What Would You Do As Grandmaster #3

Now here is a Brother who is a reformer, a strong reformer. Keep in mind as you read these essays that the perspective of the authors often are reflected in the circumstances through which the Brother has had to endure. Many reformers have been cruelly dealt with by Freemasonry. I have not the story behind the story about 2 BOWL CAIN. But I can tell he has been treated unfairly along the way and has risen anew in a different vein. I thank him very much for his contribution and urge all who read this to visit his excellent blog at:
http://tubulcain420.blogspot.com/
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I want to thank Brother Squire for allowing me the opportunity to express myself as to how and what I would do affect Freemasonry. I believe in keeping it simple. My total approach is strictly for the Blue Lodge and making it a special place for Masons to meet and become enlightened. I want the Master Mason to gather all that has been scattered, and that is Freemasonic Light, unencumbered by recognition and control of what is acceptable as real Masonic Light. All of the rites and rituals have value to all masons, and the Blue Lodge should be the Clearing House of all Masonic Light. I want the Lodges to feel Sovereign in their direction and what Light they want to disperse amongst their members. A sense of Universal acceptance amongst all who call themselves Masons, and take it seriously, is what I want to accomplish. The more we are exposed to the differences within the Craft and its history, the better we will be at understanding the Crafts original purpose and hopefully the rediscovering of the Spirit which swept across this small planet spreading Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.
So Mote It Be.

1. Elections for every Grand Line Officer. They must present a platform on which they will run for office. Their platforms will be made available on line and sent to all lodges so the membership may know what their potential leaders would do for the craft. No platform, no name on ballot. No appointments to Grand Line and no progression. If you turn out to be a lame duck officer, you may be voted out of line.
2. No York or Scottish Rite bodies. The rituals and lessons will be performed by degree teams of devoted brethren. These Rites will be available to Past Master’s only, and not for titles or rank, but strictly for educational purposes. Then these Past Master’s will be given material for further Light to spread back to the Blue Lodge.
3. Shrine de-affiliated with Freemasonry. Choose: be Shriner or a Freemason.
4. Ban on all one day classes. Minimum of 8 months between degrees. Pieces of Architecture will be presented by every candidate as well as other demanding requirements for progression through the 3 degrees. Architectures will be papers written by the candidate to be read at an open lodge and then discussed by the brethren.
5. Ban on all books with the words Idiots or Dummies in it. We are a class organization and want to remain that way. My jurisdiction is not for the Dummies or Idiots crowd. Anytime a Masonic want to be author relates to Historical Masonic writers material and hard work as “CRAP” will automatically be removed without a trial. My jurisdiction will breed class, not crass.
6. No selling of Indulgences.
7. Every Lodge will have to perform at least 2 table lodges a year. If a Lodge needs help, zealous brethren will help out.
8. Local Lodges do not handle Masonic funerals anymore. A district funeral team will be set up and those zealous brothers will handle Masonic funerals when requested.
9. District Deputies must have a finance background to be able to “really” audit Lodges and Temple company books. A stop needs to be put on shady record keeping within the temples and the inspectors must be properly trained on what to look for.
10. 5 year reprieve on per capita. Every lodge or Temple Company must submit how that money is being spent on the upkeep of ones temple, especially Historical edifices. The Grand Lodge will donate to the Charitable Foundations put in place to run these facilities.
11. 5 year ban on all territorial/jurisdiction divisional codes. Allow and promote inter-visitation between ALL Freemasonic bodies within ones territory. Go and visit these other lodges, invite them to your lodge. Spread Universal Brotherhood of All Mankind. At the end of the 5 years, study to see what the positives and negatives were by spreading this type of Universal Freemasonry.
12. A college of rites for all blue lodge masons to be made available for further Light. Freemasonry has a long history of the formation and working of many rites, and all rites should be available for all masons to study and learn
13. No more parading in aprons, collars and polo shirts. If a lodge wants to parade locally, all in business attire and the WM can wear his Tile/Top Hat. That is it.
14. All Lodges must institute a Chamber of Reflection and Cave Investigations for all potential candidates.
15. Petition signees will have more responsibility on the labor and dedication that their petitioner shows. It will be handled on the Lodge level, but members will be held accountable for trying to bring in “lazy” masons.
16. 5 year ban on “National” charities. The Lodge needs to be active locally with actual labor, not just writing checks to some charity. Labor and works perfects the ashlar. We should become THE local charity. i.e. the temple company.
17. All EA’s must do Labor in the temple for the Lodge. That is what they do. Labor.
18. Freemasonry is a volunteer organization, no payment to any members for services as an officer.
19. A temple committee will be assigned to check the age of the temples around and how may the Grand Lodge help with the upkeep. The destruction of our Temples must stop. Also, the Grand Lodge will not interfere with Temple Companies running their Temples and impede their progress in saving their buildings. Their responsibility will be to detect fraudulent behavior only. Create a committee to help drive revenue to the bigger facilities. Also, make sure the Temple Companies are properly insured so no claims of fraud may be levied against them.

