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WHY Did You Leave the West?
By W. Richard C. Freidman  MPS

I would like every brother reading this
article to answer this question: Why did
you leave the West and travel East? The
answer is obvious, but I wonder how
many of our Brethren ever give that par-
ticular piece of our ritual any thought.
Our distinguished brethren who wrote
the ritual placed the idea of searching for
light, more light, and further light in all
three degrees. In fact, the Senior Deacon
must proclaim his involvement in this
search before he is permitted to allow the
candidate or Brother to approach the
East for his obligation.

In the third degree much of the action
of the Hiramic legend centers on the act
of searching. The ruffians search for the
secret word of Master Mason. Hiram
Abiff searches for a way out of the
Temple. Hiram then searches for the an-
swer to one of the most profound ques-
tions a man can be faced with; your
integrity or your life? The Craftsmen
search for Hiram Abiff, and for the ruffi-
ans. While Hiram's jewel is found, he is
lost forever to the Craft. Finally, Solomon
searches for a substitute for that which is
lost unless the wisdom of future genera-
tions can discover and bring to light the
true word.

Why belabor the point about search-
ing? My brothers, we are now in the
position of searching for answers to allow
our Craft to survive into the 21st Cen-
tury. We ARE the future generations
looking for the keys to Masonry's sur-
vival and growth.

What Has Been Lost?

We, in Freemasonry, have lost much of
our emphasis on:

 our philosophy

 our symbolism

 our history

 our focus on Masonry as a way
of life

 our interest in why it is impor-
tant to render good ritual

 our fun and fraternal pleasure
versus business

 direct community service which
involves physical participation

 innovation and individual initia-
  tive.

 a cogent plan for gaining and
then TRAINING new members

 more importantly, our focus on
the positive rather than the nega-
tive.

It is tragic that many of us have forgot-
ten why Masonry is special, why it is not
just another men's club or service or-
ganization. We have become so focused
on the minute details of our inner work-
ings that we have lost the concept of what
Freemasonry means to us and can mean
to the world.

There is no other fraternal organiza-
tion which has so much to offer to the
individual man or to the world as does
Freemasonry. Why then does the recent
survey in the Northern Light Magazine
predict that we will lose half our mem-
bership by the year 2000 and lose half
again by 2010? Even more frightening
why do almost 6 out of 10 Masons believe
that they receive all the benefits of
Freemasonry WITHOUT having to at-
tend Lodge?

Let us begin our search for that which
is lost.

Philosophy and Ritual

Our Masonic philosophy is well stated
in the Old Charges of a Mason written by
Dr. James Anderson for the first Grand
Lodge of England in 1723 . These
charges were based on the ancient man-
uscripts of Masons, including the Regius
manuscript dating back to 1390. Within
these soaring charges you can discover
the power and wisdom which underlines
Freemasonry.

What incredible ideas! Centering a
Fraternity around the belief in God and
the hope of immortality, the equality of
man, no racial or religious prejudice, no
backbiting, no lawsuits of any kind, (par-
ticularly not for money damages), ad-
vancement in the Craft by merit versus
seniority, the need for the CRAFT TO
PLAY TOGETHER in order to stay to-
gether, mutual support, dependence,
and charity to those who need it.

How many of us have read the Old
Charges or had any emphasis placed on
understanding the philosophical impli-
cations therein contained during their
education as Masons?

The philosophy of Masonry is im-
parted to our Brethren in this day and
age through the vehicle of the Ritual. Yet
little or no emphasis is placed on what the
ritual means, only on getting it "right. "
To us, it appears that it is more important
to focus on whether a Brother says "on"
instead of " upon" rather than to take the
time to think about what we are saying.

