Perhaps part of the counter-balance that The Craft might offer to civil society, is teaching financial literacy as part of Lodge training when you bring in new candidates? If someone doesn't know how to make best use of the help they're given then everybody loses. This is why financial operations of all kinds, from bank tellers to hedge funds, have guardrails and rules and they follow the discipline of that craft. And money management, deployment, and accumulation, is indeed, a craft that one can learn and practice. Perhaps as importantly, if Masons become better at financial management personally, that will improve the financial health of their families and their closest networks. The two positions that almost nobody wants in a Lodge, are Secretary and Treasurer, for good reason.There's a lot of personal liability, duty, and responsibility that comes with it, and failure can be catastrophic for the Lodge as a whole.
How to do that? Well, if a Lodge's charter permits, it might start a small savings club, then an investment club, then perhaps something else. If the day is split into three 8 hour segments, each ot be used for it's own service and developmental purposes, then sure financial literacy and acuity is also a three-parter: charity, investment, and living expenses.
As the evil forces of the tech bros and Ai try to shove out human beings, the demand for individual tradesmen and craftsmen, I think, will grow in response. Middle management will die. But we will move toward the Trades because stuff will still need to be fixed and maintained. We also need trade schools for small farmers and micro farmers. People still gotta eat. And Trades mean Guilds and Master Craftsmen.
When I was a little girl, my parents were big believers in guiding us to work on what they perceived as our "weaknesses," and also to further develop our strengths. I think they thought of it kind of as strength training, where, if you're weaker on one side of a muscle group, you do a couple of more reps for that side each set until you bring yourself up to being more evenly strong.
As a result, for a time, I became more focused on "fixing" what I thought were my "weaknesses."
Then I joined the Marine Corps (and eventually moved over to the Air Force). What the Marine Corps taught me was, the way I'd been doing things was not how you became an elite warrior. You became an elite warrior as part of an larger organic whole creature, called the rifle squad, the platoon, the company, the battalion, The Fleet, etc. Each Marine had strengths and not-so-strengths-*yet* . So if I was slow on the run but was pretty good at the push ups, flexed arm hang, and academics, then another Marine who was fast on the run would coach me, and I'd coach her on what I was strong at. But, when we need to actually *move* fast and accomplish a mission, (get stuff done), each of us put together our strengths. I was fast at taping the floor, she was strong at lifting the racks when we mopped on Field Day. The whole was much greater than the sum of the parts. And we became United States Marines and earned our EGA. And, as Women Marines (WMs, now simply Marines per The Commandant's direction) we became the extremely very very few and the proud. Rare as hen's teeth then and now.
I'll venture to guess this works in Lodge as well. Someone's better at ritual, someone else is better at administration, someone else naturally has the spiritual leadership of a chaplain. So I'll offer to you the idea that I think you're spot on: If someone doesn't know how to make best use of the help they're given then everybody loses. But, each Mason can combine their strengths with the strengths of others and make the Lodge much more whole.
Financial acumen is taught - it's not natural to anyone. You may think it is *if* you had the benefit of watching your parents and grandparents deploy finances - not spend and save - *deploy* - and you grew up in an environment that was not afraid of money nor did that family culture think of it as anything more than a life skill and an important tool. There was a lot of osmosis that many take as being "natural."
I woke up this morning thinking about how the Lodges in the 18th century used their Lodges to discuss and develop the morality and ethics and philosophical thought of The Enlightenment and then thought a lot about how this could be applied in civil society to make it better. And then I wondered if part of the reason for dwindling numbers is because The Craft has not yet trimmed it's sails to begin to address and plan for how civil society, beginning with each Mason, will bring a balm for and an amelioration for, the perils of modern times. How will The Craft become a counter-balance to what we're seeing today?
This is a tough one to decide the correct course of action.
Today, there are many who are thrust into financial issues due to the economy and/or employment issues. But yes, there are people who are not good money managers. I don't save for a rainy day, which is not a good thing either.
I believe in helping a brother when he is in need. But I also believe in the saying, "Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime."
We should whisper good counsel in a Brother's ear. Can we change his behavior? Perhaps, but then, perhaps not.
I don't believe the lodge should continually support a Brother who chooses not to act in his own best interest either.
