In reviewing the history of the Craft I sometimes have to wonder how the "Most Puissant...' and the "Rather Splendid..." are able to maintain any degree of Humility. How does a Worshipful Master with absolute power in his/her Lodge deal with the suspicion that he may just be worshipful after all?
When we collect our wages how do we know that our labor justifies the amount? A brave P.M. may whisper to the RWM, "Remember, thou art only a man (or woman)". But PMs of that sort are rare.
The Craft must have tools to handle this problem, but what are they?
In reviewing the history of the Craft I sometimes have to wonder how the "Most Puissant...' and the "Rather Splendid..." are able to maintain any degree of Humility. How does a Worshipful Master with absolute power in his/her Lodge deal with the suspicion that he may just be worshipful after all?
When we collect our wages how do we know that our labor justifies the amount? A brave P.M. may whisper to the RWM, "Remember, thou art only a man (or woman)". But PMs of that sort are rare.
The Craft must have tools to handle this problem, but what are they?
The Level. Outside the lodge everyone is equal in rank if not responsibilities. Also, it is worth keeping in mind that the Master of a lodge has no more power than the collective Brn give him. A lodge is much more likely to have a mini despot as Master if they themselves are title seekers and overawed by those of higher rank.
Titles? I could do without them, but they do serve a point to those astute enough to realise it. The titles and heavily adorned regalia are there to remind us that our inner being, our soul, our spirit are thus embellished as we work and evolve. As we become true custodians of the Earth and our brothers keeper we do shine more brightly, we shine so much our Brn recognise it and respond, even if we are unaware of that light ourselves.
A Master may well ask himself, who in his lodge shines more brightly than he, if his answer is 'none' then he does have a problem. LOL.
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting…trailing clouds of glory do we come from God, who is our home -Wordsworth
In our Blue Lodge we had a somewhat elderly lady, who had bad eyesight and could not memorize very well. Every year she was elected O.G. where she couldn't get into much trouble. She was a faithful brother, whose allegiance to the T.S. kept her in the Order. She should have been a model of humility for the rest of the L., but she wasn't. All we could see was her ineptitude at ritual. In retrospect, I feel we could have done more for her, but what? Is there a place in Masonry for such a person? It was obvious, I think, that the Craft touched her in many subtle ways but her example unfortunately did touch most of us.
In our Blue Lodge we had a somewhat elderly lady, who had bad eyesight and could not memorize very well. Every year she was elected O.G. where she couldn't get into much trouble. She was a faithful brother, whose allegiance to the T.S. kept her in the Order. She should have been a model of humility for the rest of the L., but she wasn't. All we could see was her ineptitude at ritual. In retrospect, I feel we could have done more for her, but what? Is there a place in Masonry for such a person? It was obvious, I think, that the Craft touched her in many subtle ways but her example unfortunately did touch most of us.
There you go, The elderly lady was just the messenger, here but for the grace of God go I ... How would I like to be treated?! Brotherly love, relief and truth. Truth is that this lady's Faithfulness may have been THE gift she bought to her lodge. ?
Maybe a slightly imperfect ritual performed with loving tolerance might be more effective than outward perfection. Paul might like to give us his opinion on that question.
For the record, if it is a help ... For the first 15 years of my Masonic career I was considered the very best ritualist. Now I read most long passages. My outer life leaves no time for the endless memory work, ageing process, full time work and caring for family and aged mother ... The choice has to be family and duty first, that is the Work we came here to do. Memorising ritual is important, it trains the subconscious, but it is not all important. IMO.
Enjoy you lodge work and relax a little.
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting…trailing clouds of glory do we come from God, who is our home -Wordsworth