                    MASONIC SPRING WORKSHOP 1978
                      BUILD A BETTER TOMORROW
                         2.  Yes, But How?

                       Bro. Dwight L. Smith


Once upon a time the labours of the Craft came to a standstill. 
There was confusion in the temple.  A trestleboard, which long had
displayed the designs of a master workman, was blank.  Like sheep
without a shepherd, the workmen wandered about idly.  No longer was
there a sense of direction; order had given way to chaos.  A noble
Tyrian in whose mind the designs had been conceived had been
stricken down in the performance of duty -- NOT BY ENEMIES FROM
WITHOUT THE TEMPLE, BUT BY FOES FROM WITHIN.

The extent to which a legend may be repeating itself in North
American Freemasonry today may be open to dispute, but certainly no
man can challenge the premise that the Craftsmen are not at their
labours to the extent they should be.  And few, I daresay, will
take issue when I suggest that there is indeed confusion in the
temple.

Today let us address ourselves to the second sub-title in the
general theme, Build a Better Tomorrow.  It is the most natural of
all responses to any great challenge:  YES, BUT HOW?

We have just recalled a familiar scene from the Legend of Hiram,
that beloved allegory which makes the Sublime Degree sublime. 
Before we consider specific areas in which our Lodges can help
build a better tomorrow, let us return for a moment to another
episode in the legend.  Perhaps it will be helpful to us in setting
the course for our discussions.

You will remember that King Solomon divided the workmen into groups
with orders to travel to the four points of the compass in search
of the missing Master Builder.  One of the parties returned with a
report given them by a wayfaring man.  He had been witness to an
unsuccessful attempt by three men, who appeared to be workmen from
the temple, to get passage on a ship about to leave for a far
distant country.  Thwarted in their effort, they had returned into
the mountainous region.

And what was King Solomon's reply?  The Indiana ritual has it in
these words:  "Your intelligence proves but one thing to me -- that
the ruffians are still in the country, and within our power."

Let's keep those words uppermost in our minds for the rest of the
day and through our discussion periods tonight.  Let's take those
words home with us, also, and talk about our responsibility with
the Brethren of our Lodges.

Here is what Solomon is telling us:  If Freemasonry has a stake in
building a better tomorrow -- and it has -- and if Masons are to do
their part in building a better tomorrow, then we must face the
fact that the forces against which we shall have to contend are
right here at home, in our own districts and in our own Lodges;
right here within ourselves.  AND THEY ARE WITHIN OUR POWER.  In
other words, both the problem and the answer may be found in our
own backyard.  If we have the will to do so, we can do something
about it.

Ah, yes, indeed, but how?

Very well, let's talk about how.  At the outset, however, I have
news for you.  I am hereby imposing a moratorium on myself.  It
will be a moratorium on any mention or discussion of the old
familiar excuses that Freemasons like to repeat whenever they get
together; the aged scapegoats brought out to cover up the fact that
Masonic Lodges, by and large, aren't doing the job that Masonic
Lodges should be doing.

And so there will be no wringing of hands from me on declining
membership of the last several years; or poor attendance at Lodge
meetings; or Master Masons who fail to memorize the catechism of
the Third Degree; or that Freemasonry doesn't seem to be attracting
young men or professional men to the extent we should like it to
do; or how much it costs to operate a Lodge; or the common
complaint that men petition our Lodges for the degrees, receive
those degrees and we see them no more.

There will be no talk from me on the subject of competition,
whether it be television, curling in Canada or bowling in the
United States, fishing, boating, camping, a multitude of other
organizations and activities -- you name it, and we can tell you
how it competes with Freemasonry for the time, interest and loyalty
of our Brethren.

Best of all, you'll not hear from me even once that Masonry is
"hiding its light under a bushel," which is nothing more than a
King James Version way of saying that we should seek publicity, be
seen and heard and talked about (in a favourable light, of course),
going to ridiculous lengths, if necessary, to be in the public eye.

Instead of all these, let's think about how each Lodge, working
within its own sphere of influence and within the framework of
Masonic tradition, can help Freemasonry to do its part in building
a better tomorrow.

At this juncture I am faced with something of a dilemma.  As a
guest in this Jurisdiction, it ill behooves me to be critical of
the regulations and practices of my host, or to tell you how I
believe you should operate.

And so, here is the approach that I shall make, with perfect
immunity, I trust.  Have you ever heard anyone say "If I had my
druthers"?  It is an old colloquial expression from American
pioneer days.  Originally it was something like "If I had a choice,
I'd rather it would be this."  With the carelessness of frontier
speech, that soon became, "If I had a choice I'd druther it would
be this."  Eventually it was, "If I had my druthers."

