By Paul R. Swanson, 32° KCCH
In the latest issue of The Florida Mason, Above and Beyond Volume 2, issue 1 on page 28 titled Masonic Education and its Components the author (unknown) notes that “A few years back the Grand Lodge came out with new Master Mason I, II, & III.”
The author then reviews the pitfalls of group work and testing since the idea is that all Masons in Florida need to know the Masonic Digest inside and out. Another author in the same issue on page 10 has a full page about how we should dress up when attending lodge, which is only in formal suits or tuxedos it seems.
As a retired USN member I can associate this with a bit of humor. To get the full membership of the US Navy to read the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) they posted the entire set of regulations on the inside of the door of each commode seating area so that when the member had to use the facilities, as all must eventually, the regulations were staring them in the face not two feet away.
According to surveys, potential fraternal petitioners want the knowledge we often post and make claims in ads regarding “making good men better”. They are looking for fun, and comradery and they are looking for character building for themselves, hopefully in a fun-filled atmosphere.
Lastly, they want the secrets and esoterica, deep knowledge, and wisdom from other men they admire.
As a retiree from Uncle Sam’s canoe club, I was taught not to speak up unless I had a solution to the issues that I found objectionable. After twenty years of such behavior, I can’t stop now so here are a few suggestions if I may be so bold.
Give the people what they want! The surveys are available to reflect this but basically, they want more fun opportunities for their families, personal and professional comradery, character-building processes that they can utilize, and ample opportunities for leadership building, perhaps in less than the usual seven years.
Think committees, the empowered volunteers, steering committees perhaps? Not everyone finds ritual memorization fulfilling. There is more to Masonry than that, thank God.
The surveys show that one out of four Masons are leaving for just these reasons, they are not getting what they want out of our fraternity. We have the power to stop that membership “churn”, a business term for our situation if we want to. Does our leadership want to?
This is a Masonic state-level leadership issue ultimately. Solutions from within the membership are limited. State leadership for combating churn is where the solutions stand the best chance of success, in business parlance. Every mason is a customer of the lodge and ultimately the Grand Lodge and every mason can, and many are voting with their feet and leaving our fraternity to find satisfaction elsewhere.
That’s the harsh reality.
I have written extensively about how to rebuild our fraternal membership, so I am not going to rehash that subject here. Let’s instead address the “making good men better” claims we are known for but not directly addressing.
Men are seeking character-building and association with like-minded men. We claim “mastery” over such subjects including the seven liberal arts and sciences. We are just not delivering if the surveys are correct. So, what do we do?
We deliver on our promise, of course! Starting immediately. Too many today decline to attend lodge functions because they aren’t fun, or educational.
Numerous individuals and groups have noticed this educational issue, and they are providing tons of content on these subjects in blogs, Facebook posts, and other mediums, including books and speeches. Coach John S. Nagy, from Florida, is one of many with his Masonic Building Better Builders books, sixteen at last count.
We could provide a monthly Masonic newsletter from each lodge with an interesting article on these subjects. The brothers could meet regularly outside of lodge times and discuss the topics for a prescribed time frame. Iron sharpens iron.
Formats for the groups could mimic how many book clubs function. They could also follow the formats of church Bible study groups. The idea is that the topics of interest could be discussed and dissected until they are internalized, and then the individuals may find the education they originally sought from us.
How do we make “Good men better?”
Freemasonry used to be able to count on its petitioners being able to recognize most patterns and words that sprinkle its rituals. The so-called “classical” education or at least for most a familiarity with them conditioned the petitioner so that he recognized the associations and allegories from their life experience or education. They might not get everything, but they didn’t have to start from scratch either.
Today it is rare for someone with such a background to petition for a degree. The recent public drive for an emphasis on STEM majors in higher education is nearly empty of any classical literature and doesn’t emphasize logic or rhetoric either in most cases. Often, they don’t “Learn how to learn” either. Critical thinking is now somehow supposed to emerge spontaneously.
Often a STEM major today is just an extended trade school with some foreign language requirements.
Graduates are not prepared for human interactions, public speaking, or conversations where they need to concisely present their thoughts if they fall out of the realm of formulas, data crunching, or technology solutions.
The art of conversation for many today has fallen away, with many who can’t conduct a spirited conversation with another person on a topic which they don’t agree with and still stay even-tempered and toned as they attempt to “reason” with the other person.
The art of conversation and public persuasion has unfortunately devolved into hate speech, ad homonyms, and other unworthy behaviors for gentlemen on many social platforms.
Millennials and Generation Z individuals are looking for opportunities to engage in a “third space” which potentially for many of the men can be addressed by joining our fraternity if we shift towards making good men better with a process-oriented pattern of education and fun.
Masonic trivia night with a small prize for the brother who not only engages the most but gets the most correct answers is one idea.
We have a unique opportunity to help our fellow man, make our fraternity the best choice for the younger males to join over other volunteer groups, and become what we advertise but currently don’t offer, making good men better through our ritual advice.