Freemasonry Thanks You 2020. No, Really.

by Midnight Freemason Guest Contributor

WB:. Bryan Simmons

This year has been amazing for Freemasonry, more especially the future of Freemasonry. This year started out like every other, 4-5 nights out a week, mostly doing things we were obligated to do but not really enjoying ourselves. Then everything came to a grinding halt, no more meetings. Horrible right?

The pandemic realigned my priorities, my lodge’s priorities, and my family’s priorities. I completed several projects that I did not have time for around the house previously. My lodge formed work parties, created a beautiful social room in our building, and completed several other much-needed updates in the building. Most important to me, I reconnected with my family. I pulled myself away from Freemasonry to take a much more local vacation than we would have to Niagara Falls. A stop and smell the roses moment for sure.

Within a month or two, we were holding business meetings and lodge social gatherings online, and the fraternalism was still strong. Masonic Education became a focus of many. Several Brothers formed the Refracted Light Facebook group, where Brothers joined to explore a wide range of topics through presentations and panel discussions. One topic was equality, which several Brothers from Prince Hall and the Grand Lodge of North Carolina discussed and walked away with a stronger bond.

Freemasons adapt to live their ideals. Is it perfect? Of course not. But, our fraternity has not persevered for over 300 years because everything stays the same. We adjust and will continue to adjust. Now, of course, some lodges and bodies will not compromise. These are likely the same lodges that wait around for the next good man to come and fix everything for them. He may come. He may try. He won’t do it the way it’s been done before. So his ideas will be shot down, and he’ll walk on out the door.

Yes, Freemasonry will feel the aftereffects of the pandemic for years to come. The lodges that adapted have added tools to include out of state members, and speakers from around the world can now present from their living rooms. For the complacent lodges, the pandemic will likely have left you hurting for members and struggling for bodies to open your lodges. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ It’s not your fault, though, I’m sure.

When we look back at 2020, we will view it positively, even though it doesn’t feel that way today. Let’s hope that when we can get back in the lodge and resume our degree work, we never go back to how it’s always been done, but instead that we create a new environment and actually become the premier men’s fraternity that we claim to be and lead our lodges into the future.

~BS

Worshipful Brother Simmons is, a U.S. Army Veteran and native of Massachusetts is a Past Master of Ezekiel Bates Lodge in Attleboro, Massachusetts. Brother Simmons has held many pillar offices in several appendant bodies and currently serves on the several committees for the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts as well as several standing and Ad-Hoc committees for the city of Attleboro. Brother Simmons thrives in behind the scenes work his most notable accomplishment is the founding of Masonic Con in 2016 at Ezekiel Bates Lodge, which has provided fraternalism and education to countless Brothers across the country. Brother Simmons currently co-hosts two podcasts Worthy and Well Qualified and Arts, Parts, and Points, An Exchange of Masonic Education and Ideas.

Is 2020 a throw-away year?

 by Midnight Freemason Contributor
Bro. Michael Arce

Now that we have returned to Lodge for a new year, I'm sure we have all shared this experience: it's awkward. That's quite a statement in a year that has been difficult and inconvenient. From watching games with cardboard cutouts of fans and crowd noise played over the speakers, to virtual meetings for everything, this year has been socially distanced. It appears that we have collectively written off 2020. I don't want to suggest this is a throwaway year; that would be an insult to the memories of those we have lost during the pandemic. But you can feel it. Even those with strong will are coping with some form of stress or anxiety over the uncertainty ahead.

Instead of a throwaway, a year meant to be discarded, 2020 is shaping up to be more of a year that deserves an asterisk. We had goals. We had plans, events, and moments that were canceled, delayed, or forfeited. Yet, when we look back on the year 2020, time did pass every day, and history was recorded. To be fair, if there is something worthy of an asterisk, it would be 2020. That mark would be an appropriate symbol for anyone who felt like something was taken from them this year. We could offer it as a consolation for those ready to write off the remaining three months remaining on the calendar.

The one thing I was looking forward to this fall was going back to Lodge. For those who haven't been allowed to meet since March, this meeting had a homecoming feel. Freemasonry is the one institution the provides many levels of support in our daily lives. We seek that sense of normalcy and familiarity that comes when gathering with our Brothers. That evening under new health guidelines, now part of our everyday life, my Lodge came together to elect and install our new officers for the ensuing year. We watched our Master be re-installed for an additional second year, an unexpected break from recent tradition. I thought of the asterisk that would be applied to so many Worshipful Brothers this season; either their year in the East was extended or their term shortened due to the pandemic. 

