The Historic Meeting Of The Rites: Putting The Focus Back On Our Members

by Midnight Freemasons Founder

Todd E. Creason, 33°

Left to right: Executive Director of the Scottish Rite Valley of Danville (IL) William J. Hussey, Jr. 33° and Excellent High Priest of Admiration Chapter No. 282 Todd E. Creason talk prior to the historic "Meeting of the Rites" event at the Homer Masonic Temple (IL).  Photo by Midnight Freemasons Senior Contributor Gregory J. Knott

We had a very special meeting at Admiration Chapter No. 282 recently.  We held a joint table lodge with the Scottish Rite Valley of Danville—first time I ever recalling anything like that being done.  We called it “The Meeting of the Rites.”  The York Rite and the Scottish Rite got together, and we had a fine meal (pizza) and then a long discussion about servant leadership.  The discussion brought up a lot of ways that Freemasonry could do a better job at serving our members, and it got many of the participants thinking about Freemasonry in a very different way.

  

But one of the things that one of our Admiration Chapter members said stuck with me, and it was a little off the topic. It was about values. What he said was that before he became a Mason, he often felt very much alone in the world. He felt that way because he didn’t feel as if anybody shared his values anymore. He listed a few. Honesty. Integrity. Honor. Civility. Respect. Of course, he found he wasn’t alone after all. Freemasons strive to improve themselves in those values (and many more).

After the meeting, I spent a long time thinking about that meeting, and what that Mason said. I’ve written about this before, but I’m going to ask it again. Do we really do a good job teaching these values to our members? Other than the lessons learned in the first three degrees, and for some the York Rite and/or Scottish Rite Degrees—do we really teach these morals and ethics? I’d say in many places we don’t. We talked about how Masons stand for these values, but we don’t explain how to apply them. We learn some of these concepts by the examples set by our Masonic mentors, but we don’t sit down and discuss what it means to live by a higher standard than those in the profane world around us.

Lots of great ideas came out of a long discussion about servant leadership and related topics.  In the foreground, perhaps you'll recognize the Midnight Freemasons newest Regular Contributor Brian L. Pettice who is both a former Commander in Chief of the Scottish Rite Valley of Danville and an officer of Admiration Chapter No. 282.

But some of that is starting to change—at least in my corner of the world. That’s because that’s the expectation by those members joining our Fraternity today. They want to improve themselves. They desire that knowledge. They didn’t join for the purposes of social interaction—they were driven to our door by a desire for knowledge and self-improvement. They want to live an illuminated life. They want to learn to be an example for others to follow. Are we ready to teach those values? Are we even up to speed on those topics ourselves?

One of the reasons we had this joint table lodge was the get the Rites together and find better ways to serve our membership. Instead of a bottom up approach where the members serve the Lodge, and the Lodge serves the Grand Lodge—a more top down approach. Where the Lodge serves its members. Where our focus is building better men. Both the Scottish Rite Valley of Danville and Admiration Chapter have seen the value of this shift in focus. More enthusiasm. More participation. More membership retention. So we got together around the table over pizza to try and find out ways we could build on the success we've already witnessed.  And as Masonry has known for centuries, the more good men we build, the more good that radiates out of that Lodge into the world around us.  Our meeting didn't change the world, but we certainly came up with some ideas about how we could continue to change our little piece of it.

In its most basic form, servant leadership is about finding out what our members need, and then providing it. Oddly enough, what our new members are seeking in most cases is exactly what we’re supposed to be about—those traditional morals, ethics, and values we hold in such high regard as Masons.

So this should be a piece of cake, right?

