Are there changes that can be made to the Three Degrees that would allow for social distancing as required by current government edicts, but that would not harm the impact the Degrees have on the Candidate?
Or would any changes that resulted in the required social separation harm the Degrees?
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After looking back at the three degrees, I can’t see where social distancing will work. In all three degrees, the SD leads or conducts the candidate. The master has contact with the candidates when showing the grips and certainly there’s very close contact with the candidate when being taught the 5POF. I can’t see how conducting a “Social Distanced Degree” could be the valued experience for the candidate or the Lodge that we strive to obtain.
The sooner we get back to doing the business of freemasonry, IE, making new MMs, the sooner we can recover from this past year.
There is nothing I would change in the degrees. If anyone doesn't feel comfortable shaking hands with our brethren, then they should stay home. We should all live our lives of our own free will and accord.
Furthermore, I am not surprised that GL is going to hold their annual communication, allow brothers to attend (in limited quantities), and continue on with their line succession while leaving the lodges under GLs thumb. The GL managed last year to hold elections and have the elected officers gather, sans masks no less (group photo on GL website) while not allowing the local lodges to even hold their own elections. Now that the state has moved into phase 3, lodges are STILL sitting in the dark and by decree unable to meet. I belong to several other organizations, and they have done everything they could to continue business as usual. We've had in person monthly meetings, we've eaten meals together, consumed adult beverages together, and shook hands as adults. Zoom was provided for those that didn't feel comfortable enough to attend in person.
This entire episode SHOULD have been left to the individual lodges to follow state mandates and leave it at that. If I lived in a county struggling with covid and the state had locked the county down while others were in much more lenient circumstances and lodges were meeting, I'd say, good for them. At least someone is keeping the fraternity alive. I would not be upset that they could attend meetings while I couldn't. C'est la vie. I have a brother that moved to Montana recently, and he said that the lodges there NEVER closed. The lodge he is petitioning to join still meets twice a month. I say, good for him.
I want to be progressive and says " oh sure we can find ways to work around it" but I just don't see how without losing even more of what I see missing already in many Degrees throughout my time as a Mason.
A man's first entrance into a Lodge requires him to put his faith in another who he knows to be a friend and later finds to be a Brother. How much is lost by not taking this man by the arm and becoming one with him to conduct him through the darkness to find the first rays of Masonic Light?
The SD has a large impact on how the degree is received by the candidate. Whether the candidate feels safe, feels that he is being brought through something meaningful rather than a hazing practice, feels that connection to the Mason guiding him not only with his voice through instruction but also through that physical contact and guidance necessary to a man who cannot see. Some ques for guiding those who cannot yet see are subtle and unspoken when applied correctly and I feel they carry through into the candidates Masonic career perhaps even subconsciously. The spirit feels the gentle corrections if he is in touch with them and they help to guide him throughout his life.
During all circumambulations our principal officers place their hands on the candidates shoulders to ask if it was o t o f w a a. This makes the impact more substantial and personal.
After all obligations the candidates are instructed and given a token.
On his way the MC of KST the candidate has a guide to show him the way. To vouche for his worth and value. He is asked for the p, t o t p, g a w.
On his way out of the Temple he meets 3 Brothers and after some considerable travel he raised to be brought home one final time. How on earth could thes be accomplished without losing so much?
There is a feeling of connection when the candidate sees for the first time, the Brethren that are there showing you the light by which we work and to congratulate them and be there as a new Brother at the end of the degree.
With distancing and occupancy capacities limiting the sidelines its less impactful. The imparting of wisdom from our Masons who for a multitude of reasons would be unable to attend would go uncommunicated, more opportunities lost.
I struggle to see how the deep connections and sincerity of the moments can be conveyed as meaningfully as we intend to do with social distancing. This thing we do is, if done correctly and with real intent is far to close and personal in nature to lose what we work so hard to create.
To me Masonry in its form as I have come to know it with its closeness and physical connections is what binds us as that sacred band and I would hate to see us lose that through an already difficult time in history.
The only thing I would add to this discussion would be based on the guidelines, you can be within close of another person for up to 10 mins and as long as everyone is following masking protocols this should continue being a safe activity. Now, we could also add in gloves to the degree or hand sanitizing after every contact touch, again I don't think we should be looking to put the candidate on a 10 foot pole that we prod the poor fellow around on. As far as the others in the lodge room during the degree they all could be spaced out depending on the lodge room and the number of brothers present. We could also follow some of the airlines and require negative Covid test 2 days before degree or that those that are in close proximity of the candidate be full vaccinated, now those are extremes and I don't believe them to be necessary but it is possible.
