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The Functioning Of Our Blue Lodges
What I may say about the normal activities, the effective work, the detailed programming, the performance of the duties of the Worshipful Master and his officers in the Blue Lodge, and the suggestions I make may apply equally as well to other Masonic bodies.
It is sometimes difficult to find new suggestions to present to any Masonic body for two reasons; first, those that are new may not be good, and those that are good may not be new; and secondly, because our problems and our objectives Masonically are pretty much the same always.
However I think you will generally find that even with old suggestions there is always some new approach to them, some new realization of their significance, and certainly some additional motive for further progress. What those are of course must be left to the individual Worshipful Master and his officers to work out, by developing ideas, by formulating plans, and by devising ways and means to carry these plans through to a successful conclusion, always bearing in mind that to obtain the best results requires a certain degree of morale, and morale is simply a state of mind.
I am sure they will come nearer meeting such an objective along these lines if they will keep before them at all times a definite picture of just what they are after, that is, what state of mind it is that provides the proper basis for interest and enthusiasm in their Masonic life.
This should bring us to the subject of leadership, but when we speak of leadership, let us first begin to talk about initiative, individual initiative, for that is where all leadership begins. A good presiding officer is a good leader, he does not give an order that he would not fulfill himself, his order would not be, for example, "Go, attack the enemy," but rather he would say "Come, follow me, let us together attack the enemy."
Leadership is made up of a myriad of qualities; force, aggressiveness, humanness, sense of fair play, enthusiasm, and many others. It is that innate quality in a person which enables him to motivate a desire from within on the part of those under him to do a better job.
The Master may have a group of officers of dissimilar personalities and characteristics, one may be motivated or stimulated by a certain type of approach which would utterly fail with others, therefore all the leadership qualities must be brought into play to obtain the best results from the group as a whole.
Some of the attributes of a successful Master are first, to delegate without giving up the control; to seek opinions and perhaps advice but continuing to make the final decisions; to separate the essentials from the trivial and not become enmeshed by trifles. A Masonic speaker pictured King Solomon's Temple in all its glory, not yet fully completed because of lack of leadership, there being no designs drawn on the Trestleboard.
Have we not known of cases where even though a member has not the capabilities of leadership this has not affected his being advanced once he has started up the line in the Lodge? How can a Lodge flourish if it has no leader? How can an evening become interesting and instructive if the officers are not capable of making it so? Too many times we fear to offend a Brother by telling him he should not advance in line.
The Worshipful Master who praises his officers for their ritualistic work gives them the encouragement to build their own self-confidence, makes them feel they have become equal to their own problems, and gives them the incentive to go on, for praise is a dynamic accelerating force.
It follows too that the officers will become imbued with enthusiasm and this will be immediately felt by those with whom they came in contact, for enthusiasm is inspiration, ardent zeal, fervor, glowing ardor. Enthusiasm comes from the heart and soul, it is catching, the Master who is genuinely enthusiastic will convey it quickly to his officers, and they in turn will likewise become enthusiastic.
The Lodge in reality is its members, and conversely the members are the Lodge. We have a portion of the members elected to office and another group appointed to other positions, both responsible to the membership which in turn is obligated to support those whom they have placed in office. And so, we have an organization composed of officers to supply the initiative and leadership, the appointees to exercise guidance and counsel, and the members at large through committees and by individual action to motivate and carry through their programs and objectives.
The promptness and thoroughness with which each member recognizes and performs his duty constitutes the functioning of our Blue Lodges. The duties of the Master and his officers are to plan and direct the projects in accordance with their objectives. It is the duty of each committee chairman, committee member and individual Brother to carry on as though the success of the whole depended entirely upon his actions.
The Lodge should not become a One-Man Lodge in which one Brother does all the work and carries the responsibilities which should be distributed among its officers and committee members. If there is such a Brother with the ability and willingness to carry the full share, make the most of his administrative ability to guide and direct, but be sure that others also do their own work. Otherwise you will discover how weak the Lodge has become.
What about the new member? He has already a preconceived opinion of Masonry, a desire for knowledge, and a wish to make himself more serviceable to his fellowman. When he presents himself for initiation he is usually accompanied by his sponsor and being introduced all around is made to feel perfectly at home. From here on it is the duty of the Brethren to make sure that his interest is not only aroused but maintained at the highest level. He is made a listener to the ritual so it is highly desirable to place emphasis upon important words using the art of elocution.
--Frank H. Wilson, F.P.S. (taken with permission from the October 1966 issue of the Philalethes Magazine)
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