the craft has to clean up the shopkeeper mentality who just needs enough bodies to keep the show rolling where whoever decide to show up is automatically assigned a chair. I am part of this generation and we won’t tolerate those who don’t practice what they preach on all venues. Hence, why I and others continue to leave as we see lodges with hundreds of members barely having enough to just open and close. This needs to change if the craft wants to survive beyond in to the 2030s and 2040s. The egos need to die down also as we see on all Masonic online platforms of just brethren arguing and fighting amongst many different issues in today’s environment of extreme polarization. I have also read many comments of my articles published which brethren degrade my faith, my value, and other lack of understanding and you can revisit them online and see how I handled them in response which was with brotherly love because I for one will never dishonor my oath and obligation regardless If I am an active Mason or not. I have the courage to look myself in the mirror everyday and tell those who are wrong on their face rather than look the other way.

Why I Am Returning

I created a lot of controversy when I resigned from Pennsylvania because I honored my obligation of standing up against injustice even if that meant losing everything I had worked for. I am returning because of great human beings like the current Right Worshipful Grand Master of Pennsylvania, Bro. S. Eugene Herritt who personally called me and assured he would make things right. I first met RWGM Herritt at the Spring 2017 Academy of Masonic Knowledge lectures in Elizabethtown, PA. At the time he was a Deputy Grand Master and I did not know that as I just saw him a brother who was sitting by himself at the table during lunch. I felt something for him in respect to my oath and went up to him, gave him a hug, and took a picture with him and shared a nice moment as we took more pictures with our speakers, the speakers who also I both embraced because I know how special it is for those that gather to share knowledge with their fellow man. There are Grand Lodge leaders that probably don’t notice if your average Mason demits but RWGM Herritt truly cares for his fellow man and Mason and I want him recognized and honored for that from the entire global Masonic community including the growth of Masonic education under his leadership. There were those who said that I broke the trust of the RWGM with my resignation article that went viral that also had a picture of us sharing a moment together. Anyone with a pair of eyes can reread that article can see that I only mention the RWGM in their once where I respect him for the actions he was taking to better Pennsylvania and the fraternity in general. These are the same people who were quite and looked the other way when their clique friends laughed at me when I was going through my resignation process. I rest my case and those who have the eyes to see and the heart  to feel know where I stand in my position without me having to provide any necessary justification as we see in the past of all individuals who made a difference branded as heretics or rebels. If anyone points a finger at you they too have to realize they are 10 pointing at least right back at you.

I am returning to honor great men like the current RWGM of Pennsylvania and others from the United Grand Lodge of England and Grand Lodge of India who stayed in touch with me on a daily basis regardless of time zone differences. That changed my entire perspective as I was only used to receiving once a year birthday check up calls as an American Mason or the dues payment reminders. Through these brethren, I am petitioning the UGLE and eventually the Grand Lodge of India to become an active Mason again and am making the intention to visit these countries to speak and be a real traveler with Masonry being a unifier that can help me bridge issues between the India/Pakistan mentality also which are all just illusions and labels. My purpose in returning is only for bringing brethren together in different scenarios and Masonic education and not to play lodge politics or musical chairs. I won’t join any lodge here in USA until they show me by their actions on where they stand and not empty words, but with my restored credentials I will happily visit the lodges here if they need a good education program that I can speak on and help them learn something or be able to attend myself if someone else is spreading light. I am not denouncing Continental Masonry(USA) and won’t hesitate to join a new lodge here in Pennsylvania or anywhere else that I believe would be benefecial for me or if I see something that sets them apart from others. That is what I joined for to see guys learn something they can apply to their lives instead of repetitive meetings, lodge politics, and online arguments which is common now in the current environment. If I make my intentions clear on why I want to come back then the possibility of me being disappointed is low. We all have different talents we can contribute to the craft and the mentality of throwing everyone in a chair right after being raised and expecting them to perform perfect ritual is unrealistic. The effort needs to made to sit down with the brother and ask him what he joined for and what talent or skill he has that can teach someone as we remain true to being builders of selves and our fellow man, not everyone can be a ritualist so the emphasis on their personal talents need to be clarified so the new brother feels a purpose and belonging. I joined at age 23 as the first person in my family to do so and am returning at age 27 almost as a Master Mason in good standing and that is something no one can ever take away from me because at the end our faith is always in God through all good and bad times. We all need to be understanding of one another if we are truly being followers of God and I know the inevitable comments of criticism that I will get from this and I forgive you in advance because  you are my brothers and I will always wish you well. I will leave my contact information below and I encourage everyone who agrees or disagrees with me of how I took action to meet with me in person rather than behind a computer screen. I will treat you to a coffee and be willing to learn from you by putting my ego aside and I hope you will return the same respect to me as I will not respond to any negativity or negative comments that get posted on my new piece here. I also want to quickly address those who scrutinized me for standing up to those who post Anti-Islamic/Anti-Immigrant content on their social medias. I support everyone’s right to what they believe but to me it’s crossing the line when you demonize others which inevitably turns into UnMasonic conduct. The whole concept of being divided by race and religion is an illusion in my humble opinion and we can’t lower ourselves to that mentality.  I got my DNA test done as a Pakistani and had Indian, Persian, Chinese, Japanese, and Australian Aboriginal ancestry in which the aboriginal bloodline gives me Indigenous recognition in the US under International law pursuant to Aborigines American Indian treaties with Great Britain and the De Jure United States of America under UCC 9-311 and the UN International rights of the indigenous peoples signed by President Obama in 2010 along with being a naturalized American citizen as well in respect to the Pam Am Convention, and Organization of American States. I found a fifth generational cousin who was a Caucasian woman in Iowa in which proves my sentiment again that we are all connected by our spirits and love for one another as human beings regardless of how different we think we are from others especially those whether they are Masons or not that like to spread disunity and confusion. This is my point in addressing all this. I would like to conclude my thoughts with a quote from Hermes Trismegistus, “The excellence of the soul is understanding; for the man who understands is conscious, devoted, and already godlike.”

A lot of people have asked me why I keep putting my neck on the line and I tell them that I truly care about the future of humanity whether it be through my Masonic endeavors or other situations. My personal beliefs added with Masonic teachings taught me never to back down or look the other way no matter what happens or how strong the opposition. The climate of division in USA has gotten worse over the last few years and unfortunately those attitudes seep into the lodges as well which drives away younger Masons and I would like to tell those older brethren and others that being a Mason evolves around love and understanding in all that you do. Mankind is born into bondage as the baby gets branded with a name, socio-economic status, and ideology in respect to the area being born in. Then that same baby grows up defending those programmed beliefs that were never truly chosen by them in the first place. The real realization is that one must follow their own path to understand self and others and have that true human victory which should be our true focus as Masons rather than the hours we spend arguing online. I wrote to many leaders and heads of state including Pope Francis and Queen Elizabeth, who responded to me within 2 weeks! If I as a suburban Philly kid can do all this to spread awareness to the very minimum then no one else should have any excuse on why they choose to look the other way. Masonry has to give the younger generation a purpose of understanding in today’s 24/7 surveilled environment where the concepts of human interaction, relationships, jobs, etc are all different compared to the times of our parents and grandparents.

Thank you all and may God always bless you all and remove all your sorrows in this year and beyond. Again, make the effort to sit down with me in person and look me in the eye if you disagree with my above mentioned article on why I am returning rather than describe me as bad person who got through the West Gate. As a 27 year old Sufi Muslim, Freemason, and man I realized that its either you do it from the heart or not do it at all and that includes looking someone in the eye and giving them genuine warmth of a smile and feeling of peace. Again, I reassure you that this article is not to condemn Masonry but to encourage its revival through honesty and dialogue with one another for only being honest we can honor Masonry and its universal tenants of earning rewards through pain and struggle. We are all imperfect and as brothers who often fall out and make up again, we to share that bond of humanity even if we are not related by blood. If I hurt anyone in any way shape or form through my actions of order out of chaos in Masonry, I apologize and I hope those who conspired against me or did me wrong have the courage to do the same. We don’t become smaller by doing what’s right because in the end we shall all be held accountable by the almighty creator, myself included. Please continue to love each other, your families, and apply the teachings of our degrees, charges, and symbols into your daily lives and keep your head held high because God and karma vindicate our soul/character in the end. May peace be upon you and yours always and may our love for humanity and each other get stronger.

