All Lodges within the Jurisdiction of Washington are open, and meeting according to the requirements in their bylaws, and the health requirements of our State and Local governments.
That said, I do know that some people are nervous about leaving their homes again.
I had hoped to avoid this subject on Emeth, but with the newer virus strains, and the 24/7 news stories, people are talking about it a lot. Including in my email box.
So let’s chat about it…
Are you nervous about attending Lodge?
If you are, is there anything your Lodge can do to alleviate your concerns?
I’m not at all nervous! We will continue to have masks available for those that need one and take every step necessary to keep the Lodge and my Brothers safe. Every Brother in my Lodge was issued a custom 311 mask earlier on in this pandemic, and they know that their safety is priority one!
Thank you MW Grand Master for allowing us to continue our Labors.
lots of people in my lodge are thinking about this question (well really everybody is, even if they're not talking about it out loud)
This is a really, really bad situation for Freemasons (in my opinion) because society right now is very fractured. Coronavirus is where this shows up, but the virus itself isn't necessarily the problem. I'm not in WA but we have seen passive-aggressive resistance of GM orders for safety, motivated by political and freedom-oriented concerns from outside of the lodge environment. This has created an extremely mixed and muddled situation.
Here's the reality I see:
- Some brothers are vaccinated and come without any fear or hesitation
- Some are not vaccinated and are vocal about the wrongness of vaccination, and passive-aggressively resist district and state health rules
- Some stay away from lodge because of group #2.
It's all fine and well to say that masons don't talk politics, but this is super unavoidable because the issue is so politically charged, and if Masons can't talk about the political and social aspects of this pandemic...well...the environment is so charged that it doesn't make any of those things go away, it just means we don't talk about them, which is super unfortunate. We need to find respectful ways of talking about it without devolving into the usual tired partisan talking points.
I'm going to be honest, I am wary of certain brothers in my lodge because of this. When I spot a brother who argues that vaccination and masks are wrong, and who regularly attends large social gatherings with like-minded people...I need to establish some respectful boundaries there to take care of mine, without making judgements about that man or telling him what to do.
I am at a complete loss for what "whispering good counsel" should mean at this particular moment in history. The fundamental nature of the social divide is that one man's good counsel is another man's obviously false partisan politics. This is extremely sad; truth has indeed become relative.
GL leadership across many states is walking a super-tricky tight rope right now. Leadership needs to establish the right patterns for safety & model the right behavior, but it somehow has to acknowledge and deal with the fact that (due to social division) this *so* pulls against the desires of some masons, individual subordinate lodges need to choose between alienating members and permitting the rules to be flouted. This is a real situation on the ground.
With regrets, I'm back in the bunker. The seven-day average of positive cases in King County increased nearly 10-fold since the end of June and are on track to eclipse our all-time high set last November. The latest news is that I'll need a booster shot in about four months (so does that mean that my vaccination is only half as effective as it was four months ago?). The inconsistent behaviors that await us when schools re-open are only a few weeks away. And I know too many people who have had breakthrough infections, one of whom spent a week in the ICU before passing away last month.
My family is very lucky. We've stayed healthy for the past 18 months, our household finances haven't been disrupted, and although we'd rather that our actions weren't limited we've worked out a housebound routine that's actually kind of pleasant. I do not take lightly that one doesn't have to look far to find a family that hasn't fared so well. So we're lucky, but my grandfather always said that the harder you work the luckier you get.
We've worked too hard to stay out of harm's way for too long. No Masonic function is worth throwing all of that away (very sorry I'm going to miss your visit at Myrtle Lodge tomorrow night Grand Master, I was really looking forward to it).
I really hope I'm wrong. I really hope that the precautions I'm taking aren't necessary and that everybody stays healthy.
I will not be going to Lodge until COVID19 is under control, nor will i participate in any Masonic activities. Currently where i live we are at an infection rate as bad and quickly becoming worse than last winter. There is nothing my very fine Master can do in Lodge to change that.
