Time is of the Essence

It is sad enough I think, when you have to recycle Past Masters on the ladder. But when you can't even twist enough of their arms that you have to leave some minor offices unfilled, it is too sad for words. That's the situation we were in last week in my Royal Arch Chapter when the newly-installed Zerubabble was unable to appoint two assistant Sojourners. I guess we shouldn't be too down-hearted, we do have two and possibly three candidates for Exaltation this year, so we do at least have a future. It is a fact that many Lodges and Chapters have to recycle Past Masters or Past Principals, but they are not always eager to take on the burden and we must surely risk turning them off attending.

So how do we get into this position in the first place? I was talking with one Companion and he said he wasn't joining any other side orders until he had been through the Chair of his Mother Lodge. He said he was just not ready for the extra commitment. And I know what he means. As soon as you join anything in Masonry, you are rushed onto the ladder. They need to rush you on because they need to fill all the offices. Our brighter masons soon realise what goes on, so they avoid joining other lodges or orders. I must be less bright, I keep joining and I keep being put on ladders and in truth I'm too busy for my own good.

We mislead potential Initiates like that as well. We tell them a lodge meets once a month for maybe six or eight months of the year. "That's not bad," they think to themselves. Then they join and find themselves shoved onto a ladder, attending rehearsals and Lodges of Instruction, and spending hours each week memorising what to them must be impenetrable and arcane rituals. And if they find themselves joining other Orders, the same thing happens. This would never have happened years ago. Years ago, we had so many masons and candidates that everyone had to wait years for an opportunity they were ready and waiting for when it came along.

We should back-off. Don't even get me started on the subject of banging candidates through the three Degrees in successive months, we should allow a new brother or a new Companion two or three years to get used to the institution they have just joined before gently encouraging them to take their first office. If we promise them that, I'm sure we would get many more brethren to take an interest in the Holy Royal Arch or any of the other very worthy Orders in Masonry. Until then, we all miss out.

Say it with Flowers

There is a certain inevitability in a fraternity where the older brethren heavily outnumber the younger brethren that there will be more Masonic funerals than Masonic weddings. In fact I've been to quite a number of funerals now but never to a wedding. The closest we get to a good-news day is that rare occasion when a brother announces his wife has had a baby. What must that be like for younger brethren? We have a steady diet of news about care homes for elderly masons, and hip replacement, heart bypass and other treatments for elderly masons, all very worthy of course. But how about we adjust the balance a little? How about we celebrate life a bit more? Wouldn't it be nice if it were the custom for every lodge to send flowers to a brother's wife on the occasion of a birth? Wouldn't it be nice if lodges organised childrens' parties for their brethrens' families? I'm sure younger masons would get more out of masonry if it was more relevant to their everyday lives. Let's send bouquets as often as we send wreaths.

What has Dan Brown Done for Us?

I found myself browsing through WH Smith this morning (a national newsagent and bookstore). It's only a small local branch in a small provincial town, so it doesn't have that many books. Nonetheless, I was amazed at what I found. In a History section that comprised five short shelves of books there were three quasi-Masonic titles: "Rosslyn and the Grail", "Bloodline of the Holy Grail" and "The Templars". Yes, I know they are just da Vinci spin-offs, but previously I wouldn't have found any such books on the mainstream history shelves. So I went round to where I usually find my Masonic reading, the Weirdo section (actually, that's my name for it). There amongst the self-development and astrology titles were three shelves of books called, "How to Make Anyone Like You", "Women who Think too Much", "Why do Men have Nipples?" (I don't know, I didn't read the book), a solitary copy of "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail", "Crystal Healing" and "Are You a Psychic?"

Over all I consider that a great leap forward. Thanks to Dan Brown the whole subject has more credibility. I hope in future there will be fewer Masonic titles in the Weirdo section and more on the History shelves. That could be a mixed blessing given the nature of some of the books we've seen about Masonry in the past, but still a hopeful development if we see more well-researched books and fewer trashy conspiracy theories. Perhaps the time is right to re-release John Hamill's excellent work, "Freemasonry: A Celebration of the Craft." The other section where I have occasionally found Masonic books before is True Crime. In this shop there was just one shelf and there were no Masonic-related titles there.

But just as I was about to walk out, I spotted something that stopped me in my tracks. There on the shelf for Religion, amongst different editions of the Bible - plain bound, leather bound, for children, etc - I was astounded to see a big glossy hardback copy of "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail", complete with colour illustrations throughout. Right next to it was a paperback copy of "The Messianic Legacy" and further along two paperback copies of "HBHG" (updated), and a paperback copy of "Secrets of the Code", another da Vinci spin-off.

So is that one step forward but two steps back? I looked in vain for any Masonic books on the Sports and Cookery shelves...