Great topic, Bro Cam! One I'm passionate about. I grew up in a pretty poor town full of bad things, Flint, Michigan. I was about as blue collar as it gets and was working very early on trying to secure my own money while my Dad was busy supporting a wife and 3 kids. This taught me a ton about the value of money and the value of being a good steward of what you gathered. I also knew that my friend Al, who taught me a great deal about basketball, was the Wilt Chamberlain of wasting money. We often worked side by side doing hard manual labor like mowing orchards, bailing hay, scraping old paint off buildings, etc. We'd get paid the same. Yet, Al always came up short before the next payday, which sometimes was weeks away. Early on, I saw that he spent frivolouulsy and saved little. He'd borrow when he could, but that snowballs into the next paycheck. Problems followed him everywhere. This is what he learned and grew to believe about financial matters. Today, he still lives in (a much worse) Flint, rents a 1 bedroom home, with a beater of a car, and works 2nd shift sorting parts for an OEM supplier. A regular at the same bar, smokes, buys expensive sneakers, has the loudest car stereo, and a string of girlfriends. All sizzle, no steak. Al still "owes" me a few bucks from way back, which I knew in reality was a gift, not a loan. My path differed and I am happily working in fnance, which I've done for 30+ years, very well. In that time, I've observed that most organizational theft begins slowly. Harmless "loans" with good intent to pay it back. It's small at first, $20 here, $50 there, then thousands and more. You can see it in the Court documents. Even the dozens of well publicized Masonic thefts start the same way. Oddly, in the mind of the perpetrators, they didn't mean for it to snowball, at first. Then it became easy. Nobody cared and nobody bothered to look. Apathy fuelled opportunity and the thief sees that the money clearly isn't monitored or valued ... until it's gone. Then the uproar. Everyone knew their"Al" was bad with money. But everyone knew "Al"!! He was likeable, showed up to Lodge, never late for the free meal, would gladly take the free beer (which was ALWAYS offered by a generous Brother), the free ride, because "Al" just doesn't have much money. He's received some Lodge assistance, Bros have "chipped in" to help pay his $125 in annual dues. Fine, all OK by me. But the signs are there if you pay attention. Anyone want to stand for Treasurer? Anyone? ** crickets** Then "Al's"hand reluctantly rises for the first, or the 7th time to fill the seat. The men in the Lodge breath a sigh of relief that it's not THEM taking charge of the $545,000 of the lodge assets. Apathy. We see it all the time with nearly every vote on what's spent. Hands voting yes raise like zombies from a grave mindlessly marching towards the oblivion. That's as common as rain in Washington. Through a very hard learned lesson, many in my District don't subscribe to that apathetic way of thinking. We question financial decisions, we ask, we audit, we want the receipts. Being Treasurer in Dist 19 is no cale-walk. But, men see the culture of care here, of stewardship. They learn to ask, through discourse, the questions that keep money from disappearing. Even when visiting another Lodge, we stand and ask when things seem, well, odd. I'm absolutely not tooting our horn, and frankly we don't deserve anything but shame for our handling of money for decades. We got kicked squarely in the teeth financially and took a generational loss that splintered us for a time. Painful to say the least. However, if you want to secure your financial future, KILL APATHY. Be curious. Ask question, even hard ones. POKE THE BEAR! I do it often, maybe to my own detriment, but it's making a difference and making Masonry fiscally stonger. Those in charge of the assets should have the answers, and the paper trail to accompany it. Trust, but verify. It is the resoonsibility of the entire Lodge to be good stewards and protect what we have built. Talk openly in Lodge about money and assets. It builds competence and awareness. It is necessary. Everyone should know what is happening with their Lodge’s finances as well as their own. Don't be an "Al".
Unfortunately this happens all too often in volunteer organizations when there are positions people are unwilling to do for various reasons.
Lack of ability, fear of failure, lack of support, a history of poor records, or the social/professional liability associated with the taking on that responsibility. I think if we made sure the roles we saddle our Brothers with were appropriately provisioned it would make their job easier to do, and we might find more willing hands. This would enable those Brothers to focus on more important matters, like who is bringing the green bean casserole, for example.
When Brothers see someone manually inputting every line and doing the math by hand, its a hard sell to get them to take over that role, especially if we tell them we aren't willing to give them a tool that converts 4 hours of effort into 30 minutes of initial setup and 30 seconds of work per month or quarter to generate a report. This has the added benefit of ensuring every transaction is audited and recorded, reducing the risk of future misallocation of resources and liability for the individuals responsible for our Lodge administration.
Great topic and one I wish we explored more broadly across the Craft. It is our responsibility to make sure future Masons have a Legacy to look up to. Have a Blessed one and safe Travels MWB Bailey!