Going to lodge doesn't bother me at all. My only fear is it gets all shut down again. If people are worried, stay home. Just don't project your fears onto me or others that don't share those concerns. And certainly lets not have GL dictating what lodges can and can't open, that should be up to each individual lodge.
Is this a political issue? No, it's an emotional issue. Emotional on all sides, regardless of your political stances.
If where I work is forcing all staff, faculty and students to return to campus vaccinated or not, in spite of the obvious red flags surrounding the spike in cases, then apparently everything we've been told over the past 18 months is a lie.
Your article is quite relevant in what is going on these days. I would like you to consider adding the following to your Some Group.
Some Brothers are vaccinated, exposed to covid and have no symptoms, yet were told, you shouldn’t attend Lodge.
I believe this is a type of discrimination, yet I understand the Science and will comply with this, that vaccinated persons, exposed to covid, are contagious for a set amount of days, according to what the Health Dept. stated. Therefore, how many of us are exposed to covid, have no symptoms, we do not know we are contagious and we unknowingly spread it around to our Loved Ones? Mary Mallon (September 23, 1869 – November 11, 1938), also known as Typhoid Mary, was an Irish-born believed to have infected 53 people with typhoid fever, three of whom died, and the first person in the United States identified as an asymptomatic carrier of the disease. Someone who is asymptomatic has the infection but no symptoms and will not develop them later. Someone who is pre-symptomatic has the infection but does not have any symptoms yet.
I am praying for all of our Martial Science Masters, Masonic Grand Masters, Governors and President to make the right choices for us.
I would like to share my perspective on this, in reverences of our great institution. It’s healthy to talk about it as it’s a giant elephant in the room (thank you GM Bailey). As the divide on this subject (covid-19 pandemic) grows with passions and objections, I feel it’s essential to emphasize brotherly love and compassion, subdue our passions for logic and reasoning. As Fra Francis Bacon emphasized, when looking to science and truth, utilize the Scientific Method over half-truths or theories. With that said, please don’t take that my stance as that of someone on a soap box, just wanting to add food for thought.
I’d like to add the current social events with the foundation on our past, which is politically structured on division (a virus) and unity (a vaccine). The current events have to me, felt like boiling a frog. If you put a frog in boiling water it will jump out, but if its put in luke-warm water and slowly brought up to boiling he will not think to jump, but instead be succumbed to the gradual temperature rise until its death. Much like having freedom being scrutinized and taken away under the mandatory vaccine agenda.
In France, demonstrators carry signs for Liberty and Freedom, stating “our freedoms are dying” protesting the force of vaccines, which would mandate a digital health pass to be able to travel, or any be in any public place, including shopping, restaurants, sports or concert events, church and in some cases even hospitals. The vaccines would not stop at one or two, but continue with booster shots, as it’s well known, a new or altered strand comes out every year. This policy is starting to be pushed worldwide including on our own soil. As none of the vaccines are FDA approved, the side effects are not known, and some people choose not to have vaccine for various reasons, including religious, medical or philosophical opinions. I spoke with a concerned nurse just a couple days, who was once admired to be working on the front line, and now is threated to be fired for not getting the vaccine. She told me a few of her colleagues are hesitant because they are planning for growing their family and not willing to take the risk due to the unknown side effects of child birth.
Reflectively, this reminds me of the establishment of the United States from its colonies. Bro Benjamin Franklin, who was the only founding father to have signed four key documents establishing the United States (Declaration of Independence, United States Constitution, Treaty of Alliance with France, and Treaty of Paris Establishing Peace with Great Britain). Not only was he instrumental in establishing the new United States and a master mason, who printed mass copies of Andersons Constitution of Free-Masons, but he was also U.S. Ambassador and appointed minister to France which secured diplomatic recognition and financial assistance. Benjamin was also actively involved with and served as venerable master of the Masonic Lodge of the Nine Sisters (Les Neuf Soeurs), located in Paris. In the collaborated effort to establish a country with freedom from government mandates and central rulings, Benjamin wrote, “those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
Sometime, as Masons we need to put our differences behind to stay unified for liberty and freedom. Demonstrations are on the way in our areas. The outline of this demonstration was specified as being peaceful and it doesn’t matter what political party you belong to, be will stand in solidarity to insure citizens have liberty and freedom to their own choosing. This includes unions in healthcare, teachers, law enforcement, construction…; all union and anti-union bodies, together as one. Recently, our governor, Mr. Inslee, decided to force all state employees to vaccinate by October 18th. I feel the tension on this subject is quickly escalating and we as a Masonic Body of Washington State should really put more thought on this subject including legal guidelines. Otherwise, our members may have to show an up to date vaccine card or digital proof to be admitted into a lodge or function. I fully support the basis of what our Constitutions are based on; Liberty and Freedom of Choice, and hope the majority of us will see it through, just as Bro Benjamin Franklin did.
