A Paper for…
Sequoia Council No. 228 (AMD)
… to
better serve the Craft through the medium of study and research…
Not 4 Everybody
By Rudy Olano
21Jan06
More often
than not, success is always measured in numbers. In the context of declining membership, most
of the letters or articles I have seen and read were the expressions of concern
of a “dying Fraternity.” Because the
Order loses X number due to passing away or disinterest compared to X number of
raised to Master Mason degree with its collateral result of amount of paid
membership dues. This writer tends to
lean in favor of the camp of those who believe in quality rather than
quantity. Like many of the current
members, this humble traveler will be extremely glad if more good men flock to
join our Fraternity in a hope of making themselves a better man. However, reality dictates that the Craft is
not the only group that offers that notion.
Freemasonry does not have the monopoly of self improvement while
respecting other beliefs. Our Craft will
always have “competition” to the pool of good men and to dream of taking them
all is just like that word---dream.
An argument
could be advanced that the Fraternity was never conceived to be a large
group. All the indications to limit the
membership were still being practiced and observed despite of the attempt of
those craved for change to adapt to modern times. It seems that adaptation means a way to
reverse the downward slope of membership issue and the mathematical answer to
the problem is to increase the production.
Many ideas that floated around and some were actually implemented were
designed to bring more individual “to participate in our privileges” as in
one-day conferrals and ease off usual requirements such as writing an essay
instead of “committing to memories certain parts of the lecture.” How many of us do not even pause to discard
something we consider cheap, easy to replace and of little value if not
outright worthless?
Men used to
flock in our Fraternity because they expect that the Craft were “above” or
rather, not like other organizations.
The Order used to attract men who are not “ordinary” people; they may be
living better than familiar folks, possess skills that are not common or
engaged in a profession that pays a notch or two higher than average. The
fact was that during the Golden Years of Freemasonry, members of the Fraternity
were not your everyday “ordinary” men. One could ask why does “exclusive”
country clubs have a year-long waiting list for membership. Despite of expensive membership fees, men who
can barely play golf lined up to get in? Why? Because they expect quality; be it may in
service, using real glass instead of Styrofoam cup, real sit down dinner
instead of being catered by amateurs or kids, or maybe the need to be
associated with people and environment that is not “ordinary.” An assembly with room full of attendees
wearing open neck shirt and jeans feels different than with a gathering of
people wearing coat and tie and/or tuxedo.
Men who understand quality dressed up for important events, they “adorn
great and important undertakings.”
This humble
writer submits that our Fraternity is not for everybody and limited only to
those who qualifies. Just like military
or religious vocation, our Craft is NOT for general population. Not everybody can get in; there are
requirements to be met such as capability to meet financial obligations, mental
aptitude to tackle what are needed for the rituals, availability of time for
the Craft without concern for second job, etc. The lowering of standards
such as requirements to be more financially “affordable,” and taking anyone who
ask without regard to the issue of “bringing honor to our ancient institution”
are some of the reasons why members dropped off and some of unintended
consequences of quantity approach and not to mention an unpleasant result in
the coffers of those who depend on it. A
Master once said that he rather have a membership roll with nine names of
brothers who regularly shows up in meetings and conferrals listed than one
hundred names on the roster including names of those regular nine. People showed up because they like to and not
because they have to. Numbers seems
irrelevant in the context of maintaining “those truly Masonic ornaments,
Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth.”
