Well tis the season for elections and one never knows....
This past year was my first year in ten years that I was not an officer, while I appreciated the lack of pressure to attend since I "did not need to be there" I also knew what I've always known and that is I'm not a good passenger. So when I was asked if I would consider becoming a Junior Warden, I said hmmmmm. Then when I was asked if I would be willing to do the east for the degrees, oh really. And if you want to be Master the following year.......well well well.
So I'm off to my third lodge with hope that I can have the same impact I had on my second lodge, a now vibrant lodge with a strong officer line and great degree work.
So here's to 2012: Third Time's a Charm
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Driving The Bus
I was Master of my home lodge for two years, normally it was a progressive line and everyone served one year but my senior deacon had to drop out and we decided to keep the top three officers the same and move everyone else up behind us as opposed to trying to fill the whole.
The brother who served as my SW for two years took over and a few months into his term he commented that " it was much easier riding on the bus as opposed to driving the bus". He said I made it look so easy to be Master that he expected it to be easy. I think alot of officers watch and ride along and don't think much about what they would do when they are behind the wheel. And yes you are driving the bus; you are deciding the direction of your lodge and a lot of brothers are coming along for the ride.
So you have to decide when it is your turn to drive, are you going to hit cruise control or put the pedal down ? Of course with any big journey, pre-planning makes the trip all that smoother, so mapping out your course well ahead of time makes it go all the better.
Most of all, enjoy the journey on the path you pick, when it is your turn.
The brother who served as my SW for two years took over and a few months into his term he commented that " it was much easier riding on the bus as opposed to driving the bus". He said I made it look so easy to be Master that he expected it to be easy. I think alot of officers watch and ride along and don't think much about what they would do when they are behind the wheel. And yes you are driving the bus; you are deciding the direction of your lodge and a lot of brothers are coming along for the ride.
So you have to decide when it is your turn to drive, are you going to hit cruise control or put the pedal down ? Of course with any big journey, pre-planning makes the trip all that smoother, so mapping out your course well ahead of time makes it go all the better.
Most of all, enjoy the journey on the path you pick, when it is your turn.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
1-1-11 A New Beginning
2010 I did not do a single post, as they say, sometimes life comes at you fast. As I start 2011 I have no offices elected or appointed for the first time in ten years. Ten years ago I started in the officer line of my home lodge, through the years I joined the Scottish Rite, the Shrine, The York Rite and served as President of Blue Lodge Council. As I was reaching the end of my journey in my home lodge I affiliated with another Blue Lodge. I served as Master of my home lodge for two years and then as Master of my affiliate lodge for two years. Now I have time to reflect on this journey and share my thoughts.
As I said I served as Master for four years, a great honor and privilege. What I learned in those years is that to be effective a Master should: communicate, energize and socialize. Simply sending out two trestle boards a year does not cut it for communication. E-mail is quick and easy and is a great supplement to keep members up to date on upcoming events. Energize, the Master should be the biggest cheerleader, if the Master doesn't believe no one will believe. Socialize, get the members to get to know eachother through social activities such as dinners, CHIP programs, anything than just sitting there watching the Master blabbing.
As I said I served as Master for four years, a great honor and privilege. What I learned in those years is that to be effective a Master should: communicate, energize and socialize. Simply sending out two trestle boards a year does not cut it for communication. E-mail is quick and easy and is a great supplement to keep members up to date on upcoming events. Energize, the Master should be the biggest cheerleader, if the Master doesn't believe no one will believe. Socialize, get the members to get to know eachother through social activities such as dinners, CHIP programs, anything than just sitting there watching the Master blabbing.
Monday, October 12, 2009
POWER
I am Master hear me roar !!! I am Potentate bow before me !!! I am Grand (you fill in the blank) kiss my ring.............
Luckily most men don't seek power and even luckier most that do humbly seek not for their own benefit. But history is full of those who seek it for their own glory or who once get it become intoxicated with its effect. Our fraternity is set up with a system of government that is a dictatorship, one of the most abused systems in the history of the world since in this system the man at the top is the "The Man". To think that because of the nature and philosophy of our fraternity that we are immune to abuse would be naive. Now I still believe this is the right form of government for our fraternity and it has worked well for centuries. Most Masters only have one year to govern and any other form of government would simply be to cumbersome to operate under. Hopefully the cream still rises to the top but with thinning numbers and less willing to step up to the plate I think the odds have greatly increased for the wrong people to succeed.
