Masonic Relief
The Lodge isn't anyone's personal piggy bank
I knelt (as did every other Freemason in the world) at the Altar of Freemasonry and promised to relieve the distress of every Master Mason I encountered, who needed it, to the best of my ability.
I imagine that the words are a bit different from place to place, but the meaning of them is the same.
We are charged, as Masons, to help a worthy Brother in need.
And that’s a really good thing.
And, when thinking about this Masonic relief, we do well to remember that it isn’t limited to money. We should help a shut in Brother relieve his loneliness, if we are able to visit him. A Brother with a broken car, if we know how to fix it. A Brother overwhelmed with a vice, if we can help lead him to a brighter path. A Brother facing a problem that seems insurmountable to him, if we can advise him on how he can overcome it. The needs of our Brothers and the ways we can provide Masonic relief are as vast and varied as there are men in this world.
But usually, when we think about Masonic relief, I imagine we think about money.
A Brother comes to us in financial distress, and we help.
That’s a very good thing. My Lodges have done it quite a number of times in the years that I’ve been a Mason. I think we should be proud of that. Proud that we were there for Brothers in their times of need.
We should remember though that the Lodge didn’t kneel at an Altar and promise to relieve a worthy Brother in need.
Nope. It’s not an obligation incumbent upon the Lodge.
We knelt there. It’s an obligation on us, individually.
It’s important for us to remember that, I think.
Because it’s really easy to spend Lodge money, when maybe some of that should be coming out of our own pockets.
To be clear, I’m not arguing that a Lodge should not work to help relieve a Brother’s need. Lodges should do that.
I am however arguing that our individual responsibility as a Mason, to our Brother in need does not go away just because the Lodge writes a check.
We need to help, as we are able. To have some skin in the game so to speak. For otherwise we aren’t fulfilling our personal obligation, we’re just running a philanthropy.
One key component to all of this, in my mind, and given our ritual here in Washington, has been the word ‘worthy.’
We are individually obligated to relieve the distress of ‘worthy’ Brothers.
Who decides if a Brother is ‘worthy’ of relief? We do, I suppose.
Maybe our Lodge has a member who’s a shut in now. He’s all alone in the world. Lonely. But maybe, this Brother, whenever anyone tries to spend time with him yells and swears, overwhelmed with anger at the world. Is he ‘worthy’ of the relief of a visit? That’s a call we have to make.
What about the Brother who needs some money because he’s fallen on truly hard times?
I’ve seen Brothers come to a Lodge, receive some relatively small amount of financial help, either from the Lodge itself or through passing of the hat, pick themselves back up and never need help again. I presume we can all agree that such a Brother is certainly ‘worthy’ of the relief he received.
I’ve also seen Brothers come to a Lodge over, and over, and over again. In a seemingly never ending cycle of need, never able to pull themselves up, despite having no impediment to being able to do so. We may well disagree if such a Brother is ‘worthy’ after he has received relief a number of times to no avail. If he is unwilling to change the behaviors that keep putting him into an untenable position. I imagine we’ll all agree at some point that he must be cut off, although we might disagree strongly about where that point should be.
Once or twice I’ve encountered Brothers who’ve received Masonic relief in amounts nearing what one would earn in a year of full time work at Washington State’s minimum wage. Is that really Masonic relief as it was intended to be?
I’ve also seen a Brother whom I consider to be well off financially, certainly well off in comparison to me (if his personal spending is an accurate way to judge) receive financial relief from a Lodge. Is it really Masonic relief if a Brother can enjoy an extended vacation in Hawaii around the same time he pleads poverty to his Lodge?
In none of these cases am I referring to a man who is disabled, or injured, or sick. I am referring to men certainly capable of working and earning.
I guess my fundamental question; what I’m trying to decide for myself is:
Where is the line between the provision of Masonic financial relief to a worthy Brother, and a Lodge member just treating the Lodge like his own personal piggy bank?
That question has been bothering me this week.
Looking for some more from me? I’ve got some of my recent favorites collected right here!
As someone who early in my masonic career had kind brothers who helped me out financially with a few bucks here or there when things were really bad. We had recently lost our restaurant to a fire, and suddenly having to rely on my lone salary was a real burden on me. There were days where I couldn’t afford two dollars bus fare to get to work. I even sold some of my things to pay the mortgage. Things eventually got better, I got a significant raise at work, and money started to be less of a problem. I’ll never forget the help a couple of brothers gave me when needed, and I am more than happy to help my fellow brothers when needed.
But I’ve also seen a brother take advantage of lodge charity, begging for hand outs - yet had plenty of money to smoke pot every day. If you are not willing to make some sacrifices to better your situation, then are you really worthy?
I like the way you put that, the lodge members knelt...not the "timeless" lodge itself.
We have a board of charities and it will match almost anything that a lodge can/will raise for a distressed worthy brother, but it drives the point home that "it is all of our duty to relieve one another."