The Worshipful Master's Corner

Happy New Year Brother!

I hope you had a blessed holiday season. Now that we are into a new year, and moreover a new decade, let us set our gaze forward. Forward to building a stronger and more relevant Lodge based on the universal truth of our principles.
Looking backward, we’ll find that membership has been on the decline for decades. When I first went through the chairs, ultimately serving as Worshipful Master in 1989, our membership was over 400, today it is 291. Looking backward we will see that the Lodge would pick up the tab for dinners before the meetings, then we were only able to defray the costs a bit, and unfortunately today, members must pay the full rate. Yes, costs have steadily risen while our membership base and revenue stream has decreased. Looking backward, we’ll notice attendance in our large, beautiful Lodge Room has dwindled. Looking backward we’ll see that participation - going through the chairs, “learning the work”, etc. has faded from a time when men waited in line to sit in a chair (only 30+ years ago), to a time when it took 5-6 years to accomplish, to today when a viable officer with enough zeal could possibly (and often ineffectively) zoom through the chairs in just 3 years, or more often, rely on Past Masters to fill the void again and again.

We can choose to look WAY back. Back to the glory days of Freemasonry. Back to a time when you did things because tradition and convention demanded they be done that way. Back to a time when Freemasonry was pretty much the original social network – no TV, no email, no Twitter, websites or Facebook. Back to a time when two income households were a rarity. Back to a time when parents did not spend many evenings running their kids to all their organized activities because most kids just went out and played. Back to a time when Masonic Temples bustled with activity and the public knew what the Masons stood for through the good works they did in the community, and the examples they set for others. Ah yes, the good ol’ days.

Unfortunately, times change, and as the saying goes, “the only constant in life, IS change.” Depending on your viewpoint, change can either be stressful and scary, or it can open doors to new adventures and opportunities. Let’s face it, life as we knew it has changed, and while we may not agree with it all, it will continue to change. Sometimes for better, sometimes not. Obviously, through the trends we’ve experienced in our fraternity over the past several decades we can see that we have not kept pace with changes around us. We are but a shadow of our former glory.

We each have our own opinions relative to the future and the changes which besiege us. We can mire ourselves in squabbles over what should or should not be done to change Freemasonry. But if we choose that path, we’d be missing the bigger picture which had always been and remains the strength of the organization: our principles. The things Freemasonry represents and has to offer the world cannot everywhere be found. If ever in history there was a need for men of character, a need for faith, a need for benevolence and charity, a need for brotherly love and understanding, and a need for mutual aid and assistance, it is today.

We still have all that. We need to work diligently to maintain that. It is that which gives us relevance. We must strive to share that with the world through our words and actions. We have no choice but to do so. The importance of our message demands nothing less. Specifics of how we orchestrate our tiled meetings, how we obtain new members or how we gain further knowledge in the craft is secondary to our overwhelming potential as a force for good.

Let us not fall prey to the paralysis of reticence nor ambivalence. If Freemasonry is to have a future as bright as it’s once brilliant past, it is on our rock-solid principles which we (you and I) need to focus. Let us boldly resolve to preserve our principles and our rich heritage, and with them, move forward in optimism and determination toward a future of unbridled opportunity. Our good intentions will be crowned with success if we, in unanimity, stay focused on what is and has always been important about Freemasonry and direct our efforts accordingly.

So Mote It Be.

Fraternally, Bro. Jon J. DeHart PM, WM