~TEC

Todd E. Creason, 33° is an award winning author of several books and novels, including the Famous American Freemasons series.  He is the author of the the From Labor To Refreshment blog.  He is a Past Master of Homer Lodge No. 199 and Ogden Lodge No. 754 (IL) where he currently serves as Secretary.  He is a a Past Sovereign Master of the Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees.  He is a Fellow at the Missouri Lodge of Research (FMLR).  He is a charter member of the a new Illinois Royal Arch Chapter, Admiration Chapter No. 282 and currently serves as EHP.  He serves the Grand Lodge of Illinois A.F.&A.M. as the Eastern Area Education Officer.  You can contact him at: webmaster@toddcreason.org

Past Master

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

R.W.B. Michael H. Shirley

Last week the Master of my lodge, Worshipful Brother Dave McCrory, texted me to ask when he could come by. He wanted to make sure he had a chance to say goodbye before I left town for good. We settled on the following Thursday. This evening the doorbell rang, as expected, but it wasn’t just Dave who was at the door. Several other Brothers were there with him to present me with a Past Master’s apron. It was both unexpected and humbling. We chatted a bit about my plans, and then they took their leave. And so I was left to contemplate the past ten years, represented in that wonderful gesture and welcome gift.

Being Master of a lodge is a great responsibility. During my tenure, I learned to run meetings, to deal with our Grand Lodge, to confer degrees, and generally how to set an example to my newer Brethren. I had a wonderful time, and then, too soon, it was over. I was a Past Master, with the title “Worshipful Brother” in perpetuity, but with no power at all. And that’s as it should be. Masonry requires humility, and being a Past Master requires it even more. Humility—right-sizedness—for a Past Master requires not saying, “I didn’t do it that way,” or, “that’s the wrong way to handle things.” It requires silence when not asked for advice and prudence when given the chance to contribute. Wearing a Past Master’s apron is not an exercise in ego: it is a reminder that all things pass, that Masonry is eternal, and that every award given is an honor, not one’s just due. I’m truly grateful to my Brethren for their gift, and not just because I won’t have to search out the aprons with the long strings when I go to a lodge meeting. They’ve given me something that will remind me, whenever I put it on, that the chance to serve my lodge and my Craft are blessings. It is the internal and not the external qualifications of a man that recommend him to be a Mason, and that doesn’t change with fancy aprons or titles. My new apron is a continued admonishment to me to act as a Past Master should: with humility, reverence, and fraternity.

~MHS

R.W.B. Michael H. Shirley serves the Grand Lodge of Illinois, A.F. & A.M, as Leadership Development Chairman and Assistant Area Deputy Grand Master of the Eastern Area. A Certified Lodge Instructor, he is a Past Master and Life Member of Tuscola Lodge No. 332 and a plural member of Island City Lodge No. 330, F & AM, in Minocqua, Wisconsin. He is Past Most Wise Master of the George E. Burow Chapter of Rose Croix in the Valley of Danville, IL; he is also a member of the Illinois Lodge of Research, the York Rite, Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees, Eastern Star, Illini High Twelve, and the Tall Cedars of Lebanon. The author of several article on British and American history, he teaches at Eastern Illinois University.You can contact him at: m.h.shirley@gmail.com

Have Faith

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

RWB Michael H. Shirley

"My observation is that whenever one person is found adequate to the discharge of a duty, it is worse executed by two persons, and scarcely done at all if three or more are employed therein." –George Washington.

"Keep it simple" is a guide that rarely leads us astray, and it is a simple truth that "let George do it" is a temptation that grows as responsibility decreases. George Washington trusted others to do their best, and gave them the chance to prove their worth. Worshipful Masters well advised to follow this example. Show faith in those you lead and give them a task that will stretch them. They will almost always prove themselves adequate to its discharge. 

