Doing It Wrong

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

WB Darin A. Lahners

Like many other American Freemasons, I was pleased to see that the documentary “Inside the Freemasons” which originally debuted on the Sky1 channel in England in 2017 was on Netflix. The 5 part series runs about 45 minutes per episode, and focuses on several Freemasons in England either beginning their Masonic journey, or continuing their Masonic journey. Now I realize, like all forms of media, that many of the experiences they were showing were most likely scripted or over-produced. Of course, maybe it was the ability to have a pint or two before or after the meeting, or the festive boards, or the pageantry of their form of Masonry, or their dedication to charitable pursuits, but they definitely had something that I felt was lacking in my Masonic experience. I couldn’t help but see the English form of Masonry and tell myself, "...we’re doing it wrong."

I returned from our Grand Lodge communication a few months ago, and I was happy to see that we finally have a Grand Master that broke with Tradition. He did several things differently that stood out to me. The first was that he had a group of young men who were still members of DeMolay but who were also Master Masons open our Grand Lodge session. I was impressed by this display. As Worshipful Master of Homer #199 in Homer, Illinois, I have a hard enough time fighting my nerves when opening lodge alongside brethren who I have known for years. I can’t imagine the nerves that these fine young men had on this day. But of course, this didn’t stop a brother within my earshot from criticizing their performance. You see, quite simply, they were “doing it wrong” and he could do it better.

The second was that on the second day, traditionally (at least at the past 4 sessions that I’ve attended), the Job’s daughters perform the Living Cross. This year, the Rainbow Girls and Job’s daughters performed another ceremony, where they laid flowers of the color of Freemasonry and its appendant bodies on the altar. I personally felt that the change was refreshing. However, this didn’t stop from brethren around me from muttering their disapproval under their breath. Once again, in their minds, it was being done wrong. Why Change something from the formula that has been working in past years? Nevermind that most of these brethren are talking to each other, or on their phones and not really paying attention. Change is bad!

How many of you have experienced this scenario? A newly raised Master Mason attends his first lodge meeting. As per usual, there is barely a quorum and the WM asks the new Master Mason to fill in as JW. There is some quick instruction given to the new MM regarding what to do and how to respond. This usually takes place 5 – 10 minutes before the meeting. The WM tells the MM not to worry about getting everything right. The MM stumbles through the opening and closing of the meeting. The grumpy old Past Master comes up to the MM after closing, and proceeds to tell him everything he did wrong, and puts him through the paces to “Help Him”. The MM leaves the meeting, never to return.

I could continue to fill this article with examples of this. We’ve all seen, experienced, felt, or probably thought something like this at one time or another. Quite Frankly, I don’t think it’s a relatively new thing. I’m sure I could go back through the minutes of any of the lodges that I belong to find instances of someone complaining about something being “wrong” in the past. The problems that we have as fraternity are not new. We’ve all been doing it wrong for a while now.

Fundamentally, I think we have forgotten the important lessons taught to us in our degrees. If we follow the three tenets of Freemasonry, namely Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth, we shouldn’t be criticizing one another. We need to remember: “By the exercise of Brotherly Love, we are taught to regard the whole human race as one family - the high, the low, the rich, the poor - who, as created by one Almighty Parent, and inhabiting the same planet, should aid, support, and protect one another. On this principle, Masonry unites men of every country, sect, and opinion, and promotes true friendship among those who might otherwise have remained at a perpetual distance.”

If we are criticizing someone or something, are we aiding them or it? We are taught: "To relieve the distressed is a duty incumbent on all men, but particularly on Masons, who are linked together by a chain of sincere affection. To sooth the unhappy, to sympathize with them in their misfortunes, to compassionate their miseries, and to restore peace to their troubled minds, are aims we have in view. On this basis we form our friendships and establish our connections." I think we can all agree that by criticizing, by saying or thinking that someone is doing something wrong, that we are not sympathizing with them. We are not being compassionate. We are not helping restore peace to their troubled minds. If anything, we are causing their minds to be more troubled. We are causing strife, not promoting relief.

We are taught: “Truth is a divine attribute, and the foundation of every virtue. To be good and true is the first lesson we are taught in Masonry. On this theme we contemplate, and by its dictates endeavor to regulate our conduct. Hence, while influenced by this principle, hypocrisy, and deceit are unknown among us, and the heart and tongue join in promoting each other’s welfare and rejoicing in each other’s prosperity.” Again, if we are criticizing are we pursuing truth? No. We are being hypocritical. We are not promoting each other’s welfare, nor are we rejoicing in each other’s prosperity. We are not following lessons in almost every volume of sacred law which is most eloquently summed up by Matthew 7:1, “Do not judge, or you will be judged.”

