Family First

I left the office with plenty of time to get to the lodge and meet with a few of the brothers before the meeting. This is nothing out of the normal except this time I knew when I got in the car that I wasn’t going to be able to stay for long. Because of some other unavoidable occurrence the only thing that I had time for on Thursday night was to check the mail and hand everything off to my assistant for the night. It is an odd feeling every time that I have had to do this and especially since this is the first time that I would be missing multiple meetings in a single year. However, in the end, the brethren understand that family has to come first.

It is during these moments, above all others, that I am glad that I have an assistant that I can count on to take over and whom I trust with the various duties during the meeting. Each time that I have had to leave early for personal reasons I was able to hand everything off, run through the agenda, and get out the door to see to other obligations. At no time have I wondered if something was taken care of in my absences. The past couple of years in particular, knowing that I can count on this brother for the information that I need has been an invaluable resource and I greatly appreciate the assistance of my former mentee.

With that said, I have made it a point to follow up the following day to see what I missed and if there were any action items that I needed to address. More accurately, see what action items I needed to address. Each time that I have made that call I was given a clear rundown of what was accomplished the night before and what I can expect in the weeks to follow. This makes the following meeting that much easier.

I hate missing any night at the lodge but especially a stated meeting. But, as I stated above and as we all hold close to our hearts, family must come first and I have never received any push back for having to miss a meeting for this reason. And each time that I have made the decision to forego the evening gathering, especially this past meeting, I have been glad that I made the right decision. The brethren rely on me to assistance here and there for the tasks that fall under my purview and occasionally for general council but my family needs me during difficult times.

Changes Already Taking Place During Our First Meeting

 

The first stated meeting for any given year is one that usually demonstrates an interesting change over the previous year as there is a new slate of officers sitting in the chairs. While last year the difference from the previous year was rather minimal given the fact that the Worshipful Master served two consecutive terms, this year, this meeting, demonstrated the difference we were all expecting. Even the preparation before the meeting was a little different this time around as rehearsals were held and a fresh slate of topics was set to be addresses right away. With all the topics that were addressed, it is going to be a great year.

What was also a nice change was the simple fact that we had two men in attendance at dinner before the meeting who are interested in petitioning the lodge. Given the fact that it has been far too long since the last petition was read, this was a welcomed change from the previous year. After all, we can’t grow as a lodge if we don’t have new masons being raised. And with the increasingly realized atmosphere during the meal, this was a great time to have potential candidates joining us to break bread and ask questions.

However, my time at lodge this past week was limited due to a family matter that came up at the last minute. For the first time in over a year, I missed the actual meeting. Thankfully, I was able to be at the lodge beforehand and make sure that all information was handed over to my assistant for the meeting. Having someone you can trust to back you up as you assistant is too often overlooked. But, even not having stayed for the actual meeting, I noticed the change from the previous year by seeing the interactions during dinner and talking with many of the brethren the following day. Things are headed in the right direction.

Now I find myself catching up a little bit, not too much thanks to the assistance that I have received, and also looking forward to discussing the topics raised during the meeting this week with many of the brethren. Basically the same routine, which remains no matter who is sitting in the east, once one meeting ends, preparations for the next meeting begins. There are a few things that need to be addressed between now and then but they are all great things to get the lodge moving in the right direction for the current and future years.

Technically, I Didn’t Miss Lodge

Just some random Masonic art found on the internet. 

I was originally planning on heading over to the lodge after work yesterday but, as has become common place, those plans were changed. Fortunately, it was not my doing this time around. With another event taking place within the district, the usual fellowship meeting was replaced and the brothers that are usually at the lodge for additional training, education, and fellowship headed over to Conshohocken for a meeting.

It really would have been nice to attend with them but I can’t commit the extra hours in the evening at this point especially with my wife and son not feeling 100 percent. I was at least able to spend some time in Ardmore this weekend (at the blood drive) so my absence wasn’t as long as it could have been. However, it will be nice once we are able to arrange our schedules and get everything back on track… I miss the weekly evenings with the brethren.