Yours in brotherhood,
Salman S. Sheikh


All Rights Reserved :: Email: SalmanSheikh911@gmail.com – Greater Philadelphia Area USA

Fred Milliken,Freemason Information,The Beehive

What Do You Bring?

Once again we bring the yearly Allocution from Royal Grand Perfect Matron R. Lucille

R. Lucille Samuel
The 1st Royal Grand Perfect Matron
Margaret A. McDow Grand Court
Ladies Of The Circle Of Perfection
Texas
PHA

Samuel as she continues to inspire and lead her troops. This Sister spreads love and joy wherever she goes while at the same time holding tightly the reins of leadership. She is a Master at organizing, deputizing and inspiring those whom she leads.

I truly believe in the 3 Cs to success Confidence, Curiosity and Courage. 

WHAT DO YOU BRING!

Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.  Proverbs 16:19

Again it is my honor and privilege to stand before you as we celebrate our 2nd year as the Margaret A. McDow Grand Court.  We are blessed beyond measures.

I truly thank the membership for all the time spent in making this great body successful.

We have accomplished so much but we are still on that road to Perfection.  I truly believe in the 3 Cs to success Confidence, Curiosity and Courage.  We are on a Journey that has no destination.  Our compass is set in the direction of continuous labor and service.  The road may be rocky at times but the ride will be smooth.

Revelations 2:19 – I know thy works and charity and service and faith and thy patience and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.

Innovation distinguishes between a Leader and a Follower.

Have you ever asked yourself What do I bring to the organization?  How does the organization benefit from my presence?

Let’s start with communication.   Are you the type that loves to share information or keep it to yourself?  Do you feel well if I share then that gives them the upper hand on me.  I can’t get to the top if I share my ideas of vision.  Sometimes we have to set aside our opinions and selflessness in order for our organizations to thrive and flourish.  In order for our mission to be complete support of each other is a must.  We are here to serve not to be served.  We made a pledge and promised to respect and assist when necessary.  Those that came before us paved the way for our benefit.  We must maintain the same enthusiasm and honor their memories.

Honesty is another attribute that is not popular in our Order.  How can you expect members to respect you if they cannot trust your words?  Honesty means being upright of character or action.  Would you follow a person that constantly feeds you false information?  Honesty is one of the most admired traits of a leader.  Being truthful and honest shows respect and integrity.  Remember you can pay for school but you can‘t buy class.

What about Flexibility?  Are you willing to listen to ideas of others?  Do you feel intimidated if someone has a greater idea or suggestion?  Are you afraid that your position or title is in jeopardy?

Sometimes leaders become complacent and have a deaf ear to change.  You may hear a comment such as you have not been a member long enough to have an opinion.  You don’t have enough experience in the Order to have any new ideas.  We are never too old to learn.  Fresh ideas bring oxygen and motivation.  Being able to work with others is a trait that we all must have in order to succeed.  A positive attitude will take you further than negativity and animosity.  Being the leader does not make you the expert and there is always someone else with more experience.  We are an equal opportunist and there is no place in our organization for intimidation and old beliefs of exaggerated prejudice.  Many times your attitude of superiority toward members can be the demise of your organization.

Sometimes you need to look in the mirror and ask yourself am I the problem or the solution?  Is my work in order?  Am I organized?  Am I qualified to be in this position?  We need to practice what we preach or change our speech.  If you can’t lead the song you don’t sing.

You can’t lead anyone if you don’t know how to follow.  Using large intelligent words only fool people for so long.  Your friends will only cover for you for so long and that smoke screen does not last forever.  You can’t use $30 words and have a Dollar Store’s worth of common sense.  A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way.  Don’t let these collars around your necks out weigh the efforts you put forth in serving the organization.  Innovation distinguishes between a Leader and a Follower.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Royal Grand Perfect Matron Samuel can be reached for comment at: rouchellion@yahoo.com.

Fred Milliken,Freemason Information,The Beehive

Philosophical Intellectual Masons versus Structural Administrative Freemasons

Recently I have been reading some essays by Masons who are dismayed at all the talk about membership, dues, dress, Grand Lodge edicts and other issues that they believe bring into the mix undue discussion, debate and division — the three Ds.

For them the philosophy of Masonry, its symbolism, its virtues, its morality, its positive effect on the human soul, its way of life is the only thing that should be talked about within the Masonic Community. All this other “stuff” is divisive, irrelevant, and unneeded controversy that hurts the Craft. We can call these Masons the Philosophical Intellectuals. Who cares where we meet, what we look like and how many of us there are. Many of these PI (Philosophical Intellectuals) Masons are heavily into Internet Masonry and less involved with Lodge itself. They see Masonry as a philosophy that can exist regardless of its structure because a philosophy requires no administration or infrastructure. It requires thought, enlightenment and personal practice without encumberment. It does not need a building or a leader or authority imposed on it. Masonry is a thought that can live in the minds of humans forever. It is indestructible, a personal journey that need not be shared with others and an intellectual movement that only requires a personal commitment to its ideals and its life changing message.

On the other side we have the Structural Administrative Freemasons who tell us that high brow intellectual philosophers in the Craft are all well and good but a Society, a Brotherhood without structure is anarchy. It no longer becomes a Brotherhood they say because what is lost is the interpersonal relationships, the camaraderie that is lost by the lack of personal contact. These Freemasons may bemoan the fact that we have become slaves to “communication machines” that remove from us our ability to relate face to face with others and hamper our ability to verbally, visibly and hands on bond with others. They will say that the Intellectual philosophers in the Craft would if they could put themselves on a pedestal while shoving the more practical Freemasons to a place of obscurity in a place where they cannot be seen or heard by the vast majority of humankind. These Freemasons are being charged with destroying the peace and harmony of Masonry for the sake of personal gain or notoriety.

The Structural Administrators strike back with, well these Masons are like those who own a new fancy car and all they are concerned with is driving it around without concern for whether there is gas in the gas tank or air in the tires. They say look Christianity is the thought and churches are the communal application of the thought. And that is what is important here — the communal application, the three degrees performed by living, breathing human beings not a video on a screen, and that we practice Masonry together with others.  And the power of the personal touch, the effect of face to face practice of a philosophy cannot be overstated. If you are going to have infrastructure, a building, a ritual, a dogma, a catechism, a specific set up, designated leaders and positions of official status then you are going to have rules, regulations and enforcement. Thus, issues like dues, budgets, dress, qualifications for membership, what constitutes heresy, what permission is needed, how we are constituted, what we can do, what we cannot do, who has what authority and so forth have to be decided and then rethought and reviewed as each new generation enters into the Craft. Sometimes there are issues that need to be addressed when those in authority or those without authority bend the rules or distort them. Sometimes past oversights or changes in how we view things in today’s world have to be brought up to date. For instance, should a Mainstream Grand Lodge recognize a Prince Hall Grand Lodge. As much as anyone of us would like to avoid conflict and keep Masonry pure and innocent, that’s not reality. And the failure to realize that may lead to a Brotherhood that is corrupted and even hijacked by others who want it to be something else.

Both sides have some good points to consider. If more attention was devoted to the study of Masonry, its symbolism, its virtues, how it ennobles men and how it leads us to the Great Architect of the Universe then membership would increase. There are seekers or searchers among the newest generations who want to add meaning and purpose to their lives, who want to make a difference in this world. We have that for them if we will only offer it to them. However, American Lodges failure to teach what it has to offer and only pay lip service to its philosophy is its biggest downfall. One need only compare most European Lodges who are philosophical Lodges with American Lodges who are rather Service Clubs or Social Clubs. The fact that we have this outstanding philosophy which leads Masons who practice it to a joyous and rewarding life yet in the United States we spend most of the Masonic time on fund raisers, family gatherings, community action, charity and Brand and cigar nights is exactly what is leading to our diminishing numbers. We have something great to offer yet we pass over it to practice the more mundane things that a person could get in any number of other organizations. The Philosophical Intellectuals have a great point. Masons have a philosophy that no one else has. It being the strength of our organization when we fail to give it due homage and instruct the Brothers in its ways and what it can do for them, then we are defeating the purpose of being a Mason.

