           WOLFIE AND HIRAM
           ...AND THE
           DISTRESSED WIDOW

            by Ellion A. Saron

Hiram and Marian were having their
dinner. Wolfie, too, was eating dinner,
when Marian asked Hiram if he would
be going to his Lodge meeting that
night.

Hiram answered that he expected it
to be "one of those boring business
meetings with all those boring, verbose
reports." Marian said, "Come on...if
you go to the meeting, you'll enjoy being
with your friends." At that time, Wolfie
jumped up and started wagging his tail.
He liked the idea of attending "his"
Lodge.

So into the car and off they went.
When they arrived, some of the Breth-
ren were finishing their pre-meeting
dinner downstairs, while others had
eaten at home and were also arriving.
As Hiram went around shaking hands
with his Brethren, Wolfie also went
around so everyone could pet him. The
Tyler gave a loud rap with the door
knocker; Solomon sounded the gavel;
and the Lodge began to Open.

Well, Hiram proved right on this one.
The meeting was dreadfully boringl The
Treasurer rose and droned on and on
with his report on the Lodge's finances.
Then the budget committee chairman
rose and droned on and on about the
Lodge's expenditures. And then a cou-
ple of members started making selfishly
trivial announcements about where they
went bowling or where they had gone on
vacation. Wolfie was so bored that he
lay down and fell asleep. That wasn't as
bad as the three other Brethren who not
only fell asleep but began snoring ou~
loud. Then the Secretary stood up and
said, "Worshipful Master, I'm now go-
ing to read parts of that letter I discuss-
ed with you and our Senior Past Master
Ed before the meeting."

Solomon banged the gavel very loudly
and admonished the Brethren to pay
strict attention because this was a very
important matter. The letter was from a
Brother's widow. To respect her priva-
cy, the Secretary did not mention her
name, but he did read the highlights of
her letter. She was asking the Lodge for
help in the form of financial assistance.
Her husband had been a hard-working,
honest man, but had never really
become wealthy. Meanwhile, her health
had not been all that good and she had
incurred substantial medical expenses,
some of which were not covered by in-
surance. Also, her food, clothing and
taxes on her house had become more
costly, thus depleting her life savings
and that of her late husband. She added
that her children had moved far away
and she seldom heard from them, ex-
cept for Christmas and Mother's Day
cards.

When the Secretary finished reading
the letter, a Senior Past Master, Bill,
stood up and said, "Worshipful Master,
I suggest that you appoint a committee
to look into this right away."

The Master said that he had already
spoken to another Senior Past Master,
Ed, and had asked him to serve as
Chairman, since Ed and his wife Ann
were at one time friendly with the
widow and her late husband. He also
stated that he himself would serve on
the committee and asked Hiram if he
would be willing to serve on that com-
mittee too. Hiram replied, "Worshipful
Master, I am honored and shall be de-
lighted to serve." Solomon thanked him
as Wolfie got up and wagged his tail.
The Senior Past Master told Solomon
and Hiram that he would telephone the
widow, set up a meeting and notify
them. After business was concluded,
Solomon Closed the Lodge and the
Brethren returned to their homes.

A few days later, Ed, the Senior Past
Master, telephoned Hiram, advising
him of the time and date of the meeting
he had arranged with the widow. Hiram
told him that date was all right with
him. When the night came, Hiram who
had taken Wolfie to a number of Ma-
sonic meetings felt that, since this Work
was as important as Ritual Work, he
could also take Wolfie.

They drove into a nice, but not lux-
urious, neighborhood. None of the
houses were particularly fancy, nor did
they have such acoutrements as swim-
ming pools or tennis courts, but the
neighborhood consisted of mostly hard-
working, clean and honest people.

On arriving at the widow's home,
Hiram noticed that it could use some
maintenance and repair, although it
appeared to be clean and neatly kept.
He and Wolfie got out of the car and
rang the front door bell. The widow
opened the door, and it turned out to be
Helen, George's widow. Helen said that
she thought Wolfie was very cute but
was surprised that the Masons would
bring a dog to a meeting such as this.
Hiram apologized and explained that
Wolfie had been to Lodge many times
already. Helen then added that all she
thought the Masons did at meetings was
"the secret rituals." She invited Hiram
and Wolfie to sit down in the kitchen
where Solomon and Ed were already sit-
ting. She offered the Masons some cof-
fee and cookies she had baked that day.
She offered Wolfie a cookie too and
found she had a willing "customer."
Wolfie jumped up and gave her a great
big kiss.

The widow's tale was a sad one. She
told the Masons what income she had,
what assets she had, what she owed and
to whom, what medical expenses she
was facing, and then started crying.
The Masons immediately reassured her
that they had indeed come to help her,
that it was their solemn obligation to
assist distressed widows, and that she
need go no further in disclosing bills, in-
come statements and the like. Ed told
Helen that he and George had been
friends for many years. He said George
had helped him out when he was
distressed.

