Cover Page Author s Name: Lodges & Jurisdiction John L. Deryck, PM, KYCH Drytown Lodge No. 174, F&AM, California Hiram Lodge No. 25, F&AM, California Star Lodge No. 187, F&AM, Ohio Concept of Masonic Renewal What it means to me now and in the future By John L. Deryck, PM
In an informative book in my library, Jewels of Masonic Oratory 1, RW Brother I. Earnest Newsom, says, To practice Masonry one must know Masonry. Everywhere in our work knowledge is stressed. Our first inquiry of the candidate is does he possess sufficient education and intelligence to understand and value the doctrines and tenets of Masonry? Again, and again the acquirement of knowledge and skill are urged upon the candidate. It is not surprising then that education is the basis of every Masonic program. Not only education but education untrammeled by bias and unadulterated by religious dogma. Yet, early, and continuously, in the process of becoming a Master Mason there is an undoubted focus on values expressed in the Holy Writings, i.e. religion. Is it any wonder then that there is some confusion about what we espouse? The ideas and philosophy of Masonry are, at least to my mind, timeless perhaps even eternal. We think they are true, and harken to our Masonic tenet of Truth. We claim to transmit the truth to men who are initiated as Masons by allegory and symbolisms. And, this is so in our fraternity from the Entered Apprentice to the Master Mason degree and beyond. But, in our ritual and lectures we often encounter the phrase Masonic tradition informs us. This immediately raises in the mind of the candidate the question, is what follows true, or is it just a fabrication intended to make a point? Masonic scholars have often pointed out that we should take with a grain of salt, and examine carefully, what follows this phrase. It is, unfortunately, too often discovered not to be historically accurate, and to understand the point being made assiduous study is required. And, even then it is easily missed and leaves the candidate wondering. It is relatively certain that our ritual, our ideas, our traditions and practices, have changed little since 1717. While I cannot cite specifically a work earlier than A Ritual of Freemasonry 2, first published in 1831, to corroborate that this is true, I can definitively say, based on this book, that since then our ritual and ideas have changed little. But, unequivocally, the world has changed quite a bit since then. Yet, Masonry has not. We seem to revel in the past and the traditions of the past, pay homage to Masonic giants of the past, and the rituals of the past. Has that worked to keep our Craft relevant, attractive and vibrant? The very fact that Masons, including Grand Masters, are considering the concept of Masonic renewal, indicates to me that first, there is a felt need for renewal, for some changes, and, also, that the significance of our fraternity and its future are at stake. I understand that significance is not only tied to numbers; though when our fraternity was larger it clearly had more influence, attracted more influential and accomplished Brothers, and had a visible effect in our society and around the world. It is surely a different world than it was in the 19 th Century, in America, Europe and elsewhere.
Masons claim to be builders, besides being good men, knowledgeable and even powerful forces for good. But, how many new lodges are being built? It is a fact that there are fewer lodges working than even twenty years ago. That says we are not building anymore; not lodges, not membership, not influence, not relevance. Most of our lodges are old facilities, many poorly maintained. In the not-so-recent past almost every small town in every state had its Masonic lodge. No more. Lodges are consolidating for many reasons, and Masons frequently must travel to another town to their lodge. It could be that potential candidates look at the broken down, sad looking Masonic lodge and form a negative opinion based on that. Appearances have consequences. I don t imply that lodge buildings are the important aspect of a lodge, but I have heard the comment made that that lodge doesn t look very good. Why would one seek to join then? Freemasonry is a unique human institution, generating deep loyalty in its members and great misunderstandings among its detractors. 3 If we judge from the point of view of the detractors, Masonry is not what it says it is. Among the detractors are religious denominations that claim Masonry is a religion and this misconception seems to have taken hold. And, as religion, especially Christianity is under virulent attack today, potential candidates for our fraternity are dissuaded by that false notion. Yet, we do almost nothing to confront that falsehood. Having devoted about half of this paper to a few of the causes for the decline of Masonry, and the self-evident need for what is euphemistically termed renewal, I must now turn to the question, What ought we do? There are those who say we cannot change. Even the Charge given to the newly raised Master Mason (in California at least) says, Our ancient landmarks you are carefully to preserve, and never suffer them, on any pretense, to be infringed; and you are never to countenance any deviation from our established customs. (California Cipher, 2003, Grand Lodge of CA, SF) Thus, the new Master Mason concludes that we must continue as we have in the past, despite the clear need for change. But, is the Charge relevant? Does it in any way help to adopt the changes which are so clearly needed? The answer is, no, it does not. We must look carefully at what we charge the Master Mason with, and adjust to permit of change. We have procedures for change in every Grand Lodge, and a ritual committee. This Charge is ritual which requires change. But this is not the only ritual change I see needed. It is not, however, within the scope of this paper to address them.
Our Masonic tradition, or custom, one which is counter-productive, says a man must come of his own free will and accord, so it is said. We cannot entice him, encourage him or influence him, unless he asks. How many times, when in conversation with a good man, have you heard when you ask him why he isn t a Mason, he says, Nobody ever invited me. Should that be changed? I suggest to you that it should be, and for many good reasons. If we invite good men to become Masons we will grow again. And, surely, we need to grow. Need I cite rationale for that? I don t think so, even though this would be a deviation from our established customs. I don t know what the average age is across Masonry, but I would guess it is higher than 60-years. But, if we are to survive into the future, we need younger men. Thankfully, there seems to be an interest in that group 40-years and younger. But, too often, after receiving the degrees they don t participate for long before other pursuits are more interesting to them. We need to address this challenge. There are many ways. Let us begin with the time Masonry requires. The time Masonry can consume, not just for candidates in learning the fundamentals, but that which must be devoted by Brothers and officers. But, this younger group, with all the competing demands on their time, often opt not to pursue Masonry knowing the time it requires. We could find ways to reduce the time. For example, we could use digital means to present the ritual and let them use the modern means at their disposal at home. We have no secrets these days anyway; everything a curious person wants to know can be found on the Internet. Just look. So, why pretend we have something to hide. Would the point be missed if we digitized our ritual professionally? Would any lecture be less instructive or interesting delivered by a professional who was a Mason? I think not. The younger guys have been raised with TV, movies, Nintendo games, CD and DVD, why not take advantage of them? We changed from mouth to ear techniques some years ago. Why not another change after going to a cipher? An advantage, too, of this is that the new guy could watch the degree many times before doing an abbreviated proficiency. Is the proficiency rally necessary for that matter? It is often forgotten within a month after the ordeal anyway. The lesson is not. To address a contentious one now. In France, and maybe elsewhere (because I do not know), there are women Masons. All human spirits are created equal, including female ones. When a man leaves his family to go to lodge to a stated meeting or special degree meeting, his wife is left home, or in the kitchen preparing repast for the Masons. Wouldn t it be great if we could hear her say, Honey, is tonight Lodge night? Let s go. Would this destroy Masonry? I think not. There are many other changes that would help with Masonic Renewal.
4 June 2017 Citations: 1. Jewels of Masonic Oratory, Copyright 1930 by L.S. Myler, Fraternal Publishers Syndicate, Chicago, IL. P. 143 2. A Ritual of Freemasonry, w/ engravings, by Avery Allyn, KRC, KT, KM &c., John Marsh & Co., Boston, 1831 3. Is It True What They Say About Freemasonry? by Arturo de Hoyos & Brent Morris, Pub. M. Evans, Lanham et alii, 2010, p. xv