Why don’t we just change the name to Distinctive Gentlemen and get on with it?

But that does not let the Philosophical Intellectuals off the hook. Burying your head in the sand when problems come up and pretending that they don’t exist to avoid controversy does not lead to long term peace and harmony. Racism, homophobia, Grand Lodge unlawful expulsions and pulling of charters, corruption, religious discrimination, Grand Lodge micromanaging can’t be swept under the rug. Deal with the problems now or let them fester. Unfortunately, in many cases we have done the latter which only makes the explosion down the line much larger than it should be, because we have these Masons who say ignore the problems, we don’t want the controversy. We will not listen. We are going to stick our fingers in our ears and hum when you bring up such subjects.

Masons are not meant to be Monks. We need to deal with the real world. And while I sympathize with the agony and the disruption of controversial problems I cannot condone doing nothing, especially when some Masons are abused by other Masons; especially when too much power is concentrated in too few hands and is used unwisely and immorally. Look at civil society today. You have those who consider President Trump great and those who think he is terrible and there is a whole lot of controversy going on. And some of it is violent. Now we, as Masons, are better than that. Yet the call for no controversy at all by ignoring problems that may be tearing our beloved Fraternity apart is a Utopian Fantasy World.

One of the problems we have in the United States is the plethora of Grand Lodges, more than Ninety (counting Prince Hall). And that is not even counting the Clandestine Operations. In much of the rest of the world there is One Grand Lodge per nation. In some others there may be two, three, four or five but nowhere near the number that we have. And believe me when I say that what one Grand Lodge does affects the reputation and the public evaluation of all the other Grand Lodges. In the Information Age none of us lives anymore in a vacuum. What I have recommended for some time is that we have some sort of National Constitution and Bill of Rights or National Masonic Code of Ethics that would codify Grand Lodge conduct. And that Grand Lodges pull recognition from those who refuse to sign it and those who violate it. If we all agreed on proper conduct, what makes a Mason, the Landmarks, the proper dispersal of power within the Grand Lodge system, the rights of the Individual Mason and the limits of Grand Lodge then there would be a whole lot less of controversy, bickering and arguing.

Further exasperating the problem are some Masons who now very rarely go to Lodge. These tend to be the Internet Masons and they tend to be Philosophical Intellectuals. If my Lodge won’t participate in the study and education of Esoteric Masonry, many say, then I can get what is lacking in Lodge by having thoughtful and educational discussions on the Internet. Unfortunately, their lack of participation in the physical Lodge is hurting Lodge Freemasonry. They have become like Monks, withdrawing from the physical practice of Freemasonry by living out the Craft in Chat Rooms, Facebook, Masonic Forums and Yahoo Masonic Groups. They produce and watch YouTube videos and Masonic Podcasts – the new rage –  about Freemasonry and gain their Masonic knowledge from Social Media. But when Structural Administrative Freemasons enter these discussions the Philosophical Intellectuals balk and accuse them of a “bait and switch,” and of a deliberate attack and destroy mission.

Fortunately for the moment the Masons who divide themselves into just Internet Masons or just Lodge Masons are a minority. Many Masons still do both. Yet as the Information Age becomes all pervasive the gap widens.  There is a solution to this dichotomy. The Lodge Structural Administrative Freemasons need to put back into Lodge Communications a healthy study and education in Esoteric Masonry. This must be the emphasis of the Lodge for this is what distinguishes Masonry from every other run of the mill organization out there. The Philosophic Intellectual Masons have to work with Lodge Masons in strengthening the Live Lodge Experience while at the same time helping to solve injustices, abuses, micromanaging, corrupting, watering down, dumbing down and hijacking of and in Freemasonry. In short what we need in American Freemasonry is more Masonry and Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence and Justice.

The biggest problem Freemasonry is having today is not membership but retention. New recruits come in and soon find out we are not serious about our philosophy. But that is precisely why they chose to join Freemasonry. But we don’t talk about our philosophy, we don’t teach it. So, they will take two course of action to demonstrate that disappointment.

  1. They will quit and demit
  2. They will become an Internet only Mason.

Yes, we need to listen to the Philosophical Intellectuals. The newer Generations are looking for meaning and making a difference in their lives. But they are not getting it from the Old Guard.

But today’s Philosophical Intellectual Masons need to recognize that they cannot attract new members in numbers when Freemasons are racist, homophobic, religious intolerant and misogynists. Today’s Generation just will not abide by these human failings. That’s right, you heard right. We are going to have to recognize and/or admit African Americans, Gays and Women. And just as the Structural Administrative Freemasons are going to have to admit a vastly increased Esoteric Masonic study into Masonry so also do Philosophical Masons need to help solve the problems of Grand Lodge despotism, racism, homophobia and misogyny without raising the bogeyman of controversy. When and if we attack both sides of the problem, the issues on both sides, then and only then will we once again have a thriving, growing Fraternity in the 21st Century with today’s Generation.

Cardinal Virtues of Freemasonry

masonic virtues, temperance,prudence,fortitude,justice,freemasonry

In this edition of Freemason Information’s Symbols and Symbolism we consider, together, the four cardinal virtues of Freemasonry as gathered form Albert Mackey’s Encyclopedia of Freemasonry. Mackey (and Freemasonry) originally sourcing the virtues from Plato’s scheme, discussed in Republic Book IV, 426–435. Mackey writes of the cardinal virtues saying, The pre-eminent or principal virtues on which all the others hinge or depend. They are temperance, fortitude, prudence, and justice. They are referred to in the ritual of the first degree, and will be found below under their respective heads. Oliver says (Revelation of a Square, ch. i.,) that in the eighteenth century the Masons delineated the symbols of the four cardinal virtues by an acute angle, variously disposed. Thus, suppose you face the east, the angle symbolizing temperance will point to the south, It was called a Guttural. Fortitude was denoted by a saltire, or St. Andrew’s Cross. This was the Pectoral. The symbol of prudence was an acute angle pointing towards the south-east, and was denominated a Manual; and justice had its angle towards the north and was called a Pedestal or Pedal.

Of the particular virtues, Mackey says:

Temperance

One of the four cardinal virtues; the practice of which is inculcated in the First Degree. The Freemason who properly appreciates the secrets which he has solemnly promised never to reveal, will not, by yielding to the unrestrained call of appetite, permit reason and judgment to lose their seats and subject himself, by the indulgence in habits of excess, to discover that which should be concealed, and thus merit and receive the scorn and detestation of his Brethren. And lest any Brother should forget the danger to which he is exposed in the unguarded hours of dissipation, the virtue of temperance is wisely impressed upon is memory, lay its reference to one of the most solemn portions of the ceremony of initiation. Some Freemasons, very properly condemning the vice of intemperance and abhorring its effects, have been unwisely led to confound temperance with total abstinence in a Masonic application, and resolutions have sometimes been proposed in Grand Lodges which declare the use of stimulating liquors in any quantity a Masonic offense. Put the law of Freemasonry authorizes no such regulation. It leaves to every man the indulgence of his own tastes within due limits, and demands not abstinence, but only moderation and temperance, in anything not actually wrongs.

Plato’s text on temperance says, “the virtue of temperance has more of the nature of harmony and symphony…Temperance…is the ordering or controlling of certain pleasures and desires; this is curiously enough implied in the saying of ‘a man being his own master;’ “ Something he finds as a “ridiculous in the expression ‘master of himself;’ for the master is also the servant and the servant the master; and in all these modes of speaking the same person is denoted,” but to which he denotes “…in the human soul there is a better and also a worse principle; and when the better has the worse under control, then a man is said to be master of himself; and this is a term of praise: but when, owing to evil education or association, the better principle, which is also the smaller, is overwhelmed by the greater mass of the worse—in this case he is blamed and is called the slave of self and unprincipled.”

Fortitude (Courage)

One of the four cardinal virtues, whose excellencies are dilated on in the First Degree. It not only instructs the worthy Freemason to bear the ills of life with becoming resignation, “taking up arms against a sea of trouble,” but, by its intimate connection with a portion of our ceremonies, it teaches him to let no dangers shake, no pains dissolve the inviolable fidelity he owes to the trusts reposed in him. Or, in the words of the old Prestonian lecture, it is “a fence or security against any attack that might be made upon him by force or otherwise, to extort from him any of our Royal Secrets.”

