Three Guys In A Garage
Wisdom from a Lodge Secretary that I've never forgotten
When I was still fairly new to Freemasonry, the then Secretary of my Lodge said something to me that has always remained at the forefront of my mind whenever I contemplate our Masonic Lodges. He said (I'm sure that I'm paraphrasing a bit given the passage of years):
“An excellent Masonic experience needs nothing more than three committed men sitting in a garage, talking about Freemasonry.”
It seems to me that between the trappings of Masonry, the business of Masonry, and the buildings of Masonry, we often lose sight of what Masonry really is. We think so much about our temples, our bills, our organized charities, and our stuff, that we have little time left to think about Freemasonry itself.
Little time left to do that which we profess to be in Lodge to do.
We also, collectively, worry way too much about the number of men in our Lodges. Numbers do not in any way relate to excellence in Masonic practice.
In short, we need to remember the words of that Lodge Secretary. We only need three men, if they are three great Masons, each personally dedicated to Masonic principles and growth.
Beautiful Temples are nice, as are our organized charities, and all the trappings of Masonry. None of those things are however Freemasonry.
Freemasonry is men, joined together in Brotherhood, each working to improve themselves. Nothing more. When we lose sight of that, when we allow that to be overwhelmed with everything required to run a major organization, well, at that point, we lose Masonry.
When we neglect to properly Guard the West Gate because we grow desperate for a large enough membership to support our Temples and our organized charities, well, then we lose the ability to attain true Masonic excellence.
Freemasonry was designed, from its inception, to be an elite organization, not an organization for everyone. It is designed to house the best men in society, not every man. It specifically limits its membership to men who are already good men, good men who are seeking to become even better men. When we lose sight of that and take in lesser men, we do nothing but harm ourselves, and harm our Fraternity.
When a Mason is suspended or expelled within our jurisdiction we hear that reported in our Lodge meetings. When we hear such a report, we know that a Lodge didn't bring in a good man. Didn't even bring in an average man. The Lodge brought in a bad man.
Let's be clear, one bad man within a Lodge will drive away at least ten good men. Thus bringing in a questionable man, because the Lodge believes it needs another body, will in fact backfire on the Lodge. In the long term the Lodge will lose far more good men because of that questionable man.
I must confess, I am guilty of this error. I once was on an Investigation Committee, and I recommended a man who it turned out was unsuitable to the Fraternity. I didn't do it on purpose, nor did the other members of the Committee, but we made an error, and that error harmed our Lodge and harmed our Fraternity.
The thing is, from that, I learned. I won't make the same mistake a second time.
Perhaps that is what Guarding the West Gate comes down to.
Personal responsibility.
If we sign the petition, or err in investigation, of a man who turns out to be unsuitable to Masonry, well, then we have done a very bad thing, and we need to feel that mistake and learn from it so that we don't repeat it.
Certainly we all make mistakes, as mentioned, I have made this exact mistake. If we learn from those mistakes then all is well. If however we just gloss them over or refuse to even acknowledge our role in the bad result, well then we are truly doing a disservice to our Fraternity.
Ultimately, I think that Guarding our West Gate is the most important task we have as members of a Lodge. By doing so well, by rejecting those who are unsuitable, we will actually create the conditions needed for our Lodge to grow. This may be counter-intuitive, but it is nevertheless true.
If we remember my Lodge Secretary’s admonishment that we only need three good men and a garage, well then hopefully that will help make it easier for us to do our duty when it comes to Masonry's West Gate.
I would like to take a moment to say Thank You to everyone who takes the time to read Emeth. I think that we are creating something truly wonderful here, and I hope that you are finding it well worth your time.
Special Thanks need to be given to everyone who comments on the posts here. The wisdom that you share is invaluable, and greatly appreciated.
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As with every Sunday evening, we will have a gathering over zoom tonight at 7:30 PM Pacific for all of those with a paid subscription. The email containing the sign in information will go out at 3:00 PM, so if you would like to participate but need to upgrade your subscription please do so before that time.
Just in case you missed it:
Thank you both for your very kind words. I appreciate it.
As for sitting in a garage, having these conversations, I think that is sort of how this all came about. I thought for years about how one could create a vibrant discussion space, and I talked with some very good guys about it. Alas though, we could never figure out how to overcome the limitations of geography. No matter where it was created, it would only be easily accessible to a small number of people.
Then the pandemic came, and it sort of forced me to understand that Masonry could be done online, and I found this Substack software that promised to make the technical challenges go away, so here we are.
Thank you, MW, for your time and dedication to this forum. The topics have been thought provoking and the shared responses have been both filled with wisdom and educational. This is what I’ve imagined Freemasonry to be. The only thing that would make it better would be if we were sitting in a garage having these conversations.