The Progress Is Palpable

With a full notices comes a busy meeting and our stated meeting this month certainly lived up to that. It was a long night, both the meeting itself and the conversations after, but there was a heck of a lot accomplished during the night. It actually made me wish that I had been in attendance last month as there is a palpable difference in the way that the meeting flowed from beginning to end. This year is certainly a welcomed change and I am looking forward to many of the issues that we faced in the past to completely evaporate.

The evening was also full of information of which I was previously unaware. I knew about many of the items discussed but there are always details that are absent from discussions that happen outside of the meetings. Actually, I am not really used to this being the case. Many times, I am the one with the details which usually leads to the dozens of brief conversations before and after the sound of the gavel.

It was obvious that there are things that we still need to work on with regard to the memorization and actual mechanics but there was a huge amount of progress that was on display for both the other members of the lodge as well as a roster of guests in attendance. It is a testament to the work and outright effort that has been put forth by many of the officers between the meetings and I am looking forward to seeing and experiencing the progression of ritual throughout the year.

For the first time in a while, I found myself interested again in learning more about the lodge and some of the other offices… I can only sit as Secretary for so long before I want to start progressing through the chairs and I might as well be prepared for when the time comes because I don’t want to have to cram in order to move throughout the lodge room. And I also know that my memory is not my strength so it might take a while to get everything down cold or at least good enough to pass. But, for now, I have a job to do.

For a while I was filling in some of the holes in the East and, honestly, it really tired me out. The last couple of months have remained hectic but in a completely different way as there have been brethren removing the weight on my shoulders and bags from my eyes. If anything, the way we have started the year has served us well as it immediately brought us together to square everything back to level. There is still work to be done but we are all pulling in the same direction and we are slowly gaining ground.

Masonic Marathon

The Tuesday’s immediately following our stated meeting are the nights when we train for the Masonic Marathon. These are the nights that consist of multiple degrees, hours of lodge time, and impressive demonstrations of memorization on the parts of those participating in the degree work. While it is not every month that such late nights occur, there are still the occasional evenings when I know my wife is not going to be happy with me when I walk through the apartment door.

This is not something any of us are paid to do. This is something that we do for our brothers and soon to be brothers. It is in the passion to see men improve themselves that we find the motivation to participate and congratulate. It is a regular experience that I consider a privilege to witness and play some small role in simply by being there.

Last night I found myself in the lodge during one of the longer nights when two degrees were conferred (it would have been three but there was a hold up as one of the candidates was not prepared). It was a long night to be sure but one during which we were able to see a man take his first steps in Freemasonry during the first half of the night and another man become a Master Mason in the second half of the night. In all, we were there for over three hours and departed the lodge absolutely wasted from the day.

Driving home it was interesting to think about the similarities and differences that some of the conferrers have as I have seen a number of different Past Masters confer degrees over the past 6+ months. From a brother in his forties to a brother in his eighties, all have has different approaches, presentations, styles and inflections while all maintaining an impressive script running through their minds.

Like the conferrers, the men whom have become Masons have been of all ages as well ranging from a man in his twenties to a man in his late seventies. All determined to become a part of the fraternity it just took a few of them a little longer than others. I have seen all these degrees from various vantage points as well. From simply being present to lend support to sitting as a stand in officer, to knowing that next year I will be playing a small but significant role throughout the process as Secretary.

This is not just a matter of seeking more light. It is seeing how the light is refracted and reflected. It is seeing the light from all angles and trying to take in as much as you can. It is a never ending journey and a process without pause as one can never capture every ray of light that is cast upon them.