I recently enjoyed a visit to a great little town called Ashville, North Carolina. During this visit, I was reminded as to why I joined Masonry. The trip was to do a presentation on the Cup of Brotherly Love to an audience who has seen it for the first time. A lot of hard work was put in on the part of the Mt. Hermon Lodge to make this event happen.
Just before the trip, our host mentioned that he had no idea what his turn out would be like, there were a lot of other Masonic events going on in the local area during the same weekend. In Chicago that translates to, we may get one or two people show up if we are lucky.
On a bad day, they managed to get about 25 people show up, who were genuinely interested in the history of the Cup and the message it presents. We then ventured out to a second Lodge that was having a Lodge fund raising dinner and their turn out was great! There must have been 50 to 75 Brothers, Family and Friends in attendance. We gave them a condensed version of the presentation in the form of a short Q & A session and photo ops.
I was impressed with the dedication these men have to their Lodges and their Temples. You can see the pride they have of their accomplishments and what their Lodges has to offer. I really felt like Masonry was truly being worked there as you can see the dedication to the craft hard at work.
H.L. Haywood wrote in his book Symbolic Freemasonry, “ Unless a man is willing to work, to endure hardships, and to make sacrifices, he should stay outside of the Order; his name and his dues are valueless if they are not accompanied by his willingness ever to serve as a loyal son of Freemasonry.”
You can see this particular quote in action with the Brethren I met at that Lodge and you can see that same value in many Brothers I know in the Lodges I visit in the Chicago area. It is what I read about and see how Masonry was in the years past.
I know that life is usually the deciding factor on where and how men spend their times. We have precious few hours in our days in the 21st century to dedicate to anything. We work, we have family, church, other social outlets, etc. How do we take our obligation to the 24 inch rule to heart when those 24 hours have so many competing responsibilities? 8 hours to rest and recreation, 8 hours to our vocation and 8 hours to our craft. Considering that most people need their 8 hours of sleep, in my case, 6 is fine. That doesn’t leave much for anything else. Family and Friends need time too!
I don’t believe that dedicating 8 hours in the day to our craft is what that means. We practice our craft 24 hours a day, in how we interact with others, how we make decisions in our family and vocation. Much of what we do can be considered recreational as well. We have the time to dedicate to our craft, but it is camouflaged as parts and pieces of everything else we do in our daily lives. But there also need to be that dedication to keeping the craft alive, by participating in events, taking in that Masonic education, to understand why we are involved in Masonry. By Participating in events, other Brothers, Apprentices and Fellowcraft see that we have a vibrant and enthusiastic community and they feel that fraternity. It motivates them to seek out that Masonic Education, it motivates them to attend fun and interesting events. It promotes our craft and keeps it alive. Dedication and attendance keeps those that take the time and make the effort to set up and put on those event to keep doing it and to make better and more exciting events, to raise funds for the Lodges, temples and Charities.
“To Endure Hardships and to Make Sacrifices” is what Haywood says, and that is important. Sometimes as Brothers, we need to attend functions we may not necessarily be interested, for the good of the Fraternity. We shouldn’t just attend the fun stuff. You may not be interested in Masonic education or Rod and Floor Work, but according to Harwood, one must make that sacrifice and endure that hardship for the good of the fraternity. That knowledge you gain may allow you to keep your obligation to pass on our craft to the younger and newer generations. You may not like fellowship nights, but making an appearance shows others that we truly have a vibrant and enthusiastic community. Even if your appearance is for just a short while, it adds value to your lodge membership and allows you to serve the craft.
Personally, I just don’t have the time to memorize stuff, but I have to, so I do. I do without that episode of House on TV or I go to bed an hour later to fit in a little study time. Maybe even study a little while I am on the Metra. I sacrifice a little time to do something I don’t really like to do, but know I have to, for the good of my Lodge.
I feel H.L. Haywood’s words are very meaningful and truly outline a quality that is necessary in all brothers to add value to our Lodges and ensure the continuation and success of our Craft.
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