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.
I fear that my opinion is the same as yours. I've not been able to see how it could remain as meaningful if social distancing is enforced.
I've wondered if that is because of my own personal experience clouding things though. In Degrees, I love the SD's part, and for quite a few years now, when asked to help out in a Degree, that is the part I will agree to play.
There is, to my mind, just something very valuable to the conducting, and I fear that it would be lost, if not done how we do it.
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 think that we are in agreement, that the Degrees should remain the same. I ask the question however, because I believe that there are some Jurisdictions that have made alterations to allow for social distancing.
I do though, appreciate having the opportunity to lend my voice of agreement to an important point you made.
We all have to judge the risks to our health ourselves, and act accordingly.
I imagine, that given our Governor's recent decisions, our Lodges will be opening soon. When that happens, we must each weigh the risks and rewards for ourselves, and make our own decision to attend or not, and what that attendance will look like for ourselves.
I don't view this as a whole lot different from travel to be honest.
My wife and I do some things that most people from the United States would feel to be nuts. For example, we have ridden a third class (chicken to use the slang) bus for hours into extremely rural areas within Mexico, and been dropped off at what is nothing more than a crossroads. We have walked through Tepito (Barrio Bravo or fierce neighborhood to use the slang again) in Mexico City. We feel safe doing these things, and we feel that the rewards of doing so outweigh the risks.
Our adult children on the other hand got scared walking through the historic center of Guadalajara one evening. Their risk/reward calculations are much different than ours. Now we only take them to resort cities.
All this is a long way of explaining that in my view, Glenn is absolutely correct. When our Lodges re-open, each of us must determine for himself if he wants to attend in person or not.
Can a suggestion be offered where each Lodge Sec survey their members about who has been vaccinated, who will be and who chooses not to.
We are mostly 65+ Masons with Grandkids. Our Families will dictate what we will do...for me my Son daughter-in-law and nine-year-old grandchild don’t see the need for the vaccine and prefer that I do so they will be more confident that I will be protected and could not catch anything from them...
As to Lodge... unfortunately I don’t believe attendance will snap back anytime soon
I believe the lodge can be as safe as anywhere else given adherence to the normal protocols.
We old folks need to vaccinate
When we do, the choice to attend may boil down to our being aware of what others who we haven’t seen in a year are doing.
As to the Degrees, do not change anything about the ritual and the normal course of interactions. If you can’t do them now that is only temporary.
I would love to read minutes from those Lodges who dealt with this 100 years ago.
How long did it take for them to see the change in getting back to normal.
I've not read any old Lodge minutes from the last time, I'm not a Secretary anymore so don't have easy access, but I did listen to someone who had read a set.
As I recall, he was saying that it went in two waves that time. That it came, hit a lot of people, and then seemed to die out, so then things returned to normalcy, and then it came a second time. At least that's my memory of what he said.
I don't remember him saying how long it took to recover attendance wise. It would certainly be interesting to find out though.
I presume that when our Lodges do re-open we will see pretty limited attendance for quite some time. While many of the Brothers I've talked with have urged that the Lodges be re-opened as soon as legally possible, many others have urged that they be kept closed until covid is gone. When it comes down to it, I imagine that the former will go to Lodge, the latter will stay away for some time. That's OK though, folks should make the decisions that they are most comfortable with I think.
Where everyone does seem to agree though is to not making any changes to our Degree conferrals.
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.
I would just like to take a moment to thank you for providing this detailed, and thoughtful consideration about how social distancing could impact each of the Craft Degrees in a negative way.
You have, I think, given us all a great deal to consider as we begin moving forward. I think that it is absolutely our duty to Confer quality Degrees, and as you point out social distancing would badly harm that quality.
One benefit that I do think many Lodges have is oversized Lodge rooms. For example, we can, and we have, fit just under 200 comfortably in Centralia's Lodge room in recent years. For most Degrees though, we might have 30. In that situation, we should be able to very easily handle any social distancing guidelines for sideliners as our Lodges begin to re-open.
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.
Thank you for pointing these possible solutions out. I appreciate it.
I will say that I think I would have difficulty performing the SD role while masked. (I'm speaking only of it here because it is what I have done almost exclusively for years now.)
To be honest with you, I eat way too much good food, so as the years have gone by my belly has grown a lot bigger than my ass! As most of us fat guys know, that makes it harder to keep the pants up, and especially to keep an apron in place! Based on this, from a practical perspective, I find that as SD, I've got the candidate in hand, the rod in hand, I'm guiding him, all while also making sure that the apron doesn't start slipping and fall off. I think that adding the need to keep the mask in place, while speaking, would be too much for me to handle.
