MASTER
Great honor comes to any brother when he is elevated to
the Oriental Chair of a Masonic Lodge. Few Wardens but
look forward with mingled pleasure and anxiety to that day
when in their hands will be placed the gavel of authority. He
who early prepares to be a Master in more than name only
arrives in the seat of authority with some confidence.
To be Master of a Lodge is quite different from being
president of a club or society. The Master is called upon to
decide questions of law and practice which he cannot leave
to his brethren; the honor of leadership carries also the
responsibility. That his decisions be wise and just, and of
such a character as will draw commendation, not
condemnation, from Grand Master or District Deputy, he
must know the laws of his jurisdiction and his own powers
and limitations. He can obtain this knowledge only from a
faithful study of the book of Masonic law.
Specifically, the Master must familiarize himself with Grand
Lodge law upon applications, amendments, ballots and
balloting, burial, candidates (residence, qualifications,
physical perfection, etc.). charges, correspondence with
other Lodges, degrees, dimits, dispensations (especially as
to when they are necessary), dual membership (if authorized
by Grand Lodge or not authorized by that body), dues,
education, elections, examinations, finances, installation,
jurisdiction, membership, minutes, motions (when not in
order), objections to candidates, offenses, petitions,
processions, proxies, rejection. returns of Lodges, special
communications, summons, Sunday observances, trials,
visits and visitors, votes and voting (when paper ballot
required; when majority; when two-thirds and when
unanimous needed, etc.) waiver of jurisdiction.
Learning all this is not easy, but being a .good Master is not
supposed to be easy. To have been elected Master
presupposes a willingness to labor, and here is labor and
plenty of it.
A Master is not only leader of his Lodge but a member of
Grand Lodge, in which august body he represents his
Lodge. Familiarity with the Grand Lodge procedure,
questions pending, legislation enacted, etc., gives him a
perspective and enables him to act with intelligence and
understanding. In the Proceedings of most (not all) Grand
Lodges is the report of. the Committee on Foreign
Correspondence, under which apparently misleading title an
official reviewer summarizes the activities of other Grand
Lodges. The Master who realizes that he is not only an
important cog in his own Masonic machine, but an integral
part of a world-wide Freemasonry, early grasps the real
importance and responsibilities of his position. Study of the
Proceedings gives a perspective on the activities of Grand
Lodge, with special reference to its charity, whether
exercised in Masonic Home, Orphanage. Hospital,
Foundation, outside relief or other form.
Few assets are more valuable to a Master than friends. In
Freemasonry, as in the profane world, the art of making
friends is encompassed in one phrase: "to have friends we
must be friendly." Millions of men are so at heart; cold of
exterior from no better cause than shyness. Many a man
wants to extend his hand, wishes to say a cheery word of
greeting, desires with all his heart to be "one of the fellows"
and does not know how.
Yet it is so simple! For the root of personal shyness is fear
of laughter - and laughter, like thunder, has yet to hurt
anything living. The shy brother need only assure himself: "I
will not be afraid of something which cannot hurt me - I will
not think my brethren are more critical of me than I am of
them - I will not waste time and strength wanting and not
doing, when to say a cheery word and put out my hand
needs but a muscular effort!"
Friendliness begets friendliness. The brother who is cordial
finds hands spring out to meet his; sees smiles beget
smiles; learns that genuine interest in a brother produces
real interest in him. The Warden who leaves the West for
the East interested enough to know all regular attendants by
name will enter his year of responsibility with an asset than
which there is no greater for the leader of a Lodge.
No Master can afford a temper, and should not expect
courtesy or consideration from his brethren if he does not
show both from the East. Luckily, few men attain the East
without long experience which generates appreciation of the
honor, and creates a desire to rule justly, fairly, impartially,
courteously. The Master's great power increases with lack of
asserting. The mailed fist is no less potent that it wears a
velvet glove.
Other important duties of a Master include:
To obey, enforce, defend, the Ancient Landmarks, the laws,
rules, edicts of Grand Lodge and Grand Master, and the
by-laws of his Lodge.
