Episode 92. 18:53 Working Tools Series: “Do Good Unto All”

This week we break down the vital importance of authentic friendship, re-thinking lodge education, and identifying our “cause” or purpose as Freemasons. How do all these things impact the overall “member experience” in your lodge? 

Also, we have an underused passage that serves as a reminder that our obligations extend beyond the walls of the lodge to our communities and the world at large. Grab your Manual…it’s an all new Minnesota Masonic Histories & Mysteries. 

Transcript

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I want to give you three main areas of focus to think about in your lodge relationship building and how it affects membership. Rethinking Lodge education beyond the obvious topics and what is our cause or mission statement as Freemasons, As humans, we tend to become so focused on our tasks at hand that we lose sight of our relationships. We get caught up in transactional holding patterns or routines. There are uncomplicated ways to enhance our time together and how our relationships are tied to what we consider education and the cause that we rally around as Freemasons. I I recently spoke with a brother who doesn't attend Lodge that much anymore. he really enjoyed going through the degrees, but shared that stated meetings are mostly full of internal debates and his lodge isn't doing a whole lot around meaningful education. Now, this brother is a busy single dad. He has a career. He can't attend much anyway. Feels a little self-conscious when he does because it's almost like his commitment is in question. He did love the way the Masonic experience was initially explained to him, but he's found the reality to be one in which his lodge is not actively pursuing community engagement, and the friendships feel a little hollow. According to him. He struggles to maintain the passion that he once had. we're gonna cover a bit about the importance of us identifying and articulating our cause. Why you might ask. Well, because our passions are ignited. When we set out to advance a cause greater than ourselves, can we have true brotherhood and friendship if our interactions are transactional and hollow? Let's start with a reference point you might find interesting. What is charity specifically in our Masonic context? This word dates back to the early 18 hundreds in a general sense. Here's the definition, love, benevolence, goodwill. That disposition of heart, which inclines men to think favorably of their fellow man and to do them good in a theological sense. It includes supreme love to God and universal goodwill to men. In a more particular sense, love, kindness, affection, tenderness, springing from natural relations as the charities of father, son, and brother. When we look at charity through that lens, that changes everything when we put it through the Masonic context of faith, hope, and charity, faith in God, hope and immortality, and charity to all mankind. Or we learn to subdue our passions and we act upon the square and we practice Charity. Charity in today's terms, really equates to authentic friendship, part of that relationship building. The same could be said for mentoring and the term of brotherhood, relationship building, talking to one another about what's going on in the lives of our members. So why are authentic internal lodge relationships so important? That authenticity of being there for one another and making sustainable progress together in the most uncomplicated sense. The core essence of Freemasonry is showing up and taking care of each other. If our relationships are hollow or transactional. How are we going to succeed in our mission within what we've set out to do as men and masons? I'm a fan of David Brooks, an author who writes The real act of building a friendship or creating a community involves performing a series of small, concrete social actions. Well. Now on a side note, that could be anything from disagreeing without poisoning the relationship, revealing vulnerability at the appropriate pace, being a good listener, Knowing how to ask for and offer forgiveness, knowing how to see things from another person's point of view. Think about when we spend time on social media, we have that illusion of social contact without having to perform the gestures that actually build trust, care, and affection. As Brooks goes on to write, the quality of our lives and the health of our society depend on how well we treat each other in the minute interactions of daily life. Does lodge ever feel that way to you? We have an illusion of contact because, well, we sprinkle the word brotherhood in all the time, but where are the gestures that build an authentic bond, a brotherhood? Let's take a step back and rethink what we consider lodge education. Traditional lodge education usually consists of facts, a history lesson, an analysis of one of our value teachings. In the past few years, we've seen an explosion of online influencers of men who offer life advice around health, relationships, career developments, and even personal discipline. There's a receptive audience of men in the world with a genuine desire for direction that is not being served by the hollowed out institutions of our society. A couple years ago, the US Department of Health