What I am saying, then, is, "If I had my druthers -- my choice --
Masonic Lodges would fix their sights on some things that are
basic, and strive mightily to operate in accordance with those
fundamentals.


                                  I


First, if I had my druthers, the leadership of our Lodges in
Alberta and Indiana, and all across the land, would start asking
themselves some pointed questions -- some embarrassing questions,
if you please -- such as this one:  "Brethren, do we have our
priorities in the proper order?  And if we do not, then what can we
do to get back in the proper order, so that first things will be
first?"

The great American essayist and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson lamented
the fact the "THINGS are in the saddle / And ride mankind."

Hence, when we speak of those forces that "are still in the
country, and within our power," we must not overlook THINGS.  All
we have to do is to converse with our Brethren to observe how, to
a very real extent, THINGS have ceased to be our servants and have
become our masters.  We are the servants of our temples, servants
of the dollars required to maintain them and of the insurance
premiums needed to protect our investment, servants of the new
heating plant, the repairs to the roof, the carpet that is wearing
out, the taxes.

And so what happens?  All too often our priorities get out of order
and we become more attentive to ways in which we can stay alive
than in following our avowed purpose of creating and maintaining an
atmosphere in which men can experience brotherhood as they never
have experienced it before and in a manner not to be found in any
other place.  We forget that we are here to help men improve
themselves; to teach rough ashlars how to become perfect ashlars.

The inevitable result of letting our priorities get out of order is
that we become preoccupied with numbers and dollars.  We need the
dollars to keep alive, and therefore we need numbers, and we need
them enough that sometimes we lower the bars, pull down the
standards, to get more numbers to get more dollars.  And when our
standards are lowered ever so little, the entire structure is
weakened.  Remember Gresham's Law of economics -- that when bogus
money is in circulation, good money doesn't drive it out; on the
contrary, the bogus drives out the good?  Gresham's Law applies in
Freemasonry also.  For when we compromise a bit and use inferior
material, we need not expect that which is sound to eliminate that
which is substandard.  It can work the other way.  Frightening
thought, isn't it?

Our future, then, depends on our ability to look beyond numbers and
dollars to the quality of our membership and the quality of our
leadership, and to the basic purpose for which we are here.  One
North American Masonic leader admonishes us never to lose sight of
the fact that "all institutions that are devoted to the cultivation
of the best that is in man are having troubled times in this period
of our civilization."  Freemasonry does not stand alone.  But
Freemasonry does have its own peculiar gift, its unique appeal,
that will work to our advantage if only we have the eyes to see it
and the will to use it.


                                     II


If I had my druthers, our Lodges in Canada and the United States
would, at long last, accept the fact that it takes time to make a
Mason.  A perfect ashlar cannot be made out of a rough ashlar in
three easy lessons.  Becoming a Mason -- a real-for-sure Mason --
is a lifetime job if we really work at it.

One of the weakest links in our Masonic chain is the reluctance, or
outright refusal, of our Lodges to spend the time necessary to give
the new Mason good and wholesome instruction for as long as he
displays any interest.  The strongest indictment I could level
against the Masonic Fraternity in our two great countries is that
the Brethren are in too great a hurry to confer the three degrees
and get it over.

In the first place, there is a gross lack of understanding as to
what constitutes Light, and More Light, and Further Light.  Too
many of our Brethren seem to think that memorizing the answers to
some questions is all that is necessary to make a Freemason. 
Certainly it is all that is required for advancement.  But what do
we do when an eager young Mason, thrilled beyond description at his
experience, wants to know more?  The reason for this and for that? 
How did it all come about?  What does this emblem mean, and that
emblem?  And how all this can be applied in the everyday life of a
Mason?

What do we do with him?  The answer is nothing short of a major
tragedy.  For the most part, we do nothing.  We give him the
"brush-off", letting him know, in effect, that we haven't time for
him.  Hence, another disillusioned Mason looks elsewhere, going to
the other bodies in the hope that he will ding there what we failed
to provide, or, worse yet, losing all interest in the Craft.  He
asks for bread; we give him a stone.

Of course I can appreciate the fact that Lodge officers may be
devoting about all the nights to Freemasonry that they can spare. 
But why not enlist the services of Brethren who are NOT officers? 
We might be amazed at the contribution they could make to the good
of the order.

If Freemasonry has a stake in building a better tomorrow, and if
Lodges acknowledge their responsibility in such a noble effort,
then here is one of the forces still in the country, and within our
power.  The greatest service the Lodges of Alberta could render to
Freemasonry in this period of our history would be to make
available facilities and occasions whereby interested Masons, young
and old, can meet informally for food and drink and conversation
and exchange of ideas and Further Light in Masonry.  Away with
endless memorizing! Away with the idea that learning the answers to
a catechism is the beginning and the end of the search for Light!

