more light #292
A Summer Visit to the Old Tyler
by Ed Halpaus
Grand Lodge Education Officer
Grand Lodge of A. F. & A. M. of Minnesota
Dear Masonic Student,
We have another fine “Old Tyler Talk” by M.W. Brother Tomas C. Jackson.
Brother Tom has a great way of writing and I’m certain you will enjoy his paper.
When I asked him about publishing the issue of his “Old Tyler Talk” he said
sure, and to mention that other Brethren have permission too, to use it in Lodge
newsletters: he only asks that he be credited as the author and that he is from
the Grand Lodge of Minnesota. Enjoy the Old Tyler Talk from M.W. Brother
Jackson. – Ed
A Summer Visit to the Old Tyler
By Thomas C. Jackson, PGM
“Old fellow, tell me about Masonry in the Great Depression,” I said,
eliciting a narrowing gaze from my friend, the Old Tyler.
“Hrumph. Old!? Age is a state of mind, young feller, and I can still whoop
ya good in checkers. Chess, too, or pinochle, if’n I wanted ter make a point.”
He was right, punctuating his words by taking another black checker AND gaining
a king. Sigh. I should have been watching the board more closely, but it was a
fine Summer day at the Masonic Home, and I was relishing just setting a spell
with my friend, off on the side veranda.
I smiled. “Wouldn’t a figured you to bruise so easily! You sure you aren’t
getting more cantankerous, these days?”
Looking back under his furrowed brows, “Tommy, I was born cantankerous. It’s
made my life more interesting.”
He paused, then continued, “You know, we built this place well before the
Crash. Old man Johnson moved in in 1920 – he was the first, and older than me,”
he said with the briefest of winks, “But in good times and bad, Masons have
supported it, continued building even when times were tough, and caring for
folks that has need. It’s Masonry in action, it is.”
“That’s for sure,” I said, even more mindful of that sublime fact, now that a
dear friend’s wife has entered hospice care. “Tender hearts and hands sure help
to lighten the burden, for the patients and families alike.”
–Masons are never far from gentle reminders of mortality. I think it is this
grounding, this acute awareness of potential and eventual loss that makes us
reach out all the more diligently to care for one another. We visit the
convalescing, the suffering, those on the mend, and those in the twilight. And
we attend more than our share of funerals. I think this gives Masons a better
sense of mindfulness of life, and helps us know better what to say, and when to
hug our friends tightly. When to look them in the eye and say we care.
He drew on his cheroot, wafting a single O-ring of smoke into the breeze,
long having forgotten about the game he had won. “You know, during the
Depression, we knew that if our little town and folks as lived there were to
make it, we simply had to help each other along. Sure, the gov-ment wanted to
step in here and there, and they helped a few. But it was always a day late and
a dollar short. See, a hungry child needs food that night, not content to wait
’til after the paperwork had cleared and three officials had signed off on the
program.”
“I recall one night, getting a call from the Master about an emergency
meeting. I asked him if he wanted me to tyle the door. ‘No,’ he told me. ‘But
I want your advice. Can you join us at the Lodge tomorrow night?’ Well, like
you’ve done, he showed me he knew the way to my heart. He’d asked the Grand
Master for permission to hold a special stated meeting, to discuss Billings’
young wife, who had an awful time with a breech birth, and some were asking for
the Lodge’s help while Billings took care of her and the little one.”
“Everyone cared. But no one agreed what to do. Seems some were clamoring to
write a check. Others wanted to hold fast, with the Almanac telling us it was
going to be a dry summer, and it looked bad for crops. The Master knew what he
wanted to do, but he was smart enough to realize he had to get the consent of
the lodge and pull on the reins a bit to guide her. We had a good meeting that
night, Tommy, and didn’t even burn through a full set of candles. See, the
lodge got organized. We set up a list of folks who would take turns bringing
over meals, not all at once, tripping over each other. We wrote a check, but
didn’t let passion overrun us. Billings was told that if he needed more, to
come and ask, but that a couple of volunteers were going to help him get his
planting in and a few of the ladies would take a turn watching his wife at the
house. Heh. I don’t think he was alone for a month, until she was up and
around.”
“So, to answer your question, I think Masonry was more personal in those
days. We were closer to the earth, if you get my meaning, which is a good
perspective for a feller to have. Most Masons knew when to lend a hand, and a
lodge would flourish in the same degree they rallied together to help their
fellows.”
“Mind if I tell others that story?,” I asked, thinking about how
uncharacteristically clear he was this time. Had he been planning to pass this
advice along to the Craft? “It’s a good reminder for us, in an age when our
reliance on insurance, or bureaucrats, or distant programs seem to insulate us
from reaching out to the folks right in front of us.”
“Why do you think I tell my tales, lad?” he said, glancing at the board. “A
good Old Tyler always considers a few moves ahead.” A slow smile grew on his
face. “Another game?”
back to top |