I am very glad to be back in Lodge! I have sorely missed the fellowship, the friendly jibes, the sharing of ideas, the conferral of degrees, and the education of Masons. To put it mildly, I have been lonely. COVID and its variants do not frighten me in the least, any more than the "seasonal flu" does. It's a virus. There's not much that can be done to *prevent* a virus, only to treat it. The inoculation against a virus addresses only a known type, not all the types it may mutate into, just as the seasonal flu shot addresses only the last known variant. And, despite all the precautions one may take to reduce the chances of contracting a virus, one may still be infected. If wearing a mask makes someone feel better about being in a group of people, wear a mask. If using hand sanitizer makes someone feel better, use it. I am in an age group (76) that has been deemed to be most susceptible to the corona virus, but I don't let that slow me down. I know people who have been infected, and have survived. Yes, it's a nasty little bug, no doubt about that. But all the media hype, the scare tactics, the actual bribes and threats from government don't make a whit of difference. I have my own thoughts about the mandates, but I will not allow myself to succumb to fear, and allow it to rule my life. You do what's good for you and allow me to do the same. Just my thoughts...
“What we do for ourselves dies with us, but what we do for others remains and is immortal.” I believe Pike’s statement is something all Masons should continually reflect upon.
When the process was more dangerous and successful vaccination typically required a month-long convalescence, MW General George Washington required smallpox vaccination as a requirement for service in the Continental Army. He recognized that disease might lose the war faster than combat ever could. Balancing the rights of individuals with the rights of the community has always been a source of tension. I respect another's right to choose not to vaccinate, but I also respect the right of the community to protect itself from the consequences of individual choices.
Fellowship meetings are just that. Fellowship. It cannot be done remotely, and it cannot be postponed. We should meet outdoors if necessary in a space large enough to accommodate adequate distance if conditions such as the current pandemic occur, but in person meetings should go on NO MATTER WHAT. Regardless of the Government's unconstitutional orders restricting the right of freedom of assembly. If we have to meet discreetly like our brethren of old to escape persecutions, then that is what we should do. I am strong and not worried. I had Covid. It was like a nasty cold or a mild flu for me. What is really sad is the people dying alone because their loved ones aren't allowed to visit them in hospice. I'd rather risk infection than let my father die alone.
For what they are worth, I'm going to give my thoughts on this. They do closely mirror what someone else said, but they are a result of my own experience.
When the Pandemic first struck, my wife's grandmother was a healthy and hale 99 year old woman.
My wife and I convinced her that she should limit her exposure to other people. So she did. She generally limited herself to myself and my wife, one of my daughters, and my granddaughter.
My wife and I, in turn, tried to be quite careful in our own lives, so as to not pick it up and end up giving it to her.
On rare occasions, some other family would come visit on the porch.
I don't think that she was feeling deprived of family visiting, but I do know that she was feeling extremely deprived by not being able to go places. She wanted to just go once in awhile. Get an ice cream, browse a store, that kind of thing. She just wasn't able to do what she wanted to do, out of the house, and she missed that stuff quite a lot.
But it worked. She never got Covid.
But she died while Covid was still raging anyway.
Not a Covid death, not anything unexpected, she was just 99, and when you are 99 things are worn out.