Brother Glenn, although I understand your perception, it does have flaws. I took the photos of the Grand Lodge officers and they were taken at different times and I put them together in Photoshop. We may not like the decisions the Grand Master has made, but he has made those decisions based on the Governors mandates and with consultation from Jurisprudence and the Executive Committee. It is easy to say in hindsight that we should not have closed, but if the State would have taken action against the Grand Lodge of Washington for defying the Governor, or if a gathering of 40 masons happened and 30 of them got sick with 5 deaths, they would have crucified the Grand Master for not shutting things down.
I do not believe changing the journey or message's should be the consideration. In most of the degree work the team participant are our most vital, the senior members. As stated below common sense and individual lodges decisions should lead the way. Open up !!!!
244 years ago the men who founded this country many of whom were Freemasons, fought a war against their government to include their king and the royal family of England who at the time held leadership positions in the grand lodge of England to establish individual liberty. Among those being the right of free assembly.. The right of free men to decide their own fate. Such cowards these days. Brother and founder Benjamin Franklin once wrote "He who would give up essential liberty for temporary safety deserves neither and will lose both.
While I don't believe that this discussion has yet turned towards incivility, it is growing close. I ask that all comments remain civil. We are Freemasons and should be able to discuss the important issues of the day as such.
I also ask that posts remain on topic. Most have, but at least one didn't even touch upon the topic.
The fact is that our Lodges will be opening up soon, and we will be Conferring Degrees. I think it is valuable to discuss together the questions around that. Is it possible to Confer a quality Degree, if social distancing mandates remain in place, or are we better off not Conferring Degrees until after social distancing mandates are done away with?
If we don't discuss it because we are too damn angry about decisions made in the past, well then we will find ourselves stuck in the past.
The majority of this "pandemic", in my opinion has been the root of a political power grab, fueled by fear and the flames fanned by the media. I think we can view this challenge as an opportunity to test the strength of our lodges. Sure, our elderly brothers may be at an elevated risk and I invite them to exercise caution and make their own decision regarding their attendance and/or active participation in a degree.
Masonry has a it's own plague which is easily defined by the utterance of the phrase that strikes fear into many a Mason, "...this is how we've always done it!!" How many Past Masters do we recycle through the line? How many of our younger brothers are memorizing ritual or lectures? I want to clarify that I am in no way discounting our tenured brethren with significant amounts of life experience, as they bring a tremendous value to the craft; what I am observing, based on my local travels, is that Lodges tend to view our senior brethren, not as a treasured resource of information and mentorship, but instead, lean on them like a crutch. My fear is that as Father Time calls each brother, one by one, to labor in the heavenly quarry, that one day, the word will eventually be lost and the timeless lessons of our fraternity will cease.
If I were in a leadership role, I would encourage the brethren to meet and grow the craft. Just because a brother has some health concerns, does not mean that he is unable to participate or be involved. With all of the advancements in technology and information sharing, I believe it would be a good idea to have our younger Masons shadow a lodge officer in order to learn the various aspects of how a lodge is run. In the absence of the mentor's attendance, said brother, is able to pro tem for a meeting.
WB Brent Arnold, time and time again has encouraged me to "Focus your energy on finding a solution to the problem." and while I admit that suggesting for my squirrels in m y mind to focus may be a significant ask, the sentiment remains unchanged.
Let's take a genuine, unfiltered, "no-bullshit" look at the actual risks for conducting a meeting and/or ritual vs. what we encounter in our everyday life. We cough into our face diapers on a daily basis then we take them off and set them down at home, only to "lather, rinse, repeat" several times each day. Now before folks make the argument of, "Well my [insert friend/family member here] died from COVID." take a breath a pull the emotion out of this. How many of us can make similar comments about driving, alcohol, prescription medications, etc.? Yet we still drive on the road, alcohol has not been banned and prescription medications are easier than ever to get ahold of. People are dying from the immunizations and folks are still clamoring to get vaccinated (see "participate in the largest clinical trial ever")
I encourage all Masons to look back in history. Masons take risks. Buzz Aldrin landed on the Moon; our Founding Fathers met in secret and planned to flee an oppressive government, got on leaky wooden boats to settle and colonize in a new land. They waged war in order to preserve freedom. I feel that we owe it not only to ourselves, but to Masonry as a whole to get back to doing degrees.
We, as good men, are obligated (and have the priviledge) to grant the same request for light that we once made, to other worthy good men. To deny such a request would be a tragedy far worse than any pandemic.
Would it be possible to get a Special Dispensation from the Grand Master to create and confer a Specialty Degree like the Railroad Degree or the Lumberjack Degree called the SPAM Degree.
I would think that the Deputy Grand Master, the Assistant Grand Secretary, Myself and anyone else so inclined to be involved in it's creation.