Of course, there are still plenty of things that need to get done and I am slowly sifting through each of them trying not to let one or another fall too far behind the rest. There are items that need to get picked up (I should really ask my assistant for his help on that one), things that need to get ordered, checks that need to be signed, calls that need to be placed, requests that need to be made, and a notice that needs to be drafted, printed, and mailed. Oddly enough, this list is only slightly longer than my usual monthly routine.

All of these tasks are simply to prepare for the next stated meeting. And now, after a few phone and email conversations, there are a number of other things that I have to make sure get done. While not an issue in the past I seem to be struggling a bit lately and even the smallest additions are delaying other, more pressing, priorities. I guess, when you look at it, it might be a good thing that I wasn’t at the lodge last night… or it could be a really bad thing. I’m not going to know until next month.

So, right now, the plan is to be back at the lodge next week. Hopefully, there will be a few things that I can tie up in person. After that I hope to be in Ardmore a few times in May but I am not going to finalize that for now… it will all come down to how things play out the rest of this month. I guess we will just have to see what happens.

From One To Many

There is always a time each year when a variety of events seem to converge during a single month at the lodge. Sometimes it can even come down to a single day. It is hard enough when there are a variety of Masonic commitments converging, having family projects that need to be addressed at the same time just adds to the difficulty.

While it would be nice to be able to go to everything and not lose out on the time at home, it isn’t a realistic scenario. Anyone who is or has been an officer knows this routine all too well. And while I have recently significantly cut back on the time I have been spending at the lodge, I am uncertain as to whether I can avoid the pull of my office much longer.

Things have to get done this month and there are certain commitments that I have to make. This is nothing new but the number of things that have to get done before the next meeting, an official visitation, has become overwhelming at times. I can’t even find the time to coordinate the transitioning of tasks to my assistant.

However, when I step back and take a look at the problem it really doesn’t seem that bad. There have been times in life when I had to look for something to do and now I am looking at a variety of options. While it would be nice to be able to pick just one, I still have the options and people who want me to be present at each. It is a really good feeling and on that is too often overlooked.

This is a message that I do my best to relay to the new brothers that come into the lodge… we want you to be here. We are all integral to the success of the lodge and the fraternity as a whole. You never have to look for a place to be or somewhere that you can go… there is always a place for you, sometimes a chair for you, at the lodge. It is a powerful thing to think about especially during this time when the digital barriers as so ever-present. We want you here, as an equal, as our brother.

Even though Michael Keaton warned us of the pitfalls, it looks like I may have no other option than to be present at two or more events… I am pretty sure that the simple one will be showing up to one of them calling everyone Steve. The trick is trying to figure out how to accomplish this seemingly impossible task. It is just nice to know that wherever I find myself I am going to be welcomed and I will be among family.

One Meeting Or Two?

The more you know the harder you laugh!

Since our usual stated meeting was postponed and a degree already scheduled for the evening, last night was an interesting and condensed meeting. As if the scheduling wasn’t enough of a concern, I also had to make a point to have discussions with the Worshipful Master and the Trustees. Some extra fun that I really wasn’t looking forward to but, in the end, everything seemed to smooth out… hopefully my phone will stop ringing now.

Of course, as is the nature of my office, this was not the end of the discussions for the night. There were a number of behind the scenes things that needed to be addressed in order to keep things running smoothly. They were actually great conversations with a lot of progress made to hopefully take care a number of things that have been quite the headache as of late. It simply came down to making sure that everything was communicated and everyone knew what was expected of them. It happens.

Something that I hope to change one of these months is bin able to sit down and enjoy dinner with my brothers. At this point I can’t remember the last time that I was able to grab a plate and sit at a table before a stated meeting. It has been so long that the Steward was ready to make a plate for me to take home after the night was over. He is just one of the many brothers that has taken the time and gone out of there was to make things just a little bit easier for me month after month.

Before and after the meeting, in-between conversations and other duties, I was also turning to many of the brothers in attendance asking for their dues which were now long overdue. And, not surprisingly, the requests continued from various brothers for a variety of reasons which added a number of things to my Masonic to do list. This is something I both dread and look forward to as it allows me to look into some of the things in freemasonry that I may have previously neglected.