We need to remember that we represent the Fraternity not just when we are in a tyled lodge, but outside of it. Nowhere is this more important than on social media. It’s very easy to forget to subdue our passions, and forget our tenets online. More often than not, I can on a given day, find someone that is a “Friend” on Facebook criticizing someone for something (more often than not their political or religious beliefs). Hell, we’ve all done it. I’m just as guilty as everyone else. It’s very easy to get wrapped up in the ever available reality show that is social media. It provides an instantaneous outlet for our passions. Sometimes I see so many posts from my brethren that I contemplate bringing up a ritual change at our next Grand Lodge. “The twenty-four inch gauge is an instrument made use of by operative masons to measure and lay out their work. But we, as Free and Accepted Masons, are taught to make use of it for the more noble and glorious purpose of dividing our time. It being divided into twenty four equal parts, is emblematical of the twenty four hours of the day, which we are taught to divide into three equal parts, whereby we find eight hours for the service of God, eight for our usual vocations, and eight for Facebook and sleep.”

If you’re on Facebook wearing a square and compass in your profile picture, but you continually post negative or critical things on social media, are you doing a good job of representing the Fraternity? I think we can all agree that answer is "No". If you’re out in public wearing an item of clothing with the square and compass but you’re rude and obnoxious, how are you representing the Fraternity to the public? I think we can answer: “Not in a very good light.” Before you think I’m being hypocritical and criticizing my brethren, I’m not. I am just pointing out that in all forums, not only when we are in public, but also when we are online, we need to remember our tenets and our lessons and act accordingly.

If we want to blame anyone for members not attending our lodge, or the decline in membership, or someone not getting ritual correct, or any other thing; we need to take a hard look in the mirror. We need to ask ourselves “What am I doing wrong?” Once we answer that question, we can help to fix the things that we might see as being done wrong. If your lodge is lacking in attendance, are you doing enough to help make your meetings interesting and/or educational? Or are you content with your lodge just reading minutes, paying bills, arguing over repairs, and discussing plans for the next Pancake Breakfast? If you’re not bringing in members, are you trying to press your lodge towards being more active in the community? With the aforementioned “Inside the Freemasons” program on Netflix, as well as the AMC show ‘Lodge 49’, fraternalism is finally getting some favorable exposure in Mainstream Media. If your only communal activity as a Lodge is a pancake breakfast every 3 months, do you think you’re going to attract potential members? If no one knows you exist, then it’s unrealistic to expect growth. If you are sloppy with ritual, are you practicing? Are you stepping up to defend that new Master Mason just learning the ropes when the overbearing grumpy Past Master tries to “correct” him? Are you aiding him in his learning? Or are you content with allowing him to walk out of the lodge room never to return?

Ultimately, the onus is on each and every one of us to do our part. It’s a group effort. If you’re the only one in your lodge that is trying to improve things, then it might be time to find another lodge. You won’t be able to fix things by yourself, and if no one around you cares enough about your lodge to try to help, is your energy really worth it? Visit other lodges, find like-minded individuals, and work on improving the experience for yourself along with them, or convince them to help you form a new lodge that will provide the experience that you are all seeking. Maybe then, you’ll attract the attention of some other Masons, who *gasp* might even comment that you’re doing it right.

~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 No. 282, 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. You can reach him by email at darin.lahners@gmail.com.

The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

WB Darin A. Lahners

The Dream/Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters is an etching by Francisco Goya created in 1799. It shows the artist with his head on his arms, sprawled across a desk asleep. Above him are bats and owls, and to his side is a cat staring at him. The side of the desk has the words: ‘The Dream/Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters.’ Aldous Huxley comments on this are as follows: “It is a caption that admits of more than one interpretation. When reason sleeps, the absurd and loathsome creatures of superstition wake and are active, goading their victim to an ignoble frenzy. But this is not all. Reason may also dream without sleeping, may intoxicate itself, as it did during the French Revolution, with the daydreams of inevitable progress, of liberty, equality, and fraternity imposed by violence, of human self-sufficiency and the ending of sorrow…by political rearrangements and a better technology.” - Aldous Huxley, “Variations on Goya,” On Art and Artists, Morris Philipson, ed., (London: Chatto and Windus, 1960), pp. 218-19. I have a different interpretation of it, which I hope will become apparent below.