So, over worries of Covid, her last months were not as happy as they could have been. She could have gone out, done all that she wanted to do. The very worst that would have happened is that she would have gotten Covid and died a few days or weeks earlier than she died anyway. But she would have been happier before she did.
I’m not at all nervous! We will continue to have masks available for those that need one and take every step necessary to keep the Lodge and my Brothers safe. Every Brother in my Lodge was issued a custom 311 mask earlier on in this pandemic, and they know that their safety is priority one!
Thank you MW Grand Master for allowing us to continue our Labors.
Have a blessed day Brethren.
Fraternally and V/r,
W. Todd
lots of people in my lodge are thinking about this question (well really everybody is, even if they're not talking about it out loud)
This is a really, really bad situation for Freemasons (in my opinion) because society right now is very fractured. Coronavirus is where this shows up, but the virus itself isn't necessarily the problem. I'm not in WA but we have seen passive-aggressive resistance of GM orders for safety, motivated by political and freedom-oriented concerns from outside of the lodge environment. This has created an extremely mixed and muddled situation.
Here's the reality I see:
- Some brothers are vaccinated and come without any fear or hesitation
- Some are not vaccinated and are vocal about the wrongness of vaccination, and passive-aggressively resist district and state health rules
- Some stay away from lodge because of group #2.
It's all fine and well to say that masons don't talk politics, but this is super unavoidable because the issue is so politically charged, and if Masons can't talk about the political and social aspects of this pandemic...well...the environment is so charged that it doesn't make any of those things go away, it just means we don't talk about them, which is super unfortunate. We need to find respectful ways of talking about it without devolving into the usual tired partisan talking points.
I'm going to be honest, I am wary of certain brothers in my lodge because of this. When I spot a brother who argues that vaccination and masks are wrong, and who regularly attends large social gatherings with like-minded people...I need to establish some respectful boundaries there to take care of mine, without making judgements about that man or telling him what to do.
I am at a complete loss for what "whispering good counsel" should mean at this particular moment in history. The fundamental nature of the social divide is that one man's good counsel is another man's obviously false partisan politics. This is extremely sad; truth has indeed become relative.
GL leadership across many states is walking a super-tricky tight rope right now. Leadership needs to establish the right patterns for safety & model the right behavior, but it somehow has to acknowledge and deal with the fact that (due to social division) this *so* pulls against the desires of some masons, individual subordinate lodges need to choose between alienating members and permitting the rules to be flouted. This is a real situation on the ground.
It’s a great relief to be back in Lodge.
With regrets, I'm back in the bunker. The seven-day average of positive cases in King County increased nearly 10-fold since the end of June and are on track to eclipse our all-time high set last November. The latest news is that I'll need a booster shot in about four months (so does that mean that my vaccination is only half as effective as it was four months ago?). The inconsistent behaviors that await us when schools re-open are only a few weeks away. And I know too many people who have had breakthrough infections, one of whom spent a week in the ICU before passing away last month.
My family is very lucky. We've stayed healthy for the past 18 months, our household finances haven't been disrupted, and although we'd rather that our actions weren't limited we've worked out a housebound routine that's actually kind of pleasant. I do not take lightly that one doesn't have to look far to find a family that hasn't fared so well. So we're lucky, but my grandfather always said that the harder you work the luckier you get.
We've worked too hard to stay out of harm's way for too long. No Masonic function is worth throwing all of that away (very sorry I'm going to miss your visit at Myrtle Lodge tomorrow night Grand Master, I was really looking forward to it).
I really hope I'm wrong. I really hope that the precautions I'm taking aren't necessary and that everybody stays healthy.
I will not be going to Lodge until COVID19 is under control, nor will i participate in any Masonic activities. Currently where i live we are at an infection rate as bad and quickly becoming worse than last winter. There is nothing my very fine Master can do in Lodge to change that.
Going to lodge doesn't bother me at all. My only fear is it gets all shut down again. If people are worried, stay home. Just don't project your fears onto me or others that don't share those concerns. And certainly lets not have GL dictating what lodges can and can't open, that should be up to each individual lodge.
