The Diamond in the Quarry

by Midnight Freemason Guest Contributor

Michael Laidlaw 32˚

In my travels in Freemasonry-- my first step to now, I have met men from all walks of life. Those who came for various reasons, but we all share a common bond of humanity. We are all drawn to the work of Freemasonry for a reason. Some find out why and some know right out of the gate.

For the sake of humility for the Lodge and man, I will refrain from using names. When I was invited to this particular Lodge, I was instantly put to work. The Lodge culture was drastically different than what I was used to. Prospective members, Entered Apprentice, and Fellowcrafts are buzzing away and Master Masons were providing guidance. I had, on one occasion, asked a potential Candidate how long he had been coming to this Lodge and seeking membership. He said, "Five months now. I just earned my signatures and will be voted on next month." I was stunned for a moment.

Previously I came from a Lodge that would give them out on the first or second day. Granted, I had my affiliation application in hand with two endorsements from Brothers I had known for some time. But I knew in my heart; it would be wrong for me to hand it in right away after seeing these candidates for the degrees--working so hard to gain admission. I worked a committee for one year before I was told, "The Brothers are asking when are you going to affiliate?" It was then I knew I had "earned" my place with these craftsmen.

That year I had worked closely with a Brother who had invited me over to the Lodge to learn the roles of the committee. It would be an understatement if I said this Brother helps in the Lodge. He is a vital pulse to the Lodge. And in my opinion, "The Diamond in The Quarry." We are builders and this man builds everything, from events to the men around him. "Some flex and some lift." This Brother is a powerlifter. No matter how far-fetched my idea or the ideas of others are, he will encourage you to go for it. But I have learned it cannot be half-hearted. It has to be all in. If you want education, he will ask, "What have you set up? What speakers or topics do you have in place?" If you want events, he will chip away at your thoughts then give you some of his own. Helping you build on your ideas.

It's men like this that challenge you mentally, that the Craft needs. Also, these kinds of men make a Lodge successful. We all have lifters in the Lodge when you fall, they brush you off and instill a sense of pride that makes you keep going. They are the ones who will sit back and watch you succeed and ask for nothing in return. Believe me when I say I've seen this first-hand from this man. 

Men like this, build temples. The men around them and ultimately, humanity is made better. Is this not the work of a Craftsman? Shouldn't we strive to build all around us? In this trying time, Masonry--her teachings and the guidance of these "diamonds" are needed, now more than ever. In the words of a great man, I will close with this: "Diamonds lay dormant, they hide from the profane (undeserving), you must dig for them."

~ML

Michael Laidlaw was raised to the Sublime degree in 2011 and is a plural Member of South Pasadena 290 and Southern California Research Lodge where he is Junior Warden and Pop Culture editor for The Fraternal Review Magazine. He is also serving as Senior Steward for Arcadia 278. Michael is an active council member for Jobs Daughters Bethel 210 Arcadia (where his daughter is serving as Honored Queen) and serves on the Grand Lodge of California Youth Orders Committee. He is a 32° Scottish Rite Mason from the Valley Of Pasadena Orient of California where he has completed all three Master Craftsman Courses. Michael is also a member of San Gabriel Valley Chapter No. 100 RAM, Alhambra Council No. 25 CM, and Foothill Commandery No. 63 KT. He also holds Membership in Cinema Grotto and Order of Eastern Star.

Setting the Bar Low

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Robert H. Johnson

"Congratulations on your first degree!", we tell the candidate. A round of hearty handshakes ensues. By the end of the meeting, the Worshipful Master delivers the line we know he'll give, "Well, Brother...You've just heard us talk for two hours. The floor is yours if you have any thoughts or observations on what you've just experienced." The funny guy sitting in the North yells out, "Keep it under an hour, okay?!"

Alright, wipe all that away...that's just me griping on the same old same old. I was chatting with my Sr. Warden, Spencer the other day and it came up again--setting the bar low from the get go. What does that top paragraph have to do with this short essay? Well, it's what leads up to the next part of the story. The Worshipful Master assigns the new candidate an Intender or a coach to learn his catechism. Let me stop here for a quick moment and address the readers. I know there are jurisdictions that do not have catechisms. The candidate simply waits a month in between degrees. You guys...you're all nuts, and this piece isn't for you. (I would insert an emoji of a face sticking his tongue out here if I could.)

