Worries of a Master Mason

31 August 22

Not all masons want to advance their masonic careers in their lodge. Many have good reasons for not wanting to take office. Some have intense work and family pressures, travel commitments or simply find rote learning too time-consuming or too stressful. 

Unless Master Masons can be involved and given worthwhile tasks, many will drift away. We must start looking at ways to make them feel wanted by assigning them worthwhile jobs. 

There are many tasks that could be delegated to Master Masons. A timekeeper at the supper would be a valuable asset. They could be asked to propose toasts or give brief talks about their travels, their work or their views on life. Many are very interesting people and have life experiences to share. 

Many officers would be relieved and happy to delegate some of their tasks to an assistant who would stand in for them when the office bearer had to travel or had urgent commitments away from the lodge. 

Some Master Masons would be willing and able to act as secretarial assistant, to be a welcomer to visitors or to contact widows. There are many tasks that can be so delegated to get them involved without taking office. I regret never having been able to take office but much of my working life was spent travelling and my top priority was my international training work and mainly training managers. 

Come to think of it, that is what the lodge does. It trains leaders and managers to organise events, chair meetings, learn to budget, select future leaders, recruit suitable candidates, take responsibility for certain tasks and develop confidence to stand up and be heard in public. 

Any man who has risen to the rank of WM should be capable of running a business. The lodge is training community leaders and business managers. Why don’t we advertise this fact? Perhaps we don’t recognise these attributes sufficiently or are we too modest? 

Times are changing fast. Unless we face up to the changes needed we will end up like the dinosaurs.