To enforce and defend the prerogatives that belong to his
office; never to permit any brother to encroach upon these,
no matter what feeling of personal modesty may dictate to
the contrary. The Master has a duty to those who follow him,
to hand down the office, with its dignity and its rights, its
privileges and its responsibilities, unchanged.
To preserve order in his Lodge at all times: it is
disagreeable to call a brother to order, but it is unthinkable
that any brother be allowed to interfere with the solemnities
of a degree.
To see that his officers learn, and perform, their work in a
proper manner. The, Master is responsible: it is the Master's
part to demand and receive enthusiastic cooperation from
his officers.
To train all his officers, and familiarize even the minor ones
with Lodge affairs. A weekly meeting of all officers, at lunch
or some officer's home in tile evening, is a splendid way of
getting opportunities to "talk things over." Where this is not
practical, a half hour officers' meeting before or after a
Lodge meeting is a means of providing unity of effort and
ideals in conduct of Lodge affairs.
Does all this appear too much of an ideal ? It is not half of it!
The ideal is the perfection toward which we stretch eager
hands - but never grasp. The ideal Master has never
presided in any East, for the ideal Master would be perfect
and perfection is not given to human beings.
But the clearer and more attractive the ideal is, the more
strenuously the eager may strive toward it, and the nearer
they may approach it.
The ideal Master knows his Masonry. He has spent many
years with many books. To him the romance, the history, the
high lights of adventure, the great men who are Masons, the
great Masons who have led the Craft are familiar. In spirit he
has stood beside the king's Master Mason at the
construction of one of the great cathedrals of Europe. He
has supped with Ashmole and breakfasted with Sir
Christopher Wren. He has sat in Lodge with Preston,
Desaugliers, Hutchinson, Jeremy Cross, a thousand others.
He has assisted at the initiation, passing and raising of
Washington, and knelt with him at Valley Forge. He has
learned Masonic wisdom at Ben Franklin's feet. He has
traveled westward with Freemasonry, from its first
beginnings in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania to the
Pacific coast. Through Revolution, War of 1812, the
Mexican campaigns, the Civil War, the Spanish War, the
World War, he has seen Masonry work her gentle miracles.
He knows something of Masonic literature, what books to
recommend to his brethren, where to find the answer to the
questions which will be asked him; the ideal Master has had
a Masonic book in his pocket or at his bedside for years
before he attained the East.
The ideal Master looks at his Lodge and sees it wholly
harmonious. No rifts or schisms develop under him; peace
and harmony prevail. He soothes the unhappy and brings
together the parted friends. He caters to the cranky and
makes them content; he avoids all jealousies. He is friends
with every Past Master, every officer, every brother.
The ideal Master leaves his Lodge better off financially than
he found it; he spends less than the income and for what he
spends the Lodge receives full value.
The ideal Master pays great attention to the duties which
are his in Grand Lodge; he faithfully attends, intelligently
takes part in the deliberations, votes with the interests of his
jurisdiction at heart, is a constructive force in the governing
body of Freemasonry.
The ideal Master has interesting meetings. He is willing to
work, and work hard, arranging programs, planning events
which will not only interest but instruct the brethren. They
are better Masons and therefore better men because of the
hours they spend within the tiled doors of the Lodge over
which he presides.
To the Craft the ideal Master gives "good and wholesome
instruction." No brother goes from one of his meetings
without something done or said which leaves a higher
thought of Masonry in his heart. His degrees are dignified,
well put on. His candidates have not only ritualistic
instruction, but are told something of "what it is all about"
that they, too, may "become good and faithful brethren
among us." His officers are given a mark at which to shoot
when the slow wheel of time turns them, too, into the
Oriental Chair.
The ideal Master considers the ill and the sorrowing as his
personal care, as well as that of the Lodge. No brother takes
to his bed or calls the doctor but the Master sees him to
bring what cheer he may. No widow or fatherless child
grieves for one gone to the Great White Lodge but has the
comfort of a word, a tear, from the leader of his brethren. As
much as a man may do, he does for those bound to him and
to his Lodge by the Mystic Tie.
