Apparently I originally wrote this and saved it as a Google doc back in September right after Labor day. Anyway, I cleaned it up a little bit and have decided to post it here. It appears as if I was originally thinking about submitting it to the Indiana Freemason Magazine…but I haven’t decided if it would be a good idea. Here in the net tundra it probably won’t be noticed, but I also don’t have to worry about coming up with any sort of solution to the psuedo-problem I mention.
I went home over Labor Day weekend in 2007 and attended church service with Mom at Blue Lick Christian Church - a church who’s traditions I share as the fifth generation of the church’s founding fathers. A tremendous tradition sits on my shoulders some 100 miles away and a great deal of life has passed between now and when I was a regular attendee. While my current beliefs are slightly different from what I was originally taught, I still get a great deal of satisfaction from visiting the family church. And from time to time I am reminded of things I have since forgotten. There is a plan for each of us - Mom spent a great deal of time enforcing that idea as I’ve grown older and have left home. Jeremiah 29:11 says: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not evil, to give you an expected end.” So the path brings me back around and I’ve recently seen some hiccups in the way Masonic Lodges and Masons view particular abilities that are required to continue to run our fraternity.
At church, the preacher based his sermon for that Sunday on Romans Chapter 12. I pull verses 3 through 10 for this post:
“For I say through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, accordingly as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affection one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another.”
A little tid bit that I’m sure everyone has heard at one point or another, but has never seen any real way to execute it. Yeah, I don’t stop the other members of my Lodge from doing the job they’re best suited for, and I don’t forget to thank the cooks, but am I actually valuing all input necessary to make the system work as well as it can?
I’ve been spending time in as many places as possible for the past 2.5 years (the amount of time I’ve lived in the Indianapolis area) including all the “big” branches of Masonry: my local Blue Lodge, the Scottish Rite, the York Rite, and the Shrine. I’ve held an office, of some sort, that is associated with each of body. I’ve seen the inner workings or at least part of them. As someone who tends to watch from the outskirts and learn about the environment, I’ve seen some amazing things about Masonry. We’re all equal, but we’re all ranked politically.
Yup, you heard me correctly. We’re all equal, but at the same time we each hold a position in the “pecking order” of Masonry. You can see it everywhere - we all greet each other as Brother and we shake hands and exchange the standard pleasantries and discuss this, that, or the other. But when it comes down to discussion of Masonic policies or Masonic involvement we immediately begin to rank ourselves politically. The old guys listen to the old guys, the young guys listen to the young guys, the recruiters to the other recruitment people, the ritualists to the ritualists, the cooks to the cooks - I’m sure you get the idea.
Of course, this is natural for people to do. We seek out others who think like we do and we tend to place more value on what they say than what someone else has to say. No one is at fault for doing this - as we all do it. However, when attempting to implement change or to implement conservatism we have a tendency to look only to the particular group of people we directly see as political equals. We place, even if it is a small amount, a little more value on people we see as our peers.
However, by doing this we immediately make change a little less likely just as we make the conservative movement a little weaker. Both require a little bit of strategy and balance. Change and conservative traditions must both meet on the level. No one benefits if either force is stronger than the other.
But I can’t combat the issue of change in just one short article. However, I can remind you as the verse from the Great Light in Masonry says: Don’t think too highly of yourself because it requires every member of Masonry to advance the fraternity.
*I still haven’t decided exactly where I was headed with it or what I had intended to do 3 or 4 months ago, but here you can see what I started thinking about.