So here we are, the coach comes to the new Entered Apprentice and says, "Here is what you need to memorize. I will work with you, don't worry." Awesome right? Then, in the same breath says, "But if you can't, there's a short form. And if you can't do that, I just need to make sure you understand it."

Whoa, buddy! Put on the breaks. Are we just assuming out of the gate our candidate isn't adept enough to memorize this thing? Isn't this the candidate that ran through the entire dialogue of the latest Marvel installment? Yes there are men who have legitimate issues. Let's not get hung up here.

Something else Spencer and I talked about was when before the man ever even petitions, we say things like, "Yeah, the meetings are once a month, but don't worry if you can't make it." Or one of Spencer's favorites, "Oh, the dues? Yeah don't worry, they're cheap."

Spencer told me, "We want good men right? You might just characterize a “good” man as someone engaged, bright, curious, dependable, and eager to work. In short, someone who values and understands hard work and investment leading to achievement and satisfaction. So why then do we make it a point to tell our new “good” men that in this Masonry thing, there’s really no challenge, no personal investment, and actually we’ll go out of our way to make it as simple and non-committal as possible?"

Spencer continued, "That will really have them knocking down our door, bic pen-filled glossy petition barely dry. If we’re actually honest with ourselves, we know what the proverbial membership riddle is and how to crack it, but we're either too proud to admit we jumped the shark from the initial candidate investigation, or too lethargic to change our practices and attitudes."

What in the world are we doing? Why are we always looking to cut the obligation of being a Freemason to the lowest possible difficulty?

This is my question. Let's start a dialogue. What have you witnessed? Why do we do this? Comment below!

In my opinion, this is done to ensure we don't lose a man. But honestly, when someone tells me how cool something is and then immediately follows it all up with how unimportant showing up is, how cheap it is and how easy it will be...I'm left asking myself, "Who the hell wants that?"

"What we attain too cheap, we esteem too lightly." - Thomas Paine

~RHJ

RWB, Robert Johnson is the Managing Editor of the Midnight Freemasons blog. He is a Freemason out of the 1st N.E. District of Illinois. He currently serves as the Secretary of Spes Novum Lodge No. 1183 UD. He is a Past Master of Waukegan Lodge 78 and a Past District Deputy Grand Master for the 1st N.E. District of Illinois. Brother Johnson currently produces and hosts weekly Podcasts (internet radio programs) Whence Came You? & Masonic Radio Theatrewhich focus on topics relating to Freemasonry. He is also a co-host of The Masonic Roundtable, a Masonic talk show. He is a husband and father of four, works full time in the executive medical industry. He is the co-author of "It's Business Time - Adapting a Corporate Path for Freemasonry" and is currently working on a book of Masonic essays and one on Occult Anatomy to be released soon.

Remembering our Past Masters - Revisited

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

WB Adam Thayer

Last year at this time, I was lucky enough to receive permission to share my lodge’s Past Master’s Remembrance ceremony with you HERE. At the time, I wrote it from the viewpoint of the Master of the lodge, with more of a cold, analytical point of view, so that I could provide you with the script and staging instructions to hold your own ceremony. Now I’m the junior Past Master in my lodge, and would like to discuss the why, instead of the how.

As you read in the linked article, the junior Past Master is responsible for the planning and execution of the Past Master’s Remembrance ceremony. They arrange the dinner, manage the printing and mailing of the invitations, the programs, and present the speech given. This is considered their last official act as Worshipful Master, and to say that a lot is riding on it is an understatement.