Although, thinner guys might not have that problem.
I do remember the time that a sideliner had to jump up and put my apron back around my waist while the candidate and I were talking to the SW. Luckily the candidate didn't notice, but such things do happen.
I'd not thought about gloves.
Certainly gloves were a very important part of Freemasonry in the past, and in some Jurisdictions I think that they still are. This time of covid might be a very good opportunity to bring the use of gloves back as normal within Washington Freemasonry.
I can say I just recently bought my own pair of gloves for Amaranth Grand Court as they are wanting everyone to wear them for the event. I have been to a few lodges around the country that is this is properly clothed for sure.
I've got quite a few pair stored in my apron case as I do find occasion to wear them, most recently at cornerstones and the like. I try to carry a number of them so that I can loan them out to the Brothers who may have forgotten theirs. They are a bugger to keep clean! I think that is probably at least part of the point of Freemasonry adopting them though, if we think about it.
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.
If we simply as an organization just followed state guidelines, then there wouldn’t be any crucifying. Right now we’re still acting like the entire state is in complete lockdown.
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.
You bring up an extremely important point and I'd like to thank you for it.
Generally speaking we rely way too darn much on the few men who know the Lectures, and we do use those men as a crutch. Here in my area we only have a couple guys who know the Lectures well, and so those guys are in continual demand. One is young, but the other is not, so soon it will be one if no one else steps up. It really is unfair to the men involved.
So, I agree with you. We all, including myself, need to strive to become more proficient, especially in the more difficult pieces of the work.
I also really like your idea of having men shadow the various officers. Another active member here has talked to me about that quite a lot lately, and I think it is spot on. A great way to teach a post to another Brother, but perhaps when it is working very well, a way to build a strong bond between two men.
You bring up contaminated masks. As long as we are on that, I'd like to bring up possibly contaminated aprons. Let's be honest, most Lodge loaner aprons haven't seen the inside of a washing machine in probably decades. When we do start meeting again, I'd just like to throw out there that I think it would be a darn good idea to get those things washed. Not just because of the current situation, it's probably something we should be thinking about all the time.
Or better yet, let's start encouraging our new Brothers to buy their own aprons instead of relying upon loaners. There is a sense of pride in wearing a beautifully crafted apron of one's own choosing over a piece of cloth that has been worn by countless men before.
Sorry to continue down that rabbit hole, but...When I first became a MM, a fellow brother and I went to buy travelling aprons, and we both bought a nice one, with a blue border and the S&C in the center. Otherwise, it fits the standards outlined in the WMC for officer aprons. My presented lambskin apron I keep tucked in my safe, to be placed upon my casket when I croak.
But there is no guidance for member's aprons in the WMC. I think that is intentional, as visiting brothers may be attending with their home country aprons, which chances are won't match our own. We have a member in our lodge from South Africa, who has his own MM apron in the european style of white with light blue borders, tassels and three rosettes. Thoughts about all of that?
I did the same thing. Presented apron stored away, and I bought a nice apron for Lodge. Mine sounds similar to yours, S&C in the center, but I stayed white. White border and white embroidery. Not sure why, I just liked the look of it.
I am very much in favor of giving no codified guidance about them, for the exact reason you mention. Certainly Freemasonry is worldwide in scope, and Brothers should be able to wear that which they feel most comfortable in.
In my view, the only thing we need to really stay away from are aprons that would imply that a Brother held an office that he did not hold. Compass and Quadrant; Square, Compass, Quadrant, and Star; Square, Compass, Quadrant, and Sun. WM, DDGM, and GM respectively.
Other than that, I am in favor of openness in aprons. Indeed more openness than is currently allowed in the Washington Masonic Code, but on that score, the Brothers have voted and made their decision.
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
My Brother, I don't think that permission is needed from the Grand Master for a Lodge to create and confer a side degree. At least in Washington. I'm always more inclined to the beg forgiveness after instead of permission before school of thought anyway! ;-) Certainly many Lodges use humorous side degrees as great fundraisers now days.
It all sounds like a fine plan to me, except for the non-eating of Spam. I must declare Spam to be the World's Wonder Meat!
Purely accidental or perhaps having a Masonic mindset or experience with Judaism. in any case, that is far beyond what has come to my knowledge so far.
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.
I fear that my opinion is the same as yours. I've not been able to see how it could remain as meaningful if social distancing is enforced.