What Would You Do As Grand Master #2

Now here is an erudite Brother with a reply. He is even putting the finishing touches on a book!! I won't spill the beans and tell you what it is all about. The Wayfaring Man has a blog that always has me leaving with something I didn't know before, some new knowledge. His historical perspective is outstanding and he has proven himself to be a man of letters. I urge everyone to visit The Wayfaring Man's Blog at Audi, Vide, Tace In the meantime, Al Gore, watch out!!!
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Masonic Global Warming Denied
--Wayfaring Man
audevidetace.blogspot.com

The question the Good Squire puts to us is:
how to save Mainstream American Freemasonry from extinction

which assumes that we are indeed headed toward annihilation, or worse, irrelevance. I am not willing to accept this hypothesis and I do not see us headed toward extinction. At least not now. Masonic extinction, or an "Ice Age" of cultural misgivings in Masonry which could give rise to extinction, since 1717 only comes in two forms if history is any guide.

The first is extinction by political fiat. Franco, Hitler, Stalin, and Khomeini, to name a few of Masonry's detractors in the last 75 years, have extinguished our Order by simple decree. At the stroke of a pen, and with the concomitant cock of a pistol, Masonry became outlawry and every Mason -Caput gerat lupinum - a Wolf's Head. Yet even under the iron- shod heel of the most savage repression, did Masonry's flame go completely dark? Iran still holds some Masons yet, thirty years after the revolution, and although they cannot meet legally, they are still in quiet touch with one another. So too, living Masons emerged from the concentration camps in April 1945, and Masonry was never completely dead under the Nazi regime, a far more formidable apparatus than even the most repressive "Grand Lodge Tyranny" imagined by today's critics.

Other than repressive dictators, the other great wave of "climate change" that imperiled our Craft was the Anti-Masonry hysteria of the 1826-35. On one level less hazardous to life and limb, it can be seen as infinitely more dangerous in terms of its potential lethality to the Craft itself because where totalitarianism enkindled the bolder Masonic spirits to soldier on, the calumny of Anti-Masonry undermined the commitment of individual Masons to continue at all, and lodges nationwhide closed their doors, some of them forever. Had it not been for the political corruption of some prominent Anti-Mason political candidates, the gloss of Anti-Masonry may have gleamed just long enough to erase Freemasonry from the United States for good. And although purely speculation, had that occurred, would the UGLE and the European lodges have been able to withstand similar assaults if North American Masonry had succumbed? Thankfully, we will never know.

In contrast to these two greatly unfavorable climates, the woes of today's Masonry, and the shrill cries of its critics ring hollow indeed. Are there problems in Masonry? Of course.
Are we teetering on the brink of a total collapse? Certainly not.

The decline in membership that we witness today is the result of the end of the membership boom of the last century, and as such, it is totally understandable. Masonry responded to swollen rolls by expanding in those heady post-war years - new buildings, increased public visibility, more, better, bigger: the American way. But those days are over, and a leaner, more agile Masonry is required today.

Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble no longer.