Dumber and Dumber

There's a new film out that you are not likely to see. Not because you will choose not to go and see it but because the studio has buried it. They released it to a very small number of cinemas in the States and then sent it to dvd. There's some controversy over why they did this and the studio is remaining tight-lipped, which is manna for blog-writers everywhere.

One writer says the film offers a stark critique of American culture and even a cautionary tale about "overbreeding amongst the stupid". The film, Idiocracy, is set in the future when everyone has become so dense and culturally low-brow that the film's hero, an average-Joe guy who accidentally travels from our time into the future looks like a relative genuis.

It's not hard to see where the film got its inspiration. Here in the UK we have seen stories in the media about the unfeasibly high pass rate for A level students, and we have seen comparisons of exam questions of today with the same exam paper from fifty years ago. That alone has to suggest we have already become a dumbed-down society, never mind all the anecdotal evidence we have from young people struggling to count out change, for example.

This isn't going to turn into a diatribe bemoaning the kids of today. They have the same brains as kids of fifty years ago and I'm certain they will find something useful to do with their brains that will benefit mankind. But right now, what does this all suggest for us as freemasons?

Here in England, Supreme Grand Chapter has already taken the first - and very brave - step in reviewing its ritual and been accused of dumbing down. That's unfair. But all the same, if the ritual is impenetrable for today's generation do we just say "that's their tough luck"? How many of us can read text messages they send each other? When we see young officers of the lodge struggle with even simple parts of a ceremony, how much of that do we attribute to changes in that generation's basic skill set?

What is actually important here? The message of freemasonry or the techniques used? Is freemasonry a spiritual journey to becoming a better person, or a finishing school to develop public speaking and other skills? Actually, the film and our own experiences suggest to me we need to do both. If we cannot get the real message across because of missing skills, then we need to make good that deficit.

I can hear the sharp intakes of breath now. Wouldn't that be a major upheaval in what freemasonry is about? Wouldn't that be tantamount to moving the lights of masonry? Not really, all it means is we should encourage younger masons to attend Lodges of Instruction and we should encourage older masons to act as mentors for the younger ones. Brethren, we already have the tools at our disposal, we just need to make greater use of them. Instead of pointing to them, pick them up and put them to work.

After all, I would hate to accidentally travel to a lodge meeting one hundred years into the future and find out I was a relative masonic genuis!

Beamish: Our Place in History

I went to Beamish Open Air Museum last weekend to see for myself the new Masonic Hall they have built. This has probably got to be my all-time favourite Masonic project, I think the Province of Durham have pulled off a coup and the whole thing is a great credit to Freemasonry.

The standard of construction of the Hall is very high, with great attention to detail, beautiful woodwork for example on the doors and window frames. It really does take you back to days of quality and craftsmanship, none of these softwood windows that rot after eighteen months. The Library and Museum at Freemasons' Hall in London have been very generous lending some fine furniture while the Province's own museum has loaned a good collection of Masonic artefacts.

The setting cannot be faulted either. The Masonic Hall stands fully in context right next door to an imposing Barclay's Bank of the same era, in a street of fine old shops and the town gardens. All lovingly rebuilt and staffed by trained volunteers in period costumes. Elsewhere on the site is a farmstead, a mining village, a railway station and a grand country manor house. They are all interconnected by vintage trams and busses.

If you are going anywhere near Durham or Newcastle, go out of your way and pay a visit to Beamish. Marvellous, marvellous, marvellous.

The Missing Initiate

Subtitle: A Tale of Cautionary Woe.

At last night's lodge meeting we learned that someone we Initiated late last year had not yet paid his Initiation fee, not paid his dues, not paid for his meal and not responded to any form of attempted contact. We therefore had a notice of motion that at the next meeting we would be balloting for his exclusion! This is uncharted territory for most lodges I think, you usually find yourself in this position with a long-standing brother after a couple of years of not paying his dues, but from day one?

Clearly there have been failings here. I'm embarrassed because the applicant walked into the Provincial office saying he'd seen the web site (which I had created) and was interested in becoming a mason. I was quite pleased at the thought I'd done something useful. I understand he was duly interviewed by a committee and in due course was proposed and seconded by brothers who had known him for one month, ie from the time he walked in.

Since we have had no response from him whatsoever we cannot say what lies behind this. Was he a genuine applicant or was he motivated by a desire to find out the truth about us and expose us as devil worshipers or whatever? Was he sincere but has since found that his friends and family have put him under intense pressure? It would be useful to know, but the bottom line is that where applicants come to us via the Internet I guess we ought to be doubly cautious.

As a lodge we are out of pocket to the tune of his Initiation and Grand Lodge fees, the Provincial fee and his dining fee. As masons we are without a brother.