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Posted at: 6:28 pm It is often lamented among the purist brothers that our fraternity has devolved into something less than the Masonry that once reigned. We sometimes hear of Lodges that have two, three or even six hundred brothers. What? How can you know and love six hundred men as your brother? So the lament centers around the saying, “If you need name badges in your Lodge, your Lodge is too big.” While I don’t disagree with that sentiment, I also think that many of our brothers would not be willing to pay the higher dues required to support a smaller Lodge. So, sadly, we will have to live with the problem of NEEDING to have more members, and thereby needing to have name badges. I guess I could go on and on about badges, familiarity with our brothers, time spent knowing each other, dues and all manner of other things. But for now, I will leave you with this thought: |
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August 8, 2007
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When I was a new Mason, it was very helpful to see the badges on the brothers so I could learn their names. Likewise, now that I’m an old hand (at 6 years) I look at the badges on the new guys because we’ve had so many join in the last year that I can’t memorize all of their names.
Comment by Tom Accuosti — August 8, 2007 @ 7:57 pm
This illustrates my point exactly, my Brother. Too many, too quick. How many of the new brothers are actually friends. Do you know their families? Did you get to know them before you voted them in and welcomed them to the lodge?
This is not a personal critique, but a statement about our whole craft. We move too quickly to “get new guys” and that only (in my humble opinion) serves to weaken the ties of our fraternity.
-Aedifico
Comment by aedifico42 — August 9, 2007 @ 11:30 am
Well, I dont’ know about the “moving too quickly” part. Sometimes it just happens that a few guys will come in, mention it to their friends, and suddenly a few more are coming in. It’s not like we’re recruiting them!
I don’t know how many are actually friends. I know that most of the current officers are friends - that’s why they’re all officers. I know that over the years there have been some men who were good friends coming in together, but some of them became friends after they came in.
Now, we don’t have 600 guys in our lodge; we have about 200, out of which a large contingent are retired and living in warmer climes. And out of the two dozen or so men that have joined in the last year or so, I’d expect that half of them might not be very active, and a few will go off to the Shrine or something. But half a dozen will stay active and eventually become officers themselves, and will probably become friends with other members.
Sometimes you need quantity to find quality, brother. I don’t see the harm in that.
Comment by Tom Accuosti — August 9, 2007 @ 2:24 pm
The investigation process prior to voting on membership should be where we filter-in quality.
-Aedifico
P.S. Brother Tom, we will continue to disagree on the name-tag thing. But it is our mutual respect for each other and our Craft that allows for rational discourse. I truly thank you for your continued comments. -A
Comment by aedifico42 — August 9, 2007 @ 4:17 pm