Wolfie jumped on Helen's lap and
gave her a big kiss, and she began to
hug Wolfie and pull herself together.
Solomon, Ed and Hiram sat quietly,
whispering to each other to estimate
what Helen's needs were and what they
thought the Lodge could and should do.
They told her, and she said she would
be very grateful.

Solomon answered that we as Masons
deem it a privilege to be able to stretch
forth a hand to support a falling Broth-
er or his widow. He then pointed out
that he, as Master, was authorized to
issue assistance checks up to a stipulated
amount. Helen said that she really
didn't need all that much right away.

Solomon then said, "You know, we're
all going to a big dinner-dance next
week that the Lodge is sponsoring.
Helen, why don't you come along as our
guest?"

Helen was taken aback. Ed then sug-
gested, "Why not take the entire sum
we've just offered you and go out and
buy a new dress and go to the beauty
parlor." She was still taken aback and
blurted out that she was afraid to go out
at night.

"That's no problem at all," Hiram
chimed in. "Marian and I will be de-
lighted to give you a ride."

So Helen agreed. Ed advised her that
they would make a full report to the
Lodge, and if the Lodge authorized the
assistance plan, they could get additio-
nal assistance for her from the Grand
Lodge. She thanked the committee and
they left and went to their homes.

The date of the next Stated meeting
of the Lodge arrived. The Principal
work on the Trestle Board was the Initi-
ation of three young men--a teacher,
an accountant, and a businessman--all
successful and respected in their profes-
sions and community.

Wolfie was anxious to go to this meet-
ing, because he, too, appreciated good
Ritual Work. The Officers had worked
very hard and rehearsed their Work
under the watchful eye of Bill, a Senior
Past-Master. The meeting was Opened
by Solomon and started moving along.
No one was bored this time and no one
was sleeping, let alone snoring.

As Solomon was about to confer the
Degree, Ed stood up and said, "Wor-
shipful Master, with your permission T
would like to raise the issue of the report
our committee is rendering on assis-
tance to the widow."

Solomon rapped the Gavel and said,
"I want that report presented after we
Confer the Degree while the newly Initi-
ated Entered Apprentices are sitting in
the Lodge with us." A couple of side-
line Brothers shouted out, "You're
right, Worshipful Master."

The Degree was Conferred beautiful-
ly. The officers were letter-perfect in
their Work. The newly Initiated En-
tered Apprentices were then asked to sit
down and observe what was about to
happen, so they could see that the
Lodge puts into practice what it teaches
in its Ritual Work.

Solomon recognized Ed, who rose,
gave the Lodge a complete picture of
the widow's problems and outlined what
the Lodge needed to do for her. Solo-
mon asked if any of the Brethren had
any questions.

The Senior Deacon stood up, was
recognized by Solomon, and said,
"Worshipful Master, I move that this
report be accepted in full and that the
Lodge authorize the recommended ex-
penditures." The Junior Deacon second-
ed the motion. Solomon then asked for
any further discussion, and hearing
none, said, "All those in favor of the
motion to accept the report and adopt
its recommendations, signify by giving
the sign of a Mason." Not only did each
and every Brother's hand go up, but
Wolfie stood on his hind legs to make
sure his vote counted too. Solomon said
"Against?" There were no objections.
Solomon said, "Motion carried," and
banged the Gavel, thus concluding that
portion of the Lodge's business. The
Lodge then Closed, the Brethren ad-
journed for the collation and went
home.

Two weeks later, at the big dinner-
dance, Hiram and Marian walked in
with Helen. She had indeed gone out,
bought the new dress, had her hair
done, and was "all gussied up." She
started warming up to many people she
hadn't seen since George died, and they
were all very glad to see her. The young-
er members came over to her respectful-
ly, introduced themselves and their
wives, and chatted with her. She cer-
tainly didn't look like the fearful, dis-
tressed widow the committee had visited
only two weeks before. Everyone had a
good time, particularly the widow.

And so did Wolfie. He stayed home.
You see, earlier that day, Marian had
gone shopping at Arthur's Butcher Shop.
Arthur was also a member of the Lodge
who provided excellent chopped meat,
at a discount price, for the hamburgers
served at the collation. He asked Marian
how Wolfie was doing, because he knew
Wolfie from the meetings.

When Marian answered, "He's out
with Hiram; where else would he be7"

Arthur threw in a few meaty bones with
Marian's order. When Wolfie started
looking sad as she and Hiram prepared
to leave the house to pick up Helen,
Marian took a great big meaty bone out
of the refrigerator, popped it into the
microwave for a moment, and gave it to
Wolfie. Being a gourmet, Wolfie is of
the considered opinion that meaty
bones from Arthur's Butcher Shop are
far tastier than the food served at the
catering hall!
