INVOLVEMENT IS ESSENTIAL

by F. Lamar Pearson, Jr.

Worshipful Brother Pearson is Editor of The Masonic Messenger, 
official publication of the Grand Lodge of Georgia. We thank him for 
providing this thought-provoking manuscript for use as a Short Talk 
Bulletin.

What to do with the newly-made Mason is a challenge that has faced 
Worshipful Masters, subordinate Lodges and Grand Lodges perhaps more 
than any other question. The fledgling Mason abounds with enthusiasm 
and energy; he is ready to work and eager for an assignment. It is 
precisely at this time that many Lodges fail miserably. 
Indecisiveness on the part of Lodge leadership and inertia on the 
part of Lodge members allow a priceless resource to go neglected and 
which will probably never be
utilized properly.

There are a number of reasons for this neglect and lack of 
utilization. Too frequently, Worshipful Masters are pushed through 
the Lodge stations so quickly that they reach the East unprepared and 
immature. In short, they don't know how to identify potential skills, 
much less how to utilize the people who possess them. Accordingly, 
there is a remarkable lack of management by objective. Secondly, the 
immaturity of the Master literally propels him to surround himself 
with his close friends to the point that a clique of personality 
sometimes emerges, and those who do not belong to it do
not get the opportunity to serve or to be recognized in a 
constructive way. This type of management often permits a Past Master 
to control the Lodge in ways that he perhaps never intended. Ritual 
tends to be performed by a select few; potential dramatists seldom 
get an opportunity, and when they do, it is often too

This lack of involvement is very readily demonstrated by the small 
number of Brothers who attend Lodge Communications. Lodges can count 
themselves blessed if they have as many as ten percent in attendance. 
The brethren regret the statistical facts and often ask why. The 
obvious answer, non-involvement of Brothers, rarely impresses itself 
upon their minds, and when it does, the brethren ask how this 
involvement can be accomplished; how can these newly-made Masons, who 
fall by the
wayside each year, be retained.

There are some basic answers to these questions. The problem is 
readily capable of solution. Determination to meet the problem and 
stick with the treatment for it on a sustained basis is very 
difficult at best. Lodges did not create their problems overnight; 
accordingly, it will take more than a day to solve them.

One of the most discernible ways to involve newly-raised Masons 
immediately is in the area of Lodge Visitation and Relief. Not much 
expertise is required, and there is a fabulous opportunity for the 
Brother to gain valuable experience. Each Masonic Lodge reflects a 
vast range of ages and conditions among its members. Ages range from 
twenty-one in most Jurisdictions, to more than one hundred.

Many Lodges have a considerable number of their brethren who are 
emeritus. Herein lies a golden opportunity, for these brethren 
constitute a veritable wealth of experience, knowledge and talent. 
They are usually eager to share in each of these areas. They are 
literally waiting to be asked. All too frequently they are not asked. 
Many of these brethren are quite willing to go to Lodge, but cannot 
unless assisted. Cataracts are the reason for many. Even though 
operations are very successful, night
driving is out of the question for many. Then there are those 
brethren who need physical assistance to get to Lodge. Many Lodges 
have faced reality and installed elevators and riding chairs for the 
infirm. Coronary disease inflicts the young as well as the old. It is 
a wise Lodge which addresses itself to the needs of the Brethren. 
There are also those Brethren who feel because of age or health that 
they cannot leave their wives alone. Here is an excellent opportunity 
for the wives of the brethren to get
involved by sitting with these ladies while the men go to Lodge.

A wise Master can utilize the newly-made Masons in this area most 
effectively. Think of the wonderful instruction these senior 
Craftsmen can impart. Think also of the precious example their lives 
set for these impressionable Craftsmen. What an opportunity exists 
here for teaching, learning, sharing, caring and for growing. The 
most fantastic examples are being set, and a young Mason is being 
molded in the finest tradition possible.

Many elderly Masons live in retirement homes. Often they are unable 
to go to Lodge. A special opportunity exists here for the newly 
initiated. Visits to these brethren mean so much. A visit, albeit it 
brief, is two-edged. The old Mason is cheered by it, and the young 
Mason is richly rewarded internally. He builds up that store of rich, 
vibrant, experience that adds so much to the construction of his 
spiritual temple.

