Freemasonry connects us together
| One of the joys of my Masonic membership is knowing that I can find a safe place with good men wherever I travel. As a young Mason and Air Force officer, I knew I would be moving every 3-4 years, and every move would mean establishing new roots and connections in the community as well as within my military organization. Knowing that I could count on finding quick friends in the Lodge, I sought out the lodges around me as I travelled. My second assignment was in St Louis, Missouri. I was selected for special duty as an advertising and promotion officer for Air Force Recruiting Service. My territory covered the southern 2/3 of Illinois and the eastern 1/2 of Missouri (A few months before I left that assignment, we added parts of Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi). At the time (1988-1991), the Air Force did not buy television ads, and spent very little on radio. What coverage we did get was in the form of public service advertisements (donated air time). With St Louis as my only major market, I was able to generate over $10 million in free airtime over those three years, all developed by driving from station to station, talking with executives and owners and exchanging calendars, t-shirts, and coffee mugs for ads. As I travelled for a week at a time, the first time through the territory I sought out the local lodges, hoping for a meeting the night I was in town, but generally having to stumble across a Mason in a parking lot or in an office, since sign boards weren’t always posted at the lodge building. But, the next time through that area, I built my travel schedule around those lodge meeting dates so I could spend my evening with brothers, and not simply watching a movie or game while sitting in my hotel room. Met a lot of great men and saw a lot of different ways to “do Masonry.” One day, I was sitting in our little church choir and noticed the guy sitting next to me wearing one of the “brag bar” tie bars. I said to Jim, “I see you are a travelling man. Is there a lodge looking for a good sideliner to help out for a few years while I’m stationed here?” His response was classic and caught me off guard, “Yes, in fact. Our lodge is looking for a Junior Warden.” Seems he was the junior past master and was recycled to the South, but really didn’t want to be the first recycled Master of the lodge. He shared meeting information and I made plans to visit and get the lay of the land. Six months later, I had met the residency requirements, taken dual membership, and the lodge had a dispensation to elect a new Junior Warden (Jim also got me involved with the Valley of St Louis Choir where I was public relations chairman for several years). In the meantime, I was in a crash course to learn Missouri ritual (different than Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, California, North Dakota, and every other place I had visited) and began to get to know the brethren of my lodge and district and to prepare to be the lodge’s youngest Master, all in about 18 months. Then, in 1990, I was honored to be elected Master of Brentwood Lodge 616 and presented for installation by my dad, who was a past master of my mother lodge in Ohio, and installed by the sitting Grand Master of Masons of Missouri. It was a good term, in that we added members and had a full line. But, we had internal issues, too, and even considered closing or merging because folks weren’t willing or able to stand up and take on leadership roles. Thankfully, just the discussion about closing got folks to take the issues seriously–at least for a few years. Long after I moved to the East Coast, the lodge eventually sold its building to the city and became a tenant lodge elsewhere, later consolidating with another, much older lodge. So, in a simple question about finding a lodge to call my home away from home I found a place where I was being called to serve, learn, and lead. I had a life-changing experience in those few years. The successes and opportunities gave me a great deal of insight on how to lead volunteers, the value of a standard Ritual across jurisdictions, and how Freemasonry operates in different places. My travels have taken me from coast to coast and border to border, as well as to other countries. Everywhere I have gone I have found men of excellent character who want to do good work, and when they have a spark of energy and excitement in their midst, can do remarkable things with even a minimum of resources available. I share these personal experiences with you not to say “look how great I am,” but to say “see what can happen when we ask a simple question.” I hope my experience encourages you to not only ask, but when someone else asks if help is needed, you don’t say “No, we have it covered,” but extend the hand of brotherly love and friendship and welcome that brother into your midst and help him find his place with you, even if he might not be planning on being in town the rest of his life. You will never know how your hospitality might impact not only your own lodge or commandery, but others with which you have no affiliation. |
| “There are places on this campus where I fought and died and lived again, and out of that I got me, and that’s what counts.” — Hal Holbrook, 1942 graduate of Culver Military Academy (Culver, Indiana), about his experiences there. It is a quotation that resonates with me as a 1979 graduate of the same, but more importantly, applies to what I have learned through my lifelong journey. I hope it might resonate with you, too. |