The Worshipful Master of my lodge handed me a book ("Worshipful Master's Guidebook; Or the Book of Joe" by Bro. James F. Hatcher III, PM). As he passed it to me, he opened it and showed me that the first section is the author's thoughts and content, and the rest of the book is blank lines. On these lines, the Master informed me, current and past masters can write their thoughts and ideas for their successors to "The Seat in the East" and he then asked me to provide some input to this small, paper bound treasure chest of ideas.
I knew what I wanted to say, but I knew I needed to play around with my words using MS Word to make sure I got it right and as it started coming together in a draft word document I realized it would also serve as a good blog post. So here we go, a longer version of my input to our lodge "master's diary" (as it were) for you to ponder.
My brother, congratulations on your election to "The Seat in the East", the dawn and place of light for our lodge as well as all lodges formed in the name and spirit of our great fraternity. You have been elected by brothers not because it's your turn, but because they are ready and willing to invest their hopes for the future of the lodge in you and in your ability to lead the brethren and care for our common unity that binds us in brotherhood.
Worshipful Sir, you have three duties and obligations while you occupy The Seat in the East. First, you must maintain harmony in and about the lodge; second, you must communicate your vision for your year and for the lodge; and third, you must maintain the unity of the lodges over which you now (or soon will) preside. Why do I say "lodges"? Ah, there is clarification coming... please bear with me as this was not an accident.
My brother, your main and your most important duty to the brethren is to maintain harmony in and about the lodge. Without harmony, the door is open to discord that will disrupt the lodge, the brotherly love among the members, and the order necessary to maintain and advance the life of your lodges. While you might help on your committees, and provide leadership on projects and your objectives, your officers and the brethren are charged to execute your vision and operate the necessary stations and places to keep the lodge running. They are best able to do their several duties in an atmosphere where peace and harmony prevail. This is your charge, this is the challenge of your imminent legacy!
Next my brother, you must communicate your vision for your year and the lodge to the brethren because without this knowledge, the brethren cannot unify behind a common goal and a common objective. Once the unity of purpose is lost, or worse if it is never established, forward progress then comes to a halt and the door is open for discord and chaos. Unity of effort is a powerful and binding force for good when shared among brethren with a desire to serve, becoming a powerful tool binding the brethren into a lodge and defining their common destination - use it!
Finally my brother, Worshipful Sir, you must ensure your lodges are unified for the common good of the brethren. I used the word "lodges" again and again it is no accident. Our craft is of a unique legacy of operative and speculative lodges. In a manner, we have continued these traditions and we exist today in a duality of both of these historical lodges - operative and speculative.
The operative lodge over which you will preside consists of the building, the lodge room, and the brethren laboring with and amongst each other to operate the West Gate, maintain our home and its heart. It is the operative lodge that commands much of our attention as officers and leaders of the lodge, it is most prominent among our senses.
The speculative lodge on the other hand is often neglected, under nurtured, and typically receives what one might call "short shrift" when it comes to attention and care. Worshipful Master, your speculative lodge is that spirit that unites the brothers into one purpose - it is not the objective, it is the spirit that binds the many members and brothers into a lodge for the purpose of sharing and perpetuating masonry from one generation to the next. It is the speculative lodge that gives a brother the feeling of being home among brothers and being a necessary part of the greater good of any given Masonic Lodge.
How do you pay due and necessary attention to a speculative lodge? My brother, you must communicate with all of your brothers and members! Not just the brothers that arrive and cross through the door of your operative lodge to conduct business, no, you must reach out to those brothers who are estranged for whatever reason from your lodge - brothers that have moved out of state, brothers who live too far to drive to lodge, brothers who are now unable to drive to lodge, and even those brothers who have merely drifted away, possibly because they feel unnecessary and forgotten.
As Worshipful Master, you must reunite these brothers with their lodge and recreate that spiritual link, the tie that binds distant brothers into a speculative lodge of brothers, ready to serve (as limitations allow) and craving the brotherhood they miss. You will find that when these neglected and forgotten brothers are reunited with their brothers, even if just spiritually, they crave the contact and the news of the lodge and look for ways to return to the fold, even when geographically separated.
I implore you Worshipful Sir, unite our speculative lodge with the operative lodge, revive the spirit that binds our brothers into "our lodge", working together in our own various ways to keep hope and keep the brotherhood alive and well. You will be amazed at the grace and brotherly love that is waiting "on the bench" to be brought back into the fold and feel again like an important part of the fraternal whole!
These three points - maintaining harmony, providing vision, and uniting the speculative lodge - constitute, in my opinion, the three principle virtues of a Worshipful Master - harmony, vision, and unity. Tap into them and draw the strength and wisdom necessary to guide the lodge through the ensuing year, through your year.
These, Worshipful Sir, are my thoughts and my best recommendations to you. Congratulations again, and good luck to you in your year in "The Seat in the East"!
S&F
BroBill
AMJ
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