There are the Masonic widows. Women on the average, have a 
considerably longer lifespan than do their husbands. Most Lodges have 
a responsibility to a large number of widows. A resourceful Master 
can and should have at least one Widow's Night each year, and the 
Lodge widows should be included in all social and festive events. It 
is important that visits be made on a regular basis to insure the 
widow's welfare. Newly-made Masons and their wives should visit the 
widows in the company of older Brothers. The Brothers and their wives 
can help the widow to shop; they can assist her in
meeting appointments with the physician and the dentist. They can see 
to it that she gets to and from church, and vitally they insure by 
their presence and concern that she is important as a person - as a 
special creation of God.

Every Mason should visit his Grand Lodge Home for Children or the 
elderly if the Grand Lodge has one. Surprisingly few do this. Those 
who do, need no convincing as to the reason to contribute toward the 
Institutional Endowment Fund. The new Brother should be involved 
immediately in an educational plan designed to acquaint him with the 
Home and the need to support it. More importantly, his education 
should be enhanced by visiting the institution. Lodges should make 
visits at special times. This group would yield benefits far out of 
proportion of the effort expended.

Virtually every Masonic Temple or Lodge Hall has something for the 
new Brother to do. Periodic physical maintenance of interiors and 
exteriors comes immediately to mind. Most Lodges are feeling the bite 
of inflation. Work formerly contracted, such as painting, could and 
should be undertaken by the brethren. All of the Brothers will feel 
better as a result of such a group experience. Funds saved can be 
well spent on charitable and educational activity.

Some Lodges make a point of involving newly-made Masons in the 
preparation of newsletters and Trestle Boards. Often the new Brother 
has journalistic skill, typing ability, or other talents that make 
him particularly suited for this type of activity.

Secretaries often ask for and receive help in making more coherent 
order out of files. This can be and often is tedious work, but it is 
work that must be done. And the Brethren will not know who will or 
will not do it until they ask.

The Lodge each year should have an every member canvass. Physical 
contact should be established with each Brother if possible. 
Questions should be asked as to why a Brother has not attended Lodge. 
Ideas and suggestions should be solicited from all to ascertain what 
can be done to improve the Lodge. The physical visit will point out 
to the Brother that his brethren are interested and that he is 
needed.
Often these visits yield immediate, widespread and long-range 
results.

Sometimes Lodges learn for the first time that a Brother is ill, that 
he has serious financial problems. Pride frequently has prevented the 
wife or other family member from asking for and receiving help. The 
problem, however, is that so few Lodges have anything resembling a 
real visitation program and few if any newly-made brethren are 
involved in it.

One of the really great areas of the Lodge in which to involve the 
newly-made Mason is in DeMolay, Rainbow Girls, and Job's Daughters 
activities. The youth of Masonry are involved here. There is simply 
no better area for Masons to invest time and talent, both of which 
are sorely needed-especially talent. Too frequently the brethren are 
prone to write a check when time is the greater of the needs. Time 
spent in worthwhile activity yields benefits of an intangible nature, 
often years away before full
realization. But these benefits are the most special. To see a young 
boy and girl grow up to become a fine man and woman is to savor life 
at its finest. And this is the essence of Freemasonry, to take the 
good man and to make him better.

A word is in order concerning Family Nights. There is no doubt that 
the family needs must be considered if healthy Masonic growth is an 
objective of the Lodge. A plan of Masonic education which includes 
the wife is essential. The Investigating Committee should insist that 
she be present when it calls on her husband. She should be told that 
it will be necessary for her husband to be away from home for 
purposes of instruction at certain times. It should be stressed to 
her and to him that Masonry strongly supports the concept of the 
family, and that it is never to interfere with a family's
harmony.

The newly-made Mason should be encouraged to coach candidates as soon 
as he is qualified. This will do much to imprint upon his mind the 
ritual and the catechism. More often than not this responsibility 
will send the new coach to the books to search for answers and to 
delve more deeply into the symbolism with which he is involved. Every 
Lodge should have a well-stocked library that is added to on a 
regular basis. All Masons, young and old, should be encouraged to 
consult Mackey, Pike, Pound, Newton and a host of others. The new 
Brother ought to make it a habit to read The
Philalethes, the New age, The Short Talk Bulletin, Quotuor Coronati 
Transactions, Knight Templar Magazine, and others that members of the 
Lodge receive. There ought to be time to discuss Masonry at all 
Communications. All of this will help to ground our new Brother in 
the fundamentals. It will help him to be a better coach and thereby a 
better Mason.

The above mentioned areas are simplistic in nature. All are well-
known and all are in operation, to a degree, in some Lodges. The 
problem, however, is that there is no really systematic attempt in 
too many Lodges to employ all or, in some, any of them. We need to 
return to these basic fundamentals that have stood the test of time. 
There is no better time to start than with the present class of 
Entered
Apprentices.

Involvement is essential.


