A Masonic Fairy Tale
Because who doesn't love a great story
Once upon a time, in a land far away…
There was an appendant Masonic group. A big one, but a distressed one. It was big, but its problems were equally big. It needed men to join, and it needed money. Masons in the know sometimes talked to each other, wondering how much longer it would be able to survive.
This big Masonic group held its annual Installation of Officers in a commercial space, and that Installation was well attended as such things generally are. Apparently early risers, this event took place in the late morning on a weekend day.
But the big Masonic group wasn’t alone in the faraway land that day. Right next door, in the early afternoon, a Masonic Lodge held its own Installation. It was a small Lodge, that had been struggling for quite some time, but things were looking up. For the first time in a great many years a large slate of Officers was being Installed, having plenty of men for election and appointment.
That little Lodge’s installation was well attended, again for the first time in years, because the members were known to be working to turn it around.
As luck would have it on that day, so long ago, the big Masonic group’s Installation ended before the little Lodge’s Installation began. All the members of that big group had to do was walk next door to support the little Lodge. They didn’t even have to cross the street.
This of course would be wonderful for that land so far away. For the big Masonic group would, by attending, be able to prove its rhetoric about ‘being Masons first’ and always ‘supporting the Blue Lodge’ true.
Not only that, but since the little Lodge was filled with Masons, all eligible to join the big Masonic group, they could make a good impression on those Masons, maybe even receive a very badly needed petition or two.
The symbolic sun was certainly bright on that day, so long ago, and in that place so far away.
The big Masonic group and the little Lodge could support each other. Masons all, they could stand together, facing the bright future. The little Lodge and the big group could join together and thrive together.
But alas, it was not to be.
It was not to be because on that day so long ago and in that land so far away, only one single Brother from that big group was willing to walk next door. Only one decided to extend the hand of Brotherly love, supporting that little Lodge by watching as its Officers were installed. He alone is the hero in this story.
What was a splendid opportunity was wasted.
All those members of that big Masonic group should have wandered next door. They should have let the Masons of that little Lodge know who they were, what group they were from. They could have made a good impression, maybe sparked an interested Mason into joining.
Alas, instead, other than the one, the unsung hero of our story, they jumped into their little clown cars and drove home. Probably quite pleased with themselves on that day so long ago, but probably also sometimes wondering on sleepless nights, why their big Masonic group hasn’t been able to bring in enough Masons for years now, why their finances are growing a little darker every year.
I will use an analogy I’ve stolen from a wonderful Brother:
The moral of this little fairy tale is that Freemasonry is like a tree. Like the huge maple tree in my front yard.
In the summer, its leaves are red, beautiful, full, birds and squirrels live and play on its branches. It is magnificent.
Some of our large appendant Masonic bodies are like that. Big and bold, on display for the world to see and admire. Visible and honored.
But I can’t see much of my tree. Because it is underground. The roots. The part vital to the health of the tree. If the roots were to be harmed or get sick, we would be able to see the tree suffer. If the roots were to die, the tree would die, no matter how glorious we believed its more visible parts to be.
Our little Masonic Lodges are like those roots. They provide the water and nutrients that our big Masonic groups need to survive. If our humble little Lodges die because of neglect, well then our big Masonic groups will die, no matter how magnificent and glorious we believe them to be.
Perhaps someday, in that land so far away, the big Masonic group will stop talking about supporting Craft Masonry, and will instead show that it supports Craft Masonry. If it does, it just might begin to thrive again. If it does not, it will likely sooner or later realize that without its roots, it can not survive.
Thank you for reading this little fairy tale. I hope that you found value within it.
It's similar to another Masonic Fairy Tale I’ve heard, but with a different ending. It picks up after the little Lodge realized people were ‘voting with their feet’. They tried new things and took notes. Activities that were well attended, they did more of. Those poorly attended were not repeated. Required events were reimagined or unique/interesting elements added. Instead on relying on cable tow’s, they sought to entice through other member’s self-interest.
New men, interested in an organization geared towards their needs and actively providing value to the organizations members, sought initiation in that Lodge. The big Masonic group, acting in their own self interest, came to support the little Lodge's endeavors in order to attract these new men in their own group. By seeking to deliver on the value proposition of Masonry, they increased their membership, provided valuable services to improve their community, and inspired a new generation of men to carry on the little Lodges’ traditions. In hindsight, it wasn’t a lack of men or money but good ideas that saved the little Lodge.
The other day, when I shared about the reasons I found my way to Freemasonry, I mentioned that I knew a few men who were Shriners and that I was unaware that to be a Shriner, a man had to be a Mason first. Fast forward to becoming a Shriner myself and listening to these men bemoan about the lack of new members to replace those that had been called by the Black Camel. Yet I never saw any of these men sitting in Blue Lodge. Many forget that “We are them and they are us”.