I've wondered if that is because of my own personal experience clouding things though. In Degrees, I love the SD's part, and for quite a few years now, when asked to help out in a Degree, that is the part I will agree to play.
There is, to my mind, just something very valuable to the conducting, and I fear that it would be lost, if not done how we do it.
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 think that we are in agreement, that the Degrees should remain the same. I ask the question however, because I believe that there are some Jurisdictions that have made alterations to allow for social distancing.
I do though, appreciate having the opportunity to lend my voice of agreement to an important point you made.
We all have to judge the risks to our health ourselves, and act accordingly.
I imagine, that given our Governor's recent decisions, our Lodges will be opening soon. When that happens, we must each weigh the risks and rewards for ourselves, and make our own decision to attend or not, and what that attendance will look like for ourselves.
I don't view this as a whole lot different from travel to be honest.
My wife and I do some things that most people from the United States would feel to be nuts. For example, we have ridden a third class (chicken to use the slang) bus for hours into extremely rural areas within Mexico, and been dropped off at what is nothing more than a crossroads. We have walked through Tepito (Barrio Bravo or fierce neighborhood to use the slang again) in Mexico City. We feel safe doing these things, and we feel that the rewards of doing so outweigh the risks.
Our adult children on the other hand got scared walking through the historic center of Guadalajara one evening. Their risk/reward calculations are much different than ours. Now we only take them to resort cities.
All this is a long way of explaining that in my view, Glenn is absolutely correct. When our Lodges re-open, each of us must determine for himself if he wants to attend in person or not.
Can a suggestion be offered where each Lodge Sec survey their members about who has been vaccinated, who will be and who chooses not to.
We are mostly 65+ Masons with Grandkids. Our Families will dictate what we will do...for me my Son daughter-in-law and nine-year-old grandchild don’t see the need for the vaccine and prefer that I do so they will be more confident that I will be protected and could not catch anything from them...
As to Lodge... unfortunately I don’t believe attendance will snap back anytime soon
I believe the lodge can be as safe as anywhere else given adherence to the normal protocols.
We old folks need to vaccinate
When we do, the choice to attend may boil down to our being aware of what others who we haven’t seen in a year are doing.
As to the Degrees, do not change anything about the ritual and the normal course of interactions. If you can’t do them now that is only temporary.
I would love to read minutes from those Lodges who dealt with this 100 years ago.
How long did it take for them to see the change in getting back to normal.
Just some random thoughts.
I've not read any old Lodge minutes from the last time, I'm not a Secretary anymore so don't have easy access, but I did listen to someone who had read a set.
As I recall, he was saying that it went in two waves that time. That it came, hit a lot of people, and then seemed to die out, so then things returned to normalcy, and then it came a second time. At least that's my memory of what he said.
I don't remember him saying how long it took to recover attendance wise. It would certainly be interesting to find out though.
I presume that when our Lodges do re-open we will see pretty limited attendance for quite some time. While many of the Brothers I've talked with have urged that the Lodges be re-opened as soon as legally possible, many others have urged that they be kept closed until covid is gone. When it comes down to it, I imagine that the former will go to Lodge, the latter will stay away for some time. That's OK though, folks should make the decisions that they are most comfortable with I think.
Where everyone does seem to agree though is to not making any changes to our Degree conferrals.
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.
I would just like to take a moment to thank you for providing this detailed, and thoughtful consideration about how social distancing could impact each of the Craft Degrees in a negative way.
You have, I think, given us all a great deal to consider as we begin moving forward. I think that it is absolutely our duty to Confer quality Degrees, and as you point out social distancing would badly harm that quality.
One benefit that I do think many Lodges have is oversized Lodge rooms. For example, we can, and we have, fit just under 200 comfortably in Centralia's Lodge room in recent years. For most Degrees though, we might have 30. In that situation, we should be able to very easily handle any social distancing guidelines for sideliners as our Lodges begin to re-open.
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.
Thank you for pointing these possible solutions out. I appreciate it.
I will say that I think I would have difficulty performing the SD role while masked. (I'm speaking only of it here because it is what I have done almost exclusively for years now.)
To be honest with you, I eat way too much good food, so as the years have gone by my belly has grown a lot bigger than my ass! As most of us fat guys know, that makes it harder to keep the pants up, and especially to keep an apron in place! Based on this, from a practical perspective, I find that as SD, I've got the candidate in hand, the rod in hand, I'm guiding him, all while also making sure that the apron doesn't start slipping and fall off. I think that adding the need to keep the mask in place, while speaking, would be too much for me to handle.
Although, thinner guys might not have that problem.