Two things lead to this article. The first was a blog entry Midnight Freemason Founder Todd E. Creason put up recently. Read it HERE. The second was that I caught myself acting unmasonically towards Todd E. Creason today. I disagreed with a social media post and initially replied emotionally. Luckily, I made use of a lesson that we are taught in Freemasonry, to subdue our passions. I was able to edit my reply to use facts and reason, instead of emotion. Unfortunately, I see many brothers on social media forgetting this lesson. Many of us are not able to subdue our passions. It made me start to think why this might be. All of it leads back to some of the points that Todd made in his article. However, Todd’s main focus is the negativity of journalism. I think it needs to be expanded to all media, but especially electronic media. The negativity Todd touched on is only part of the issues I have with it. Yes, we are going to witness good acts, and there are still good people in the world performing these acts. Not everyone is crazy, but I think that it’s easier now for someone to go from normal to insane and then back to normal. We are all our own personal Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I think that many of us are abusing or addicted to electronic media. I think this is to blame for the madness we see all around us. Todd does make the same conclusion that I reach. We need to disengage from electronic media in order to see the beauty in the world. Luckily, I think if we use the Masonic lessons that we’ve been taught, we might be able to do just that.

Here are my reasons for thinking that we need to be weary of electronic media.

1. It does something to the brain.

The impact of electronic media (Smart Phone Apps, Videogames, Internet, Social Media, Television, and Movies) on the human brain, our subconscious, and our society has been studied with varying results. There have been studies done about television viewing, advertising and how watching it creates different stimuli and psychological responses. (https://www.jstor.org/stable/2746936?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents)

There have been studies about how the use of cellphones before bed impacts your brain and sleep patterns. (https://www.medicaldaily.com/using-cellphone-bed-does-your-brain-health-and-sleep-pattern-405599) There have been studies regarding how cell phone use stimulates glucose metabolism in our brains and how the impact of that is unknown. (https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/cell-phone-use-stimulates-brain-activity-201102231548)

Studies show Social Networking Site addiction alters brain anatomy. (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep45064) Studies show that Social Networks shape how the brain responds to social exclusion. (https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2017/the-link-between-brain-activity-and-social-networks/) Those are just a few examples, I could easily fill the article with links. Most of us have developed an unhealthy codependent relationship with electronic media, and some of us have become addicted to it. Think about how often you check your phone, or watch a news channel even though they keep repeating the same information over and over, or how you might rush home to play a videogame. My point is, we’re engaging in an activity that we don’t fully understand the repercussions of when it comes to our brain, and I think that’s dangerous.

2. We’re substituting electronic interaction for social interaction.

Every hour we spend on electronic media is an hour we could be playing with our family, creating something, learning something new by reading, or engaging in face to face conversation with our family or friends. Instead we communicate via text, even if our family member is in the next room or same house or same table. How many of you have been out to a restaurant to see a family all on their devices instead of speaking to one another? We’re not even taking the time to enjoy things with our own eyes. How many of you have been to a concert or another public event and didn’t see anyone holding up their phones to record it? We scroll through Facebook, Reddit and Twitter mindlessly. We waste hours on television, the internet, social media, and video games. This is time we will never get back. Worst yet, we are allowing our children to mimic this behavior. How many of your children actually play outside? We’re substituting the beauty of the world for the glow of a screen. I’m guilty, you’re guilty, and we all are guilty of this behavior at one point or another.

3. Electronic media programs us with negativity, creates unrealistic expectations, creates feelings of inadequacy, and poisons our belief systems.

Watch the News, Dramas, and Comedies on television and there’s nothing redeeming about them. Most every program also promotes or sensationalizes violence. On top of this, try finding a video game that isn’t violent. Even back in the day, Space Invaders allowed you to kill aliens, Pac Man ate ghosts, etc. Almost every video game, television program and movie has violence. 

Video games have now added nudity, adult language, and promotion of criminal behavior to be able to compete with other electronic media. Just about everything on television is also negative. Much of Social Media is negative. Go on Facebook or Twitter and try to find a post/tweet with no negative responses. The internet is filled with hatred. Bullying online is rampant. No wonder we’re so hostile to each other. We’re absorbing negative energy almost all of the time.