~MHS

R.W.B. Michael H. Shirley serves the Grand Lodge of Illinois, A.F. & A.M, as Leadership Development Chairman and Assistant Area Deputy Grand Master of the Eastern Area. A Certified Lodge Instructor, he is a Past Master and Life Member of Tuscola Lodge No. 332 and a plural member of Island City Lodge No. 330, F & AM, in Minocqua, Wisconsin. He is Past Most Wise Master of the George E. Burow Chapter of Rose Croix in the Valley of Danville, IL; he is also a member of the Illinois Lodge of Research, the York Rite, Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees, Eastern Star, Illini High Twelve, and the Tall Cedars of Lebanon.The author of several article on British and American history, he teaches at Eastern Illinois University.You can contact him at: m.h.shirley@gmail.com

Leadership is Not a Transaction

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

RWB Michael H Shirley

“Charity sees the need, not the cause.” –German proverb

“Transactional Leadership” is a phrase to describe a rewards and punishments system of management. It is a perfectly valid form of management, but it is not leadership, and ought not be called that. We can hope that others will improve, but if we help them with the understanding that they will do something in return we are engaged in a transaction: we are giving nothing. A gift has no strings attached; when we expect something in return, we are thinking only of ourselves. If we would lead, we must give of ourselves, and set the example we hope others will imitate. Leadership is not a transaction.

~MHS

R.W.B. Michael H. Shirley serves the Grand Lodge of Illinois, A.F. & A.M, as Leadership Development Chairman and Assistant Area Deputy Grand Master of the Eastern Area. A Certified Lodge Instructor, he is a Past Master and Life Member of Tuscola Lodge No. 332 and a plural member of Island City Lodge No. 330, F & AM, in Minocqua, Wisconsin. He is Past Most Wise Master of the George E. Burow Chapter of Rose Croix in the Valley of Danville, IL; he is also a member of the Illinois Lodge of Research, the York Rite, Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees, Eastern Star, Illini High Twelve, and the Tall Cedars of Lebanon.The author of several article on British and American history, he teaches at Eastern Illinois University.You can contact him at: m.h.shirley@gmail.com

Liking Each Other

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

RWB Michael H. Shirley

I’ve been going to the Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of Illinois every year since I was raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason. It’s been a different experience every time, with new experiences on top of old ones, new friendships made and old friendships renewed, conversations both sublime and mundane, and always a sense of belonging. 

Sometimes my wife, Debra, accompanies me. It’s the only time aside from weddings we both get to dress well, eat well, and have adult conversations in elegant surroundings. The Grand Communication is held in Springfield, our state capital, which is home to the Abraham Lincoln home, the Old State Capital, and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, so there’s a lot for her to do if she chooses when the weird guys in aprons are meeting for various essential and non-essential purposes. 

We went there together for the first time in 2010, had fun with friends at the various banquets, hospitality rooms, and hotel lobbies, and generally enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. After the weekend was over, we were heading home, and I asked her what she thought. Without hesitating, she said, “I like how you guys like each other so much.”

And that really sums up a lot of what I love about the Craft. There’s a reason the first tenet of a Mason’s profession is Brotherly Love. Without that, nothing else matters. Masonry removes the barrier of mistrust that seems to exist in the profane world and that causes others to remain at a perpetual distance from one another. My closest friends in this world are almost all Masons, and it’s not just because they are likeable guys; it’s because they go out of their way to like other people. Deb saw it right away, and if there’s one thing that keeps her patient with me as I spend yet another evening at a Masonic event, it’s the precious gift of Brotherly Love I’ve found in Freemasonry. I find it in the stated meetings at my home lodge and I find it in the Annual Communication of my Grand Lodge. And so I’ll keep going back, year after year, because it renews both my love of the Craft and my connection to my Brethren. With any luck, Deb will come too.