The opening of Lodge is not just in-
tended as a test for the officers and Past
Masters but was written as a vehicle to
transport you out of your mundane
troubles and put you in the proper frame
of mind to practice your Masonry. How
often do we hear Senior Wardens, for
example, rush through the words of their
duties? Can we really listen to them?
"Pay the Craft their wages if any be due
that none may go away dissatisfied, har-
mony being the support of all institutions
especially this of ours. "

There is so much beauty in our ritual.
For example: "Peace, that here on the
broad platform of brotherly love, the
high, the low, the rich, the poor, may
meet together with one common pur-
pose, the perpetuation of each other's
friendship and each others love. "

Too often our new Brothers resent the
ritual because of the attitude our
Brothers take. New Brothers must know
it word for word, yet its meaning does
not seem to matter. Many Brothers
doing the work seem bored with it, or are
not proficient, and the meaning is lost.
Those who are proficient often rattle
through the work as quickly as possible.
Questions about the meaning of the work
are not encouraged and our new
Brothers can be left to feel that learning
the ritual is just a hazing procedure for
them to endure as "all Brethren and
fellows" have done who have gone this
way before them. New Brothers are often
left to discover for themselves why it was
important to learn. We are all too aware
that too many never begin the search for
light at all and become lost to the Craft.
Our proficiency standards should have
as much or more to do with under-
standing the meaning of the work as they
do with getting the words right. A man
who is truly imbued with the beauty of
the words and their significance will
WANT to become proficient in the
ritual. Our standards for candidates
should involve memorizing only the es-
sential work such as the obligation and
working tools. Passing to the next degree
should have as much to do with a
Brother's ability to understand the
meaning as much as memorizing the
words.

Proficiency requirements need to be
looked at in a systematic way and pub-
lished for the entire Grand Lodge. As an
Assistant Grand Lecturer, I can assure
you that the word "suitable" as it applies
to proficiency covers many sins, not the
least of which is no instruction to
Brothers going through the degrees at
all. Too rigid proficiency requirements
concerning the ritual stop hundreds of
men each year from completing their
degree work.

The progressive Grand Lodge of Iowa
sent letters to hundreds of Brothers who
had stopped advancing after their
entered apprentice degree, informing
them of new proficiency requirements in
Iowa which stress quality over quantity.
A significant number of Brothers re-
turned to complete their degrees. I am
sure that many of the men who came
back were younger men whose work and
family requirements had stood as too
great an impediment to advancement.

Much too much information is given
the candidate or brother at one time.
Often, by the time the long lectures in the
second sections begin and certainly by
the time the Charge is given even the
most motivated man has lost his ability
to absorb the meaning, rendering the
whole process unable to achieve its stated
mission .

Why not take our time in passing the
Brother between the 1st and 3rd
degrees? All business except balloting
can occur on the first or second degree.
This allows us to slowly incorporate the
Brother into the Lodge. At present a man
takes his first degree, comes back in a
month for the second and another month
for the third, but may never get in the
habit of coming to Lodge. We can in-
struct him more completely and assist
him in becoming an active Mason with
a strong knowledge of what the degrees
that he is passing through are trying to
convey to him.

Every wife of every man taking his first
degree should be contacted in writing by
either Grand Lodge or the District
Deputy and provided information about
the expectations that her husband will
face and inform her about Masonry it-
self. In today's environment, as was
pointed out by Tom Eggleston, at the
Philalethes Society Annual Feast, if we
"smother a new Mason's wife with
secrecy" about her husbands activities,
and do not actively seek her support and
encouragement we will not see her
husband around often. The Grand
Lodge of Iowa even has a new brochure
called "To the new Masons Lady" which
is sent under a cover letter from their
Grand Master to every lady of every man
initiated .

In a sense, my vision for the 21st Cen-
tury involves going back to the future.
My firm belief is that our revival depends
in large part on our PRIDE. If we be-
come truly familiar with what we stand
for we could generate the pride necessary
to fuel the engine of recovery. Therefore
we need to focus our instruction on Ma-
sonic philosophy and the meaning of the
ritual.