Perhaps part of the counter-balance that The Craft might offer to civil society, is teaching financial literacy as part of Lodge training when you bring in new candidates? If someone doesn't know how to make best use of the help they're given then everybody loses. This is why financial operations of all kinds, from bank tellers to hedge funds, have guardrails and rules and they follow the discipline of that craft. And money management, deployment, and accumulation, is indeed, a craft that one can learn and practice. Perhaps as importantly, if Masons become better at financial management personally, that will improve the financial health of their families and their closest networks. The two positions that almost nobody wants in a Lodge, are Secretary and Treasurer, for good reason.There's a lot of personal liability, duty, and responsibility that comes with it, and failure can be catastrophic for the Lodge as a whole.
How to do that? Well, if a Lodge's charter permits, it might start a small savings club, then an investment club, then perhaps something else. If the day is split into three 8 hour segments, each ot be used for it's own service and developmental purposes, then sure financial literacy and acuity is also a three-parter: charity, investment, and living expenses.
As the evil forces of the tech bros and Ai try to shove out human beings, the demand for individual tradesmen and craftsmen, I think, will grow in response. Middle management will die. But we will move toward the Trades because stuff will still need to be fixed and maintained. We also need trade schools for small farmers and micro farmers. People still gotta eat. And Trades mean Guilds and Master Craftsmen.
When I was a little girl, my parents were big believers in guiding us to work on what they perceived as our "weaknesses," and also to further develop our strengths. I think they thought of it kind of as strength training, where, if you're weaker on one side of a muscle group, you do a couple of more reps for that side each set until you bring yourself up to being more evenly strong.
As a result, for a time, I became more focused on "fixing" what I thought were my "weaknesses."
Then I joined the Marine Corps (and eventually moved over to the Air Force). What the Marine Corps taught me was, the way I'd been doing things was not how you became an elite warrior. You became an elite warrior as part of an larger organic whole creature, called the rifle squad, the platoon, the company, the battalion, The Fleet, etc. Each Marine had strengths and not-so-strengths-*yet* . So if I was slow on the run but was pretty good at the push ups, flexed arm hang, and academics, then another Marine who was fast on the run would coach me, and I'd coach her on what I was strong at. But, when we need to actually *move* fast and accomplish a mission, (get stuff done), each of us put together our strengths. I was fast at taping the floor, she was strong at lifting the racks when we mopped on Field Day. The whole was much greater than the sum of the parts. And we became United States Marines and earned our EGA. And, as Women Marines (WMs, now simply Marines per The Commandant's direction) we became the extremely very very few and the proud. Rare as hen's teeth then and now.
I'll venture to guess this works in Lodge as well. Someone's better at ritual, someone else is better at administration, someone else naturally has the spiritual leadership of a chaplain. So I'll offer to you the idea that I think you're spot on: If someone doesn't know how to make best use of the help they're given then everybody loses. But, each Mason can combine their strengths with the strengths of others and make the Lodge much more whole.
Financial acumen is taught - it's not natural to anyone. You may think it is *if* you had the benefit of watching your parents and grandparents deploy finances - not spend and save - *deploy* - and you grew up in an environment that was not afraid of money nor did that family culture think of it as anything more than a life skill and an important tool. There was a lot of osmosis that many take as being "natural."
I woke up this morning thinking about how the Lodges in the 18th century used their Lodges to discuss and develop the morality and ethics and philosophical thought of The Enlightenment and then thought a lot about how this could be applied in civil society to make it better. And then I wondered if part of the reason for dwindling numbers is because The Craft has not yet trimmed it's sails to begin to address and plan for how civil society, beginning with each Mason, will bring a balm for and an amelioration for, the perils of modern times. How will The Craft become a counter-balance to what we're seeing today?
This is a tough one to decide the correct course of action.
Today, there are many who are thrust into financial issues due to the economy and/or employment issues. But yes, there are people who are not good money managers. I don't save for a rainy day, which is not a good thing either.
I believe in helping a brother when he is in need. But I also believe in the saying, "Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime."
We should whisper good counsel in a Brother's ear. Can we change his behavior? Perhaps, but then, perhaps not.
I don't believe the lodge should continually support a Brother who chooses not to act in his own best interest either.
