This is a powerful lesson for us all. So often, I see short-sightedness, at work, with my children (at least with them I can teach and influence) and many other places. It is easy to pass it off as a characteristic confined to the younger generations, but I did not get the sense that it was only the youthful members of Magnum Lodge #357 you were referring to. Combine an unhealthy amount of chronic apathy and a lack of a proper depth of consideration, and finally, a little group think thrown in, this could be me and my lodge who made such a decision. The biggest travesty I see is the lack of reverence for our legacy and history.
This also reminds me of a similar story from S&W Lodge #40 ;)
The, as you call it, 'chronic apathy' and what I saw as 'malaise' was always the most disconcerting thing to me.
Even when Magnum No. 357 had something great on offer to it, the men seemed too depressed or something to grab hold of it.
One of the most successful businessmen in the area gave the Lodge a great outline for a business plan that struck me as nothing short of brilliant. They ignored it. Another man gave them an extremely rare (in Washington anyway) opportunity to raffle off. They ignored it. Finally a man offered them his beautiful property to hold outdoor degrees on, which would have attracted Masons from all around. They took a pass.
I remember one evening, I walked into Magnum .357 with a Mason who had just moved to the area from a Lodge across the Jurisdiction. He was eager to join the Lodge because its meeting night worked with his employment. I took him around at dinner, and introduced him to every member of the Lodge. Beyond saying hello, not a single member of the Lodge spoke to him. Needless to say, that was his one and only visit to that Lodge.
A few new, young, and energetic men joined Magnum .357 through the years. The Lodge drove every single one of them away.
I honestly never understood any of it, and could never convince them to change their ways.
Most striking to me, they never clapped after a meeting. All our other Lodges clap. They just shuffled out of the Temple.
I think that you said it right, chronic apathy.
As for S&W No. 40, if you tell me that story someday, I'll tell you the story of Government Lodge No. 45!
What I mistook as an anecdotal account like "The Lodge Room Over Simpkin's Store", seems to be something thought you have experienced. This saddens me to hear of our brethren doing something like this. This is more than chronic apathy as I have stated. I stand corrected.
"The biggest travesty I see is the lack of reverence for our legacy and history."
This is what deeply hurts my feelings (that’s Counselor speak for, "It really pisses me off"), I see this in my Lodge.
Where do I start to change this behavior?
Firstly, I need to look in the mirror, to set a genuine holistic healthy standard for myself. The KJB states,: First cast out the beam out of thine own eye and then thou shall see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy Brother’s eye.
Secondly, my Lodge, how do I genuinely access the current status of my Lodge? This is something I have been contemplating for years. I believe this is the responsibility of my Lodge’s Past Masters. What is the status of my Lodge’s Past Masters egregore? Just because we are not conscious of our Lodge’s Past Master’s egregore (or council) it does not mean it does not exist. I believe that we need to hold our Past Masters (especially myself) accountable for the direction and the healthy well being of our Lodge…
It appears to me, in my Lodge, that a few of our Brothers hold our building more important than Masonry and her Masonic Family. It also appears they also believe it is their money and act accordingly. This is what I have perceived the past few years, I may be wrong. This is why I believe the Centralia Lodge Past Masters need to be held to be “accountable” and meet to discuss the holistic well being of our Lodge. Hence the Centralia Lodge No.63 Past Master’s Council…Perhaps this is something that all of our WA Lodges need to do.
Not quite, Jack. This story is a conglomeration of more than one Lodge.
But I know what you mean, unfortunately.
But also, please remember you can't judge a Fraternity that's over 300 years old, with Lodges throughout the world, by your interactions with one Lodge, or even a couple of Lodges in the same region. There are a lot of us Brothers out there who are truly doing what we can to make a difference in the world. Brothers who do understand the tremendous impact our Fraternity has made on society, and the unending struggle to keep our free societies.
Life memberships purchased by the lodge remain with the lodge if the brother moves to another lodge. Life memberships purchased by the individual can move about within the jurisdiction. Now, if they used lodge funds to fraudulently purchase individual life memberships, that should be a masonic offense. At the very least revoke their life memberships and suspend or expel the members who committed this act. The WMC is pretty clear about how life memberships are handled. Furthermore, the money should be held by the temple board, not the lodge, and if they used that money outside of the temple board, again, that never should have happened. How did Grand Lodge allow all of this to go unpunished?
If the fictional story of Magnum Lodge No. 357 had continued, I think you would have found that the actions did result in consequences. Alas, I didn't want to write too long of a story in a newsletter that is supposed to be non-fiction.
My mother lodge in Portland OR sold its building many years before I joined. We tried merging with another lodge, but for reasons I won’t go into here, we were forced to split again. With the money from the sale of the building, and wise counsel, we invested it. Today it is a substantial amount of money we have and we rent the lodge space from another lodge.