Heading into the day of the event, I worked hard (under the direction of our long-suffering Tiler) to get the room set up properly and test the projector to be certain that all of the deceased PM pictures would appear in the proper order. We also arranged to have an Oriental Chair draped at the entrance, to further drive home our reason for being there. Before walking out of the lodge, we cranked the air conditioner to as low as it would go, in the hopes that the room would be cooled off in time for the ceremony. (Author’s note, this is called foreshadowing, don’t forget that we did this)

I mailed the invitations at the end of April, which should have provided plenty of time for them to arrive, however a number of people still haven’t received them as of writing this article. We are experiencing a similar issue with donation requests that are being sent out from one of the foundations that I work with. As an aside, if anyone knows a solution to getting first class mail delivered reliably, please email me at adam@wcypodcast.com and let me know!

Because many people didn’t receive the invite, turnout was significantly lower than expected, especially among the Past Masters. Out of the 31 living Past Masters in our lodge, there were only 7 in attendance (including myself), and attendance rates among the members and the widows was very similar. Very important lesson learned: while mail is good, you can’t put your entire hopes on it arriving. If I could advise future junior Past Masters planning this event, I would tell them to take a multi prong approach, by mailing the invite, then following up via email or phone.

The dinner itself was good, if a bit overpriced by the caterer, and I fear I may have driven our secretary into a minor mental breakdown when he saw the bill. One of the only positives that came from such a low turnout is that we’ve enough leftovers for our business meeting next week, and so one meal was stretched into two. I know, I’m stretching a bit to justify the cost. Very important lesson learned: try not to spring a large surprise bill on the person who will be writing the check.

After dinner, we retired to our lodge room for the ceremony itself, and I have to say that after having been out of the East for so many months it was a bit nerve-wracking being back up there. Even though I had practiced, and checked to make sure that everything would run smoothly, I was still back to being as nervous as I was at my first meeting as Master.

Ten minutes before the start of the ceremony, I returned to the lodge room, and turned the air conditioner off. Our air conditioner is an older system, and in addition to being slow to respond to changes, it is incredibly noisy. It is also incredibly complicated, as it has independent controls in three different rooms, and if they aren’t all set correctly it won’t turn on… or, as the case was last night, turn back off! Even though I was nearly shouting through most of the ceremony, part of the room couldn’t hear a word I said (except, of course, for when I mispronounced a name). Very important lesson learned: no matter how hard you try, some things will always be outside of your control, and you just have to learn to live with that.

The ceremony itself was as beautiful as always, as the original author had a way with words that I can only aspire to. I have been lucky that, through my Masonic journey, I have been forced into public speaking at every turn, and so I was able to actually look at the people gathered there instead of “talking to the podium” as I’ve seen done so often. More importantly, for me, is that I was able to watch as each of the 104 carnations was laid, one for each deceased Past Master, and so able to honor them by remembering them, and in this I learned the most important lesson: never forget the people behind the ceremony. It’s so easy to get caught up in worrying about all of the details that we forget the reason we hold the ceremony to begin with.

After the ceremony it was time for tearing down and cleaning up, presenting carnations to the widows, and thanking the current Worshipful Master for allowing me to have his lodge for the evening. Of course, we also had to go out for pie afterwards (for more information on the importance of pie, see my article HERE), and everyone talked about how great the evening was, but for me nothing will top the honor of getting to honor the 104 men who faithfully served our lodge in life before laying down their working tools and attaining peace at the last.

~AT

WB Adam Thayer is a grumpy-ish past master of Oliver #38 in Seward, NE and Lancaster #54 in Lincoln, NE. He continues to be reappointed to the Grand Lodge of Nebraska Education Committee, as well as being an occasional host on the Whence Came You Podcast. He may be reached directly at adam@wcypodcast.com or summoned by placing a certain number of lapel pins in a special pattern around a petition for an appendant body.

The Sign Said, "Alterations"

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Bill Hosler, PM

The sign on the dry cleaners window said “We do alterations” down the street from the house we rented in our new town. We had several articles of clothing which needed to be cleaned and I had several trousers which needed alterations, so we stopped by the cleaners one evening before they closed to drop off our goods.

As the young lady was checking in the laundry items I mentioned to her I have these several pair of trousers which needed to be altered. “ Oh, we don’t do alterations” the girl replied. Shocked at her statement I pointed at the window behind me and said “But your sign says “we do alterations.” She muttered something to the effect that they used to offer the service but they don’t offer it anymore. This led me to feel angry and to certain extent like they were trying to fool me “False advertising” flashed through my mind.