Spence, in his Polymetis, when describing the moral virtues! says of Fortitude: “She may be easily known by her erect air and military dress, the spear she rests on with one hand, and the sword which she holds in the other. She has a globe under her feet; I suppose to shows that the Romans, by means of this virtue, were to subdue the whole world.”

Plato encapsulates courage (fortitude) as “a kind of salvation…[a salvation] of the opinion respecting things to be feared, what they are and of what nature, which the law implants through education; and I mean by the words ‘under all circumstances’ to intimate that in pleasure or in pain, or under the influence of desire or fear, a man preserves, and does not lose this opinion.”

Prudence (wisdom)

This is one of the four cardinal virtues, the practice of which is inculcated upon the Entered Apprentice. Preston first introduced it into the Degree as referring to what was then, and long before had been called the Four Principal Signs, but which are now known as the Perfect Points of Entrance. Preston’s eulogium on prudence differs from that used in the lectures of the United States of America, which was composed by Webb. It is in these words: “Prudence is the true guide to human understanding, and consists in judging and determining with propriety what is to be said or done upon all our occasions, what dangers we should endeavor to avoid, and how to act in all our difficulties.” Webb’s definition, which is much better, may be found in all the Monitors. The Masonic reference of prudence to the manual point reminds us of the classic method of representing her in statues with a rule or measure in her hand.

In Plato’s Republic, Wisdom is harder to tease out as a virtue, but can essentially be distilled down as knowledge “first among the virtues…” where “good counsel is…a kind of knowledge, for not by ignorance, but by knowledge…so by reason of the smallest part or class, and of the knowledge which resides in this presiding and ruling part of itself, the whole State, being thus constituted according to nature, will be wise; and this, which has the only knowledge worthy to be called wisdom, has been ordained by nature to be of all classes the least.” The takeaway, perhaps, is that knowledge (education) leads to wisdom.

Justice

One of the four cardinal virtues, the practice of which is inculcated in the first degree. The Mason who remembers how emphatically he has been charged to preserve an upright position in all his dealings with mankind, should never fail to act justly to himself, to his brethren, and to the world. This is the cornerstone on which alone he can expect ” to erect a superstructure alike honorable to himself and to the Fraternity.” In iconography, Justice is usually represented as a matron with bandaged eyes, holding in one hand a sword and in the other a pair of scales at equipoise. But in Masonry the true symbol of Justice, as illustrated in the first degree, is the feet firmly planted on the ground, and the body upright.

Justice, Plato encapsulates as, “being concerned however, not with the outward man, but with the inward, which is the true self and concernment of man: for the just man does not permit the several elements within him to interfere with one another, or any of them to do the work of others,—he sets in order his own inner life, and is his own master and his own law, and at peace with himself; and when he has bound together the three principles within him, which may be compared to the higher, lower, and middle notes of the scale, and the intermediate intervals—when he has bound all these together, and is no longer many, but has become one entirely temperate and perfectly adjusted nature, then he proceeds to act, if he has to act, whether in a matter of property, or in the treatment of the body, or in some affair of politics or private business; always thinking and calling that which preserves and co-operates with this harmonious condition, just and good action, and the knowledge which presides over it, wisdom, and that which at any time impairs this condition, he will call unjust action, and the opinion which presides over it ignorance.

Is Freemasonry dying or changing?

The Death of Freemasonry: When Change Changes You

freemasonry, dying, declining membership, future of Freemasonry
Is Freemasonry dying or changing?

I haven’t said much on the subject of membership in Freemasonry (in general) and in the United States in particular, for some time. But with the buzz and interest in the last few posts (Freemasonry Is Dying, Bait & Switch, I Quit and Masonic Anti-Intellectualism A Crying Shame), I thought it necessary to pen a few thoughts on the matter.

So often articles like these end gathering comments saying “…lodges just need to do the work and things will get better…we need to guard the west gate” or “…we need to focus on the people with a real interest in Masonry.” I like “Freemasonry isn’t dying…we’re refining.”

In all of these instances, the insinuation of doing nothing except what was done before, only better, is tantamount to putting your head in the sand and pretending that the problem isn’t really a problem. This isn’t a new realization. I gave the numbers my own rudimentary examination in 2007, concluding with saying So What? You can’t stem the change without acknowledging it.

Read: Freemasonry after COVID

That change, no longer on the horizon, will only result in a better fraternity with true believers of likeminded men. Some Masons get it, or at least see why its so hard to have the conversation in the first place. And sure, Freemasonry as an entity, isn’t dying. What’s dying is the Freemasonry as we know it today.

masonic lodge, for sale, change in membership
What happens when lodges lose their membership?

The situation as I’m reading and seeing today in the numbers, is membership declining precipitously which will mean sooner, rather than later, revenue from lodges will dry up and lodges will close. This story ran just yesterday in the Daily Times, a news outlet out of Delaware County, PA: End of Era in Chester: Masons hold final meeting.

The long and the short of it: lodge membership dropped, it lost its charter, the Grand Lodge took the charter and keys of the lodge and sold it.

As things progress in this period of refinement, Grand Lodges will take possession of old charters and buildings, selling the latter in high-value markets to keep their own coffers full sustaining what remains of Grand Lodge programs and retirement homes.

As member dues continue to shrink, the relationship between the lodge and grand lodge will be reevaluated and charters will start being deconstructed, flowing back along their lines of dispensation. In that process, Freemasonry will cease to exist in a meaningful way in the manner it does today.

No more lodge buildings. No more organized charity. No more institutional presence, turning to vapor 300 years charity, initiation and enlightenment.

They’ll be a few folks around doing something like Freemasonry, but it won’t be in the manner it was today.

It’s actually a fascinating thought experiment to consider how the business end of things will transpire as revenue dries up.

Cause and Effect

This is the cause and effect of change. Change in membership numbers, change in interest, change in cultural norms.

Gone are the days of men in suits lunching on three martinis or fellas in blue collar work shirts building things in factories. The bygone days are gone.

Chris Hodapp posted a great piece on how the era of the “woke generation” has mostly forgotten about Freemasonry—seeing what’s left as an anachronistic throwback club wearing racially biased costumes in gender excluding male hang-outs (Read: Freemasonry in the Age of Woke). In some respects, the age of woke probably isn’t too far off the track on their assessment. You can see, in one instance, what happens to the temples when their caretakers have to turn over the keys because they can’t keep up the rent.

This is the change that’s happening, right now, as the number of dues-paying members declines.

Masonry is going to change, not because it wanted to, but mostly because it will run out of the fuel that sustains it—namely people and money.

History Repeats Itself

This isn’t the first time Freemasonry has faced change.

During the Morgan Affair, membership in Freemasonry recoiled and nearly went extinct in the fires of the Anti-Masonic Political Party. Over the centuries masons gathered in conclaves, held meetings, met in lodges, and traveled to regional congresses—all to debate the changes they faced and the direction they should move.

In one early period, a rough conglomeration of stand-alone lodges in England organized themselves in a tavern to become the United Grand Lodge of England and the progenitor of American Freemasonry.

This was change. And it meant bucking the convention of the age.

From its inception (and baring a few making-of Masons at sight) lodges have been the defacto entry point to membership. To be a mason, you join a lodge, which meant you joined Freemasonry.

But membership is exclusive. You join “a” lodge to facilitate your dues and catalog your membership, which in turn rolls up to the state level grand lodge which takes a portion of your dues to pay some leadership and finance its operation. 

By operation I mean how it controls and distributes charters, funds homes, controls communications between states and works organizationally (albeit loosely) with the other states and appendant bodies to say who’s “regular”, and who’s not. Think of dues as an affiliation fee, or a tax. The more members a lodge has, the more it pays to the grand lodge. The fuller the coffers the more it can do.

Catalyst for Change

The issue with modern Freemasonry, as practiced today, isn’t wholly the teachings. It isn’t wholly the philosophy. It isn’t in the message or ideals.