Symbolism

Philosophy provides the essential struc-
ture of our renewal and ritual a vehicle
for imparting this structure. Symbolism
can be seen as the steering mechanism by
which the ritual reaches out to our hearts
and minds. Unfortunately our ancient
symbols seem to be falling to the wayside
for want of use, yet our Brothers seem
positively hungry for this information.

Our symbolism can be traced well into
the 9th Century and perhaps before. Our
beautiful way of life is tied up in symbols
such as the working tools, the ladder
extending to heaven, the broken column,
and others represented on most Masonic
charts. We must spend time in Lodges
talking about and understanding Ma-
sonic Symbolism. There is nothing more
expensive to our Craft than ignorance.
Just as with Philosophy, once you under-
stand our symbols you gain pride in your
Craft and want to do more for it.

Each Lodge should schedule a "Sym-
bolism " night where we dust off the Ma-
sonic charts which hang in most Lodge
rooms and discuss the symbols displayed
and their meanings.

History

We must go back to basics and teach
our Brethren about Masonic History. In
many ways Masonic History is the story
of the development of Western Civiliza-
tion, of democracy and freedom across
Europe, South America, and Mexico.
Nowhere was our Masonic History more
entwined with a country's development
both physically and morally than in our
own beloved United States of America.
The influence of Masonic Philosophy is
evident throughout the Constitution
Bill of Rights, Declaration of Inde-
pendence and the actual formation of the
structure of our systems of Law.

Education must be one of the bedrocks
of our revival. As an example, in the
Monroe Districts we have revived a long
dormant Bureau of Masonic Education.
We have focused on three programs; the
first is an Orientation course targeted at
newly raised brothers and using the
Grand Lodge's Lodge Systern of Masonic
Education program. The second program
is a Continuing Education Course in-
volving Masonic Law, Philosophy, Ma-
sonic Publications, and two historical
lectures. The third in the series is a
Leadership course which addresses itself
directly to Lodge Administration in a
more nuts and bolts way.

Our Masonic Heritage is one of the
richest in the world and to name the men
who were proud to call themselves Ma-
sons throughout the world would be an
enormous task. Yet our history is one of
our best kept secrets. When I do histori-
cal lectures the Brethren are amazed at
how interesting and how vital a part our
Craft has played in the development of
Western Civilization. At almost every
major turn from the Renaissance, to the
Reformation, to almost all revolutionary
movements towards democracy, our
Craft has played a vital role. Washing-
ton, Franklin, Bolivar, Garibaldi, Lafay-
ette and literally countless others were
members of the Craft. Our under-
standing of their roles in history will fill
us full of the PRIDE I have already
mentioned and will again.

There is one sure way for us to learn
our History: READ!!! How many co-
pies of a Masonic Book is considered a
"Best Seller?" I have read where Allen
E. Roberts claims that number to be
5,000! That is with a potential market of
almost 3 million Masons in the United
States alone. Part of what must be offered
to Masons on a local level is a Masonic
Library. We must publish material about
how to use the Grand Lodge libraries
and about societies such as the
Philalethes Society. Every Brother in-
itiated should be sponsored by his Lodge
into a reading course or a subscription
for reading material that he will not
know about himself. In doing this we
teach the Brother, with our deeds, what
we consider to be important.

Community Service

I am a firm believer that we must con-
centrate our outer efforts in the area of
Community Service Projects for each
Lodge. These projects must include
physical involvement. Don't misunder-
stand, checks are very nice thank you
and some of our Brethren can only really
contribute in that way. Every Lodge no
matter how big or small can think of a
way to do something in their community
which will symbolize the good works of
Masons in an active way. Agencies,
churches, widows, veterans centers and
many other worthy organizations in our
communities are crying out for help if we
extend the hand.

Doing a community project has a four
fold benefit to a Lodge. First, it brings
out our members to work together. Sec-
ondly, it gives us something concrete to
say when we are asked what do we do.
Third, it gives us an opportunity to re-
ceive good publicity which assists in
membership drives. Lastly, and most im-
portantly, we live our creed as Masons by
assisting our fellowman.

