Reinventing the Wheel

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Bro. Randy Sanders

One more charity fundraiser breakfast is in the books.  It was a great time of fellowship and charity in helping the local food bank with donations earmarked for children.  Our lodge hosted a breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits and gravy, and French toast along with the usual milk, juice, and especially coffee.  When we began setting up at 5:30am, the coffee just didn’t brew quickly enough.  The usual suspects wandered in over the next ten minutes, and we had the lodge in good shape with the doors scheduled to open at seven. 

Afterward, we cleaned and took stock of what was used, and I noticed Brother Joe scribbling on a pad of paper.  I walked over and asked “Whatcha doing?” in a curious tone, to which he replied “taking notes”.  To frame this a little better, Brother Joe and I spent almost two hours after the last AMD meeting discussing exactly this:  The need for Masons to take notes and perform after-action reporting.  I was very happy to see the follow-through as it had stayed in my mind too. 

It doesn’t exist if it’s not written down.  This isn’t necessarily true in all conditions, but when it comes to making things easier?  Well, you know the answer to that.  We get done with a function, pack it all away, maybe make a mental note that something needs refilling, then it’s on to the next project.  There’s very little documentation passed down from project to project, and listing out lessons learned?  It’s a habit that we should consider for our lodges and our future generations of Masons. 

I propose we consider simply writing it down.  Write notes.  Write down what went well, what didn’t go well, and what suggestions you think might improve things next time.  Put it in a binder by the Secretary’s desk.  Better yet, make it digital, then organize it in a couple of different storage mediums.  We don’t need to argue in lodge for 30 minutes about whether we could have used social media more efficiently, as that’s not what I’m writing about.  In fact, I would ask that we never go down that bad path of bringing after-action reporting to the lodge except to say “the after-action report is completed” as part of any committee report.  

What difference does an after-action report make?  Plenty.  Why reinvent the wheel each time we plan a spaghetti dinner, trivia night, family movie night, or even a charity breakfast?  The notes from one can then be added to the next, and before you know it, there’s a self-improvement cycle created.  We’re Masons.  We like self-improvement, right?  We keep the notes from each pancake breakfast, then one year it’s time to pass the torch to someone else to take lead on the committee.  Maybe it’s time for a new Worshipful Master to do the planning.  And there it is, a template to help make it successful.  Again.  Better than last year, and with a few added notes, it will be better next time too.  What if we were to do that with all our activities?

~RS

Bro. Randy and his wife Elyana live near St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Randy earned a Bachelors's 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's 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 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.

Harmony being the strength and support of all institutions, especially ours

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

WB Darin Lahners

There is a line in Illinois ritual when opening on the First Degree, where the Senior Warden while giving his duty says: "Harmony being the strength and support of all institutions, especially ours."  This year has challenged Harmony in several areas.  Grandmasters were tasked with the difficult decision to cancel Masonic activities as the pandemic gripped their nations.  If the pandemic wasn't enough, the political divides in our nation have leaked into our lodge rooms from the world of profane.  I recently wrote about an experience in a lodge room prior to a degree where I was informed that a political discussion that should have no place in a lodge room was ok because "The gavel hadn't sounded."  I have to ask myself then: "Does Freemasonry only exist between the gavels? Or are you a Freemason in your heart?"

Freemasons should always hear the sound of the gavel.  While the master's gavel hadn't sounded, shouldn't the sound of the common gavel be ever-present in our personal quarries?   “The Common Gavel is an instrument used by operative masons to break off the corners of rough stones, the better to fit them for the builder’s use; but we, as Free and Accepted Masons, are taught to make use of it for the more noble and glorious purpose of divesting our hearts and consciences of all vices and superfluities of this life, thereby fitting our minds, as living stones for that spiritual building—that house not made with hands—eternal in the heavens.."  Shouldn't we always endeavor to divest our hearts and consciences of the vestiges of the profane world by use of the common gavel regardless of the location, but in the lodge room especially? 

While the Trowel spreads the cement of brotherly love which unites us,  we need to be aware that the gavel must be employed first to smooth our ashlars so that they fit together more tightly. Without improving ourselves by use of the gavel, the trowel will not work as effectively.  It will take more mortar to join us together, the harmony of the lodge will suffer, and the strength and support of our institution will erode.  

When some of our brethren think that Freemasonry is something that only happens between the gavels, instead of using their compass to draw a boundary line around their desires and passions, in order to keep themselves within a circle of self-restraint and moderation; they forget that the most excellent tenets of Freemasonry are contained within the points of the compasses, which are friendship, morality and brotherly love.  Instead, they don't have boundaries.  They bring the world of the profane into our sacred spaces, they insult other brethren on social media for not having the same beliefs as them, and they spread incivility instead of brotherly love.  

I will use something from a presentation on Masonic civility found here:  https://www.masoniccivility.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Civility-Presentation-For-Lodges-Civility-and-Masonry.pdf or here: https://www.masoniccivility.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Civility-Presentation-For-Lodges-Civility-and-Masonry.pptx and I would encourage my brethren to present this and have a discussion about it at their next meeting.  I ask all of us: "With all of the other potential stresses in a person’s life, why not make the lodge a refuge; a place of friendship, support, and understanding? This does not mean we need to always agree. It means we need to be able to express our differences in a way that is constructive without being a source of incivility, stress, and contention." 