~RWB

R.W.B. Michael H. Shirley serves the Grand Lodge of Illinois, A.F. & A.M, as Leadership Development Chairman and Assistant Area Deputy Grand Master of the Eastern Area. A Certified Lodge Instructor, he is a Past Master and Life Member of Tuscola Lodge No. 332 and a plural member of Island City Lodge No. 330, F & AM, in Minocqua, Wisconsin. He is Past Most Wise Master of the George E. Burow Chapter of Rose Croix in the Valley of Danville, IL; he is also a member of the Illinois Lodge of Research, the York Rite, Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees, Eastern Star, Illini High Twelve, and the Tall Cedars of Lebanon.The author of several article on British and American history, he teaches at Eastern Illinois University.You can contact him at: m.h.shirley@gmail.com

50 Years at Grand Lodge

By Midnight Freemason Contributor

RWB Michael H. Shirley

One of the benefits of paging through old copies of the Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Illinois is running across remarkable moments. In the 1927 edition of the Proceedings, reporting on the eighty-eighth annual meeting, the Grand Secretary announced that Brother Owen Scott was attending his fiftieth consecutive Grand Communication, an announcement, it was recorded, that “was received with great applause.” Nothing more was recorded, which is odd, since Brother Owen Scott was the Grand Secretary, and was also a Past Grand Master.

Owen Scott was born on July 6, 1848, on a farm in Effingham County, Illinois, and remained a central Illinois resident for the rest of his life. A teacher, attorney, and newspaperman, he served as superintendent of schools for Effingham County from 1873 to 1881, published the Effingham Democrat, and served as Mayor of Effingham in 1882, and City Attorney in 1883 and 1884. After moving to Bloomington, Illinois, in 1884, he continued in the newspaper trade, publishing the Bloomington Daily and Weekly Bulletins. Elected to Congress in 1890, he served one term, and in 1899 moved to Decatur, Illinois, where he managed the Decatur Herald, before going into the insurance business in 1904, from which he retired in 1921.

His Masonic career was equally peripatetic and even more distinguished. He was initiated on December 17, 1870, passed on January 21, 1871, and raised on February 28, 1871, at Watson Lodge No. 602, in Watson, Illinois. He affiliated by demit to Effingham Lodge No. 149 in 1873, then by demit to Wade Barney Lodge no. 512 in 1885, and then by demit to Macon Lodge No. 8, in Decatur, in 1903; he remained a member of Macon No. 8 for the rest of his life. He was elected Junior Grand Warden in 1889, and Grand Master in 1895.  After his time in the Grand East, he continued to serve the Grand Lodge on several committees, before being elected Grand Secretary in 1921. He died in office on December 21, 1928, having attended fifty-one consecutive Grand Communications.

Which brings us back to his announcement in 1927. Becoming a Grand Officer of any kind is a remarkable achievement, and to be both Grand Master and Grand Secretary is truly notable, but Brother Owen Scott thought it important to announce his fifty years at Grand Lodge, as if it were more worthy of special mention than his other accomplishments. And perhaps it was. His fidelity to his trust, his constancy, and his willingness to serve were all inherent in his traveling year after year to Chicago in service the Fraternity. And he was not—is not—alone. Perhaps he was more distinguished than most Brethren who continue to serve Freemasonry, and perhaps he was fortunate in being able to attend without fail, but there have been and still are other Brethren who make the trek year after year, serving Freemasonry with their time and fidelity. Like Most Worshipful Brother Owen Scott, they are worthy of admiration and emulation, not just for their work, but for their constancy. They are the Masons who continue to show up to degrees, to work the pancake breakfasts, to help with roadside cleanup, who attend schools of instruction, and who cycle through the chairs over a long Masonic life. They’re the ones who can be counted on. Like Brother Owen Scott, they serve. Like him, they deserve our thanks. 

~MHS

R.W.B. Michael H. Shirley serves the Grand Lodge of Illinois, A.F. & A.M, as Leadership Development Chairman and Assistant Area Deputy Grand Master of the Eastern Area. A Certified Lodge Instructor, he is a Past Master and Life Member of Tuscola Lodge No. 332 and a plural member of Island City Lodge No. 330, F & AM, in Minocqua, Wisconsin. A Scottish Rite Mason, he is past Most Wise Master of the George E. Burow Chapter of Rose Croix in the Valley of Danville, AASR-NMJ; he is also a member of the Illinois Lodge of Research, the York Rite, Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees, Eastern Star, Illini High Twelve, and the Tall Cedars of Lebanon.The author of several articles on British history, he teaches at Eastern Illinois University.You can contact him at: m.h.shirley@gmail.com

September 11

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

RWB Michael H. Shirley

“[T]o love is better than to hate, and Forgiveness is wiser than Revenge or Punishment.” –Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma, 859.

