We had Lodge last night. We were supposed to have three candidates but one of them did not show up. He did the same thing before. It makes me wonder if he really wants to join the Lodge. We have a mentor system in Iowa and the person's mentor is supposed to be meeting with him and bringing him to the degrees. It usually works very well but somehow this person is falling through the cracks.
Iowa has gone to a "Masonic Enlightenment Course" instead of proficiency. When I joined the Lodge (aeons ago) I had to memorize a long litany of questions and answers which included all of the work and the obligations. All of the signs, passes and working tools were included and when you finished you had essentially rehearsed the entire degree. Not only that you had to stand up in open lodge to take it. I think that a lot of jurisdictions still do that. Once in a great while we had a brother who could not memorize. (I remember one who joined when he was in his 80's) He was "helped" with his proficiency so that he was able to pass it. (By the way he went on to be a good and faithful brother until his passing at age 100 - He attended Lodge regularly, and he and his wife addressed all of the newsletters we sent out monthly)
The Brother Blogging his initiation into Freemasonry tells of his experience in proficiency here at Sarasoto's Temple. It gives you a good "feel" for the experience.
Later Iowa went to a shortened version of the proficiency. It was essentially just the signs, passes and the obligation. It still had to be given in open Lodge. Now we use the "Masonic Enlightenment Course". It is OK - just OK. I think the purpose was to enable men to join who (seemingly) no longer had time to do memory work.
Well, I am going to come down on the other side of this. I don't think Masonry without effort means as much. If you aren't willing to put time, effort and money into your Masonry why are you joining. I think that the entire Masonic Experience including initiation, Passing and raising with its intendant memory work and standing before Brothers was a seamless whole and perhaps, just perhaps, there is now a rent in the garment.
I am not going to say that we are not getting good men into the Lodge but it has been opened up to some who, perhaps, are not finding what those of us who have been around awhile found. My mentor was the man who taught me my proficiency in 1966. I can still remember standing in the Lodge (scared to death) giving the answers to the set of questions. No multiple-guess there. I can still remember the satisfaction that I got out of successfully passing the tests.
In fact, I made memorization a part of "my" curriculum when I taught. Students had to memorize a poem (at least one). I, of course, changed it so that it was applicable to the girls as well as the boys. Fellows became persons, his became a non gender pronoun, etc. But then I was not insensitive to women. This was the time when we stopped opening doors and calling women Miss or Mrs. (Of course, I still open doors but then I open them for men also - just part of the service.) But they had to do some memory work. Funny thing, even the kids in the Special Ed room who were mainstreamed into my class were able to do the memory work. We might have had to let them learn one verse at a time but eventually they learned it and they were very satisfied at having done so. (I had former students - when they were in High School - come up to me and recite the poem.)
Well back to my point. I think Masonry has lost something by not requiring at least some memory work. I see the new members (many of them) eager to learn parts and to do memory work. If you go to my Lodge's New Members Web site and scroll down just one picture you will find a picture of Peter. Last night Peter took part in the degree. Go one person below him and there is Justin who also participated in the work last night. These guys are ready, willing and eager, to learn parts and work. They could have memorized at least the limited proficiency and felt the satisfaction of having done so.
There is a great posting on The Beacon of Masonic Light about the New Air in Masonry. In it he says:
Often, candidates are asked to produce works to show their proficiency, papers on some aspect of Masonry relative to their degree with they present to the lodge and often answer questions on from the assembled brethren. They are also asked to serve the lodge, not as a sign of subservience, though all men serve who are brothers, but to learn the value of silence, service and contemplation.
Brothers in these lodges write papers as well, which they present to their brethren in open lodge, they discuss issues facing Freemasonry, how to apply our principles and tenets in modern society, and other issues of interest to the lodge. THIS is a return to the original model of a lodge.
We have a Brother in our Lodge who lives in Greece. He joined Arcadia Lodge while he was attending Iowa State University and has maintained his membership here as well as belonging to Masonic organizations in Greece. I will never forget how impressed I was when George took his Third Degree. Instead of the usual "Thank you very much for coming to help put on the degree, I was very impressed." speech usually given by a candidate, George gave a monograph on the relationship of the Three R's to the senses. It was one of the best presentations I have ever heard in the lodge and obviously he knew something about his degree before receiving it. We came to understand that this was what was done in Greece. Imagine that a new member making a presentation on an aspect of the ritual that he was not supposed to know about and yet it took nothing away from his initiatic experience.
I guess I would prefer to see us return to at least the shortened proficiency of having the due guards. signs, passes and the obligations memorized and then ask for a paper to be presented in open Lodge on some aspect of Masonry before they can participate fully in the work. It would make the Mason have some pride of effort and we would know that he was on the path of life-long learning about the fraternity and that he was not a member only as he would be of a service club such as the Lions but was truly a BUILDER, A Mason and not just here for self-aggrandizement.
Think about it. Comments welcome.
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