Couple this with the images we see in electronic media. Every image is altered in some way. We already know that television and the movies are guilty of this. Video games, television, social media, the internet and movies create an altered reality. When’s the last time you saw a picture or selfie of someone without a snapchat filter or filter in general? On top of that, we’re presenting a fake version of ourselves to the world. Have you ever seen a teenage girl take a selfie? They can’t just take one, they take several and then choose the best one for their Facebook or Instagram page. What you see as a final product has been heavily altered or edited. This in turn creates unrealistic expectations of each other and ourselves. We’re conditioned to worry about the exterior instead of focusing on the interior. We’ve become too concerned with each other’s outward appearances, and not focused on the quality of each other’s character.

Since everything is edited to show how awesome everyone’s life is, we develop feelings of inadequacy. We start to compare our own lives with the Instagram account of the celebrity we follow, our friends on Facebook, and in some cases, television or the movies. On top of that, you can’t go anywhere without seeing an advertisement for a product that will supposedly make you feel better about yourself. Of course, the advertisement is designed to show you how awesome the product is, and how meaningless your life is without it. The constant bombardment of the picture perfectness of everyone else’s lives leads to us not being happy with our own lives. When we feel inadequacy, it turns to more anger for our own shortcomings, followed by hostility. Instead of being content with what we have we’ve been conditioned to consume. We want the things we can’t have, and it’s driving us mad.

All of this is poisoning our belief systems. It’s difficult to separate fact from fiction in electronic media. It takes a lot of effort to research things to see if they are true or false, or if we’ve been given all of the facts. Many of us don’t take the time to do this. Instead we repost things on social media that conform to our personal philosophy. We absorb news that we are fed by television, social media or the internet and accept it as the truth. A recent study done by a group of political scientists showed that over 22% of Fake News visits were funneled to Americans by Facebook. Of the 2,525 Americans studied, 1 in 4 of them visited a Fake News site from October 7-November 14, 2016. (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/02/health/fake-news-conservative-liberal.html) 

So we’re absorbing all of this negative energy and information, and it’s very easy for us to react emotionally or instinctually. When we allow our passions to drive our behavior, we fail to treat each other according to the golden rule. On top of this, we are being bombarded with images that don’t represent reality which in turn has conditioned us to covet things we don’t have. Almost every religious, secular or humanist group has a code of conduct that is being violated by this behavior.

How do we combat this? I’ve already mentioned subduing one’s passions. If we do not control our emotions and desires, then will rule over our reason. When reason is not in control, we behave unmasonically. We regress to an animal state. This is how I interpret the Goya etching. When our reason is not in control, we behave like monsters.

If our passions are subdued, then we are able to improve ourselves by using the other working tools of Masonry. We are able to use the 24 inch gauge to manage our time so that we can guard ourselves against any intemperance or excess when it comes to our consumption of electronic media. When we have guarded ourselves properly, we are able to use it to make time to use the gavel to turn the rough ashlar into the perfect one. We are able to pursue the pursuit of the study of the seven liberal arts and sciences as we have been instructed to do. We are able to be industrious like we are taught to be when we learn about the beehive. We are able to have time to serve God, and practice the Golden Rule. We are able to act like a Mason should act, by the plumb. By acting by the plumb, we are able to be Free from all of the negative energy that electronic media pushes into our lives. So do yourself a favor, and put aside time every day to unplug, and do something to improve yourself or to help your fellow man.

As Manly P. Hall stated in his lecture: “How to turn off the TV and live happily ever after”, ‘So it seems that one thing we have to do to get away from this hypnosis of the tube is to realize that we have faculties within ourselves that do not need to be subjected to this continual negative conditioning, that we are certainly capable of thinking rather than merely watching the antics of someone else.’ He later states: ‘So if we want to really have a great history, we can study our own inner lives, if we want great theatre, we can be both the audience and the cast, if we want any of the inner understandings which make for philosophy, mysticism and so forth, they are all available inside of ourselves. 

The only thing we have got to do is bring it out, and we bring it out by dedication, it gaining strength in the inner life just as an athlete gains it by daily discipline; by the proper mental emotional disciplines we can become healthy individuals in terms of our minds, our emotions, our hearts and our jobs. These are the things we've got to work for and if it means that we must do it, we can with one quick twist of the wrist get rid of most of the corruptions of society and face the fact that these are imaginary corruptions. We’ve got plenty of real ones; we don’t have to build them up that way. What we have got to do is find out what corruptions are still lurking in us and correct them, and as soon as we correct the mistakes within ourselves, we begin to see better values in other people, because we see in others usually what we are ourselves focused upon. 