Is this a political issue? No, it's an emotional issue. Emotional on all sides, regardless of your political stances.
If where I work is forcing all staff, faculty and students to return to campus vaccinated or not, in spite of the obvious red flags surrounding the spike in cases, then apparently everything we've been told over the past 18 months is a lie.
Brother Forthrighter,
Your article is quite relevant in what is going on these days. I would like you to consider adding the following to your Some Group.
Some Brothers are vaccinated, exposed to covid and have no symptoms, yet were told, you shouldn’t attend Lodge.
I believe this is a type of discrimination, yet I understand the Science and will comply with this, that vaccinated persons, exposed to covid, are contagious for a set amount of days, according to what the Health Dept. stated. Therefore, how many of us are exposed to covid, have no symptoms, we do not know we are contagious and we unknowingly spread it around to our Loved Ones? Mary Mallon (September 23, 1869 – November 11, 1938), also known as Typhoid Mary, was an Irish-born believed to have infected 53 people with typhoid fever, three of whom died, and the first person in the United States identified as an asymptomatic carrier of the disease. Someone who is asymptomatic has the infection but no symptoms and will not develop them later. Someone who is pre-symptomatic has the infection but does not have any symptoms yet.
I am praying for all of our Martial Science Masters, Masonic Grand Masters, Governors and President to make the right choices for us.
Greetings,
I would like to share my perspective on this, in reverences of our great institution. It’s healthy to talk about it as it’s a giant elephant in the room (thank you GM Bailey). As the divide on this subject (covid-19 pandemic) grows with passions and objections, I feel it’s essential to emphasize brotherly love and compassion, subdue our passions for logic and reasoning. As Fra Francis Bacon emphasized, when looking to science and truth, utilize the Scientific Method over half-truths or theories. With that said, please don’t take that my stance as that of someone on a soap box, just wanting to add food for thought.
I’d like to add the current social events with the foundation on our past, which is politically structured on division (a virus) and unity (a vaccine). The current events have to me, felt like boiling a frog. If you put a frog in boiling water it will jump out, but if its put in luke-warm water and slowly brought up to boiling he will not think to jump, but instead be succumbed to the gradual temperature rise until its death. Much like having freedom being scrutinized and taken away under the mandatory vaccine agenda.
In France, demonstrators carry signs for Liberty and Freedom, stating “our freedoms are dying” protesting the force of vaccines, which would mandate a digital health pass to be able to travel, or any be in any public place, including shopping, restaurants, sports or concert events, church and in some cases even hospitals. The vaccines would not stop at one or two, but continue with booster shots, as it’s well known, a new or altered strand comes out every year. This policy is starting to be pushed worldwide including on our own soil. As none of the vaccines are FDA approved, the side effects are not known, and some people choose not to have vaccine for various reasons, including religious, medical or philosophical opinions. I spoke with a concerned nurse just a couple days, who was once admired to be working on the front line, and now is threated to be fired for not getting the vaccine. She told me a few of her colleagues are hesitant because they are planning for growing their family and not willing to take the risk due to the unknown side effects of child birth.
Reflectively, this reminds me of the establishment of the United States from its colonies. Bro Benjamin Franklin, who was the only founding father to have signed four key documents establishing the United States (Declaration of Independence, United States Constitution, Treaty of Alliance with France, and Treaty of Paris Establishing Peace with Great Britain). Not only was he instrumental in establishing the new United States and a master mason, who printed mass copies of Andersons Constitution of Free-Masons, but he was also U.S. Ambassador and appointed minister to France which secured diplomatic recognition and financial assistance. Benjamin was also actively involved with and served as venerable master of the Masonic Lodge of the Nine Sisters (Les Neuf Soeurs), located in Paris. In the collaborated effort to establish a country with freedom from government mandates and central rulings, Benjamin wrote, “those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
Sometime, as Masons we need to put our differences behind to stay unified for liberty and freedom. Demonstrations are on the way in our areas. The outline of this demonstration was specified as being peaceful and it doesn’t matter what political party you belong to, be will stand in solidarity to insure citizens have liberty and freedom to their own choosing. This includes unions in healthcare, teachers, law enforcement, construction…; all union and anti-union bodies, together as one. Recently, our governor, Mr. Inslee, decided to force all state employees to vaccinate by October 18th. I feel the tension on this subject is quickly escalating and we as a Masonic Body of Washington State should really put more thought on this subject including legal guidelines. Otherwise, our members may have to show an up to date vaccine card or digital proof to be admitted into a lodge or function. I fully support the basis of what our Constitutions are based on; Liberty and Freedom of Choice, and hope the majority of us will see it through, just as Bro Benjamin Franklin did.