I recently listened to a horror story that happened in one of our appendent bodies, the "leader" did so much damage in his one year that the ramifications will be felt for years to come. In a recent blog by a fellow mason he accounts on how after a degree a Grand Line officer suddenly quizzed his candidate on proficiency. I found this outrageous, what would possess a brother to potentially embarrass a candidate, the Master and the Lodge. I am sorry but talk about drunk with power, hopefully I will only be sitting on the sidelines when this one comes to power. I watched in disgust earlier this year after serving as Master on an elite degree team how the peacocks fluffed each other after the degree. I left thinking this is not the fraternity I know and love, will I serve again ????????
I guess us purest can still can still be proud of what we accomplish at the local level and help ensure that brotherly love still prevails. I will end with this word of caution: When you select Stewards this year, is this a man you want to lead your lodge ?
Luckily most men don't seek power and even luckier most that do humbly seek not for their own benefit. But history is full of those who seek it for their own glory or who once get it become intoxicated with its effect. Our fraternity is set up with a system of government that is a dictatorship, one of the most abused systems in the history of the world since in this system the man at the top is the "The Man". To think that because of the nature and philosophy of our fraternity that we are immune to abuse would be naive. Now I still believe this is the right form of government for our fraternity and it has worked well for centuries. Most Masters only have one year to govern and any other form of government would simply be to cumbersome to operate under. Hopefully the cream still rises to the top but with thinning numbers and less willing to step up to the plate I think the odds have greatly increased for the wrong people to succeed.
I recently listened to a horror story that happened in one of our appendent bodies, the "leader" did so much damage in his one year that the ramifications will be felt for years to come. In a recent blog by a fellow mason he accounts on how after a degree a Grand Line officer suddenly quizzed his candidate on proficiency. I found this outrageous, what would possess a brother to potentially embarrass a candidate, the Master and the Lodge. I am sorry but talk about drunk with power, hopefully I will only be sitting on the sidelines when this one comes to power. I watched in disgust earlier this year after serving as Master on an elite degree team how the peacocks fluffed each other after the degree. I left thinking this is not the fraternity I know and love, will I serve again ????????
I guess us purest can still can still be proud of what we accomplish at the local level and help ensure that brotherly love still prevails. I will end with this word of caution: When you select Stewards this year, is this a man you want to lead your lodge ?
Thursday, July 23, 2009
THE NUMBERS GAME
In my last blog I commented on the leasons learned from GM, although the issues facing GM are different than the problems facing our fraternity there is a common theme, the numbers game. In GM's case through the years they slowly lost market share and hence the volume necessary to maintain the size of their organization. In our case we have far fewer members than we did decades ago and time seems less available, so lets do the numbers game.......
Let's say I join the fraternity and fall in love with the organization therefore I attend all the meetings, twice a month. The next thing I do is join the officers line which leads to practice nights so lets say one extra night a month so we are up to three nights. Now we decide we want further light in masonry so we join one of the rites, lets say the York Rite. Wow this great, I love every aspect they have to offer so now I attend a night of Chapter, a night of Council, a night of Commandery every month therefore three more nights a month. So now we are up to six nights a month but wait I hear the Shrine has a lot to offer and supports a great cause so we join that, great, wonderful, we join a unit so now we do two nights a month for the Shrine. So lets see now we are up to eight nights a month. Realistic maybe for some but for most not really so what happens we spend our time where we can or devote all our time to the part of the fraternity we enjoy the most and become simply a dues paying member of the others.
Let's say I join the fraternity and fall in love with the organization therefore I attend all the meetings, twice a month. The next thing I do is join the officers line which leads to practice nights so lets say one extra night a month so we are up to three nights. Now we decide we want further light in masonry so we join one of the rites, lets say the York Rite. Wow this great, I love every aspect they have to offer so now I attend a night of Chapter, a night of Council, a night of Commandery every month therefore three more nights a month. So now we are up to six nights a month but wait I hear the Shrine has a lot to offer and supports a great cause so we join that, great, wonderful, we join a unit so now we do two nights a month for the Shrine. So lets see now we are up to eight nights a month. Realistic maybe for some but for most not really so what happens we spend our time where we can or devote all our time to the part of the fraternity we enjoy the most and become simply a dues paying member of the others.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Freemasonry - GM
The failure of GM and the conclusions reached during the reorganization should cause masons to pause and at least take a moment to ponder; do we have too many brands and too many dealerships to support for the size of our current membership ?