So, don’t let the great Big Bad Tube get you, be very careful about it and when uncertain – TURN IT OFF and you will find as you turn it off to do something interesting, beautiful or wonderful, you'll never miss it again.You cannot turn it off successfully, however, until there is something you want to be, or something you want to do, right then and there, that is more important than the tube. If you think it out that way, I think it will all work out alright in the end.’

~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 No. 282, 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. You can reach him by email at darin.lahners@gmail.com.

Gonzo Freemasonry

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

WB Adam Thayer

“We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold.” With this line, Hunter S. Thompson began his 200+ page masterpiece of drugs, sports, and gonzo journalism. While he was being paid to write an expose on a murdered journalist, he instead locked himself in a hotel room, did a massive amount of drugs, and wrote the novel he is best known for.

Thompson specialized in a style of journalism he coined as Gonzo journalism; the story told is as much about telling the story as it is about the story itself. In other words, while the author may have been writing about a murdered journalist, the writing itself was about the author’s experience, and is an accurate (if biased) recreation of the events as they were seen by the author. It is often disjointed, confusing, and rarely objective, but when done well, it can make you feel what the author felt, and that is truly a rare feeling.

Lately, I’ve noticed a trend towards Gonzo journalism within the most popular Freemasonic writings. Now, I must admit that I myself am guilty of this (yea, I am more guilty than the rest), so please don’t think I’m pointing fingers at anyone besides myself.

There are, I am certain, as many reasons for this trend as there are authors following it, but I believe more than anything it is a reaction to the times we live in. We are used to sharing our personal stories with strangers, as the briefest of searches on Facebook will attest, and Freemasonry is nothing if not personal.

Once, our great Masonic authors examined the meanings hidden in our symbolism in deep, often dry writings that brethren would study for hours upon end. While they were truly great works, they were inaccessible to the average brother, and served to divide that unity which we strive so hard to inculcate. For anyone who has not experienced this firsthand, I challenge you to read any writing by Albert Pike; once you hit the third page of a single sentence, you will understand what I’m telling you.

Today, most of our greatest Masonic authors write shorter pieces; bite sized chunks that you can pick up, read on your cell phone in the bathroom (c’mon, I know at least ONE of you is doing that right now), and then get back to what you were doing. If it is done well, it will keep you thinking long after, and lead you to discover the secrets for yourself. After all, if you find it for yourself, you’ll treasure it much more than if it’s handed to you.

Freemasonry, at its core, is about the experience. Ask yourself: how much of your degrees would you still remember if you had been sat down at the dining room table and had them explained to you? While I can’t remember the specifics from my lectures, I can still tell you who sat where in each of my degrees, and what I’ve learned since then has been in large part due to those men.

It is dangerous, I believe, to look too far into the future, as one is almost guaranteed to be hilariously incorrect, however if I were to hazard a guess to the future trend of Masonic writing, I believe that the near future will see us continue to write more about our experiences while we invent new ways to sneak “actual” education into our writing. If I have learned anything from studying our history, however, it’s that we are a cyclical society, and while today the pendulum swings towards experience, tomorrow it will swing back towards cold facts. A new generation of writers, who grew up Masonically on today’s authors, will rebel against us by “inventing” the “new” form of Masonic research that involves a dry examination of our symbols, and history will again repeat itself.

This same fight plays out in lodges across the world today; the fight between the “old” members of the lodge and the “new” members. Of course, it’s a friendly fight, usually handled in the most polite way possible, but it still comes down to one side seeking change, and one side seeking stability. Knowing that we will, at least once in our lives, change from one side of the argument to the other, we should be mindful of the arguments that our brethren present us.

If I could leave you with one thought to apply to Freemasonry, it would be this quote from one of my favorite of Dr. Thompson’s writings (and one of the few non-Masonic pieces I’ve taken the time to memorize): “And that, I think, was the handle—that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn't need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting—on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave.…

So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark—that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.”

~AT

WB. Bro. Adam Thayer is the Senior Warden of Lancaster Lodge No. 54 in Lincoln (NE) and a past master of Oliver Lodge No. 38 in Seward (NE). He’s an active member in the Knights of Saint Andrew, and on occasion remembers to visit the Scottish and York Rites as well. He continues to be reappointed to the Grand Lodge of Nebraska Education Committee, and serves with fervency and zeal. He is a sub-host on The Whence Came You podcast, and may be reached at adam@wcypodcast.com. He will not help you get your whites whiter or your brights brighter, but he does enjoy conversing with brothers from around the world!