I shall have more to say on this subject before I finish.


                                    III


If I had my druthers, our Lodges would be smaller in size and there
would be more of them -- many, many more.  North American
Freemasonry, and especially that in the United States, has
consistently run counter to the time-tested experience of the
Fraternity in the British Isles and on the European continent in
this respect.  Some of us insist that it doesn't work to the good
of the Craft when Lodges become large and impersonal, regardless of
how many petitions a large Lodge may receive or how wealthy it may
be.  It isn't size that counts, nor is it the number of degrees
conferred.  What counts is brotherhood and camaraderie, the
privilege of close fraternal association in a fellowship of kindred
spirits, the opportunity for growth through involvement in that
which is great and challenging and inspiring, the privilege,
perhaps, of presiding in the East.

Smaller Lodges could meet less frequently, and there could be more
diversity in the meetings, more opportunities for gatherings of a
social nature, more discussions of what Freemasonry is all about,
more occasions when the Brethren could assemble about the festive
board for physical, mental, intellectual and spiritual refreshment. 
We might keep these thoughts in mind the next time we are disposed
to be critical of a new member who ceases coming to Lodge and
develops interests elsewhere.  It could be a case of
disenchantment; he could be searching for that which his Lodge
should have given him, but didn't.

At this point we come to a road block.  When we get on the subject
of limiting the size of Lodges, many will agree in principle, but
few will be prepared to offer an acceptable and workable plan as to
how it could be done.  Limitation by Grand Lodge legislation would
be, in my opinion, a serious mistake.  As I see the picture today,
the benefits to be derived from smaller Lodges can be realized only
over a long period of years and with leadership that is patient and
tireless and unshakable in its devotion to an ideal.  With Grand
Lodge encouragement always available but never insisted upon, I
believe the seeds could be sown to germinate within the Lodges, so
that when the time for action became ripe, it would come from the
Brethren themselves.

Do Masons approaching the nineteen-eighties have that kind of
patience?  I doubt whether they do in Indiana.  The sad aspect of
the problem is that economics may force us to do what we haven't
the vision to do.


                                     IV


If I had my druthers, North American Lodges and Grand Lodges would
develop a more acute awareness of the first of the Old Charges of
a Freemason, the Charge which pertains to religious universality,
or non-sectarianism, "that religion in which all men agree."  Any
serious student of our Craft must acknowledge, I believe, that the
first of the Old Charges is the strength of Freemasonry wherever it
exists in the world.  As North American Masons we miss no
opportunity to boast about our universality, at the same time
taking great pains to ignore it.

It is a curious commentary on our Fraternity that in England more
than a hundred years passed before the first of the Old Charges
began to be taken seriously; that is, before some measure of
acceptance began to be noted.  It is an even more curious
commentary that in the United States, for the most part, the Charge
has not even yet become effective.  Having no knowledge what the
practice in Canadian Lodges may be, I make no comment.  You can
supply the answer.

I never cease to be amazed at how shocked some of my Masonic
Brethren are when it begins to dawn upon them just what religious
universality really means.  These are the Brethren who have been
told that the Masonic Lodge is the "handmaiden of the church;"
whose conception of "that religion in which all men agree" can be
described as a pleasant, jovial spirit of toleration enabling
Presbyterians, and Methodist, and Baptists, and Brethren of other
Protestant Christian denominations to sit in Lodge together without
quarrelling over theology.

Late in 1973 and the early part of 1974 I went into the subject
with thoroughness while preparing a research paper.  The results of
that study were significant, for they revealed many areas in which
Freemasonry continues to pay little or no attention to the first of
the Old Charges -- in ritualistic work, in the lectures, in prayers
offered to the Great Architect, in laws, in regulations, in customs
and practices.  The study yields enough evidence for one to say, if
he is of a mind to do so, that m to a great extent, Freemasonry in
the United States has an established religion.  And most of us who
are sensitive on the subject are both distressed and outraged at
the lengths to which some of our Christian Brethren will go to cram
their religion (and mine) down the throats of our non-Christian
Brethren.

Is not this a much-needed area for effort by Lodges in Alberta and
in Indiana, and elsewhere in Canada and the United States, setting
out on a quiet and low-key, but continuing, program to make our
Brethren more keenly cognizant of what that Old Charge means?  If
we are interested in having well-informed Masons and better Masons
in our Lodges, thereby to help our Fraternity do its part in
building tomorrow, there is no better place to start.