Your new Grand Master should make a sharp turn in Masonry - a U-turn, to be precise - turning the Craft back in upon itself. 100 years ago, the Craft was more insular, less visible, less hyped, and less public than it is today, and it was that way for many reasons, some of them philosophical, but some of them quite practical: there simply weren't enough Masons to have a drill team, a clown squad and 30 minature cars. It's time to look to the English model, quiet, small, but still very much alive, to see us through until the next seasonal change is upon us.

Thus, I argue that a simple downsizing is what Masonry requires today - not because the polar icecaps are melting and the deluge is coming - but because this is normal seasonal change, and prudence requires that we dress accordingly.

Audevidetace.blogspot.com

What Would You Do As Grand Master #1

When I sent out all the invitations for essays on this subject I got back quite a few replies that said "I have to think about that for awhile so don't expect to receive anything from me right away". That was OK as I had said I would do the first essay and y'all could feed off that. So I have been taking my sweet time myself being not quite finished with mine.

But the subject hit a nerve with Silence Dogood who blogs at The Middle Chamber. He was back in a flash with a very good essay. The core of Silence's message is for Grand Lodge not to be a burden but an enabler. Don't be a hindrance, be a helper. That certainly resonates with me and something I have preached myself. We have Lodges all over the country failing. More Lodges today are going under than banks. So I hope everyone takes Silence's message to heart. And we will start with his essay and I and the others will feed off that!

I would like to thank Silence Dogood very much for his participation in what I hope will be a learning experience for all of us and meeting of minds that will produce some really good ideas and thoughts for consideration. And I recommend that anyone reading this also visit the excellent blog of Silence Dogood, The Middle Chamber.

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What Would I Do As Grand Master?

When Brother Squire sent me a request for the following scenario, I just couldn’t resist giving my opinions.

“You are Grand Master of an American jurisdiction which has just changed its by-laws to give the Grand Master a five year term. As the first GM to serve five years what proposals, policies and changes would you make to insure the survival of your jurisdiction and promote healthy growth? Perhaps you like things just the way they are. You don't want to do anything different. If so make a case for standing pat or for trying some new (or old) ideas. It's your call. You are now in the hot seat. Tell us with that power and influence what you would do.”

So here it goes, if I was Grand Master:

First and foremost, I would eliminate all Grand Lodge programs placing a burden on the local lodges. In my jurisdiction, this is primarily the SDChIP program. I would stop asking lodges to fund and run these events so that their focus could be on what the lodge needs to do to improve and grow. Also, any other pet programs that have been haphazardly enforced on the local lodges would be removed to further reduce the strain.

One of the primary issues in my jurisdiction is the funding of the Grand Lodge. I would examine the Grand Lodge budget and make it public to all Masons in the jurisdiction. In addition, I would make a budget proposal that would cut out all unnecessary Grand Lodge spending and present that to the Masons in the jurisdiction to get their feedback. Finally, as part of fixing the budget, per capita dues would be adjusted to a lower rate to accommodate the new pork-free budget. Once again, this would reduce the financial strain on local lodges.

One addition to my Grand Lodge’s budget would be the professional design and maintenance of a website for the jurisdiction. The website would be created through a professional firm and would be a great way to make the Grand Lodge more visible and connect Masons in my state.

My last major measure of reform for my Grand Lodge would be to review the by-laws item by item and remove any by-laws that restrict the ability for local lodges to conduct business. One such regulation is the requirement that multiple lodges meeting in the same town must meet in the same building. This sort of regulation is ridiculous and simply restricts the ability of lodges to conduct business in their best interest.

After reforming the Grand Lodge and placing the power of the jurisdiction back in the hands of the local lodges, I would move forward with assisting lodges in building the organization. Lodges would be required to submit a report explaining the health of their lodge in the following categories: education, fellowship, ritual, attendance, membership, finance, and charitable pursuits. These would be reviewed by the principle Grand Lodge officers and District Masters (who would be appointed based on an interview process). Once the perceived weaknesses of each lodge are identified, the District Master would meet with the officers of each lodge to discuss an improvement plan. This plan would be submitted to the Grand Lodge for the record. The effectiveness of this plan would be evaluated on a semi-annual basis through District Master visits and a progress report would be submitted to the Grand Lodge in the same time frame.