and Human Services issued the following statement about our society's current condition, quote, a public health crisis of loneliness, isolation, and lack of connection, unquote. On a side note, it's no secret that AI is going to do many things for us in the future and replace humans at many tasks. But one thing it will never be able to do is create person to person connections. If you want your lodge to thrive in the age of ai, it's crucial to authentically connect human to human, brother to brother with others. Many popular online influencers are seeking to help men by showing them how to improve as people and achieve their own goals. They also challenge men to work harder and get better in all aspects of life while providing insights, advice, self-growth and purpose. really being sought out by countless men in multiple age demographics. They're going out of their way to seek direction and life advice around things like health, relationships, personal growth, discipline. The list goes on. your lodge could easily tackle one or two of those key points. And incorporate them into a stated meeting or a large education discussion, even something during your stated meeting dinner. if we fall short in providing our members with the resources to become a better version of themselves. We're essentially stuck in a holding pattern. How are we delivering meaningful, relevant content? In today's Blue Lodge, new and tenured members are seeking more than we've been offering. You hear it all the time, well, we just need more members. But what good is playing a numbers game and chasing petitions if we ignore providing meaningful content? That enhanced lodge experience. If we wanna be successful in our membership endeavors, we can't ignore the quality of our ongoing time together. What we provide our members in lodge is incredibly crucial. I've spoken with multiple grand lodges in states with huge overall membership numbers, and yet they have something in common with every other jurisdiction, a lack of participation and involvement. That's a big reality check. Big numbers on the overall roster does not automatically equal full sidelines and robust participation. A challenge for all of us is to rethink lodge education in a way that provides relevance, meaningful, and impactful content for our members. Maybe start this just once per quarter. Masonic education is any information that can help make a man a better version of himself. Maybe you're asking yourself, why is this valuable? I could fill hours and hours of a podcast with feedback directly from prospects that are seeking more information about possibly joining. One gentleman wrote that he's always looking for new things to learn. He believes it's important to never stop growing and evolving. He's seeking a brotherhood that he can rely on no matter the circumstances. Another gentleman shared that he wants to find a brotherhood that will foster growth, support each other, celebrate successes together, looking for a place where he fe might feel accepted and respected, where he can build a strong relationship with those that coalesce around similar core values. as we consider rethinking lodge education, what do those topics look like? For starters, that could be things like financial planning, confronting men's depression or anxiety addiction, PTSD relationship or career guidance. Charitable giving or scholarship opportunities. Caring for aging parents. The challenges of raising kids health and wellness, effective communication. That list is long and could go on A lodge that falls short in incorporating meaningful and relevant content typically equates to members not making participation a priority. And worse yet, brothers disappear. The goal of re-imagining lodge education is intended to get back to being there for each other. Supporting one another through the ups and downs of life. Is your lodge content to continue going through the transactional motions of brotherhood, or are you ready to elevate that word and bring it to life? on top of the relationship building and rethinking lodge education? I'm gonna wrap up with a question that was brought up recently. What's our cause as Freemasons, and do we have one? If so, what is it? many lodges are still using an abstract, confounding phrase to outsiders. It's that tagline of making good men better. Which would be a lot clearer to say we strive to help men become a better version of themselves. and by the way, we don't make anyone anything. However, we do provide the blueprint of tools, our core values for each to embrace. And actively incorporate into our daily lives. At times it feels like our main cause or purpose is narrowly focused on putting candidates through the degree process and then basically stopping there. Sure. We line up and congratulate the new Master Masons, but then we release them into a sea of sometimes nothing. We forget to invite him back to our many events under that lazy excuse. Well, he, he knows when we meet, we've given him our trestle board or our calendar of events, the relationship business. Our brotherhood has no finish line when we as an organization simply promise to make good men better, or conciliate true friendship among diverse people. We're saying very little about what we wanna accomplish. The sentiments