Since we couldn’t get the service their sign promised we collected our clothing and decided to go somewhere else. I walked out of the shop angry, and let down and to be honest feeling a bit cheated. What I felt was that, the shop lied and engaged in false advertising. Even now a year later when we drive by the establishment I look at and the sign is still in place and I wonder if other people were conned into shopping there by their falsehoods (Since there is no place else within an hours drive that provides this service I’m sure quite a few.)

I’m sure many young men have watched the DaVinci code or National Treasure or read on the web about the cool things Masons do and how our teachings will make a “Good man better” and possibly have subsequently left the Fraternity, feeling the way I did as I exited that shop. You walk into a location expecting to receive the service advertised by the business and walk out disgruntled and confused.

When a young man submits his petition and check for his initiation he expects to receive training and guidance in ways that will make him a better man, husband, father and maybe even a better citizen to the country in which he lives. Even more so, a more tolerant man who will learn to serve the deity in which he believes. Does a secretary reading three meetings worth of minutes, for thirty minutes make him a better man? About the same chance as putting a spatula in his hand and expecting Masonic enlightenment to find him while flipping pancakes will.

Anyone who has ever counted on drawing new and returning customers to their business knows you will never satisfy every customer who walks through your door, but to intentionally or even unintentionally use untrue advertising to drive new business to your location will in many cases bring the opposite effect. It might cost you traffic.

Everyone has heard of “Word of mouth advertising”, which is when each unsatisfied customer will tell his family or friends about his dissatisfaction (Or sometimes with is satisfaction) with your services and his experience could prejudice several people who might walk through your door. Think about how many times you have chosen, or not chosen a restaurant after looking at a businesse' Yelp reviews. So when we as Freemasons place “Making good men better” on all of our recruitment literature we had better be prepared to offer that service or we will continue to see our new new members walk right back out the door whence they came, and will tell their friends and coworkers, "...don’t bother joining."

I guess my point is, if one continues to deliver bad service or engages in misleading advertising to a customer base, eventually you will anger most of your customer base and their experience will prejudice others willingness to give you a try. So when we tell young men we “Take good men and make them better.” and we give them shoddy degree work, baloney sandwiches to eat and luke warm Kool-Aide to wash it down before an evening of minutes and arguing over the price of paper towels for the mens room, it might be hard to explain that these things will make you a better man and these poor men will feel hurt and cheated.

~BH

WB Bill Hosler was made a Master Mason in 2002 in Three Rivers Lodge #733 in Indiana. He served as Worshipful Master in 2007 and became a member of the internet committee for Indiana's Grand Lodge. Bill is currently a member of Roff Lodge No. 169 in Roff Oklahoma and Lebanon Lodge No. 837 in Frisco,Texas. Bill is also a member of the Valley of Fort Wayne Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite in Indiana. A typical active Freemason, Bill also served as the High Priest of Fort Wayne's Chapter of the York Rite No. 19 and was commander of of the Fort Wayne Commandery No. 4 of the Knight Templar. During all this he also served as the webmaster and magazine editor for the Mizpah Shrine in Fort Wayne Indiana.

Blue Lodge First

by Midnight Freemason Guest Contributor

WB Scott S. Dueball

*Editors Note* This piece was first featured on the "Whence Came You?" Podcast and was read by the writer, WB:. Scott S. Dueball. Listen here. 

When it comes to the appendant bodies, I often hear the phrase "Blue Lodge comes first." In fact, before I can develop a well thought-out response to a new Mason inquiring about the appendant bodies, this line comes careening across the room. Every. Time. I am not going to argue with that point as it holds some degree of truth. However, when I hear this phrase, it is used to mean something different. What may sound like "Blue Lodge should always come first", progressively transitions into "Blue Lodge should be the most important thing to you" and completes its evolution as "You shouldn't do anything else if you aren't going to Blue Lodge". That's right, the Scottish Rite steals members. The York Rite steals members. The Shrine steals members. I take exception to this position. The problem is that this thought allows the individual Blue Lodge (or those espousing the aforementioned belief) to expect you to participate without providing you something in return. This belief is propagated in order to require you to come to stated meetings, participate in degrees, and perhaps to learn lengthy lectures. All of which, I admit, are laudable. You are admonished that your duty is to fill whatever needs your Lodge may have. These duties may include sacrificing church to volunteer at pancake breakfasts, sacrificing tucking your children in to perform the "charge" for the evenings degree, or sacrificing most of your Saturday off for additional ritual instruction.