Unfortunately our fraternity like many volunteer organizations has shrunk in numbers over the years/decades and yet we still have almost the same number of lodges and appendent bodies. While I am a member in most of the appendent bodies; Scottish Rite, York Rite and the Shrine and I enjoy the aspects that each has to offer, I do question if there is enough brothers to go around to effectively support and perhaps more important lead all these associated organizations......
Yet the appendent bodies is where some of, in my opinion, the most effective charity work is done; Shrine burn hospitals, Scottish Rite Learning Centers, etc....with the blue lodges as the cornerstone of entire thing.
Unfortunately our fraternity like many volunteer organizations has shrunk in numbers over the years/decades and yet we still have almost the same number of lodges and appendent bodies. While I am a member in most of the appendent bodies; Scottish Rite, York Rite and the Shrine and I enjoy the aspects that each has to offer, I do question if there is enough brothers to go around to effectively support and perhaps more important lead all these associated organizations......
Yet the appendent bodies is where some of, in my opinion, the most effective charity work is done; Shrine burn hospitals, Scottish Rite Learning Centers, etc....with the blue lodges as the cornerstone of entire thing.
So here is the dilemma, if I only have so much cement (time, members) how thin do I spread it before the whole thing becomes weak? Even on a more micro scale, how long should lodges (dealerships) hold onto charters when they really are no longer effective and no longer create more cement (members) to support the larger picture.
Another aspect which we see throughout lodges and the fraternity as a whole is what we have decided to do, or should I say has been a natural circumstance is water down our cement by having the same leaders throughout multiple lines, multiple lodges, etc....
Like GM, we need to decide can we still effectively manage all these brands the way they are currently structured ? I think the value of the appendent bodies is still there but I do feel some reorganization is needed and perhaps as they say it is time to right size the organization.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Expectations
How does a volunteer organization establish any consistancy and standards.....expectations. Why are some lodges much stronger than others even with similar membership.....expectations. There is no pay associated with what we do or how well we do it only pride in a job well done.
One of our Past Masters once told me that a lodge is only as good as its ritual. Once you let your ritual slide the whole lodge slides and I have to agree with him since good ritual work is the cornerstone of any lodge. How does a lodge establish good ritual practices......expectations. It should be expected that if you are a Steward you will perform the first section lecture. In my home lodge it is expected that if you are the Senior Deacon you will perform the Middle Chamber lecture. The Junior Warden does the EA Degree, the Senior Warden does the FC Degree and the Master is expected to do all three degrees. Any officer starting in the line knows these expectations, period.
The problem is a lot of lodges have trouble getting brothers to become officers and to do so they often lower the expectation of the position, the any warm body will do syndrome. While this may work for a short while in the long run without developing upcoming officers the seats end up getting filled with Past Masters who eventually burn out. This is what basically happened to my affiliate lodge. I am now proud to say that they have a full progressive line and all the officers know the expectations of the positions.
What changed ? Expectations, plain in simple. How did they change ? New Leadership, as with sports teams what do teams do when they are not getting the desired results, they change managers, they change expectations. All Masters have their own unique style and leading a volunteer organization is not easy since the key word is volunteer. Therefore not all styles work or should I say are effective.
One of our Past Masters once told me that a lodge is only as good as its ritual. Once you let your ritual slide the whole lodge slides and I have to agree with him since good ritual work is the cornerstone of any lodge. How does a lodge establish good ritual practices......expectations. It should be expected that if you are a Steward you will perform the first section lecture. In my home lodge it is expected that if you are the Senior Deacon you will perform the Middle Chamber lecture. The Junior Warden does the EA Degree, the Senior Warden does the FC Degree and the Master is expected to do all three degrees. Any officer starting in the line knows these expectations, period.
The problem is a lot of lodges have trouble getting brothers to become officers and to do so they often lower the expectation of the position, the any warm body will do syndrome. While this may work for a short while in the long run without developing upcoming officers the seats end up getting filled with Past Masters who eventually burn out. This is what basically happened to my affiliate lodge. I am now proud to say that they have a full progressive line and all the officers know the expectations of the positions.
What changed ? Expectations, plain in simple. How did they change ? New Leadership, as with sports teams what do teams do when they are not getting the desired results, they change managers, they change expectations. All Masters have their own unique style and leading a volunteer organization is not easy since the key word is volunteer. Therefore not all styles work or should I say are effective.
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