Our district Lodges big and small are
doing events like bike rodeos, involve-
ment in scouting, painting houses for
widows, taking disables youngsters on
fishing trips and many other fine pro-
jects.

As a district we get together and go to
shopping malls for the two weeks leading
up to Valentines Day and raise money for
the Ronald McDonald House. Every
Lodge and Star chapter is involved in
this effort which has raised over $75,000
for the House and has allowed us to
dedicate the entire foyer of the house
with a plaque and picture. We were also
given the honor of laying the houses
cornerstone which will forever have our
Square and Compasses on it. Masonic
charity is as old as Masonry itself and just
as useful in our efforts to grow into the
21st century.

Fellowship and Fun

By arriving at Fellowship and Fun we
touch on perhaps the most important
ingredient that will assist us to grow and
become vigorous once again. In Masonic
History we are aware that 4 Lodges in
England became the First Grand Lodge
in 1717 . The announcement of that
Grand Lodge set off a chain reaction
heard around the world as Masonry
fairly exploded in the British Empire,
Europe, South America and most vividly
in North America.

Would it shock you to remember that
none of these Lodges in our early history
met in a Lodge room, but in the upstairs
rooms of taverns? Is it a coincidence that
this fraternity exploded at a time when it
had a clear focus on fellowship and fun?
Did it horrify our early ritualists that
degrees were conferred in these taverns
with designs drawn on the floor in chalk
in an area cleared out during a feast?
That all of the business of the Lodge was
conducted while at dinner and punc-
tuated by toasts and good fellowship?

Given that does it surprise you that one
of the major complaints expressed by our
members in every survey taken about
Masonry is that the meetings are boring
and too sullen? Is it a further coincidence
that as Masonry has lost the active trap-
pings of a Fraternity which can be con-
sidered fun that we have been on a steady
decline?

Be honest with yourselves my brethren.
Is there one of us who has not sat through
a boring business meeting and con-
sidered not coming to Lodge for the fol-
lowing boring business meeting? Does a
Lodge need more than one business
meeting out of every four? Important
dates can be posted outside the Lodge
room on a bulletin board or sent out in a
Lodge notice. Arguments about fans,
lights, paint colors and so on can take
place after or before Lodge.

Almost 40 years ago a famous Masonic
Author Carl Claudy stated that we could
not compete with most modern forms of
entertainment and that our fellowship
and desire to learn about Masonry was
what Lodges had to offer. Isn't that state-
ment even a hundred times more accu-
rate today?

How did Masonry get this way? In our
Country it is clear that the Morgan Inci-
dent was so traumatic that the Craft went
to an extreme to prove to its communi-
ties that it was in a sense "holier than
thou. " Temperance became its focus,
feasting was de-emphasized, ritual be-
came elevated to a deity, tuxedos were
introduced to "gussy up" the image and
being serious became elevated to an art
form.

Americans like to have fun. When fun
is denied them in one sphere they create
places where they can have fun. In Ma-
sonry this was the exact reason for the
formation of the playground of Ma-
sonry; the Shrine and Grotto, where fun
could be had without fear of public criti-
cism.

We can no longer afford to be so split
up within Masonry. Fun must be re-
turned to the Blue Lodge from whence it
really came. Diffusing an already small
pool of talent does nothing but weaken
our entire structure. Witness the desire
on the part of a significant part of the
Shrine to allow non-Masons to become
Shriners.

Brethren in our present emergency
what should we do? Yes we could and
should pray. We can also return many of
our Lodge doings to a Festive Board.
John Hilliard makes this case eloquently
in the April 1990 edition of The Philakthes
magazine.

The Table Lodge concept is readily
adaptable to regular Lodge proceedings.
The Table Lodge or Festive Board also
lends itself to the inclusion of non Ma-
sons and families. Our young men are
very concerned about using their quality
time to satisfy family demands. At a time
when most families contain two working
parents we must meet the demand for
quality time together and fun events
which can be attended by families. They
are giving us a strong message: if we ask
them to invest their precious few spare
hours in boring business meetings they
will refuse to invest!