At our last officer’s retreat one of our PM’s shared a brilliant piece of insight: that we still have a lodge building. It doesn’t exist in the physical world, but rather as currency. It still must be maintained, it still must be cared for, and we want it to exist for future Masons to use. Like alchemists, should we choose at some future time to transmute the building from its metaphysical form, back to its physical shape, we can do that. We are simply the stewards of that building in whatever shape it takes.
Being a student of history and when I was WM in 2018, down stairs in our dining room were our archive records.
I was not aware they were there so I went through them and began copying the original charter, first stated meeting and anything within the first (3) years.
There was even a history of how North Bank was started … as a railroad lodge.
As Master I found our 100 year old Constitution and Bylaws bi ding in disarray.
I budgeted $500 to have it rebound. I also took (40) pages and created an Historical PDF including Clarke Lodge which merged with us over 30 years ago to appease (my point of view) those former Clarke members still attending.
It was well received.
I had printed copies made for each member and today still send electronic copies to seekers.
Go into your archives, discover the history that is there and let existing members know that “others” indeed paid the price and we need to maintain what we were given.
A few years ago, myself and a handful of other Brothers did a similar search through the archives. We learned a great many things about our Lodge, and the Temple itself. I'm with you, doing this is an excellent exercise.
Some unknown brother back in the 90s had assembled a photo album with a picture of every past master, and a small blurb of who he was, and what happened of significance during that year. It's actually a wonderful piece of work. It was moldering down in the basement long forgotten. I happened to stumble on it accidentally and it spurred me to rummage through it and pick out interesting bits and pieces. I then made an oral presentation to the lodge on what I had found. Things like when they raised dues to $5 dollars a year, or when the secretary got a new typewriter, or when the lodge phone was installed (paid for by the OES, imagine that).
VWB Tig had also found an old Army calvary sword rusting and forgotten. He cleaned it up, and researched who it might have belonged to and determined the most likely person who had donated it was one of the early past masters who was a former Army officer. It now sits proudly in the display case in the tyler's room.
It's amazing what cherished (in it's day) items you can find forgotten, abandoned and neglected, waiting for someone to find them again.
How many Blue lodge members actually know or have asked the Secretary about the files they keep pulling in out out of their file cabinet? There is history right there.
The past must be a part of the present no matter how modern it continues to be.
Excellent, thank you.
Very well stated, all a lodge needs to do is read our Washington Masonic code the rules and regulations on this matter are up front and forthright
This is a powerful lesson for us all. So often, I see short-sightedness, at work, with my children (at least with them I can teach and influence) and many other places. It is easy to pass it off as a characteristic confined to the younger generations, but I did not get the sense that it was only the youthful members of Magnum Lodge #357 you were referring to. Combine an unhealthy amount of chronic apathy and a lack of a proper depth of consideration, and finally, a little group think thrown in, this could be me and my lodge who made such a decision. The biggest travesty I see is the lack of reverence for our legacy and history.
This also reminds me of a similar story from S&W Lodge #40 ;)
The, as you call it, 'chronic apathy' and what I saw as 'malaise' was always the most disconcerting thing to me.
Even when Magnum No. 357 had something great on offer to it, the men seemed too depressed or something to grab hold of it.
One of the most successful businessmen in the area gave the Lodge a great outline for a business plan that struck me as nothing short of brilliant. They ignored it. Another man gave them an extremely rare (in Washington anyway) opportunity to raffle off. They ignored it. Finally a man offered them his beautiful property to hold outdoor degrees on, which would have attracted Masons from all around. They took a pass.
I remember one evening, I walked into Magnum .357 with a Mason who had just moved to the area from a Lodge across the Jurisdiction. He was eager to join the Lodge because its meeting night worked with his employment. I took him around at dinner, and introduced him to every member of the Lodge. Beyond saying hello, not a single member of the Lodge spoke to him. Needless to say, that was his one and only visit to that Lodge.
A few new, young, and energetic men joined Magnum .357 through the years. The Lodge drove every single one of them away.
I honestly never understood any of it, and could never convince them to change their ways.
Most striking to me, they never clapped after a meeting. All our other Lodges clap. They just shuffled out of the Temple.
I think that you said it right, chronic apathy.
As for S&W No. 40, if you tell me that story someday, I'll tell you the story of Government Lodge No. 45!
What I mistook as an anecdotal account like "The Lodge Room Over Simpkin's Store", seems to be something thought you have experienced. This saddens me to hear of our brethren doing something like this. This is more than chronic apathy as I have stated. I stand corrected.
"The biggest travesty I see is the lack of reverence for our legacy and history."
This is what deeply hurts my feelings (that’s Counselor speak for, "It really pisses me off"), I see this in my Lodge.
Where do I start to change this behavior?
Firstly, I need to look in the mirror, to set a genuine holistic healthy standard for myself. The KJB states,: First cast out the beam out of thine own eye and then thou shall see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy Brother’s eye.