                                     V


If I had my druthers, our leadership in the Lodges and on Grand
Lodge level would take a long and critical look at the
almost-standard Preston lectures used in our Lodges in Canada and
the United States, particularly as to their content, the time of
delivering them and the manner of their recitation.

Now I am well aware of the fact that to question anything
pertaining to the ritual or the lectures is almost the equivalent
of desecrating the flag or launching an attack on motherhood.

Furthermore, I think it likely that you are about to say to me,
"You may be right, but what are you going to do about it?"  And
that is, indeed, a logical question, for although I do not know the
practice in Alberta, I do know that in Indiana the lectures must be
recited in full each time a degree is conferred and before the
Lodge is closed.  Every word of the official lecture must be
repeated, and then sometimes there are extra-ritualistic additions
that happen to appeal to the Brother who is doing the lecturing.

Nothing is missed if the Lodge follows the law, and every time it
must be the same.  We unload the whole load as if we were never to
see that exhausted candidate again, and in all too many instances
we don't see him again.  That fact of life shouldn't be surprising
to us, but it is.

In expressing these thoughts, I speak as one who has delivered
every one of the lectures of Ancient Craft Freemasonry, not once
but many, many times.  Long ago I began to have doubts.  "Is this
a practice that does something FOR Freemasonry?"  I asked myself,
"or is it doing something TO Freemasonry?"

The late Myron K. Lingle, Past Grand Master of Masons in Illinois,
said it so very well:  "It is the lecture that is emptying our
Lodge rooms."

I find myself in complete agreement with Brother George S.Draffen,
of Scotland, who writes,

William Preston's lectures, as opposed to his ceremonial ritual,
were written for another age.  If we are to instruct our candidates
in the tenets of our Craft, some other Preston must arise and
prepare for us a series of short educational talks which can be
delivered either in Lodge or in a Lodge of Instruction.

Sadly enough, this is not a question that is likely to be viewed
objectively and dispassionately.  But it could be, and should. 
Certainly the Ancient Landmarks would not totter and crumble into
ruins if some other Preston were to arise with new and better
lectures suited to the new audience that already is here.  If
lectures as we know them should be recited at all, they should be
in brief.  And in my humble opinion, they should be designed for
occasional use as material to stimulate discussion at a time other
than when a degree is conferred, never as a mandatory addition to
it.

Lest temperatures and blood pressures rise above normal, let me
hasten to add that I'm realistic.  There will be little or no
abridgement of the Preston lectures soon.  Not in North America. 
Someday, yes; but not now -- that is, not unless economics should
step in and persuade us to do what we should have done long ago.

In the meantime, though, we could at least make some needed
improvements.  We could do something about inaccuracies and
inconsistencies.  There are too many, and the fact that we persist
in repeating them does us no good.  I am not familiar with your
Canadian lectures, but if they are anything like those in the
United States, I'll be hoping fervently for the day when those
horrid visual aids and printed illustrations can be discarded
forever and new ones, dignified and artistic, used in their stead. 
We deserve something better than the illustrations we have.

Here again is a place where Lodges with imagination could institute
programs featuring brief "capsule" type lectures dealing with one
subject only, never at the conclusion of a degree, perhaps in a
relaxed atmosphere outside the tyled Lodge and offering
opportunities for discussion.

It might be worth the effort.  "Some other Preston" within the
membership of your own Lodge might amaze you with the presentation
he could prepare, provided such brief talks and discussions were
encouraged and regular provision made for them.  And that brings me
to my next "druther."


                                     VI


If I had my druthers, Lodges of Master Masons would begin to take
steps, and soon, to re-establish the old traditions of Freemasonry
in at least one respect, that of providing frequent opportunities
for men of like interests (kindred spirits, if you please) to
gather in pleasant, relaxed surroundings for no other purpose than
refreshment and conversation -- physical, intellectual and
spiritual refreshment; just talking and enjoying the company of
each other.  In short, I am pleading for the return o Freemasonry
to its original concept, a voluntary association in which
compatible men may find fellowship and experience brotherhood at
its best.

Perhaps the best way to let you know what is on my mind is to
relate this experience.  In the latter part of February 1978, I
went to Washington to attend the national Conferences of Grand
Masters and Grand Secretaries.  As a national officer of the
Philalethes Society, I went two days early to attend the Society's
annual meeting and some related gatherings.