As I have traveled around it is clear that
the Lodges which break bread together
regularly, have social events, involve the
family, know how to have fun together
and do it with class and honor are the
Lodges that thrive. Lodges that only
meet to read bills, discuss which brothers
are sick, and then rehash the same infor-
mation in a 15-minute reading of the
minutes have little chance to see the year
2000.

I commend to every Lodge that it use a
Table Lodge format or at least eat to-
gether many times during the year. It is
convenient to men working, it injects
fun, it reminds us of our roots and can be
created to suit the particular tastes of any
Lodge. Be creative and innovative, write
your own version of the Table Lodge
toasts, and toast whom you please.

Remember the biblical admonition:
"Let us eat, drink and be merry, for
tomorrow we may die!"

Membership

One of the ways that we have really shot
ourselves in the foot over the last 25 years
is in our static and rigid attitudes towards
bringing in new members. I am a living
example. My favorite uncle, who lived in
the same Brownstone in NYC was a
Mason for 45 years, was Past Master of
his Lodge and AGL of his district. He
was as close to me as my father yet he
never, till the day he died, would discuss
the Craft with me in any depth or invite
me to join. What a tragic shame for both
of us.

We must go out and find men who fit
our standards of conduct and bring them
to the Lodges. One of the best ways that
we have found is utilizing a program
called Brother Bring a Friend Night. This
program exposes our great Craft and all
we have to offer to men who probably
have no idea what in the world we do or
stand for. Brother Bring a Friend Night was
a Short Talk Bulletin in December 1990.

My father was a military man and used
to sing a song in the shower called
"Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammuni-
tion. " Brother Bring a Friend Night allows
us to do just that. By exposing potential
candidates to the power of our message,
history and good works we pass the am-
munition which brings in new Masons
and praises the Lord. One of the points
that I have been leading up to is that a
firm knowledge, by our Brethren, of Ma-
sonic Philosophy, History, Symbolism,
Community Service and Fellowship IS
the ammunition for the program of
Brother Bring a Friend Night and with that
ammunition locked and loaded WE
CANNOT HELP BUT GARNER
NEW CANDIDATES! Brother Bring a
Friend Night works!

Accentuate the Positive

By emphasizing the POSITIVE we be-
come attractive to others. Think about
the people in your life at work, home or
Lodge who are popular. As a practicing
Psychotherapist, I can assure you that a
common thread that runs among them is
HIGH SELF ESTEEM. People who like
themselves are people who we want to be
around. Conversely if you don't like
yourself people will not flock to you. An
organization cannot be attractive if it is
populated by negative thinkers.

In order to garner new members we
must be active, vital and proud members
of a proud organization. We must make
men feel that they are missing something
GREAT by not being involved. But first
we have to feel that way ourselves.

We cannot bring in new members and
keep them if we refuse to change our way
of doing business. If we cannot bring
ourselves to educate our new brothers in
such a way as to gain their respect,
cooperation and interest, we cannot keep
them active in the quarries. Ironically,
our search with very few exceptions leads
us back to the way our Brethren did bus-
iness in 1717! Even the realm of public
relations. The papers of the 1700's were
full of stories relating to the doings of
Masons. In the absence of information
our enemies have injected their own fan-
tasies about us. Ask a prospective candi-
date what he has heard about Masonry
and you will be shocked at some of the
answers you receive.

Conclusion

The great Rabbi Hillel of ancient times
was known for his wise but long winded
speeches. A brilliant student once asked
him to stand on one leg and tell him how
a person should live his life. Within Hil-
lel's answer lies the bottom line key to
our survival and growth. Hillel said
three things: "If I am not for me who will
be? If I am not for others what am I?"
and "If not now, When?"

If we are not for Masonry who will be?
If we are not for others then We are
certainly not Freemasons, and now I ask you,
if not now, When? It must be NOW!
Philalethes  Feb 1992