We could design it so that everyone maintains a 6 foot distance from anyone else, no one would touch anyone else, every one would wear a mask, and most important no one would eat the SPAM. We might have to restrain the Assistant Grand Secretary LOL
After looking back at the three degrees, I can’t see where social distancing will work. In all three degrees, the SD leads or conducts the candidate. The master has contact with the candidates when showing the grips and certainly there’s very close contact with the candidate when being taught the 5POF. I can’t see how conducting a “Social Distanced Degree” could be the valued experience for the candidate or the Lodge that we strive to obtain.
The sooner we get back to doing the business of freemasonry, IE, making new MMs, the sooner we can recover from this past year.
There is nothing I would change in the degrees. If anyone doesn't feel comfortable shaking hands with our brethren, then they should stay home. We should all live our lives of our own free will and accord.
Furthermore, I am not surprised that GL is going to hold their annual communication, allow brothers to attend (in limited quantities), and continue on with their line succession while leaving the lodges under GLs thumb. The GL managed last year to hold elections and have the elected officers gather, sans masks no less (group photo on GL website) while not allowing the local lodges to even hold their own elections. Now that the state has moved into phase 3, lodges are STILL sitting in the dark and by decree unable to meet. I belong to several other organizations, and they have done everything they could to continue business as usual. We've had in person monthly meetings, we've eaten meals together, consumed adult beverages together, and shook hands as adults. Zoom was provided for those that didn't feel comfortable enough to attend in person.
This entire episode SHOULD have been left to the individual lodges to follow state mandates and leave it at that. If I lived in a county struggling with covid and the state had locked the county down while others were in much more lenient circumstances and lodges were meeting, I'd say, good for them. At least someone is keeping the fraternity alive. I would not be upset that they could attend meetings while I couldn't. C'est la vie. I have a brother that moved to Montana recently, and he said that the lodges there NEVER closed. The lodge he is petitioning to join still meets twice a month. I say, good for him.
I want to be progressive and says " oh sure we can find ways to work around it" but I just don't see how without losing even more of what I see missing already in many Degrees throughout my time as a Mason.
A man's first entrance into a Lodge requires him to put his faith in another who he knows to be a friend and later finds to be a Brother. How much is lost by not taking this man by the arm and becoming one with him to conduct him through the darkness to find the first rays of Masonic Light?
The SD has a large impact on how the degree is received by the candidate. Whether the candidate feels safe, feels that he is being brought through something meaningful rather than a hazing practice, feels that connection to the Mason guiding him not only with his voice through instruction but also through that physical contact and guidance necessary to a man who cannot see. Some ques for guiding those who cannot yet see are subtle and unspoken when applied correctly and I feel they carry through into the candidates Masonic career perhaps even subconsciously. The spirit feels the gentle corrections if he is in touch with them and they help to guide him throughout his life.
During all circumambulations our principal officers place their hands on the candidates shoulders to ask if it was o t o f w a a. This makes the impact more substantial and personal.
After all obligations the candidates are instructed and given a token.
On his way the MC of KST the candidate has a guide to show him the way. To vouche for his worth and value. He is asked for the p, t o t p, g a w.
On his way out of the Temple he meets 3 Brothers and after some considerable travel he raised to be brought home one final time. How on earth could thes be accomplished without losing so much?
There is a feeling of connection when the candidate sees for the first time, the Brethren that are there showing you the light by which we work and to congratulate them and be there as a new Brother at the end of the degree.
With distancing and occupancy capacities limiting the sidelines its less impactful. The imparting of wisdom from our Masons who for a multitude of reasons would be unable to attend would go uncommunicated, more opportunities lost.
I struggle to see how the deep connections and sincerity of the moments can be conveyed as meaningfully as we intend to do with social distancing. This thing we do is, if done correctly and with real intent is far to close and personal in nature to lose what we work so hard to create.
To me Masonry in its form as I have come to know it with its closeness and physical connections is what binds us as that sacred band and I would hate to see us lose that through an already difficult time in history.
The only thing I would add to this discussion would be based on the guidelines, you can be within close of another person for up to 10 mins and as long as everyone is following masking protocols this should continue being a safe activity. Now, we could also add in gloves to the degree or hand sanitizing after every contact touch, again I don't think we should be looking to put the candidate on a 10 foot pole that we prod the poor fellow around on. As far as the others in the lodge room during the degree they all could be spaced out depending on the lodge room and the number of brothers present. We could also follow some of the airlines and require negative Covid test 2 days before degree or that those that are in close proximity of the candidate be full vaccinated, now those are extremes and I don't believe them to be necessary but it is possible.
Brother Glenn, although I understand your perception, it does have flaws. I took the photos of the Grand Lodge officers and they were taken at different times and I put them together in Photoshop. We may not like the decisions the Grand Master has made, but he has made those decisions based on the Governors mandates and with consultation from Jurisprudence and the Executive Committee. It is easy to say in hindsight that we should not have closed, but if the State would have taken action against the Grand Lodge of Washington for defying the Governor, or if a gathering of 40 masons happened and 30 of them got sick with 5 deaths, they would have crucified the Grand Master for not shutting things down.
