Attitude of Champions

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Bro. Randy Sanders

I’ve mentioned previously I was a part of a championship high school marching band: The Pride of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.  Currently, the Pride of Broken Arrow band is the most awarded marching band in the nation and soon on their way to the Bands of America Grand Nationals at the time of this writing.  I watched the band sweep all categories in the recent super-regional competition and then again at the state competition this past weekend.  

The kids are exhausted, and they are headed into a short, well-deserved break before again adding and tweaking their show for national competition.  I see some parallels we as Masons do that also apply toward simple everyday activities.  Yes, we have the same old cliché stories of working hard, practicing, keeping focused, teamwork, and leadership.  Yet, that same lesson applies to every other band on the competition field.  What sets that Broken Arrow band apart from the rest?

We as Masons already know the secret to balancing these energies.  When Masons work hard, we play just as hard, and we divide our time for rest.  We focus by keeping our eye on the prize, not letting petty arguments get in the way of doing the Great Work.  Masons embody teamwork as a lesson of every opening and closing of the lodge, and leadership lessons are given with every sentence, every nuance, of that same opening and closing.

Randy, um, you left out practice?  Recently, a new DDGM in one of my districts told me, paraphrased, when we practice, we shouldn’t practice in order to get it right, we should practice so that we can never get it wrong.  How powerful is that statement?  How deep does that resonate within us?  Practice so that we can never get it wrong.  RWB Ryan Branson was directly on point.

Another interesting piece to the band that parallels Masonry is often overlooked:  Always tweak the show.  Always add a bit, or change how something is done.  Change!  Change?  Isn’t change an evil word in Freemasonry?  Brothers, that argument you should take up with your Grand Lodge Ritual Committee.  What I mean by tweak and change is to bring something extra.  Put effort into something you hadn’t previously done for your lodge.  I volunteered for the Audit Committee of my lodge this year.  I had never done so before, and it was something new for me to learn.  I volunteered for the first shift at a recent breakfast event.  This I had done many times before, but this time I wanted to ensure I was first there to open the lodge and kitchen.  I wasn’t the champion here, as the Worshipful Master beat me to the lodge by just a few minutes.  Still, the attitude of keeping it fresh by constantly pushing previous limits, learning, and simply being there?  That’s the important stretch.  Just like learning something new, make sure you take time now, and in the future, to mentor new Masons.  Let them make their mistakes, and gently coach them as to alternatives and improvements.  Let them make their own mistakes!  It is worth repeating that we learn from mistakes as well as giving us the opportunity to coach and mentor tenderly.  Coaching and mentoring is not sitting on the sidelines complaining “it was different” at some point in the past.

That stretching of our own brotherly duties, skills, and practice within the lodge and without?  That, my Brothers, embodies the attitude of champions.  The constant tweaking of our own skills, the gentle course correction we all need to contemplate, the focus on our internal Great Work that cements the Mystical Tie… That balance in how we approach life coupled with the Great Work gives us something to contemplate so that we embody that same champion in every action and internal competition.

~RS

Bro. Randy Sanders and his wife Elyana live near St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Randy earned a Bachelors Degree in Chemistry with an emphasis in Biochemistry, and he works in Telecom IT management. He volunteers as a professional and personal mentor, NRA certified Chief Range Safety Officer, and enjoys competitive tactical pistol, rifle, and shotgun. He has 30 plus years teaching Wing Chun Kung Fu, Chi Kung, and healing arts. Randy served as a Logistics Section Chief on two different United States federal Disaster Medical Assistance Teams over a 12-year span.

Randy is a 32nd-degree KCCH and Knight Templar.  His Masonic bio includes past Lodge Education Officer for two symbolic lodges, Founder of the Wentzville Lodge Book Club, member of the Grand Lodge of Missouri Education Committee, Sovereign Master of the E. F. Coonrod AMD Council No. 493, Co-Librarian of the Scottish Rite Valley of St. Louis, Clerk for the Academy of Reflection through the Valley of Guthrie, and a Facilitator for the Masonic Legacy Society.

Randy is a founding administrator for Refracted Light, a full contributor to Midnight Freemasons, and an international presenter on esoteric topics. Randy hosts an open ongoing weekly Masonic virtual Happy Hour on Friday evenings. Randy is an accomplished home chef, a certified barbecue judge, raises Great Pyrenees dogs, and enjoys travel and philosophy.

The Power of Positive Freemasonry

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Bill Hosler, PM

I have never been a positive person. Some people refer to themselves as a “glass half full” or “glass half empty”. For most of my life I have been a “the glass is empty and broken in shards on the floor” kind of guy. I am working on this, trying to be more positive as part of my life. I have noticed that the right environment helps when you are trying to find positive light in a world of darkness.