Great topic, Bro Cam! One I'm passionate about. I grew up in a pretty poor town full of bad things, Flint, Michigan. I was about as blue collar as it gets and was working very early on trying to secure my own money while my Dad was busy supporting a wife and 3 kids. This taught me a ton about the value of money and the value of being a good steward of what you gathered. I also knew that my friend Al, who taught me a great deal about basketball, was the Wilt Chamberlain of wasting money. We often worked side by side doing hard manual labor like mowing orchards, bailing hay, scraping old paint off buildings, etc. We'd get paid the same. Yet, Al always came up short before the next payday, which sometimes was weeks away. Early on, I saw that he spent frivolouulsy and saved little. He'd borrow when he could, but that snowballs into the next paycheck. Problems followed him everywhere. This is what he learned and grew to believe about financial matters. Today, he still lives in (a much worse) Flint, rents a 1 bedroom home, with a beater of a car, and works 2nd shift sorting parts for an OEM supplier. A regular at the same bar, smokes, buys expensive sneakers, has the loudest car stereo, and a string of girlfriends. All sizzle, no steak. Al still "owes" me a few bucks from way back, which I knew in reality was a gift, not a loan. My path differed and I am happily working in fnance, which I've done for 30+ years, very well. In that time, I've observed that most organizational theft begins slowly. Harmless "loans" with good intent to pay it back. It's small at first, $20 here, $50 there, then thousands and more. You can see it in the Court documents. Even the dozens of well publicized Masonic thefts start the same way. Oddly, in the mind of the perpetrators, they didn't mean for it to snowball, at first. Then it became easy. Nobody cared and nobody bothered to look. Apathy fuelled opportunity and the thief sees that the money clearly isn't monitored or valued ... until it's gone. Then the uproar. Everyone knew their"Al" was bad with money. But everyone knew "Al"!! He was likeable, showed up to Lodge, never late for the free meal, would gladly take the free beer (which was ALWAYS offered by a generous Brother), the free ride, because "Al" just doesn't have much money. He's received some Lodge assistance, Bros have "chipped in" to help pay his $125 in annual dues. Fine, all OK by me. But the signs are there if you pay attention. Anyone want to stand for Treasurer? Anyone? ** crickets** Then "Al's"hand reluctantly rises for the first, or the 7th time to fill the seat. The men in the Lodge breath a sigh of relief that it's not THEM taking charge of the $545,000 of the lodge assets. Apathy. We see it all the time with nearly every vote on what's spent. Hands voting yes raise like zombies from a grave mindlessly marching towards the oblivion. That's as common as rain in Washington. Through a very hard learned lesson, many in my District don't subscribe to that apathetic way of thinking. We question financial decisions, we ask, we audit, we want the receipts. Being Treasurer in Dist 19 is no cale-walk. But, men see the culture of care here, of stewardship. They learn to ask, through discourse, the questions that keep money from disappearing. Even when visiting another Lodge, we stand and ask when things seem, well, odd. I'm absolutely not tooting our horn, and frankly we don't deserve anything but shame for our handling of money for decades. We got kicked squarely in the teeth financially and took a generational loss that splintered us for a time. Painful to say the least. However, if you want to secure your financial future, KILL APATHY. Be curious. Ask question, even hard ones. POKE THE BEAR! I do it often, maybe to my own detriment, but it's making a difference and making Masonry fiscally stonger. Those in charge of the assets should have the answers, and the paper trail to accompany it. Trust, but verify. It is the resoonsibility of the entire Lodge to be good stewards and protect what we have built. Talk openly in Lodge about money and assets. It builds competence and awareness. It is necessary. Everyone should know what is happening with their Lodge’s finances as well as their own. Don't be an "Al".
Unfortunately this happens all too often in volunteer organizations when there are positions people are unwilling to do for various reasons.
Lack of ability, fear of failure, lack of support, a history of poor records, or the social/professional liability associated with the taking on that responsibility. I think if we made sure the roles we saddle our Brothers with were appropriately provisioned it would make their job easier to do, and we might find more willing hands. This would enable those Brothers to focus on more important matters, like who is bringing the green bean casserole, for example.
When Brothers see someone manually inputting every line and doing the math by hand, its a hard sell to get them to take over that role, especially if we tell them we aren't willing to give them a tool that converts 4 hours of effort into 30 minutes of initial setup and 30 seconds of work per month or quarter to generate a report. This has the added benefit of ensuring every transaction is audited and recorded, reducing the risk of future misallocation of resources and liability for the individuals responsible for our Lodge administration.
Great topic and one I wish we explored more broadly across the Craft. It is our responsibility to make sure future Masons have a Legacy to look up to. Have a Blessed one and safe Travels MWB Bailey!