No brother or family of a brother in want but is helped, so far
as the Lodge may help. It may be that the only help is
suggestion. advice, counsel - but it is a friendly touch in the
hour of need. If it is food, clothing, medicine for those too
poor to buy for themselves, the ideal Master makes it his
business to know the facts and to bring a sympathetic report
to his Lodge.
The ideal Master has no trouble preserving the dignity of his
office, because brethren respect Masters who respect the
East. He hands on the gavel of authority unsullied by
defiance to the brother who succeeds him in the East.
The ideal Master counts not his personal pleasure, his
social engagements, his hours of rest, recreation, aye, even
his sleep, when his Lodge calls. He puts his Lodge and its
needs before anything and everything in his life for this year,
save only his family and his God. He is Master of the Lodge,
but in a very real sense, is servant of his brethren, and takes
pleasure in his service, knowing it to be honorable before all
men.
The ideal Master carries a watch and uses it. If fifty brethren
wait ten minutes past the hour for a late Master, he wastes
more than eight hours of fraternal time - which he has no
more right to do than to waste Lodge money. His degrees
start at a reasonable hour that they may be conducted
unhurriedly, and he requires promptness of his officers as
be himself is prompt.
The traditions of his Lodge and of the Fraternity are
hallowed in his mind and practice, The Ancient Landmarks
are preserved, the laws, resolutions and edicts of Grand
Lodge lived up to, the by-laws meticulously observed. The
records of his Lodge are kept so as to draw commendation
from authority.
The ideal Master is guide, philosopher and friend to many
brethren for many troubles; brethren turn to a Master, at
times, when they will go to no one else. He is, perhaps,
mediator in a domestic trouble, he counsels with a father
over a wayward boy, he helps a widow invest her money
wisely, he obtains employment for those without work: he
does almost everything for every one, aye, even to washing
a child's face and painting a porch, one Master's
contribution to the household of a sick brother!
The ideal Master keeps constantly before him the need for
seeing his problems through a tolerant smile of
understanding. If he ever had a temper, he lost it for the
year before he entered the East. He has constantly before
him the thought that many men have many minds, and that
two brethren of directly opposite views may both be honest
and sincere. He does not take sides but is a balance wheel:
he rules firmly and justly, but the firmness is tempered with
kindness and the justice with mercy.
The ideal Master is enthusiastic about his work, and
prayerfully conscious of his own limitations; hence he is
quick to seek counsel and advice, and as slow to take it until
he has thought it through.
The ideal Master is eager for suggestions - but he does not
follow those which seem to him unwise, no matter how
important the brother who makes them. His is the
responsibility; therefore his must the decision be, but he
knows that two heads are usually better than one, and
welcomes counsel when it is offered, seeks it when it is shy.
The ideal Master is primarily concerned with policies rather
than details, and delegates the latter to carefully chosen
committees. But he keep., ever before him his
responsibilities, and knows what is going on. Too many
Masters have become bogged in details and thus lost the
path to success. The ideal Master does not lose his way!
The ideal Master is an ideal Mason; Masonry is a part of
him, as he is a part of Masonry. With all his heart and soul
and strength he strives to live the Masonic life that all
brethren may see that here is no mere figurehead, but a vital
force.
Finally, the ideal Master is humble minded. Not for him the
arrogant pride of place and power, though he has both
power and place. Nor for him the big stick, though it is his to
wield, but the silken string which leads where ropes may not
haul. The ideal Master keeps ever before him the knowledge
that although elevated to the most honorable position within
the gift of his Lodge, he can really fill the Oriental Chair only
if he thinks first, last and all the time of the Lodge and
brethren, never of self.
High? Of course it is high! All real ideals are too high to
reach until we can reach out and touch the stars. But we can
make the effort to reach . . .
Uneasy the Past Master's head which lies on a sleepless.
pillow, thinking sad thoughts of opportunities missed, of
duties undone, of work which now can never be his to do.
Happy the Master who lays down his gavel at the end of his
year knowing he has done all that in him lies; mortal man
may do no more. He it is who may stand in the East for the
last time, just before he installs his successor. wearing a
sprig of rosemary in his lapel,
"Rosemary - that's for remembrance." back to top
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