      by John Mauk Hilliard, FPS

       The Lodge at Refreshment

  Jerry Marsengill, FPS, my esteemed predecessor as
International President of the Philalethes Society, did
me the honor at our delightful Feast and Assembly in
Washington last February of inviting me to preside over
the traditional Masonic ceremony of the "Toasts and
Good Fire." As I watched that assemblage of 200-plus
Craftsmen, from all over the USA and abroad, deliver
handsome and vigorous fire to the worthy subjects of
splendid toasts, I marveled once again at the power
of the Gentle Craft to bind and inspire "those who
otherwise might have remained perpetually at a
distance." Witnessing these brothers, many virtual
strangers to one another, joined at festive board,
breaking Masonic bread together, taking wine one with
another, and happily growing in Masonic comity, I was
reminded once again that the Ancient Craft often labors
as well and as rewardingly at "refreshment" as it
does in the dignity and formality of its open
communications.

  The Feast and Assembly of 1990 was a favorable
reminder that many elements distinguish a healthy
Lodge from one that is weak: good ritual, effective
leadership, pastoral care for needy brothers and
families, a strong program of Masonic education. But
the one element that stands out as being perhaps the
ultimate measure of whether a Lodge is really a
productive and happy community of brothers is one that
is frequently overlooked when observers list
desirable attributes...it is the notion or concept of
refreshment!

  To mangle a cliche, one might say that the Lodge that
"plays" together "stays" together. On the face of all
things Masonic, perhaps the concept of refreshment
seems less serious, less profoundly central than the
issues of good ritual, effective management, relief and
charity. Not so ! Quite the contrary is true, and if
one studies Masonic history and tradition it is soon
evident that 'refreshment' is enshrined in the struc-
ture of the Craft Lodge as an integral part of its
essential transaction.

  I refer of course to the station in the South, the
chair of Junior Warden, for that station bears the full
weight of the goveniance, and hence management, of the
Craft at its leisure, to that office falls the joyous
burden of "the Lodge at refreshment" which is the
Junior Warden's singular, and indispensable Masonic
mandate, a responsibility which falls to him by virtue
of the full force of ritual, ancient practice, and
Craft law.

  To the Junior Warden is inseparably attached one of
the most important and significant offices in the
Masonic canon, that of Steward. While the office of
steward is considered fairly junior in the structure of
the Lodge, its function is not a casual one. It is
these young officers under the direction of the
Junior Warden who demonstrate their growing
appreciation for and commitment to the Lodge by caring
for the quality of its food and drink, the comfort of
its leisure surroundings, the management of its
leisure funding, and the facilitation of its programs
of entertainment.

  No office in the Lodge is more essential than that
of Steward. While great and profound Masonic knowledge
is not required to carry out its duties, a sense of
graciousness and service to others is the prime
requisite. This makes the office of Steward perhaps
the most quintessentially Masonic of all.

  Even the language used in the ritual to describe the
Junior Warden's function is revelatory of the
importance of refreshment: the ritual explicitly speaks
of "the Lodge at refreshment" thus implying that this
wonderful corporate entity does not cease to become a
Lodge when the greater and lesser lights are closed,
that the Lodge does not end with the final rap of the
Worshipful Master's gavel, but rather that the Lodge
extends beyond its formal manifestation into a realm
lit softly and warmly with that glow of fellowship,
that case of companionship which overflows from the
comfort and blessed contentment of good friends
gathered round fine food and drink. The Lodge at
Refreshment is most assuredly that precious communi-
cation of kind hearts which is engendered by the
breaking of bread one with another.

  Any Lodge that neglects this ancient mandate to be as
much a Lodge at refreshment as it is when at labor
imperils its own survival, and betrays the trust of the
ancient founders of the Craft. These brothers of old
showed us the way. Our eighteenth century brethren held
their Lodges in taverns, coffee houses, inns, and pubs.
They did their Lodge business at table with the
trestles laden with the remains of sumptuous dinners,
then moved them aside to draw their Masonic designs
and ritual signs upon the floor of the alehouse in
order to instruct their new candidates.

  So powerfully did this feasting motif loom among the
Craft of old that the term, companion, "he who takes
bread with me" in its literal meaning, became one of
the highest titles and accolades to which a member of
the Ancient Craft might aspire. But, somehow, that
great feasting tradition was lost, particularly here in
the United States. The Morgan Affair traumatized the
Craft in America, and it has been suggested that the
American Craft's demand for complete temperance in all
the doings of a Lodge springs from its desire to
maintain a "purer than thou," unsullied and unas-
sailable public facade. Mid-to-late nineteenth
century American Freemasonry became so serious and
formal and so braced by rigid dignity that organiza-
tions such as the Shrine and the Grotto arose largely
to provide within the Craft that ancient and
traditional element or dimension of refreshment which
fear of public reprobation had largely driven out of
the Lodges.

  And that is sad, because we can no longer afford to
compartmentalize the Masonic experience in that way.
The concept of ease, fun, relaxation and refreshment
must be returned to the Lodge. Most well-traveled
Masons have observed that those Lodges which have ample
and well-organized collations, dinners, or
"after-proceedings"--as the British Masons so aptly
term them--are likely to be those Lodges which engen-
der the most Masonic enthusiasm and committment among
their members. On the other hand, those Lodges which
have nothing more than tepid coffee and stale doughnuts
after their meetings evoke a similar tepid and stale
response from the diminishing ranks of their brethren.