The discussion during the business of the evening was to determine an amended Trestleboard. We would be moving from two regularly scheduled meetings a month in our building to one for the remainder of 2020. Our first meeting of the month would be tiled, in Lodge. Our Master suggested that the second meeting be reserved for gathering socially for dinner at a restaurant that could accommodate our group. Time being a great thickener of things, the hope is that we can assess and make changes accordingly in the new year. I could almost see the asterisk appearing as I updated the meeting dates on my iPhone's calendar.

Freemasonry was going to be different this year, for sure.

But I wasn't going to let this be a throwaway year.

I shared this thought with a colleague during our daily lunch break walk. Not the Lodge meeting experience, but the business concept of a "write-off" applied to 2020. We discussed pandemic fatigue, a persistent low-grade form of depression attached to the COVID-19 pandemic. She shared a new trend, "doomscrolling," which is constantly checking your phone for the latest bad news on social media. No surprise, this habit has significantly increased in recent weeks. Then she laughed and said, "this is something you should ask a therapist." So, I did.

Bro. Erik Marks, a Midnight Freemason contributor, is a clinical social worker. He's also a friend who is now used to getting my unsolicited phone calls that often become the fodder for late-night talks. As I recapped what I have shared with you, Dear Reader, I included a point that Bro. Marks made during his appearance on the https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/meetactpart/episodes/2020-05-02T15_06_04-07_00. In May, he was a guest on an episode discussing mental health and Freemasonry. At that time, Bro. Marks outlined how some of the things we have learned during the shutdown could be beneficial when Lodges reopened. "It's actually effective to meet once a month online," he suggested. He recounted a virtual gathering he attended where he reunited with three Brothers online who had moved out of state. These Brothers were able to connect thanks to technology. "To me, that was incredibly valuable because it wasn't Lodge; it wasn't ritual... In an odd way, I was grateful." 

Fast forward five months to our after-hours phone call at the end of September, and Bro. Marks still held the same feelings. Yes, this is going to be a different year. But to those Master Masons recently raised, it is on the rest of us to continue our time-honored traditions and create value in their experience. A newly made Mason should not know the difference in their Entered Apprentice degree conferred under COVID guidelines; the ritual must be the focus. Perhaps focusing on personal development, an internal assessment of our own improvement is most needed during this time of social distancing. For Brothers who have moved into leadership roles, now is the time we can work with new line officers on the details of their chair. Yes, this year is one that can be productive, investing in making good men better.

As our conversation progressed through the evening, I connected a Masonic lesson to the times. There is a line of ritual that http://www.midnightfreemasons.org/2019/02/having-been-tried-never-denied.html. I have previously explored on the Midnight Freemasons blog,We don't have to know how to navigate through each situation or lesson - we must trust "someone who has." Having been tried, never denied, and ready to be tried again prepares one for the lifetime of learning as a Freemason. I've often searched for a practical application of the deeper meaning of being tried. There is no doubt an example was produced when our life suddenly changed in mid-March. Although the universe has presented this pandemic to all of us, a singular event has generated multiple experiences and outcomes. We are being tried. And honestly, it's a daily occurrence. As my teenagers say, "the struggle is real," because it is. Every day brings a new change that probes the boundaries of our acceptance and understanding. This can be personal, professional, or something larger than ourselves --- a movement, world event, or natural disaster. There is no asterisk next to 2020, rather an ever-present test, one that will not be simply dismissed on January 1, 2021.

Our task as Freemasons must be to remain upright men. To continue to employ the Working Tools in our everyday interactions. Most importantly, we must accept and embrace that we are being tried by internal and external forces. Instead of discouraging a Mason, these trials breed confidence deeper than any challenge dares to cross. We have the familiarity of never being denied. And, the perseverance to be tried again.

~MA

Brother Michael Arce is a member of Mt. Vernon Lodge #3 in Albany, New York. When not in Lodge, Bro. Arce is the Marketing Manager for Capital Cardiology Associates in Albany, New York. He enjoys meeting new Brothers and hearing how the Craft has enriched their lives. He can be reached at michael.arce@me.com

A Train Ride that Isn't Happening

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Robert H. Johnson

Last year about this time, I was scrambling to get ahead podcasting, writing, and anything else that I could schedule to be released via the web while I would be in Springfield Illinois. Why would I be in Springfield? Because ever since 2013, I have gone to Grand Lodge Sessions in Illinois. It's always the first Friday and Saturday after the first Tuesday in October of each year. And we're getting really close to that now.