Certainly, the history and cultural norms bring a measure of baggage in the broad exclusion of women and the history of racial separation. But these “issues” have evolved their own solutions within the system. The problem facing modern Freemasonry, and its decline in membership, is its membership model.

To require interested seekers to pay to join a lodge that offers no “intrinsic” value or no “tangible” service isn’t working.

Sure, by joining a lodge dues payers get access to an esoteric library (maybe), something we all use these days. Members get access to a Masonic funeral (if you stay current in dues for a set number of years). And, if you fit into the culture, you can develop good relationships with people (maybe) who are interested (mostly) in the same things you are. In-between you might get to eat or serve (maybe) decent meals, argue over paying the bills (out of the dues you’ve paid) and support closely associated charities that exist to give family of some members something to do other than attending lodge dinners.

This is a gross oversimplification of the Life Masonic, but in a nutshell this is the bread and butter of the Masonic lodge system. 

Why lodges lose most newly made masons is that they join, see this process, lose the value proposition (or never find a place in the old boys club) and within a fairly set amount period of time, stop attending and stop paying dues.

The issue isn’t lodges. The Issue is who’s using them. Not the leadership. The issue is in the members. Without them, there isn’t a reason to exist.

Follow the Money

It’s this layer of non-paid dues that really amplifies the loss. (read: There’s a Hole in Our Bucket) It’s the cessation of dues-paying members that ramps up the attrition.

This is what is wrong with the current model of Freemasonry.

No better meals, no better educational programs or improved ritual performance is going to bring people back once they’ve walked away. How would they know unless someone reaches out to sell them on the improved value proposition? 

Doing Freemasonry Differently

The situation is that being a mason is dependent on paying dues to a local lodge that just doesn’t offer a value proposition.

Is there a different model? A disruption of the death spiral?

I think a temporary solution could be a separate layer of membership tied to the state or perhaps a national body that removes the barrier of belonging to a local lodge and allow, if even for a few years, membership in Freemasonry to start to grow again. This would allow for a needed infusion of membership (and their dues) to cycle back into the craft something of value for the membership. What does that look like? Quarterly programs, some kind of media that’s interesting to new AND old Masons keeping them interested, rather than a cut and paste photocopied newsletters full of borrowed articles from around the web. 

Freemasonry isn’t dying a natural death. Freemasonry is slowly strangling itself in the grip of suicidal inaction over the fear of its own history under the glare of modernity.

The system of dues making the mason at the local lodge level is the noose strangling what’s left of the fraternity.

The antiquated modalities of doing things the way they were done before, right down to how and where dues are paid, is a noose around Freemasonry’s neck as we watch the options escape us like the last gasps of life on the gallows.

Disrupting Freemasonry

Some quick thoughts worthy of exploration to do Freemasonry differently:

  • Change the membership system from the old lodge dues and Grand Lodge tax system
  • Eliminate the necessity of belonging to “a” lodge
  • Invite SNPDs (suspension of nonpayment of dues) back into the fold under the “new” system of membership
  • Craft quality content, relevant to the program, to keep the membership engaged (Think how the AARP, Scouts or even the NRA are engaging their audiences)
  • Look hard at the issues of race and gender
  • Reevaluate the state by state system of management.

If not, doing nothing will still track the decline in membership. Doing something differently? Maybe it can slow things down.

Initiations could be handled by extant lodges with exceptional ritual which would begin to help them thrive again with returning members not tied to one lodge by dues and nurtured in meaningful ways. It’s a change from what’s been done before, in control of the change rather than letting the change control the future. Appendant bodies could leverage their above and beyond the blue lodge activities, and masonry can remember what it was to be flush again.

It means taking control of the future and leaning into it—steering the chaos as best possible—rather than letting the chaos of change control where the fraternity is headed. 

Winston Churchill said, “To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.” Freemasonry hasn’t changed in nearly a century. Now is the time to seek perfection, before it’s too late and Freemasonry really is dead.

To Die Or Not To Die

“To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them. To die—to sleep,
No more;”

The articles by Brothers Sean Kennedy and Stephen Dafoe regarding the decline in Freemasonry has brought many responses across the Internet. In reviewing what comments were posted in various places it seemed as if everybody had an opinion but nobody commented on the data. In many cases passionate cases were made for debunking the whole idea that Freemasonry is in some sort of distress. Rosy colored glasses led to some even declaring an unreasonable aura of negativity permeated the air and even more extreme views that this author was some kind of miserable turncoat bent on the destruction of the Craft. So much for whispering words of advice in a Brothers ear; so much for Masonic tolerance; so much for the use of logic and reason instead of raw emotion.

Yet my Brothers, the data does not lie. The data is fact. What it means for our beloved fraternity, well that is open for interpretation. And that’s fine. But the idea behind publishing these articles is to help make Freemasonry better not to see who is right or wrong about conclusions drawn. The idea was to foster reformation not dissension. What became self evident is that these articles became an affront to some who felt that they needed to bury any discourse on improvement lest they admit that Freemasonry could use some improvement.

Some may recognize that in our midst is the Masonic Restoration Foundation working for just such improvement – https://www.masonicrestorationfoundation.org/

Quoting from its purposes we hear;

“The mission of the MRF is to assist and support, through education, communication, example, and coordination of efforts among lodges, Grand Lodges, individuals and groups of Masons belonging to regularly and duly constituted lodges; the overall improvement and happiness of the individual Mason and his fraternal relationships.”

“The goal of the foundation is to restore Freemasonry to the historical and philosophical intent of its organizational founders. We believe that in so doing, Masons will return to the development of a fraternal culture of learning and intellectual growth, which will not only benefit the individual Mason, but society as a whole.”

If Freemasonry doesn’t need improvement why is there a Masonic Restoration Society?

Of all the responses that I reviewed this one stood out as a Mason that did some logical analysis not just some emotional diatribe. And that was “The Other Mason,” Wor. Istvan Horvath from Canada. His website The Other Mason contains some very interesting content and is worth looking at.

TO DIE OR NOT TO DIE

by
Worshipful Istvan Horvath

There is an article written by a Texas Mason that went viral and is discussed, dismissed and “fought” in all the Masonic forums and groups in North America. While the author is very careful to not attach any emotional comment to his findings, and even stated clearly he wasn’t judging only presenting the fact about the dwindling numbers of Freemasonry in America – all hell broke loose.

His article presented visual graphs showing the changes in numbers of Freemasons across America since 1959. And finally, looking at the general trend, the article presented a ‘projection’ (an otherwise valid tool for analyzing data) according to which the membership will collapse. While the title may sound controversial and definitely touches a nerve with present-day Masons, the analysis presented is not far-fetched: based on a 50-60 years time period it is logical to conclude the continuation of the trend, provided nothing happens to stop it or reverse it.

The Reactions

Generally, the reactions on the world wide web and social media can be put in three main groups, and interestingly (or maybe not) the reactions didn’t differ much in the USA and Canada.

Group A – These Masons consider the whole article bull*!#+ (BS), and putting their head in the sand, dismiss any findings. Lies, negativism, fake news – these are the charges brought against the author.

Group B – NIMBY. Which means Not in My Backyard. Admitting that such an issue of decreasing numbers might be of concern in other lodges, other districts or other jurisdictions… they bring anecdotal evidence that is not happening in their own “backyard”. We initiated last year X number of new Masons…
Group C – the tiny group that would like to face the facts and to have a meaningful discussion about the causes, the possible remedies, the outlook and the inevitable changes that come with the changing times. Unfortunately, they are the minority everywhere…

A. The first is the worst group – despite their conviction that they act to “defend” Masonry against the negative thinkers. They are the most dangerous as well, not just based on the sheer numbers (i.e. being the majority in any lodge and jurisdiction) but because they represent en bloc all the issues today’s Freemasonry is suffering from:

  1. lack of education
  2. fear of being called the elite of the society
  3. lack of ‘freethinker traditions’
  4. literal belief in legends from movies, fictional books, pseudo-history
  5. keeping dues artificially low, too low in order to make it ‘affordable’ for everyone

While we pride ourselves by enlisting all the historical celebrities from prime ministers, governors, army commanders to philosophers, scientists and poets… we almost get offended, if someone wants to see the Craft as the gathering place of today’s elite. None of these members is and will ever be able to mentor and educate new members… and even worse, if we let them do it, they will perpetuate this sad state of the Craft.

