Misplaced Focus
Letting the trivial intrude
Some time ago I attended a Lodge meeting and was really struck by some of the conversation I overheard prior to the start of that meeting. I’ve not been able to stop thinking about it since.
As I listened, I heard questions, concerns really, about the Master’s Hat.
I heard more than one man express concern that that they didn’t know what the dress code was for the evening.
I listened as one of the primary Lodge officers apologized for not being properly dressed, explaining that he’d had to rush to the meeting straight from work.
The whole thing just struck me as strange.
Frankly, it struck me as a symptom of a dying Lodge.
If dress codes become an important focus of a Lodge; if the hat a Master might be wearing becomes somehow important to a Lodge; if an elected officer feels ashamed to attend because he had to rush in from work; well such things point to a Lodge that has substituted the forms of our Ancient Craft for the important work of it.
Such a Lodge, unless it is able to change course, won’t survive. Because it will focus its time and energy on minutia, necessarily neglecting those things that truly matter.
What matters? That our Brother come to Lodge? Or that our Brother come to Lodge in a Tuxedo?
What matters? Than an elected officer helps to lead the Lodge well? Or that he looks well dressed for a photo after the meeting?
I do not argue that we shouldn’t make an attempt to look good for our meetings. Nor do I argue against dress codes per se. Indeed I’ve always been a big fan of the ‘Lodge Uniform.’
I do argue that there are much more important things for a Lodge to focus upon than dress.
Once a Lodge is really humming along. Once the ritual is top notch, the finances are in order, the meetings are interesting, the meals are good, candidates are extremely well vetted, degrees are of the highest quality, mentorship and coaching are on point…
Well, after all of that is done, then maybe a Lodge should concern itself with dress.
Until then, there is much more important work to do.
I’m going to take two real-life stories and combine them into a sample story relevant to this topic.
I got caught up in traffic, and I got home, grabbed my Grand Lodge team uniform and headed to the Lodge. I barrel into the Lodge room, where one of the Brothers noted my necktie was wonky, and he stopped me and straightened it out. Another assisted. But they both noted I was coming in much later than I usually do.
I find out that the Worshipful Master and Senior Warden weren’t at the meeting, and I was the Junior Warden. The Worshipful Master was out of state, and the Senior Warden caught a bug and didn’t want to spread it. Therefore, I was to preside over the meeting. I get up in the East and prep to start the meeting when one of the 50+ year Brothers hollered about my lack of a hat. I didn’t wear one to the Lodge, so I couldn’t use that, and I noted that it’s the Worshipful Master’s prerogative to wear one, not a requirement. The old-timers still pushed the issue. Once again, I had to make the demonstration. Out came the top hats in the podium in the East. My hat size is 7 ¾. None of those hats come close (all WAY too small), so I put one on and do my Oliver Hardy impression, getting the usual laughs out of the younger members and grumbling and concession from the older members.
Both of these stories show different sides to this situation. If a Brother is trying to look good but came up short, it’s nice to be able to assist in getting him up to where he looks like he wants to. But the old-timers griping about my not wearing a hat? I knew of a couple of Worshipful Masters who wore different hats, including costume hats, at their meetings. It riled up only the old crowd, opening them up to having to explain their non-constructive comments and actions. I have to admit that while it didn’t totally solve the problem, it did curb it to where it’s now considered…trivial.
When I was Master of my lodge, our Tyler, a distinguished Mason, came to me because the SW wasn’t wearing a tie. I tried to explain to him that I was happy that he was at his station and that I agreed with him but it wasn’t a hill I was going to die on. I agree MW, there are so many other things in lodge to focus on and worry about than how an attending Brother may or may not be dressed.