While there I met seven young Masons, most of whom live within a
radius of perhaps 50 miles of New York City.  They are
exceptionally intelligent and articulate men, all in their mid to
late 'thirties'.  Each is a tremendously enthusiastic Freemason,
yet each Brother is frustrated because Lodges have no place for him
and no interest in his kind unless, perchance, he might become
identified with the tight little structure that governs the Lodge
and oversees every activity.  Only one of the seven finds it
possible, or has any desire, to enter upon a long period of ladder
promotion leading to the East.  They enjoy the ritual, but not a
steady diet of ritual.  More than that, they delight in probing the
depths to seek the meaning of Freemasonry and its teachings.

These Brethren are now part of a larger group centred in New York. 
They have a delightfully casual organization, if you can call it
that.  It is unencumbered with officers, by-laws, dues or stated
meetings.  They do have a modest little mimeographed news letter
and they permitted me to contribute to defraying the expense of
issuing and mailing it.  The little group has a name that will make
any Mason's pulse beat faster:  The Goose and Gridiron.

As noontime approached, I learned that they had reserved a table in
Old Ebbitt's Grill, in downtown Washington, just across the street
from our meeting place.  They invited me to join them; I did so
with pleasure.

Seated about the long table enjoying our "Dutch treat" luncheon,
one of the Brethren asked me a question almost with a note of
pathos in his voice.  "Brother Smith", he said, "isn't there
something in the Fraternity for Masons like us?  SURELY THERE MUST
BE SOMETHING BESIDES MEMORIZING AND RECITING."

We talked for more than two hours.  It was one of the most
stimulating experiences of my Masonic career.  When we parted, we
shook hands and I said to them, "Carry on!"  Since then they have
been writing to me and telling me of their activities.

Now do you understand what is on my mind?  Here are some young
Masons on fire with the true spirit of our ancient Craft but
unwelcome within the "establishment" because they want to do
something more challenging than memorize, and recite, and go to
stated communications, and hear the minutes read, and vote to allow
the bills.

Mt Brethren, it isn't possible, it isn't necessary, it isn't
desirable that all Masons be just like us.  I am totally in earnest
when I say to you that I believe the resurgence of Freemasonry
depends to a large extent on whether Lodge officers, prospective
officers and Past Masters are able to divest themselves of that
deadly notion that unless a Mason memorizes and recites and
delivers lectures, or holds an office, or works in the craft, or
carries chairs, or washes dishes in the kitchen, or sits on the
sidelines watching and listening as others do these things, we have
nothing to offer.  We're going to have to use our imagination a
bit; at least to turn our attention to some other avenues of
activity.

I have just introduced you to some enthusiastic young Masons, all
with a tremendous potential, that will be lost to us if we don't
give them some encouragement and find a place for them in our
scheme of things.  It frightens me to reflect on how many more
young Masons, just like the ones I met, might be found in North
America -- disappointed, disillusioned, but NOT taking the
initiative to find something to take the place of Masonic Lodges
that aren't really doing their job!

And incidentally, you might be impressed to know that as an
indirect result of the pleasant social relationship enjoyed by
these young Brethren several of their friends who were not
Freemasons at first are Freemasons now.

Let me share with you some lines from Stephen Leacock that have
long haunted me:

If I were founding a university, I would found first a smoking
room; then when I had a little money I would found a dormitory;
then after that, or probably with it, a decent reading room and a
library.  After that, if I still had more money that I couldn't
use, I would hire a professor and get some textbooks.

Be sure to note Stephen Leacock's priorities.  The smoking room
came first; the professor and the textbooks, last.

Like it or not, my Brethren, the alehouse, the coffee house, the
smoking room have a noble tradition in the history of Freemasonry. 
They got the Craft off to a good start; our ancestors on this side
of the Atlantic banished them as too worldly and not Victorian
enough; they can yet, if given a chance, do much to pull us out of
the doldrums today.  Let's never underestimate their importance.

And by all means, let's get away from that old bogeyman of
Puritanism that to eat, drink and be merry is almost sinful! 
Freemasonry would thrive on it again.  Let's get back to the
fellowship and conviviality and good conversation and invigorating
exchange of ideas that surround the festive board, and find again
that which was lost.
 
Building a Better Tomorrow:  Yes, But How?

"THE RUFFIANS ARE STILL IN THE COUNTRY, AND WITHIN OUR POWER."

We have the tools.  Indiana author Lloyd C. Douglas, in his great
book, "The Robe", has the slave Demetrius say these words to
illustrate his conception of the new Christian faith.  Let us apply
them to our Craft and to ourselves:

This faith.... is not like a deed to a house in which a man may
live with full rights of possession.  It is more like a kit of
tools with which a man may build him a house.  The tools will be
worth just what he does with them.  When he lays them down, they
will have no value until he takes them up again.
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