I do remember the time that a sideliner had to jump up and put my apron back around my waist while the candidate and I were talking to the SW. Luckily the candidate didn't notice, but such things do happen.
I'd not thought about gloves.
Certainly gloves were a very important part of Freemasonry in the past, and in some Jurisdictions I think that they still are. This time of covid might be a very good opportunity to bring the use of gloves back as normal within Washington Freemasonry.
I can say I just recently bought my own pair of gloves for Amaranth Grand Court as they are wanting everyone to wear them for the event. I have been to a few lodges around the country that is this is properly clothed for sure.
I've got quite a few pair stored in my apron case as I do find occasion to wear them, most recently at cornerstones and the like. I try to carry a number of them so that I can loan them out to the Brothers who may have forgotten theirs. They are a bugger to keep clean! I think that is probably at least part of the point of Freemasonry adopting them though, if we think about it.
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.
If we simply as an organization just followed state guidelines, then there wouldn’t be any crucifying. Right now we’re still acting like the entire state is in complete lockdown.
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 !!!!
Thank you. I think that I agree with you, changing the Degrees would harm them too much to be considered.
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.
You bring up an extremely important point and I'd like to thank you for it.
Generally speaking we rely way too darn much on the few men who know the Lectures, and we do use those men as a crutch. Here in my area we only have a couple guys who know the Lectures well, and so those guys are in continual demand. One is young, but the other is not, so soon it will be one if no one else steps up. It really is unfair to the men involved.
So, I agree with you. We all, including myself, need to strive to become more proficient, especially in the more difficult pieces of the work.
I also really like your idea of having men shadow the various officers. Another active member here has talked to me about that quite a lot lately, and I think it is spot on. A great way to teach a post to another Brother, but perhaps when it is working very well, a way to build a strong bond between two men.
You bring up contaminated masks. As long as we are on that, I'd like to bring up possibly contaminated aprons. Let's be honest, most Lodge loaner aprons haven't seen the inside of a washing machine in probably decades. When we do start meeting again, I'd just like to throw out there that I think it would be a darn good idea to get those things washed. Not just because of the current situation, it's probably something we should be thinking about all the time.
Or better yet, let's start encouraging our new Brothers to buy their own aprons instead of relying upon loaners. There is a sense of pride in wearing a beautifully crafted apron of one's own choosing over a piece of cloth that has been worn by countless men before.
Sorry to jump way off topic here.
Sorry to continue down that rabbit hole, but...When I first became a MM, a fellow brother and I went to buy travelling aprons, and we both bought a nice one, with a blue border and the S&C in the center. Otherwise, it fits the standards outlined in the WMC for officer aprons. My presented lambskin apron I keep tucked in my safe, to be placed upon my casket when I croak.
But there is no guidance for member's aprons in the WMC. I think that is intentional, as visiting brothers may be attending with their home country aprons, which chances are won't match our own. We have a member in our lodge from South Africa, who has his own MM apron in the european style of white with light blue borders, tassels and three rosettes. Thoughts about all of that?
I did the same thing. Presented apron stored away, and I bought a nice apron for Lodge. Mine sounds similar to yours, S&C in the center, but I stayed white. White border and white embroidery. Not sure why, I just liked the look of it.
I am very much in favor of giving no codified guidance about them, for the exact reason you mention. Certainly Freemasonry is worldwide in scope, and Brothers should be able to wear that which they feel most comfortable in.
In my view, the only thing we need to really stay away from are aprons that would imply that a Brother held an office that he did not hold. Compass and Quadrant; Square, Compass, Quadrant, and Star; Square, Compass, Quadrant, and Sun. WM, DDGM, and GM respectively.
Other than that, I am in favor of openness in aprons. Indeed more openness than is currently allowed in the Washington Masonic Code, but on that score, the Brothers have voted and made their decision.
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.
My Brother, I don't think that permission is needed from the Grand Master for a Lodge to create and confer a side degree. At least in Washington. I'm always more inclined to the beg forgiveness after instead of permission before school of thought anyway! ;-) Certainly many Lodges use humorous side degrees as great fundraisers now days.
It all sounds like a fine plan to me, except for the non-eating of Spam. I must declare Spam to be the World's Wonder Meat!
I was thinking that free form Line dancing six feet apart to Monty Python "music" might be FUN. Eating of SPAM then a form of "Communion" then?
Now you are getting mighty close to one of the Degrees in one of the Rites! ;-) Minus the Spam of course.
Purely accidental or perhaps having a Masonic mindset or experience with Judaism. in any case, that is far beyond what has come to my knowledge so far.