Except, this year it isn't happening. You see, for the past three years, I've packed my overnight bag, grabbed a deck of cards, and bought a nice bottle (pick your poison), and hopped on a Metra train to Union Station in Chicago, and from there boarded the Amtrak on a Business Class ticket to Springfield Illinois. Once there, we walked the two blocks to the Abraham Lincoln Hotel, right across from the convention center where the Grand Lodge of Illinois holds its Annual Meeting.

This year, the Grand Lodge Sessions will be held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the plus side, I don't have to take two days off of work. Actually, I don't know if that's a plus. I rather enjoyed taking those two days off and spending them with my Brothers--my best friends in the whole world. Yep, I'll be a regular working stiff that Thursday and Friday. Now I know there are a lot of Brothers who can't attend Grand Lodge Sessions regularly, but for me, I do. And this whole thing just sucks.

Perhaps, however, we can make the best of it. I'll gather together with Scott, Spencer, and Julian, and maybe we can go out to dinner on Friday night. We can sit around the table and share war stories, our hopes, our dreams, and speculate on what the first-ever virtual Grand Lodge Sessions will accomplish.

Perhaps on Saturday evening, after the news trickles out on what we've decided to do in terms of the previous and upcoming Masonic year, we can go grab some pizza and have a few beers. You know, make the best out of a weird situation. As I sit and type this, I'm starting to have a bit of a revelation. Maybe it's not Grand Lodge Sessions that I'm sad about missing...Yep, it's definitely not the sessions. Endless introductions, reports that are approved before there ever read, and the most meaningful things that could be read, aren't. Grand orations. The report on the committee of Masonic Education. Celebrating our best and brightest secretaries, Brothers, and educators.

Maybe, what I feel like I'll be missing is a gently rocking Amtrak train--Business Class, the finest microwavable club-car delicacies, spicy Masonic memes, intellectual conversations, and a laughter that seems to echo in my head, even now. OOOWIEEE! and that Amtrak WiFi...it ain't all that bad. Yeah, this year will be different.

Each year, the trip home from Springfield on the Amtrak seems to feel like, for me anyway, like someone died. I remember as an only child, growing up in a home with a single mom. We lived in the Midwest and my entire family and all my friends were in California. My mother, in her infinite wisdom (and I am not being facetious), moved us to Illinois, to get away from the hustle and bustle of the West Coast. Of course, my friends could never fly back to see me. Well, there was this one time my friend Chris came out to visit. They stayed for about five hours or so. But that was it. And when they left, it always felt so strange. Like something had been not taken away but erased. Erased, but somehow I still knew something was missing. It wasn't exactly sadness, I suppose the adult me would use the word, "melancholy".

A sort of black and blue bruise to the child within. A real hit. The words, "Here we go. Back to normal." I think that's probably normal for a kid though. You're connected-- your present, living in the moment. You don't have grown-up distractions. For now, I'll just daydream. Remembering what it felt like to get up at ungodly hours in October, the sun charring some other place just east to wherever I was. A cool dampness at the train station. Hopping on and watching the strobe of jade as we rocked along the Metra tracks-- the streetlights filtering through the green windows.

Arriving at Union Station in Chicago, stepping out into the Grand Hall-- breathtaking. So magnificent in fact, you almost forget that you just walked a mile (or what seemed like it), with a metric ton of luggage. Walking into the Business Class lounge and seeing your friends-- your Brothers waiting for you...

Maybe next year when we travel to Grand Lodge Sessions, (I hope we'll be back to normal by then), I'll find the time to slap two more Instamatic picture stickers on the convention center's podium that the Grand Master uses every year. One for this year, and one for the next. 

~RHJ

RWB Johnson is a Co-Managing Editor of the Midnight Freemasons blog. He is a Freemason out of the 2nd N.E. District of Illinois. He currently serves as the Secretary of Spes Novum Lodge No. 1183. He is a Past Master of Waukegan Lodge 78 and a Past District Deputy Grand Master for the 1st N.E. District of Illinois. Brother Johnson currently produces and hosts weekly Podcasts (internet radio programs) Whence Came You? & Masonic Radio Theatre which focuses on topics relating to Freemasonry. He is also a co-host of The Masonic Roundtable, a Masonic talk show. He is a husband and father of four, works full time in the executive medical industry. He is the co-author of "It's Business Time - Adapting a Corporate Path for Freemasonry" and is currently working on a book of Masonic essays and one on Occult Anatomy to be released soon.