The Grand Lodge would assist in these endeavors by implementing certain programs. The first would be developing a Masonic Lecturer circuit with Brothers from the jurisdiction. The Grand Lodge would help put together a list of lecturers in the jurisdiction and assist in scheduling there appearances. The goal would be to have the lodges host a guest lecturer at least twice a year. Also, teams would be assembled to administer lodges of instruction. Each lodge would be visited by one of these teams once a year to learn how to do ritual to standard and the lodge would be evaluated on its performance of ritual.

I believe that these steps would help to move Masonry forward. By removing unpopular Grand Lodge programs, the local lodges can focus on their own individual pursuits. By down-sizing the Grand Lodge budget and giving the savings back to the lodges, the local lodges will have more financial resources to accomplish their goals. Also, introducing greater transparency to Grand Lodge finance will improve relations between the Grand Lodge and members of the fraternity. The addition of a professional Grand Lodge website will move the jurisdiction into the 21st century and keep it from becoming obsolete. The reform of the Grand Lodge by-laws will remove silly policies which inhibit the ability of lodges to conduct their business and give them greater freedom to move forward with their improvements. By making the Grand Lodge an assistant in lodge improvement, lodges may develop plans specifically tailored for their situation. Lodge improvement is not a one size fits all plan and the Grand Lodge should respect that.

Changing the Grand Lodge from a regulatory body to an enabling body will help local lodges improve and that is where Masonry happens. If the local lodges can prosper, then the jurisdiction will as well.

The People Who Make A Difference In Your Life

Brother David Lettelier sent me this. I thought it profound enough to post here. We as Masons do not have to be festooned with medals or a Grand Lodge Officer to make a difference in someone else's life. The average Joe six pack Mason does a hell of a lot of good and is strong support for those around him and with whom he comes in contact. Be proud to be just a Mason.

The following is the philosophy of some unkown author. You don't have to actually answer the questions. Just read the following straight through, and you'll get the point.


1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.

2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.

3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America.

4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize..

5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winner for best actor and actress.

6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.




How did you do?

The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners .




Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.

2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.

3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.

4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.

5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with .



Easier?

The lesson : The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care.

The Only Pictures In Existence of a Buffalo Soldiers Masonic Lodge

Joppa Lodge #150

A Meeting of Minds

I am asking a group of Masonic bloggers to write a essay on how to save Mainstream American Freemasonry from extinction.

Here is the scenario:

You are Grand Master of an American juisdiction which has just changed its by-laws to give the Grand Master a five year term. As the first GM to serve five years what proposals, policies and changes would you make to insure the survival of your jurisdiction and promote healthy growth? Perhaps you like things just the way they are. You don't want to do anything different. If so make a case for standing pat or for trying some new (or old) ideas. It's your call. You are now in the hot seat. Tell us with that power and influence what you would do.

This invitation is being sent to:

Greg Stewart - Masonic Traveler
Widows Son - The Burning Taper
Steve Brettell - Freemason From The Free State
Silence Dogood - The Middle Chamber
Tom Accuosti - The Tao of Masonry
Palmetto Bug - The Masonic Line
2 Bowl Cain - 2 Bowl Cain
Wafaring Man - Audi, Vide, Tace



I will post the first essay, myself, and you can all feed off that or answer the call of your own drummer. If there is some one else who would like to participate, please contact me on the back burner.

The Buffalo Soldiers

Saturday September 20, 2008 I delivered my first presentation as the newly appointed Lecturer for the Dallas Chapter of the Phylaxis Society. The subject was "The Buffalo Soldiers" many of whom were Prince Hall Masons. You can read the entire paper at: http://www.phoenixmasonry.org/buffalo_soldiers.htm That is The Phoenix Masonry website where you will find much to improve your Masonic mind.