Secondly, my Lodge, how do I genuinely access the current status of my Lodge? This is something I have been contemplating for years. I believe this is the responsibility of my Lodge’s Past Masters. What is the status of my Lodge’s Past Masters egregore? Just because we are not conscious of our Lodge’s Past Master’s egregore (or council) it does not mean it does not exist. I believe that we need to hold our Past Masters (especially myself) accountable for the direction and the healthy well being of our Lodge…
It appears to me, in my Lodge, that a few of our Brothers hold our building more important than Masonry and her Masonic Family. It also appears they also believe it is their money and act accordingly. This is what I have perceived the past few years, I may be wrong. This is why I believe the Centralia Lodge Past Masters need to be held to be “accountable” and meet to discuss the holistic well being of our Lodge. Hence the Centralia Lodge No.63 Past Master’s Council…Perhaps this is something that all of our WA Lodges need to do.
This is not a fiction at all. The names and dates have been changed to protect the identities of the guilty.
This lodge is responsible for my disillusionment with the fraternity in general.
Not quite, Jack. This story is a conglomeration of more than one Lodge.
But I know what you mean, unfortunately.
But also, please remember you can't judge a Fraternity that's over 300 years old, with Lodges throughout the world, by your interactions with one Lodge, or even a couple of Lodges in the same region. There are a lot of us Brothers out there who are truly doing what we can to make a difference in the world. Brothers who do understand the tremendous impact our Fraternity has made on society, and the unending struggle to keep our free societies.
I know you're discouraged. But there is hope.
Life memberships purchased by the lodge remain with the lodge if the brother moves to another lodge. Life memberships purchased by the individual can move about within the jurisdiction. Now, if they used lodge funds to fraudulently purchase individual life memberships, that should be a masonic offense. At the very least revoke their life memberships and suspend or expel the members who committed this act. The WMC is pretty clear about how life memberships are handled. Furthermore, the money should be held by the temple board, not the lodge, and if they used that money outside of the temple board, again, that never should have happened. How did Grand Lodge allow all of this to go unpunished?
If the fictional story of Magnum Lodge No. 357 had continued, I think you would have found that the actions did result in consequences. Alas, I didn't want to write too long of a story in a newsletter that is supposed to be non-fiction.
My mother lodge in Portland OR sold its building many years before I joined. We tried merging with another lodge, but for reasons I won’t go into here, we were forced to split again. With the money from the sale of the building, and wise counsel, we invested it. Today it is a substantial amount of money we have and we rent the lodge space from another lodge.
At our last officer’s retreat one of our PM’s shared a brilliant piece of insight: that we still have a lodge building. It doesn’t exist in the physical world, but rather as currency. It still must be maintained, it still must be cared for, and we want it to exist for future Masons to use. Like alchemists, should we choose at some future time to transmute the building from its metaphysical form, back to its physical shape, we can do that. We are simply the stewards of that building in whatever shape it takes.
An excellent insight! Thank you for sharing it with us here!
Being a student of history and when I was WM in 2018, down stairs in our dining room were our archive records.
I was not aware they were there so I went through them and began copying the original charter, first stated meeting and anything within the first (3) years.
There was even a history of how North Bank was started … as a railroad lodge.
As Master I found our 100 year old Constitution and Bylaws bi ding in disarray.
I budgeted $500 to have it rebound. I also took (40) pages and created an Historical PDF including Clarke Lodge which merged with us over 30 years ago to appease (my point of view) those former Clarke members still attending.
It was well received.
I had printed copies made for each member and today still send electronic copies to seekers.
Go into your archives, discover the history that is there and let existing members know that “others” indeed paid the price and we need to maintain what we were given.
Awesome!
A few years ago, myself and a handful of other Brothers did a similar search through the archives. We learned a great many things about our Lodge, and the Temple itself. I'm with you, doing this is an excellent exercise.
Some unknown brother back in the 90s had assembled a photo album with a picture of every past master, and a small blurb of who he was, and what happened of significance during that year. It's actually a wonderful piece of work. It was moldering down in the basement long forgotten. I happened to stumble on it accidentally and it spurred me to rummage through it and pick out interesting bits and pieces. I then made an oral presentation to the lodge on what I had found. Things like when they raised dues to $5 dollars a year, or when the secretary got a new typewriter, or when the lodge phone was installed (paid for by the OES, imagine that).
VWB Tig had also found an old Army calvary sword rusting and forgotten. He cleaned it up, and researched who it might have belonged to and determined the most likely person who had donated it was one of the early past masters who was a former Army officer. It now sits proudly in the display case in the tyler's room.
It's amazing what cherished (in it's day) items you can find forgotten, abandoned and neglected, waiting for someone to find them again.
How many Blue lodge members actually know or have asked the Secretary about the files they keep pulling in out out of their file cabinet? There is history right there.
The past must be a part of the present no matter how modern it continues to be.
Nice share.
This is an outstanding article. I just watched it happen yet again earlier this year. It truly makes you think less of the men.