  I need not remind most experienced Freemasons that
the possibilities for the Lodge at Refreshment are
vast: they include collations, dinners, dances, pic-
nics, canoe and hiking trips, excursions to notable
Masonic or national shrines or buildings. Many of these
events can be organized so as to include families and
non-Masonic friends who might be potential candidates.
The Lodge at Refreshment is limited only by the
imagination of the officers and members of the Lodge.

  In this respect, the strategy which has recently
proven to be most successful in modern American Lodges
is the Table Lodge, or After-Proceeding, or Festive
Board . . . a resurrection of the ancient tradition of
the Masonic Feast and Assembly. All these terms refer
to the same thing--a Masonic Feast and Assembly where
friendship and brotherhood are nourished and flourish
anew in the atmosphere of congeniality and good will
which has ever been attendant upon that very special
human act of breaking bread together. I commend to
every Lodge this concept. I firmly believe that the
Table Proceeding, no matter what form it may take,
unhindered and unfettered by shallow notions of
absolute jurisdictional ritual regularity, is essential
to successful and productive Masonic life; it can be
seminal to the Gentle Craft's ultimate survival,
regeneration, and renewal. It adds a much-needed
element of grace, civility, and conviviality to the
work, life, and mission of Freemasonry. The Table Lodge
becomes a reinterpretation in modem terms of H.E.
Haywood's famous comment about the "genius" inherent
in the eighteenth century Masonic feasting tradition:

  In the eighteenth century, as it had been for
centuries, the feast stood close to the very heart of
the Lodge, was one of the fundamental things in the
Lodg...ln the eighteenth century Lodges, the feast
bulked so large in the life of the Lodge that in many
of them the members were seated at the table when the
Lodges were opened and remained at it throughout the
entire communication, even when the degrees were
conferred. The result was that Masonic fellowship was
good fellowship. In it, as in a warm and fruitful soil,
acquaintanceship, friendship, and affection could
flourish. There was no grim and silent sitting on a
bench staring across at a wall.

  The Table Lodge is too rich a tradition in
Freemasonry ever to be frozen into a single format.
Each Lodge should experiment with the various models of
table proceedings--English, French, German, and
American amalgams of these--and develop a format and
local tradition that suits the personality and tastes
of that Lodge...but the essential thing is that each
Lodge should have these feasts or after-proceedings
several times during the course of an average Lodge
year.

  Since all versions of this great Masonic social
transaction are built around the practice of toasting,
or "drinking the health," it is important to remember
that the concept of honor stands at the heart of the
Masonic feasting tradition. To drink a toast or health
is more than a social grace; it is a tribute to the
merit of something or someone who has enriched and
enhanced our lives, and in giving such honor to men and
institutions of merit, we ultimately do honor to
ourselves.

  To commemorate; to reflect and remember; to honor:
these are the things at the heart of the Masonic toast
and the Masonic feast, and these things link us to all
those of our kind from the beginnings of our race, when
our ancestors huddled round rude fires to share the
hard-won bounty of hunt and field, and there tell the
songs and stories of courage and worth, loyalty and
love, of dream and vision.

  At the Feast and Assembly of the Philalethes Society
held in Washington each year, we traditionally close
with a mid-nineteenth century Masonic poem from an
unknown pen. Elements of this joyful work have found
their way into the table proceedings of Lodges through-
out the English-speaking Craft, and give graceful voice
to the bonds that can unite a true "Lodge At
Refreshment":

1. Are your glasses charged in the West and South, the
Worshipful Master cries; They're charged in the West,
They're charged in the South, are the Wardens' prompt
replies;

  Then to our final toast to-night
your glasses fairly drain
"Happy to meet--Sorry to
part--Happy to meet again
again
Oh! happy to meet again!"

Chorus: Happy to meet--Sorry
to part--Happy to meet again,
again,

Oh! happy to meet again.

2. The Masons' social brotherhood
   around the festive board,
   Reveal a wealth more precious
   far than selfish miser's hoard
   They freely share the priceless
   stores that generous hearts
   contain--
"Happy to meet, Sorry to part,
Happy to meet again!l"

3. We work like Mason's free and
true, and when our task is done,
A merry song and cheering glass
are not unduly won;
And only at our farewell pledge
is pleasure touched with pain--
"Happy to meet, Sorry to part,
Happy to meet again!"

4. Amidst our mirth we drink "To
all poor Masons o'er the
world"
On every shore our flag of love
is gloriously unfurled,
We prize each brother, fair or
dark, who bears no moral
stain--
"Happy to meet, Sorry to part,
Happy to meet again!l"

5.  Mason feels the noble truth
the Scottish peasant told
That rank is but the guinea's
stamp, the man himselfs the
gold
With us the rich and poor unite
and equal rights maintain
"Happy to meet, Sorry to part,
Happy to meet again!"

6. Dear brethren of the Mystic tie,
the night is waning fast--
Our duty's done--our feast is
o'er--this song must be our
last: -
"Good night," "Good
night"--once more, once more
repeat the farewell strain--
"Happy to meet, Sorry to part,
Happy to meet again!"


