We're Boring The Brethren To Deathby Skip Boyer, MPSThe river of men knocking on the door of the Temple of Freemasonry at the beginning of the last century has slowed to a steady but diminished stream. This is not universal, I think, but seems to be true for a great many lodges. Men do still seek us out, though not as many as times past. I don't really believe that welcoming new brothers is the real problem. The real problem is retaining the active interest of the ones we have. And why is that? It's simple. We are boring the brethren, Brothers. I recently sat in a lodge in San Antonio, Texas. The young Worshipful Master handled his stated meeting with style. Including opening and closing in due and ancient form, the entire meeting was over in 45 minutes and the brethren retired to a nearby restaurant for dinner, as is their usual custom. They were home by 10 p.m. They were having fun. They were enjoying each other and their fellowship. It was a delight to be in their midst. Oh. One other thing. The lodge was full. It wasn't a big lodge room, but there were easily 60 or 70 brothers present. I contrast it with the stated meetings of my own lodge. This is not a criticism of the Worshipful Master or the brethren. Indeed, I'm guilty of this, myself. Our stated meetings can last from two to four hours. We read the minutes. Every single set for every meeting since the last stated meeting. We listen to committee reports. We quibble over issues that should have been resolved long before the meeting ever started. We do the same thing at each stated meeting and, frankly, it's boring as hell. By the way, I sat in another lodge recently in another state. Both will remain nameless. They read the bills. Not just for the month but FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR! Every single one of them. It's a good thing we were open on the Third Degree because by 11 p.m., they didn't have enough brothers present to close a lodge of Entered Apprentices. I believe we have two types of men in Masonry. There are those who love the philosophy and the ritual and find something new each time about themselves and their relationship to God and man. Then there are those to whom the philosophy and ritual are not of any real interest. They are interested in the management and running of an organization or club. They love to divide the indivisible, unscrew the inscrutable and split every bylaw hair they can find. They would be equally at home in a Rotary or Kiwanis meeting. Again, this is not a criticism. You have to have both kinds. But -- and this is the real point -- I'm at a point in my life when one of the most valuable things I have is my time and I'm coming to realize that I may have a lot less of it than I thought when I was 25. If you want me to spend some of that valuable commodity, you'd better give me a good reason. I submit to you that, right now, we are not doing that. Why should I sit for three or four hours and listen to the minutes being read. I don't have time for it. And I'm bored. The solution? Eliminate. Post the minutes. Post the communications from the Grand Lodge. Post anything that doesn't need to be read. Abbreviate the reading of petitions. I've never yet seen a brother in lodge writing down the telephone numbers and e-mail addresses of candidates. Limit. If we are going to split hairs on bylaws, etc., put a time limit on each speaker. You have two minutes to make your point. Sam Goldwyn once said that if you couldn't write your idea on the back of his business card, you hadn't thought it out well enough. Two or three minutes should be enough to make the point. Then sit down. Add. Add things of interest. Get speakers with interesting things to say. Was Jack the Ripper a Mason? What was the Morgan Affair? What are the points behind anti-Masonry? Is secrecy a good thing or a bad one? Let's debate something besides the amount of the checks we write to charities. Let's actually study what Masonry is. Do you know what the meaning of the Hiram Abiff legend is? Have you ever thought about it? You took an oath to always hale, forever conceal and never reveal....but do you know what the word "hale" actually means and why it is spelled that way? Why geometry? Why not music? There are a lot of things much more interesting than listening to the line of officers that performed a First Degree three weeks ago. And we'd better find them, I think. Brother Mark Twain once quipped that "It's a terrible death to be talked to death." And that's exactly what we're doing to our Craft. We're talking it to death with meaningless words. From the February 2005 “The Philalethes” Magazine.
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