Where this becomes unhealthy is that we, as individual members, lack the same expectation of our Lodges. We do not believe that our Lodges owe us anything in return. We do not expect that the Lodge should be providing us with some fulfillment as well. By saying that the three degrees (and a few pancakes) should provide you with everything you need, we assume that the only thing you could ever need is to watch the same ritual performed in the same way that it has been for over 200 years. That is not fair. You can make the claim that you learn something every time you see the degrees and I would agree with you but remain firm when I ask "That's it?"

It is unfair to Masonry to pit the Blue Lodge against those Brothers who enjoy the appendant bodies. We don't lose active Brothers to the appendant bodies because those Brothers have their priorities wrong. It's quite the opposite, we (the Lodge) have our priorities wrong. The appendant bodies provide opportunities to their members that Blue Lodge do not. The Blue Lodge teaches one set of philosophies and almost never expands on them. You don't become a 33rd, KCCH, KYCH, by exclusively attending Blue Lodge. The appendant bodies also offer occasions to interact outside of your our Lodge. These are likely flaws with the existing model of many Blue Lodges.

I am sure you have all heard this sentiment before but I assure you that it is not a part of every Lodge. Blue lodges with thriving membership don't hold this belief (they certainly do not verbalize it). Thriving lodges provide their membership with reasons to show up and be active. They do not need to guilt their members by suggesting that their first responsibility is to be present. These lodges treat Masonic Philosophy as living, progressing, and ever evolving such that it requires constant discussion within the tyled space. These lodges have a genuine expression of appreciation for those dedicated to the Craft and its teaching. These lodges are never short of diverse interactions among Brothers.

The appendant bodies know that they must provide you with something to justify your participation. Your time and your priorities belong to you. How you choose to spend time away from home and family is completely your decision. Sacrificing time away from your non-Masonic life should be worthwhile. If you are giving up time with your spouse and kids, you have every right to expect to get something out of it. I admit that I am a member of my Lodge because I wanted to be Worshipful Master. There is truly no more or less to it than that. This period has been extremely fulfilling. A time where I will no longer receive the fulfillment of being Master is on the horizon and I will be in search for new fulfillment. I constantly wonder if I will I find it in my lodge or someplace else.

To suggest that our lack of participation is anyone else's fault but our own is myopic. It appeals to our own insecurities but it is far from true. Craft lodges and appendant bodies should both seek to prioritize the fulfillment of their members. When we use guilt to force members to stay active rather than giving them what they are seeking, we do the Gentle Craft a disservice. My wife and I are expecting a baby girl in August; is the chance to deliver a lecture I have heard a hundred times worth time away from her? Will running a Facebook/Eventbrite/Wordpress campaign be worth diverting focus and energy away from her and my wife? There are Masonic organizations that make these trade-offs worthwhile. It's a matter of who can deliver them and, quite honestly, no amount of reminding me that 'Blue Lodge comes first' will factor into that decision process.

~SSD

WB Scott Dueball is the Worshipful Master of D.C. Cregier Lodge No. 81 in Wheeling, IL and holds a dual membership in Denver Lodge No. 5 in Denver, CO. He currently serves the Grand Lodge of Illinois on the Leadership Development Committee and as the 2nd Northeast District Education Officer. Scott is also a member of the Palatine York Rite bodies, E.M. Lambert Council A.M.D. and the Valley of Chicago A.A.S.R. - N.M.J. He is passionate about the development of young masons, strategy and visioning for Lodges. He can be reached at scott@wheelingfreemasons.org ​