B. This group is always looking at it from the narrowest perspective: if it doesn’t happen in my lodge, it doesn’t exist. We are initiating a lot of young men. Our lodge is thriving… Even if the Ontario Grand Lodge lost 2022 members in the past year, bringing it up one is considered a negativist. The Craft is doing fine…

Read: Freemasonry after COVID

While the lodge members are claiming that they have so many candidates they need even emergent meeting because the monthly one meeting is not enough to initiate all those at the West Gate – the same lodge is not able to present an officers line of MMs [without recycling PMs] for years.

C. The last tiny group doesn’t have much chance to be heard because it is small by numbers and it is not into violent word exchange but prefers the calm, rational dialogue and discussion.

The Numbers

Only a few commenters looked at the data itself. Without any comments, see it for yourself!

Ontario Masons Membership 2008-2017.

Yes, we can debate about the we way read and interpret the data. We can argue about the causes and historical influences on the changing membership numbers. We can do many things… Except pretending that it is not happening!

I am not even saying that the dwindling numbers are necessarily a bad thing. Who knows, maybe it is necessary to reshape Freemasonry in the 21st century’s context. Personally, I think it is the latter but ultimately it will be the Craft, the coming younger members that will define how to deal with these changes. I hope their wisdom will be up to the task!

The Solution?

Post your thoughts below!


About the author

Wor. Istvan Horvath

Istvan Horvath, MPS1, is a Master Mason2 and Royal Arch Mason3. His Masonic journey started twenty-two years ago, in 1994, in the East of Budapest, Hungary. Today he lives in Ontario, Canada, being affiliated with local lodges4. A Past Grand Librarian in his initial jurisdiction and well versed in Masonic lore in at least two languages. He also likes to read and study in the two other languages he is fluent in. Bottom line: he likes languages, linguistics and is a diligent lifetime student of Freemasonry. For the Masonic year 2018-19 he was elected and installed as the Worshipful Master of The Electric Lodge.

  1. Member of the Philaletes Society
  2. Initiated, passed and raised in his mother lodge, Egyenlőség=Equality, under the Symbolic Grand Lodge of Hungary.
  3. Member in St.John’s/Hamilton chapter, District #6, Ontario
  4. Electric Lodge #495 GRC, Hamilton District C. Also a member of Heritage Lodge #730, the Ontario research lodge, and the Observant Templum Lucis Lodge #747.
Fred Milliken,Freemason Information,The Beehive

Bait & Switch, I Quit

This is the story of Brother Steven McAfoose, Senior Warden of Lux Lodge No 846, Grand Lodge of California.

McAfoose’s story is similar to that of recently published Brother Salman Sheika’s. You might call this Why I Left Freemasonry Part 2.” But this story has a happy ending. McAfoose quit and returned. This is not sour grapes and a back stab at the Craft as he slams the door on the way out but rather an honest look into what could be better.

But McAfoose did not encounter any discrimination. His bone to pick with the Masonic World was unrealized expectations. McAfoose complains that we over hype and over sell what Freemasonry is and can do which leads to a drastic letdown when fantasy meets reality.

Also, he points out that many Lodges spend a lot of time and effort into doing little. Once again, we hear about boring business meetings and overworked Brothers who are drafted into an Army of fund raisers and work projects. This mirrors a video interview I did of Brother Justin Jones of the Grand Lodge of Texas on Phoenixmasonry Live – https://youtu.be/jhYOc6YXh-Y.  Brother Jones said that his expectation of Freemasonry took him from the marvelous to the mundane.

McAfoose makes some other points too but we will let you read them for yourself.

This, however, gives me a chance to pontificate on where Freemasonry misses the boat.

Let’s group these problems under two headings

  1. Lack of money
  2. Overworking the Brethren

If you refuse to charge realistic dues to be able to provide a great Masonic experience, then you will have no money to provide any meaningful programs and opportunities of fellowship. Realistic Lodge dues should be in the neighborhood of $500 per year. Perhaps your old run-down Masonic building is taking all your Lodge money.

The answer is not fund raisers. Fund raisers are an excuse to keep Lodge dues artificially low for elderly brothers and those who are on the rolls but never come to Lodge. Freemasonry is not a Service Club. If you are bankrupting yourself and providing an inferior Masonic experience in order to accomplish charitable works and community action for the outside world you have your priorities askew. You must first make your Lodge financially viable before you consider helping the world, for if you go under everybody loses.

Lastly you cannot place an undue burden of time and effort on the small percentage of Lodge Brothers who come regularly. Most Brothers have family, job and worship time that must be shared with Freemasonry. If you ask the few to carry the load for everybody you are abusing your Brethren and you may find some who will drop out further increasing the burden on those who are left.

freemason, Steven McAfoose
Bro. Steven McAfoose

Raise your dues, sell your building and rent or sign up other tenants who will help pay for the costs of running a building and stop trying to save the world while your Lodge goes to pot. Put your Lodge money into Masonic education, esoteric study, post Third Degree mentoring and great fellowship and run your Communications accordingly and you won’t have the result that Brother McAfoose describes.

…”the number of men who have quit in their hearts is unknown, but I don’t think any of us would say that it is low.”

Why I Quit

By Bro. Steven McAfoose

It might come as a surprise to many who know me that shortly after becoming a Master Mason and even serving as an officer of my lodge, I left Freemasonry.  And to be clear, I didn’t become less active, and it wasn’t a matter of being busy and not attending, I flat out quit. I decided that this wasn’t what I wanted and I did not anticipate ever returning. This discussion could be about why I came back, and focus on what Freemasonry can do to bring brothers back who have been absent from lodge for a time, but instead, I want to focus on why brothers leave in the first place and I’m going to do so by looking at the root cause rather than the symptoms that many others who have tackled this subject before me have done.

Statistics for brothers who have left Freemasonry are difficult to gather. While there are statistics that show gains and losses over the years, this really doesn’t give us the information we’re after. A member who joins and then quits the same year shows a net 0 number. Likewise, a man who joins, but simply becomes inactive, yet continues to pay dues makes it appear that our fraternity is growing. The fact of the matter is, the number of men who have quit in their hearts is unknown, but I don’t think any of us would say that it is low.

While I can’t say that everyone quits for the same reasons I did, I’d be willing to bet most of them leave for the same root cause; disappointment. To understand this, let’s go back and talk about what I was thinking and feeling during my first steps on this journey. Like most men who are interested in Freemasonry, the majority of what I knew was gleaned from the internet, Hollywood, and my interactions with Masons. What was this organization? What did they stand for? What do they do?  What can I expect? And is this something I want to be a part of?

…our aging lodges with stained carpets and peeling paint are a long way off from the mahogany and marble clad temples seen in the movies.

How does Freemasonry present itself, or how is it presented by others, to the outside world?  We are a brotherhood of deep ties and fraternal relations. We offer mutual beneficial support to protect each other in difficult times.  We are an ancient, prestigious institution of the elite. We have networking and connections that allow for special treatment professionally and in other aspects of life.  We are a charitable organization giving millions of dollars a year to our communities and doing social works projects in our free time.  We make good men better, focusing on self-improvement and creating a cadre of morally superior men. We delve into the ancient mysteries and lay bare esoteric knowledge and secrets that unlock the universe.

Sound familiar? Sound exciting? It certainly did to me. And I’m sure it sounds very exciting to thousands of other men who wish to join our ranks. But, the real question is, is it true?

Are we a brotherhood of deep ties and fraternal relations?  How many of us have had any contact with each other not related to lodge business? That’s not to say it doesn’t happen. One of my groomsmen at my wedding was the Worshipful Master who initiated me. But, the fact of the matter is, my college fraternity was a hundred times closer than this fraternity is.

Do we offer mutual beneficial support to protect each other in difficult times? Yes, we have committees that can offer a brother some help financially. We also have Masonic Homes for our more senior brothers and their families. But I don’t think any of us have ceased to have concerns over what would happen if we lost our job tomorrow based on the support available through Freemasonry.

