A New Appreciation Of Freemasonry
It’s been about a year since government directives halted in person Masonic events, and the use of Masonic ritual in Washington. What was claimed to be ‘two weeks to flatten the curve’ seems to have turned into a never ending shutdown as our society has tried to eliminate the corona virus.
Shortly after the shutdown began, I was installed as Deputy Grand Master, and in all of the time since I’ve only put on my DGM apron once. On behalf of our Grand Master, I was able to open a Lodge with the primary officers so that the Lodge could approve a significant business transaction that had been in the works for some time.
That’s it. One Masonic meeting in a year. A very quick and truncated meeting at that.
I know that it is even worse for the great majority of our Brothers. Officers have been held over, and Lodges have struggled to do essential business as best they can. Masonic fellowship exists on Zoom, but that is a bare shadow of the brotherhood we can feel when we are meeting in person.
The good and great news is that we will once again be able to meet in person soon.
Covid numbers are improving, the vaccine is getting out there, and widespread immunity will be upon us before we know it.
The other good news is that I think most of us now have a new appreciation of Freemasonry.
I can tell you that the one time I was able to meet in Lodge with a very small number of brothers, I was struck by just how great that experience was. I know that it will be similar for all of our other active members once the restrictions on in person meetings are lifted.
I think that perhaps, we all, myself included, tended to take Freemasonry and our local Lodge for granted. We assumed that the Lodge would always be there for us. We have learned differently through this pandemic. We have learned what it is like to be forced to live without Freemasonry.
I think that following this pandemic, all of us will have a greater appreciation for our Fraternity, and the positive impact our brotherhood has on our lives.
Because of that, despite what naysayers might claim, I think that Freemasonry will not only survive the pandemic well, it will positively thrive following this difficult time.
If we look upon this nation’s expansion to the west, we see that Masonic Lodges popped up in tiny towns and larger cities almost from the very moment that settlers first arrived.
A handful of settlers moved in, soon a Masonic Club was formed, and once it was large enough, a Charter for a Lodge was sought. Often times this Chartering alone required extremely long and difficult journeys. Many of our own earliest Lodges have records explaining the lengths our Brothers of long ago had to go so that they could experience Masonry in their lives.
I think that by having lived through this pandemic, we can understand why those men were so committed to the Fraternity. We can see why they were so eager to create new Lodges in their new homes following their move across the country. We can see why Freemasonry grew so extraordinarily fast during that time.
I think that we will see a similar reflowering of Freemasonry following this pandemic.
We have all missed it, and we will return to it with renewed vigor. That has to be a very good thing.
We must however be certain that we are prepared.
Most of our Lodges have candidates and potential candidates in waiting. We must be prepared to perform those Degrees, and mentor those new men who come into our Lodge. We’d better be practicing our ritual parts now so that we are ready. We had better decide who will mentor these new men, and develop a good plan of Masonic education for them. If we do these things, they will bring a new excitement and a new vigor into our Lodges.
The future of Freemasonry is bright. My belief is that it is brighter now than it has been in decades.
It is my sincere hope that I get to sit in Lodge once again with you very soon. I miss it badly, and I know that you do too.
-Cameron
Cameron M. Bailey
Past Grand Master
The MW Grand Lodge F&AM of Washington
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