~DAL

WB Darin A. Lahners is a Past Master of and Worshipful Master of St. Joseph Lodge No.970 in St. Joseph. He is also a plural member of Ogden Lodge No. 754 (IL), and of Homer Lodge No. 199 (IL), where he is also a Past Master. He’s a member of the Scottish Rite Valley of Danville, a charter member of Illinois Royal Arch Chapter, Admiration Chapter No. 282 and is the current Secretary of the Illini High Twelve Club No. 768 in Champaign – Urbana (IL). You can reach him by email at darin.lahners@gmail.com

What's So Funny About Peace, Love And Understanding?

by Midnight Freemasons Contributor

W. B. Darin A. Lahners

There’s a lot of discontent currently in our nation. It’s palpable on social media. Luckily, in our fraternity, we leave two leading causes of discontent outside of the inner door to our lodge room, namely politics and religion. But are we leaving our individual discontent at the inner door? I would argue that in my recent experience, we have not. 

One of the downfalls of social media is the ability to instantaneously communicate one’s opinion to a large audience. This often doesn’t allow one to think through one’s social media posts. We can instantly post something in a moment of emotional upheaval, and even if we quickly take the post down, there’s a good chance that some of your brethren might have seen it. Unfortunately, in the lodge room, we don’t even have the option to un-post an opinion. Once words are uttered to another brother they can be forgiven, but they are often not forgotten. 

I have two recent examples of disharmony in the lodge. The first example involves two brothers. One brother decided to speak while the other was answering the Worshipful Master. The brother who was interrupted took offense to this, and objected to the other brother interrupting him. The brother who did the interrupting felt that the other brother was wrong for objecting. This brother became so upset, you could see the anger manifest itself physically. In fact, we had balloting that evening, and the brother was protesting to me regarding it at the altar as I went to cast my ballot. I replied that technically the other brother was not wrong because he did interrupt him, and I asked him to practice brotherly love. I would love to say cooler heads prevailed, but luckily the brothers remained separated during the meeting. After the meeting, the brother who was physically upset abruptly left before sparks flew. The brother who was interrupted was going to discuss it with the other brother, but I felt that was probably not the wise course of action. 

 The next day I received an email from the brother who was upset the night before. He was still upset. In order to protect the privacy of those brothers involved, I won’t get into the specifics of the email. However, my reply is below: 

“I would just ask that you remember your obligations and I will tell him the same. I understand you have a lot on your plate, from his perspective, he has a lot on his plate. It's not my job to say or judge that. You're both my friends and my brothers. All of the things you've said about him I've heard from others about you. I've spent plenty of time defending you as much as you might feel I might be defending him. Brothers fight, but at the end of the day, we are all brothers. I just want harmony in the lodge.” 

My second example of disharmony in the lodge also involves two brothers. One of the brothers was filling in a chair for the other, who was not present at the beginning of lodge. The brother who was not present finally knocked and was admitted to the lodge room about 20 minutes after lodge had started. When this brother came in, he glared at the brother who was occupying his chair. The other brother who was in the chair made a joke to the brother about being late, which was received with a flurry of expletives. The brother then decided to give the brethren in our lodge the double one finger salute. While he was on his tirade, the WM and SW were trying to get the brother to sit down on the sidelines and behave himself. We later found out the brother had been defrauded 4000 dollars that day, and he apologized for his actions and words. He also sought out the other brother later after the meeting and apologized again. Problem solved? I think the brother forgave him, but it leads me to my next point. 

What I’m about to say might be taken the wrong way, and I think that brothers might object to it. But I’m going to say it anyway. In the words of Ice Cube: ‘You better check yo self before you wreck yo self.’ What do I mean? (For those of you who don’t know who Ice Cube is, I’ll suggest a google search). If you’re coming to lodge with an attitude, you’re going to have a bad time. Do yourself and your brothers a favor and don’t come to lodge if you are unable to put your ego and emotions in check. I know, what I just said is considered blasphemy. There are lodges that are struggling to have a quorum for a stated meeting, and I’m suggesting this? 

Hear me out. If you’re bringing your baggage into the lodge room with you, then what are you really doing? Are we not reminded that Harmony is the strength and support of all institutions, especially ours while opening on the EA degree? If you’re coming to lodge and you’re going to disrupt lodge, then you’re going to cause disharmony. Is this fair to the other brethren? No, it’s not. If you can’t subdue your passions enough to put your attitude and ego into check, then you’re not able to meet on the level with your brethren. If you can’t meet on the level, then you probably shouldn’t be in the lodge room with others who can. Yes – I understand that tempers can flare. We are human after all. Which is why in Illinois we pray to the Supreme Architect at the beginning of our meetings to bless us so that the meeting can be conducted in peace and closed in harmony. But, ultimately we not only need to guard the west gate from Cowans and Eavesdroppers, but also from brothers intent on causing disharmony. 

I want to end on a broader point. If you’re encountering an issue that is impacting you on an emotional level, then maybe you need to reach out to your lodge before the meeting. Explain the situation to them. There is a good chance that one of your brothers has gone through something similar. They might be able to understand your situation, and empathize. I understand that everyone’s different, and there are some folks that might be embarrassed by doing something like this. But what is family for? When you become a Mason, you join a family. Family is there to support you in your times of need. Remember that your brothers are there for you as well. They will be more than willing to help you, if you let them. Let the trowel do its work of spreading brotherly love, and cementing our brotherhood. 

~DAL

WB Darin A. Lahners is the Worshipful Master of St. Joseph Lodge No.970 in St. Joseph and a plural member of Ogden Lodge No. 754 (IL), and Homer Lodge No. 199 (IL). He’s a member of the Scottish Rite Valley of Danville, a charter member of the new Illinois Royal Arch Chapter, Admiration Chapter U.D. and is the current Secretary of the Illini High Twelve Club No. 768 in Champaign – Urbana (IL). He is also a member of the Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees. When he’s not busy enjoying Masonic fellowship, Darin spends his time as a DM for his children’s D&D campaign, reading, golfing, watching movies and listening to music. You can reach him by email at darin.lahners@gmail.com.