Are we an ancient, prestigious institution of the elite?  Well, ancient is up for debate since the first Grand Lodge was formed only 300 years ago. Prestigious? I suppose that depends on your definition, but our aging lodges with stained carpets and peeling paint are a long way off from the mahogany and marble clad temples seen in the movies. As for elite, that certainly isn’t a label I’d use for myself, and I doubt many other brothers would either as we come from all walks of life.

Do our associations give us special treatment in the workplace or life in general?  I’ve certainly never received any benefit.  In fact, quite the opposite based on a few people with negative views of our fraternity finding out I am a member.  I think we’d all love to get out of a speeding ticket or get a promotion at work via a secret handshake, but I’ve not once heard of it happening.

Are we a charitable organization that donates millions and volunteers in the community?  In some cases, yes. Freemasonry as a whole does donate significant amounts of money each year. But as lodges continue to shrink, the funds available for this kind of thing dry up. My mother lodge spent all year putting on pancake breakfasts that required me in my early 20’s to show up at the lodge at 4am to raise money for a scholarship. That scholarship was around $5k each year. I have no doubt that the winner appreciated it, but we were hardly changing the world. As for community outreach, some lodges do more than others, but it tends to be more along the lines of a few guys from the lodge doing it rather than a true lodge effort.

Do we make good men better? I would argue no. What do we do to make good men better? We hold meetings, pay bills, practice memorizing ritual. How does that make anyone morally superior? However, there is some truth to this which I will get to later.

Do we hold the keys to secret esoteric knowledge that bring us closer to God? Like the previous question, I would say that there is some truth to this, but not in any way, shape, or form like we portray. And for roughly 95% of Masons, I’d say it just isn’t true.

So, we, Hollywood, public perception, whatever, set this expectation of what to expect. This is how our fraternity is advertised.  A man joins, and what is he met with? Meetings about paying bills. Having to memorize pages of ritual that basically sounds like a goofy play. Giving up his free time to perpetuate these things, and without any of the things that were advertised to him at the beginning. Bait and switch might be a harsh term, but it wouldn’t be completely wrong.

But I’m not condemning Freemasonry for this. Half of this is how the rest of the world portrays us. Another 25% is us wanting to agree with the positive assumptions and so perhaps not correcting them as strongly as we should. The last quarter of these portrayals are true, but perhaps not to the extent that the ambitious candidate expects.

This was the state that I found myself in years ago; disenfranchised with the reality of the situation. I had done my part, I thought.  I had memorized the ritual, and I had put in the time, I had paid my dues, I had rushed from work straight to meetings to give up my free time to listen to retired brothers argue for hours about whether $50 per month to pay for a company to mow the grass was reasonable of if we should form a committee to investigate alternatives. And what did I receive in return?  …nothing. I had become a mentor in my lodge and had initiated new men, mentored them, helped them progress so that they could then do the same for future generations of Masons. But for what? So that we could continue to argue about bills and form committees?  Is this all that Freemasonry had to offer? And so, I quit.  And no doubt, there were discussions about it after I did so.  Probably with the same tired grumblings of the old guys in the back that we typically hear.

“These younger kids don’t want to put in the work.  He’s lazy. He said he could spare the time, but then he backed out.”  We make up these excuses for the brothers who leave, never bothering to ask them. We look for solutions to these false reasons. One day raisings. Short form proficiencies. More casual lodge conditions.

Let me make this abundantly clear; a man who is told what his expectations are, and agrees, and then later backs out probably didn’t do so because it was too much effort. He knew what he was getting himself into. What he found, is that it was too much effort for what he got in return. And that’s the problem. It’s the bait and switch. We failed to hold up our end of the bargain, so why should he hold up his end? I decided not to. I quit.

And yet…here I sit. So what brought me back? The requirements on my time and energy didn’t change. The fraternity didn’t change.  So what shift was there in the dynamic? It was simply a more honest look at the relationship I had with Freemasonry. I took a step back and I looked at it with open eyes.

This brotherhood wasn’t like the one in my college fraternity, but it made available to me men who held similar interests and values as I did. But it was up to me to make those connections.

The support of Freemasonry might not keep me from worrying about losing my job, but it does offer additional resources that I wouldn’t otherwise have if life takes a turn for the worse.

We might not be an ancient institution, but we carry on the legacy and perpetuate teachings that reach back to antiquity. Our prestige has waned over the years, but it is not the external qualifications that our fraternity ought to be judged by, but our internal qualities. And it is up to me as a representative of our great moral institution to demonstrate to the world by my example just how elite we are.

Our membership does not bring special favors, and I know that now. But with the teachings I have learned from Freemasonry, I am glad for it, because if it did, I would not be able to learn the valuable lessons of humility and equality.

Whether we are a charitable organization could be debated from lodge to lodge. I know there are some lodges that focus heavily on charity and volunteer work, and if that was my primary concern, I would belong to those lodges and take advantage of their active involvement. But again, that is a decision that I am responsible for. But aside from that, Freemasonry has instilled in me a more charitable nature. My giving isn’t always in front of a podium with an oversized check with a square and compass on it. It is to the hungry man on the corner, to the children selling candy bars for a school trip, to Toys for Tots, to the Salvation Army, to the local food bank. My charity might not be organized, but that doesn’t make it any less helpful. And again, that is my decision.

And that brings us to making good men better. I believe that Freemasonry’s oft used adage of ‘We make good men better’ is a misnomer. I think instead, we ought to say ‘we provide the tools to allow good men to make themselves better.’ We need to change the belief that we do something to others. It is not a passive improvement on the part of our candidates. Rather, we give them the means by which they can improve themselves.

And this is done by way of the teachings contained in our rituals. Lessons that go back thousands of years.  But, like any other lesson, they are useless unless the student is willing to spend the time and effort to understand them and put them into practice. When I realized this, I realized that the fraternity did not fail me. I failed me. I was given what I needed to improve myself, and then I sat there statically, upset that nothing was happening. I viewed the meetings as a waste of time, not understanding that the meetings are what allowed us to continue to pass on the tools to new brothers, so that each of us could improve ourselves.

It was this shift in my perspective that lead me to realize that Freemasonry still had a great deal to offer, but only if I was willing to seize it. I was fortunate in the fact that I came to this realization on my own. I fear that few brothers in my shoes will do the same. Therefore, it is up to us to ensure that it never gets to that point in the first place. So how do we do that?

Simple; we set realistic expectations. We tell the candidate what it is really like.  Not the pretty, shiny image we put on brochures, but the reality of day to day life as a Freemason. We tell him about the long, boring meetings. We tell him about the work he’ll have to do memorizing ritual, including the time it will take to drive to meet his instructors. We tell him that not all lodges are equal; that some focus on charity, that some focus on research, that some focus on fellowship. We encourage him to visit many different lodges and explain that they all have their pros and cons and tell him that it is important to find the one that truly offers whatever it is he’s looking for. We bluntly explain that while we will provide his working tools to improve himself, he is the one who must labor in the quarries. And finally, and perhaps most importantly, we explain that during his labors, when he finds that he wants help, that he must proactively seek us out, and in turn, we must make a commitment to support him.

It is natural to assume that by removing some of the gilding from Masonry that we may hear fewer knocks at our door. But if we provide a fair and honest assessment of what can be found within our temples, we will lay a solid foundation of understanding among our new brothers that will result in a stronger edifice.

Masonic Anti-Intellectualism

Masonic Anti-Intellectualism is a crying shame.

That such a young, bright, knowledgeable Freemason as Brother Salman S. Sheika resigned from Freemasonry at the young age of 26 is a crying shame.

It is doubly reprehensible because of the discrimination he met inside of Freemasonry. When we think of discrimination we normally think of Black and White prejudice. But discrimination takes many forms and just as ugly as racial discrimination is religious discrimination. To find that in the holier than thou Grand Lodges of the North who constantly look down their pious noses at Southern Grand Lodges as havens of Redneck values makes some Masons at the best, hypocritical. Have we not progressed from the hypocrisy and discrimination of the Pharisees and Sadducees of Jesus’ time?