Many years ago, Brother Dr. Norman Vincent Peale (Midwood Lodge No. 1062, Brooklyn, N.Y. and served as Grand Chaplain: 1949-51 Grand Lodge of New York), wrote a book entitled The Power of Positive Thinking: 10 Traits for Maximum Results. The book’s Amazon page describes this book as “An international bestseller with over five million copies in print, The Power of Positive Thinking has helped men and women around the world to achieve fulfillment in their lives through Dr. Norman Vincent Peale’s powerful message of faith and inspiration.”

I have not read this book, but I should, and I may in the future. While reading the books description I realized how much of this book, much like the recent book ”It's Business Time: Adapting a Corporate Path for Freemasonry” by Brothers Robert Johnson and Jon Ruark adapted bestselling business and motivational books to running a successful Masonic lodge.

Amazons description of Brother Peale’s book, claims you will learn these skills:

· Believe in yourself and in everything you do

· Build new power and determination

· Develop the power to reach your goals

· Break the worry habit and achieve a relaxed life

· Improve your personal and professional relationships

· Assume control over your circumstances

· Be kind to yourself

I believe many of these can be concerted to the honorable and glorious purposes of fixing Masonry.

1. Believe in yourself and in everything you do

If you are a Freemason, hopefully you believe in the Craft and it’s teachings. You may, like many of us, be discouraged about Freemasonry’s current state, but I also hope you believe that if we continue to work and move forward we can put it back on a solid foundation

2. Build new power and determination

Each one of us who hold a current dues card has a voice and a vote on how we as an organization moves forward. Therefore, I am always saddened when I hear about a Brother who quits his lodge (and the Craft itself). Each one of us who is active in Freemasonry has a voice and a vote and if we stand together as a group we can eventually have the Fraternity we want. Each member we lose makes us weaker and will delay us in our ultimate goal. We need to stay involved and encourage each other to stay (or come back).

3. Develop the power to reach your goals

We as a group (Local lodge level, Grand Lodge level and nationally) need to know what we want the future of Freemasonry to look like and develop a plan in which we can implement as a group as we strive to meet our goals.

4. Break the worry habit and achieve a relaxed life

So many of us have raised our hands in frustration over the years when we are told we can’t change things in our lodges. I’m sure so many of you have heard, “We’ve never done it that way before” or “Grand Lodge won’t allow that” or “Please don’t do that out of the sake of harmony in the lodge”. So, we as a group have sunk back and quietly given up, and allowed what we know will drive members away to happen.

What we have forgotten is that we are playing the long game. We need to quit worrying and continue to try to make reforms. Eventually, they will happen. We are already beginning to see changes, so relax and remember the tortoise, not the hare.

5. Improve your personal and professional relationships

We must continue to strive to achieve our goals in Freemasonry and continue to make friends and “spread the cement” of Brotherly love. One of the things we strive to achieve in making ourselves better is not just in regards to education, but also making lifelong friendships along the way. Kind of like a “support group” when times get tough. We also need to continually interact, discuss and eventually agree on what we believe the future should look like. The more interactions and discussions we have is the only way we can put the designs upon the trestle board for the future.

6. Assume control over your circumstances

I think this point pretty much sums up everything I have written above. WE as a whole, as a group, need to discuss and plan for the future as we want it to be. We as a group or as the many separate jurisdictions in this country (or the world for that matter) won’t agree on every point, I mean we haven’t for three hundred years, but if we can begin to decide as a group what we want Freemasonry to look like we can be ready for the future when we can put our plans into practice.

Brother Peale lists one more point: “Be kind to yourself”, but for this paper I would like to replace this point with my own, which I feel is more important, “Don’t Quit”

Brother, I know we all get frustrated with the current state of affairs in our Fraternity. Cheap dues, crumbling buildings, boring meetings and in some cases mediocre meals have disappointed a lot of men who were originally excited to become Freemason. When they bring up ideas on how they can make the lodge better they are told to sit down and be quiet until they are Master of the Lodge. (They don’t tell them they will try to torpedo his ideas while he is Master anyway) After a while they begin to feel dejected or disappointed and slowly fade away.

Brother, please remember this. When we lose a member through suspension for non-payment of dues or through a demit we don’t just lose the chance for fellowship, we also lose one vote, one voice, one man who can help make a difference in bringing about the change we are looking for.

The old saying “United we stand, divided we fall” is true Brother. The more of us who stay in the quarries and work toward the future the faster we will be able to rebuild the temple.

~BH

WB Bill Hosler was made a Master Mason in 2002 in Three Rivers Lodge #733 in Indiana. He served as Worshipful Master in 2007 and became a member of the internet committee for Indiana's Grand Lodge. Bill is currently a member of Roff Lodge No. 169 in Roff Oklahoma and Lebanon Lodge No. 837 in Frisco,Texas. Bill is also a member of the Valley of Fort Wayne Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite in Indiana. A typical active Freemason, Bill also served as the High Priest of Fort Wayne's Chapter of the York Rite No. 19 and was commander of of the Fort Wayne Commandery No. 4 of the Knight Templar. During all this he also served as the webmaster and magazine editor for the Mizpah Shrine in Fort Wayne Indiana.