I do not believe changing the journey or message's should be the consideration. In most of the degree work the team participant are our most vital, the senior members. As stated below common sense and individual lodges decisions should lead the way. Open up !!!!
244 years ago the men who founded this country many of whom were Freemasons, fought a war against their government to include their king and the royal family of England who at the time held leadership positions in the grand lodge of England to establish individual liberty. Among those being the right of free assembly.. The right of free men to decide their own fate. Such cowards these days. Brother and founder Benjamin Franklin once wrote "He who would give up essential liberty for temporary safety deserves neither and will lose both.
Brothers:
While I don't believe that this discussion has yet turned towards incivility, it is growing close. I ask that all comments remain civil. We are Freemasons and should be able to discuss the important issues of the day as such.
I also ask that posts remain on topic. Most have, but at least one didn't even touch upon the topic.
The fact is that our Lodges will be opening up soon, and we will be Conferring Degrees. I think it is valuable to discuss together the questions around that. Is it possible to Confer a quality Degree, if social distancing mandates remain in place, or are we better off not Conferring Degrees until after social distancing mandates are done away with?
If we don't discuss it because we are too damn angry about decisions made in the past, well then we will find ourselves stuck in the past.
The majority of this "pandemic", in my opinion has been the root of a political power grab, fueled by fear and the flames fanned by the media. I think we can view this challenge as an opportunity to test the strength of our lodges. Sure, our elderly brothers may be at an elevated risk and I invite them to exercise caution and make their own decision regarding their attendance and/or active participation in a degree.
Masonry has a it's own plague which is easily defined by the utterance of the phrase that strikes fear into many a Mason, "...this is how we've always done it!!" How many Past Masters do we recycle through the line? How many of our younger brothers are memorizing ritual or lectures? I want to clarify that I am in no way discounting our tenured brethren with significant amounts of life experience, as they bring a tremendous value to the craft; what I am observing, based on my local travels, is that Lodges tend to view our senior brethren, not as a treasured resource of information and mentorship, but instead, lean on them like a crutch. My fear is that as Father Time calls each brother, one by one, to labor in the heavenly quarry, that one day, the word will eventually be lost and the timeless lessons of our fraternity will cease.
If I were in a leadership role, I would encourage the brethren to meet and grow the craft. Just because a brother has some health concerns, does not mean that he is unable to participate or be involved. With all of the advancements in technology and information sharing, I believe it would be a good idea to have our younger Masons shadow a lodge officer in order to learn the various aspects of how a lodge is run. In the absence of the mentor's attendance, said brother, is able to pro tem for a meeting.
WB Brent Arnold, time and time again has encouraged me to "Focus your energy on finding a solution to the problem." and while I admit that suggesting for my squirrels in m y mind to focus may be a significant ask, the sentiment remains unchanged.
Let's take a genuine, unfiltered, "no-bullshit" look at the actual risks for conducting a meeting and/or ritual vs. what we encounter in our everyday life. We cough into our face diapers on a daily basis then we take them off and set them down at home, only to "lather, rinse, repeat" several times each day. Now before folks make the argument of, "Well my [insert friend/family member here] died from COVID." take a breath a pull the emotion out of this. How many of us can make similar comments about driving, alcohol, prescription medications, etc.? Yet we still drive on the road, alcohol has not been banned and prescription medications are easier than ever to get ahold of. People are dying from the immunizations and folks are still clamoring to get vaccinated (see "participate in the largest clinical trial ever")
I encourage all Masons to look back in history. Masons take risks. Buzz Aldrin landed on the Moon; our Founding Fathers met in secret and planned to flee an oppressive government, got on leaky wooden boats to settle and colonize in a new land. They waged war in order to preserve freedom. I feel that we owe it not only to ourselves, but to Masonry as a whole to get back to doing degrees.
We, as good men, are obligated (and have the priviledge) to grant the same request for light that we once made, to other worthy good men. To deny such a request would be a tragedy far worse than any pandemic.
I have been thinking. (I know that's dangerous)
Would it be possible to get a Special Dispensation from the Grand Master to create and confer a Specialty Degree like the Railroad Degree or the Lumberjack Degree called the SPAM Degree.
I would think that the Deputy Grand Master, the Assistant Grand Secretary, Myself and anyone else so inclined to be involved in it's creation.
We could design it so that everyone maintains a 6 foot distance from anyone else, no one would touch anyone else, every one would wear a mask, and most important no one would eat the SPAM. We might have to restrain the Assistant Grand Secretary LOL
We have our choice of accompanying "music" available https://www.thesoundarchive.com/monty.asp
We could sanitize all the cans of SPAM before and after anyone touches them.