are good, but they're too generic. when we can imagine in our mind's eye the specific version of ourselves that we want to advance toward, only then will we want to commit our energies and ourselves a clear cause is what ignites our passions. A clear cause puts actual meaning into our mission as Freemasons. If our members feel included in our cause, they'll go out of their way to give their time and talent knowing that they're advancing their own values and beliefs. What then is our written cause is Freemasons, the ritual, the value teachings contained within the cipher. How do we exemplify our own core values, the tenets of our profession into our lives in the outside world? A challenge to lodge officers, both now and in the future is to slow down and make sure we get beyond these abstract words and phrases. Mentoring often means little more than rote memorization Within your lodge are the assigned mentors, simply proficiency coaches and little else? if all we are doing is memorizing, repeating, and stopping there, once a member is deemed proficient, when in the process are we becoming that better version of ourselves? Let's ensure that we emphasize and convey the actual meaning behind the words. as stated earlier, the lodge was meant to be a place in which we take care of each other Fundamentally, we were always meant to be a men's support system where relationships are the foundation. in our search for a starting point? Where should we begin to glean that specific or defined cause amongst the hundreds of pages in the cipher? Let's consider something that's gone unused of late. When was the last time you heard the charge at closing in your lodge? Brethren, you are now to quit this sacred retreat of friendship and virtue to mix again with the world amidst its concerns and employments. Forget not the duties you have heard so frequently inculcated and forcibly recommended in this lodge. Be diligent, prudent, temperate, discreet. Remember that around this altar you have promised to befriend and relieve every brother who shall need your assistance. Remember that you have promised to remind him in the most tender manner of his failings and aid his reformation to vindicate his character when wrongfully reduced. Suggest in his behalf the most candid and favorable circumstances is he justly, reprimanded. Let the world observe how Mason's love one another. these generous principles are to extend further every human being as a claim upon your kind offices. Do good unto all. Recommend it more especially to the household of the faithful by diligence in the duties of your respective callings by liberal benevolence and diffusive. Charity by constancy and fidelity in your friendships, discover the beneficial and happy effects of this ancient and honorable institution. Let it not be supposed that you have here labored in vain and spent your strength for not For your work is with the Lord and your recompense with God. Finally, brethren, be all of one mind. Live in peace and may the God of love and peace delight to dwell with and bless you. How do we take passages like that, which are technically our cause and put them into action? Make that a verb. Both inside and outside the lodge we are tasked with touching the hearts and minds of men. If the meaning behind the words is lost or even slightly out of focus. We don't wanna become a theatrical group that's just immersed in a lot of words, memorize, recite, and repeat void of that actual meaning. Our cause is all over our ritual. Our value teachings, that rule and guide for our lives. Masonry is living not transactional, not mere words as demonstrated in that charge of closing. Reimagining Lodge education is crucial. Incorporating meaningful content to sow the seeds of charity that brotherhood, authentic friendship, becoming a better version of ourselves, building community both inside the lodge and within the community in which we reside. Yes, we will still read the minutes. We will still approve our expenditures. but those items cannot be the extent of our gatherings together. if we touch the lives of our members through balanced education, Masonic and Non Masonic, by the way. We can go from being transactional to sowing the seeds of authentic brotherhood and ensuring the meaning is never lost in our value teachings. There's no better time than now to strategically reposition our focus from the number of brothers we raise each year, Instead, focus on providing a lodge experience that results in those brothers actively participating for years to come. As we wrap up today, it's okay if you don't have all the answers and you don't need to pretend that you do. Learn to ask for help with confidence as you plan your trestle board and map out your year and your activities. If you can learn to ask for help with confidence, it will positively impact your growth as a leader. Don't be afraid to ask for help. Being the smartest in the room is not the most important, but being the one who's willing to ask for help is the most important. And don't forget to celebrate all the good things you're doing each and every day. Find joy in the small stuff. Simplify and uncomplicate. and as you go about your day. Think about that line. Every human being has a claim upon your kind offices. Do good unto all.