I am very glad to be back in Lodge! I have sorely missed the fellowship, the friendly jibes, the sharing of ideas, the conferral of degrees, and the education of Masons. To put it mildly, I have been lonely. COVID and its variants do not frighten me in the least, any more than the "seasonal flu" does. It's a virus. There's not much that can be done to *prevent* a virus, only to treat it. The inoculation against a virus addresses only a known type, not all the types it may mutate into, just as the seasonal flu shot addresses only the last known variant. And, despite all the precautions one may take to reduce the chances of contracting a virus, one may still be infected. If wearing a mask makes someone feel better about being in a group of people, wear a mask. If using hand sanitizer makes someone feel better, use it. I am in an age group (76) that has been deemed to be most susceptible to the corona virus, but I don't let that slow me down. I know people who have been infected, and have survived. Yes, it's a nasty little bug, no doubt about that. But all the media hype, the scare tactics, the actual bribes and threats from government don't make a whit of difference. I have my own thoughts about the mandates, but I will not allow myself to succumb to fear, and allow it to rule my life. You do what's good for you and allow me to do the same. Just my thoughts...
“What we do for ourselves dies with us, but what we do for others remains and is immortal.” I believe Pike’s statement is something all Masons should continually reflect upon.
When the process was more dangerous and successful vaccination typically required a month-long convalescence, MW General George Washington required smallpox vaccination as a requirement for service in the Continental Army. He recognized that disease might lose the war faster than combat ever could. Balancing the rights of individuals with the rights of the community has always been a source of tension. I respect another's right to choose not to vaccinate, but I also respect the right of the community to protect itself from the consequences of individual choices.
Fellowship meetings are just that. Fellowship. It cannot be done remotely, and it cannot be postponed. We should meet outdoors if necessary in a space large enough to accommodate adequate distance if conditions such as the current pandemic occur, but in person meetings should go on NO MATTER WHAT. Regardless of the Government's unconstitutional orders restricting the right of freedom of assembly. If we have to meet discreetly like our brethren of old to escape persecutions, then that is what we should do. I am strong and not worried. I had Covid. It was like a nasty cold or a mild flu for me. What is really sad is the people dying alone because their loved ones aren't allowed to visit them in hospice. I'd rather risk infection than let my father die alone.
For what they are worth, I'm going to give my thoughts on this. They do closely mirror what someone else said, but they are a result of my own experience.
When the Pandemic first struck, my wife's grandmother was a healthy and hale 99 year old woman.
My wife and I convinced her that she should limit her exposure to other people. So she did. She generally limited herself to myself and my wife, one of my daughters, and my granddaughter.
My wife and I, in turn, tried to be quite careful in our own lives, so as to not pick it up and end up giving it to her.
On rare occasions, some other family would come visit on the porch.
I don't think that she was feeling deprived of family visiting, but I do know that she was feeling extremely deprived by not being able to go places. She wanted to just go once in awhile. Get an ice cream, browse a store, that kind of thing. She just wasn't able to do what she wanted to do, out of the house, and she missed that stuff quite a lot.
But it worked. She never got Covid.
But she died while Covid was still raging anyway.
Not a Covid death, not anything unexpected, she was just 99, and when you are 99 things are worn out.
So, over worries of Covid, her last months were not as happy as they could have been. She could have gone out, done all that she wanted to do. The very worst that would have happened is that she would have gotten Covid and died a few days or weeks earlier than she died anyway. But she would have been happier before she did.