The Senior Deacon stood holding the ballot box, looking up at the Worshipful Master as he asked the Junior Warden how he found the ballot.
It wasn’t good. The Senior Warden confirmed.
The man in question may well have been a good man. A man who would have ended up being a great credit to the Lodge. But it will never be known, because instead of white balls, black cubes fell.
A quick glance around the room made it clear that some Brothers were not happy with the decision. They knew the man. They knew him to be a good man. They knew the good that he had done in the community.
That statement is however the key to their disappointment.
They knew the man. They knew him to be good. They knew that he does good.
No one else in the Lodge knew any of that though, for no one else in the Lodge had an opportunity to get to know the man.
Those who knew him talked with him about Masonry. Provided him a Petition before he got to know those who regularly attend the Lodge. Accepted the Petition before most Lodge members had ever even caught a glimpse of him.
Investigation and a ballot.
A request that regularly attending Lodge members ballot for a man whom they had never met before dinner that very night.
Black cubes instead of white balls? What else could be expected, for is it not unreasonable for those who know a man to bring his petition to the Lodge before the Lodge has an opportunity to get to know the man?
I tell this little fictional story because I think it is truly important for us to remember.
My Grand Lodge has been begging Lodges to not give a man a petition until after the members of the Lodge have had an opportunity to get to know the man. My Grand Lodge has been pleading with Lodges to heed this advice for almost as many years as I’ve been a Mason.
Yet, far too often, in far too many Lodges, this advice is ignored.
In some Lodges petitions are handed to any man who asks. Willy Nilly, come one come all.
That is not fair to the Lodge. It is not fair to the man who thus petitions the Lodge prematurely. Most importantly, it can lead to bad outcomes, one way or the other.
It is not reasonable for Lodge members who happen to know a man to hand him a petition before the other active members of the Lodge get to know him. If they act in this unreasonable manner can they truly be surprised if a black cube falls, dropped by a Mason who was unreasonably denied an opportunity to discover for himself if the man they are recommending is truly worthy of the Degrees of Freemasonry?
We must stop handing out petitions as if they were candy in a parade. We must give our Brothers toiling along side of us in the Lodge an opportunity to get to know a man before we ask them to vote in favor of that man.
Only in this way are we truly acting in the best interests of our Lodge.
Thank you for the reminder, MW..
it’s a challenge with everyone having crazy schedules these days - perhaps that makes it more important.
In the jurisdiction where I currently reside, before a man can petition for the Degrees of Masonry, he is expected to attend the dinner before the meetings of the lodge for 6 months (3 months if he’s a legacy). A Brother will excuse himself from the stated / educational meeting and remain with the potential candidate(s) to answer questions, but mostly get to know the man. I realize this is a form of the 6-Step program but I had never seen it used at my Mother Lodge. I have balloted on many men based on the trust I had in the Brother who brought the petition to Lodge to be read. I know that to be a failure on my part now.