THE HANDICAPPED BROTHER
Most Worshipful Brother Kenneth Sternkopf has set a shining example of how
a Brother can overcome adversity and serve our Craft in an outstanding manner.
We thank him for sharing his thoughts on how we can reach out to our physically
handicapped Brethren .
God grant me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change, courage
to change the things that I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
These words have long been a challenge to me for I spend my days confined to
a wheelchair, unable to walk, a situation that I have come to accept. During
1987-88, it was my privilege to have served the grand jurisdiction of New Jersey
as its Grand Master. Probably the only Grand Master to have served his term of
office in a wheelchair.
Although being unable to walk makes me different from those who have gone
before, I, like them, am a plain Master Mason. I have tried to play down the
fact that I am different, for like others, I have goals that I have set in my
life and in this fraternity. One of these goals I attained in being able to
serve this craft as a Grand Master. So to those who see a person like myself or
someone like me, I would like to explain that we are all ordinary
Freemasons--the only difference being our inability to stand or walk.
With these thoughts in mind, perhaps it is time for someone like myself to
address the issue as to how the members of our fraternity view and accept those
of us that project an image of being "Handicapped". When, in fact our only
handicap is not being able to function in the same manner as our brethren.
There are in my mind two forms of being handicapped--one being a physical
handicap that many of us suffer and two a mental handicap that many of our
lodges and brethren seem to suffer in their dealings with the physically
handicapped.
Have you ever stopped to realize that a major portion of our membership
suffers from some form of handicap? Those that wear glasses, hearing aids, false
teeth, arch supports, and those that take daily medication all exhibit some form
of handicap. The Grand Master that I served as a Grand Chaplain in 1971 alluded
to the fact that even being a Master Mason is a handicap for people expect so
much more from the members of our craft.
Why then is a person in a wheelchair, on crutches, or one who uses a cane
looked upon in the eyes of our fraternity as a person needing a special
dispensation to share in our brotherhood? Why then is our aged brother or one
using a cane or crutch left out of our fraternal family because some of our
lodges meet on the second or third floor of buildings that are not barrier free
and no provisions have been made by the members or committees to accommodate
these brothers?
Because a brother is handicapped in one form or another does not mean that
his mind is affected. Loss of the ability to walk or stand is not connected to
or indicative of loss of brain power. Why not involve physically handicapped
people in the programs and in the officer lines of our lodges? Why not initiate
volunteer programs in our lodges, in our districts, and at our Grand Lodge level
to aid those of our brethren needing physical assistance as well as those in
need of charitable assistance?
The Hospital Visitation Program of our Masonic Service Association tends to
the needs of the veterans in the many Veteran's Hospitals across our land.
Perhaps it is time that a service program be initiated within our fraternity to
tend to the needs of those who find barriers in their way, making it difficult
for them to attend and participate in their lodge functions.
Having accepted the fact that there are those with physical handicaps within
and without our fraternity, and that these handicaps cannot be changed, we can
then move on to adapt our thinking and our buildings to incorporate those
changes necessary to draw into, and back into, our lodges those brethren in need
of special assistance.
Brother Franklin Delano Roosevelt governed our great land from a wheelchair
and certainly had the wisdom to recognize what could be changed and what could
not. 1, with all humility, tried to emulate this great man by using him as a
role model during my life and during my Masonic career. I hope that as his
contribution led to changes in our country, perhaps what I have had to
contribute to this gentle craft of ours will lead to some changes in the way we
think. Especially in those who find it easier to make personal excuses rather
than involving themselves in the strengthening of our Fraternity.
Another great man, Mr. Bernard M. Baruch, once stated, ''There are no such
things as incurables--there are only those for which man has not yet found a
cure.'' Perhaps the time has arrived for our fraternity to change its thinking
and begin a search for a cure that will aid our handicapped, both those with
physical handicaps and those brethren and lodges that suffer from mental
handicaps that prevent them from having the wisdom to recognize that which must
be accepted and that which can be changed. Certainly changes can be made to aid
those unable to attend lodges because of their particular problems, just as
changes can be made in reinteresting those of our members "Handicapped by
Apathy" to overcome their self imposed barriers.
It has often been stated that "We do not have problems in our fraternity, but
what we do have are challenges.'' Hopefully those challenges facing our
fraternity today will lead to God granting us the serenity to accept that which
cannot be changed, a large portion of courage to change those things needed to
strengthen our beloved craft, and last, but by far not the least of these, the
wisdom to recognize that there is a great difference between the two.
So hopefully, brethren, after we recognize the fact that there do exist
differences in people, be those differences physical, mental, or other
handicaps, perhaps we can get on with the job of being Freemasons aware of, who
we are, where we come from, and what it is we purpose in belonging to this the
greatest and oldest fraternity on the face of the earth.
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