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A Charge to New Masters, Wardens, and Officers
PREFACE
One evening, in 1987, as Sr. Deacon of my Lodge, we were having
a rehearsal for the 2nd degree. After the rehearsal, the Overseer of the
Work for the Lodge, a Past District Deputy Grand Master, came over to me
and chewed me out good. Not because I had made errors in the work, or did
not know my part, but because I had dared to come out on the evening of my
wedding anniversary. He reminded me that family and job come first, and Masonry
was to take a back seat to these more important functions.
With that said up front and ever remembering that we begin.
The Charge
At a recent meeting of the Leadership & Educational Services
Committee we were asked to define the word
"commitment".
No one could give a good definition until one brother stated
" I can't define it, but I know it when I see
it!"
Each of you assembled at this installation and even those who are absent
have made a commitment. Those on the sidelines, to support your Master, Officers,
and the Lodge. Those that are Officers have made an additional commitment.
That commitment is to regularly attend the stated communications as stated
in your by-laws and any other meetings the Master may include. It means attending
whenever possible District functions. It means supporting and attending Officer
Associations, getting to know your counterparts in the other Lodges. It means
visiting your brothers who are ill, in the Masonic Home, or other care
facilities.
Now that might seem like a lot to do! Well here's the surprise. All that
will take you about 160 hours of your time a year. Or to put it another way,
1.8% of your time you have committed to the Office you have been elected
or appointed to. If you are the Master or a Warden add another 30 hours to
that commitment, as you should be taking the additional time to travel your
District visiting Lodges to see what is going on around you . . . no one
can afford to work in a vacuum. One of the best times to travel is during
a degree, special function or the Official Visit. The Master has also made
a commitment to attend Grand Lodge Communications as a "ruler in the craft".
The Secretary has even more hours!
Let us continue this train of thought.
In those 160 to 190 hours, you may hold between 10 to 20 stated communications,
you will plan a budget; approve the budget; pay bills; administer to the
needs of your brothers, and widows; administer to the needs of the building;
plan and have dinners; plan fund raisers; rehearse degree work; investigate
potential new members; initiate, pass, and raise new members; educate new
members; and attend Masonic Education classes for yourself; all in a time
frame equivalent to 20 working days or 6% of the total days in a year.
Think about it my brothers! You are being asked to devote only 6% of the
total days or 1.8% of the total hours in a year to your Lodge and Masonry!
By contrast you expend approximately 10 times as many hours watching TV;
10 times as many days and almost 40 times as many hours at your normal vocation
and may in fact produce less, be less productive, and have no lasting effect
on any one or anything, in the same time period. Look at how much you accomplish
in Masonry with far less hours, and the number of lives you touch in a positive
and rewarding way.
In 1927, at the height of Freemasonry, the average working man had about
30 hours of leisure time a week. In 1955, at its "second peak", the average
working man had about 35 hours of leisure time a week. Some have stated using
what is called "Junk Science", that today, men do not become involved because
they have less leisure time on their hands. Wrong! Today the average working
man has 40 hours of leisure time a week of which 35 are spent watching TV
and 2.5 are spent with his children.
Many young men with young families have approached us over the last several
years stating they do not know whether they can afford to take the time away
from their families and children. It is our belief they cannot afford NOT
to take the time, and having raised sons and daughters who are now young
men and women, it is our belief that the example of commitment has helped
them to learn that value and more.
Look at the world we live in today! Tell me it would be better without
freemasonry. If you believe as we, that the world needs what we have to offer
. . . more today then ever before, then commitment is no longer a question,
and time is irrelevant.
Good Luck to all of you and may the
GAOTU Bless and Keep You.
Sincerely & Fraternally,
The Leadership & Educational Services Committee