Last week I visited a Lodge that is suffering from a great deal of division. It’s been suffering from division for years now. The men of the Lodge just seem unwilling to get along.
No.
Let me take that last statement back. They don’t seem unwilling to get along. They refuse to get along.
A few years ago, as Senior Grand Warden I went with our then Grand Master to meet, separately, with two of the men doing most of the fighting in the Lodge.
His request to each of them was simple: “Will you please try to get along?”
The answer, from both, was No.
That tells me that at best, they haven’t learned the first thing about Freemasonry, despite their years of claiming to be Freemasons. At worst, that they aren’t really Freemasons at all. That the Initiations didn’t take.
As a practical matter, this division has resulted in a Lodge that has barely survived from year to year, and its prospects for the future don’t look any better.
I can’t fix that Lodge. No one can.
Except for the men who are a part of it.
But I can remember a very wise phrase that I’ve often heard uttered by one of the finest Masons I know:
“You can’t claim to love Masonry if you hate Masons.”
What a powerful truth, expressed in so few words. If we can impart that truth to the Masons around us, we will improve Freemasonry.
Sorry for the obvious question, but ... Why are they still Freemasons?
LOL, probably. But I mean why aren't they being handled by Masonic Law?