Like everyone else I know, I remember exactly where I was when I heard about the World Trade Center attack. I was teaching an early class that morning, and was in mid lecture when the planes hit. When class ended, I started to walk down the hall and was waylaid by students who wanted to know if I’d heard. In bits and pieces, we found out that it was a deliberate act, then that one tower had fallen, and then another. Then came the news that the Pentagon had been hit. I was standing there, trying to comprehend it all, when one of my students said, “Dr. Shirley, what does it mean?” “It means we’re at war,” I said, with no real thought beyond that simple statement. As more information came out over the next several days, it became clear that things had changed beyond recovery. I did what so many others did: stayed glued to the television, tried to buy an American flag from stores that couldn’t keep them in stock, thought about what I could do to serve my country. But I kept coming back to the realization that these terrorists had killed innocents, including children, because they believed their cause was more important than people made in the image of God. And I had a choice: to hate them or not. 

I wasn’t a Mason then; I didn’t petition my Lodge until 2006. But my time in Masonry has taught me that hate is never the answer to any question worth asking. If I am committed to Masonry, love has to be my only response to everything, both large and small, because if I hate, I become what I hate. I have to see the fundamental humanity, the image of God, in everyone I encounter. Otherwise, I’m not practicing Masonry to the best of my ability.

My sister, an Episcopal priest and Air Force Chaplain, has said that she has to recognize that everyone is equally deserving of God’s love, which is to say, not at all, so acting high and mighty has no place in the world. My mother says regularly that the hardest word to accept in the Lord’s Prayer is “Our.” We all want to be special, but we can only do that if we reject what makes us human. We all need to meet on the level and acknowledge one another as fully human, undeserving of the gifts we’ve received, and just love one another.

So now I pray that I will be enabled to act as if all people are my Brothers and Sisters. For the simple truth is, they are. I don’t have to like them, and if they mean harm to others, I certainly have to stop them, but I can’t hate them without losing the best part of myself. Love, I would argue, is the answer to every question, both in Masonry and in the profane world. Every day, I am presented with the choice of whether to act with love or not. Every day, I can choose to hate, to be indifferent, or to love. I don’t always choose well, but I find that if I pay attention to Masonry’s teachings, I make the right choice more often than not. 

 
Fourteen years ago I chose, briefly, to hate. It was nearly impossible not to do so. But hate kills the hater, and I could not continue. Since 2006 I have cast my lot with Freemasonry, and have been grateful for its work in my life every day since. Lord knows, I don’t always choose well, but I’ve found that if I remember that Love drives away darkness, I don’t make that darkness my home. I’ve found that I prefer a well-lit room. And so I pray for light for everyone, especially for those who have shut it out of their lives and have chosen to live in darkness. I pray—today of all days—to let the Light of Love illumine our world.

~MHS

R.W.B. Michael H. Shirley serves the Grand Lodge of Illinois, A.F. & A.M, as Leadership Development Chairman and Assistant Area Deputy Grand Master of the Eastern Area. A Certified Lodge Instructor, he is a Past Master and Life Member of Tuscola Lodge No. 332 and a plural member of Island City Lodge No. 330, F & AM, in Minocqua, Wisconsin. A Scottish Rite Mason, he is past Most Wise Master of the George E. Burow Chapter of Rose Croix in the Valley of Danville, AASR-NMJ; he is also a member of the Illinois Lodge of Research, the York Rite, Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees, Eastern Star, Illini High Twelve, and the Tall Cedars of Lebanon.The author of several articles on British history, he teaches at Eastern Illinois University.You can contact him at: m.h.shirley@gmail.com