Sheika was one of those seekers who thirsted for “the Truth.” Isn’t that one of the tenets of our professions as Masons, Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth? He was told Freemasonry had some answers or at least some tools to work with. But alas, as we hear repeatedly, Freemasonry doesn’t practice what it preaches. Esoteric Masonry is frowned upon in many quarters. As soon as you mention the words “Masonic Education” in the Lodge Building many Masons will find that they have some other pressing problem to attend to. So many Grand Lodges and Lodges have become havens of fellowship and charitable works but not ones of study and learning.

But the latter is precisely why Sheika joined Freemasonry and they promised him that it was there for him. Broken promises are unmasonic conduct. But it is worse than that. What we have here is anti-intellectualism within Freemasonry. And that will be the undoing of the Craft. For many others are better at charity, better at fellowship. But none have the potential of really and truly making good men better. That’s hard to do, however, when you are anti-intellectual. – Brother Frederic L. Milliken

L-R: Bro. Salman S. Sheikh, GM S. Eugene Herritt and Bro. Mohammed AlJumaili

Why I Left Freemasonry: The First And Last In My Family To Do So

By Salman S. Sheikh

I experienced bigotry, ignorance, and the total opposite of what a Mason really is.

The beauty of life as we go through it is the sequence of beautiful experiences that shape us from the moment we lay in the loving arms of our parents as babies to facing a complex world as adults trying to find a path forward. As a Muslim-American, my keen interests in the US was always trying to learn more, make people smile, and leave a good impression on the people of this country on how we can all strive to be in union as human beings to bring peace and prosperity. I always say the world in a unique and analytical way growing up which led me into heavy research as I approached my high school days. On my weekends off from school, I would spend countless hours researching Freemasonry, different secret societies, listening to occult researchers like Jordan Maxwell, etc. I was always the black sheep of my family and was always the one who was a part in terms of my knowledge, experiences, and interests and that led me to the doors of Freemasonry at age 23 as the first in my family to do so.

In the summer of 2015, I had met a Jamaican immigrant named Marlon Francis who became good friends with me. He showed up at my summer job in Upper Darby and I saw the square and compass symbol and asked him I wanted to join through my previous keen research on the matter. Marlon had an old school mentality and had waited 5-6 months of us meeting, hanging out, becoming friends before he eventually trusted my character and made a consideration to get me a petition from the lodge. So from start to finish I went through an old school process of asking the Mason and having the Mason evaluate me for a period of time before he proceeded. As I was getting closer to my initiation after the investigation committee of William Roosevelt PM approved me, I begin to have ideas of the wonderful knowledge that I would learn because I was already heavy into Masonic, Occult, Astral Projection research, etc.

At the age of 23 and in January of 2016, I was initiated into Freemasonry as an Entered Apprentice by a Jewish Past Master, Alan Ozer with whom over time I formed a close bond and which attests what true Masonry is with a Muslim and Jew embracing each other for the sake of God and brotherhood. On the same night I am thankful to another Past Master, Greg Klauder who told me ‘People will still be people.” in reference to me as a Muslim who appreciated the unity. Over time I begin to understand what PM Klauder had meant.

As time went on and I became a Master Mason, 32nd degree Scottish Rite, Shriner, Royal Arch Mason, and Royal/Select Council Master Mason. I realized that Freemasonry was just a social club with a few ritual traditions. I was also discouraged as I saw the brethren who would smile in my faces but would later post Anti-Islamic and Anti-Immigrant posts on their social medias. I stayed patient and realized the imperfection of all things as we are taught as Masons and made an effort to try to win everybody’s heart through my honest spirit and character of seeing true human unity but even that was not enough. In the summer of 2018, after 2.5 years of a solid active effort, I decided to resign from Freemasonry and its bodies with my good standing intact. I shed tears when I wrote my resignation letter but God had told me in my heart that they did not deserve me and I had the right to move on. I reflected on the story of Prophet Musa (Moses) from the Holy Bible and Holy Quran where he was in line for the Egyptian throne but decided to throw that all away when his heart did not accept the Israelites being mercilessly abused. I left for the same reasons where I experienced bigotry, ignorance, and the total opposite of what a Mason really is.

As my tenure as a Mason I made sure I gave hugs, smiles, and real knowledge to all those who came my way in which I had members from India, UK, Africa, etc. all reach out to me to express their interest in my works and printed my essays in their lodges which at the end only made my lodge, Grand Lodge, and country stand out in a positive way in the current environment of confusion, division, and chaos. I feel pride that in my short time I did more to benefit the global Masonic community than those who were here before me for years but didn’t make a positive difference in the aspects of bringing humanity and Masons of different backgrounds together as we just saw in 2018 Florida and Texas recognizing their Prince Hall counterparts. We are still behind in many ways and one of the reasons I left because the organization lets anybody in and we don’t practice what we preach when the going gets tough or when it comes down to the nitty gritty. I am thankful to Mike from Grand Lodge who called me and we agreed we would rather be only just 20 people instead of 100,000 but all 20 of them being top notch quality who were there for the right reasons. I am also thankful to RWGM S Eugene Herritt who promised to keep my memory and vision alive in terms of bringing change to the Grand Lodge. Masonry in the US I believe and its members are currently a reflection of the society they inhibit, by that I mean that we spend majority of our times on social media, at jobs, home, and in the community and that’s where your true character is revealed the most in comparison to just 2 night a month at lodge and pretending to call someone a brother just for the sake of it but when times of trial and tribulation come those same people are nowhere to be found and can turn against you if they see the benefit of doing so. That is not Masonry and I chose to walk away from it to contribute to my own community and people who deserved it more. I still have WM’s from India asking for my demit certificate to make me a member there but declined all of their requests. My next goal in life is to be initiated into Sufism (Mystic Islam) and follow the true path of God with people who are on the same spiritual frequency as me. I did not resonate anymore with the members or the fraternity on a spiritual basis which caused my departure so at the end it was not my loss at all.

My last advice to the Freemasons is that if you want this to continue to survive in a future where the young ones are keen with artificial intelligence and info at the palm of their hands, then you need to offer them something new that hasn’t been shown to them before. The practice of memorizing sacred texts, being on a chair/committee, contributing to charity is something that can be found in every church, synagogue and mosque throughout America. The real question is, what are you willing to help them realize in an environment where relationships, family, jobs, spirituality is on a totally different playing field then our previous generations? Once this question is addressed along with letting in clean hearted quality people, then we won’t hear the same tune every month of why the same 6-7 guys are showing in a lodge with 4-500 members. It’s a simple solution which if followed can be beneficial to the organization along with not showing them the same stuff every meeting and not letting Past Masters run their lodges. Give the new guys a chance otherwise they will just see it as another boy’s club and move on with other adventures in life that could benefit them more. It’s a shame for me to say this but I learned more on my own and with likeminded spiritual people I had met before I even became a Mason than I have ever learned in a lodge or appendant body. That should not be the case.

In conclusion, I am thankful for these last 2 years for what they were worth to make a difference in the organization of Freemasons in my state, country, and other nations to teach them the forgotten values of a true Mason and the true nature of one who listens to his heart and walks the path of God. I departed at age 26 in good standing and still have a lifetime ahead of me to do great things for other groups that are meant to cross my path. I am thankful to be the first in GL of PA’s history to do a program on Sufism and make the effort to bring Masonic understanding and unity while others are just worried about their legacies. My greatest legacy will be that I will remain in the hearts and minds of the Freemasons forever and that means I also live forever which is more important than statues or my name appearing in Grand Lodge digest decisions. Please continue to love each other in and out of lodge and practice what you preach because God’s all-seeing eye will hold us all accountable one day for all our seen and unseen actions. Before your meetings start, do a hand in hand meditation so even the brother who feels left out can feel a part of his brotherhood instead of looking bored or playing on his phone. I want you all to think about all these things I have addressed in my final message and I leave that burden on your shoulders from this point on with the mission of how you will carry this fraternity forward for future generations and not be in a desperate situation to keep numbers up. When your heart, mission, members, teachings, online image, etc. is all pure and designed to empower somebody then worrying about numbers should be the least of your worries because at the end “My Faith is in God and God is my right.”

As Salam Aleikum (Peace be upon you and your families today and every day.)

Yours in brotherhood,
Salman S. Sheikh
Upper Darby, Pennsylvania


Read the follow up to this piece: I Shall Return