Because of all the aforementioned reasons, and the fact that he attended the Secretary’s Seminar last month, my assistant is still astounded that I am able to juggle all of these things. However, I do agree with him that the pay could be better. But no one takes on the responsibilities of this office for financial gain… we enjoy the work and take pride in the role we play in the history of our lodge and the Masonic lives of our fellow brothers.

The meeting itself was the quickest that I have ever experienced and while we may have postponed a lot of the usual business, it was still amazing how fast we were able to move through the night and how much we were able to accomplish. By the time the lodge was closed, I was heading back home as if we had only had one meeting rather than two. My wife still wasn’t happy (mostly because my son insists on waiting up for me) but it could have been a lot worse.

Productive Day At The Lodge

For the first time in a few weeks, I got up early this morning for a Saturday full of activity. While I had plans to run a few errands as well, by the time I left the lodge in the early onset of evening I had already gotten plenty of things done. While only a few of us showed up to the lodge cleaning event (this was largely due to my forgetting to send a slew of emails prior) the few of us there took care of the essential tasks that have been put off for months.

In addition to the work that needed to be done, it was also a time of exploring the lodge, planning for the next few months, and just enjoying the company and fellowship. Even though we see one another most months, it is a different experience spending some time with one another without having to prepare for a meeting. It was also an interesting time looking into the corners of the building that we seldom see and discovering a few long lost documents and artifacts from the history of the lodge including old lodge bylaws (my salary hasn’t gone up much in the last 90 years) and a collection of thirty year old glasses from throughout the district.

However, the most productive part of the day was in the conversations I had with handful of brothers that helped us achieve at least some of our weekend goal. I was able, in preparation for the anticipated changes coming early next year, talk with my mentee about becoming my assistant. I am incredibly proud of the progress that he has made in such a short period of time and I know that he will be able to step in at a meeting if I need him too.

The other conversation of note was with a brother who happens to also be a realtor. While during meeting nights business isn’t really discussed beyond how things are going in a general conversation, I try my best to take note of a brother’s occupation just in case. He happened to show up at the lodge today to help with the cleaning so I thought it was the perfect time to discuss some real estate questions and I am so glad that I did as it looks like our dreams might actually be within reach for the spring. There could be one more big change on the horizon.

While we all gathered to do our part to improve our lodge we all seemed to get much more out of the day than we were expecting. We found a new officer for next year, new business, and a future that seems to be a little bit brighter and cleaner than when I got out of bed this morning. While it would have been nice to have more brothers join us, I can’t really complain about the great day that has now come to an end.

Searching For An Assistant

 

While the summer is pretty quiet at the lodge I consider it a great time to get things done, having meetings with other officers, and make plans for next year. Since no one was expected to be at the lodge last night, I thought it would be a great opportunity to have an informal meeting with the assistant Secretary about 2015. Essentially, all I wanted to do was to see if he was able to stay on in the same role next year and, if so, if he would be able to step in to my chair during a meeting if needed. With the way that my schedule has been this year and with an anticipated increase in the craziness next year, I just need to know that someone can sit in the chair, without question, when I am not there. This is all that I ask the assistant Secretary to do… he is my emergency backup.

Understand that my assistant for my first year has been a huge resource as he previously served as secretary and also advised my predecessor… let’s just say that he knows his stuff (probably still a lot more than me). Of course, this is in addition to being a great man and mason as well. So I headed into the meeting with the hope that I would be hearing the news of this brother securing permanent employment in the area that allows for a great amount of flexibility during the evenings so that he would have no issues attending lodge. What can I say, hope isn’t always a reality.

Well, things didn’t really work out that way. As it turns out, there is a bit more uncertainty headed his way at the end of this year as he is expecting his first child in December. Add the job uncertainty to the equation and we both agreed that it might be a good idea for me to look for another brother who would like to step into the assistant position. I will certainly continue looking to him as an advisor as well as a hugely valuable resource and I am still hoping that he will be able to stay on as assistant but I will now begin the task of looking for another Mason willing to step into the role of emergency meeting stand in.

There are a few brothers I have in mind but, as many of you know, it is one thing to know of someone who would be a good fit for the job and a completely different matter to know someone who is willing to take on the responsibility. I guess you could say that the fun part of all of this is finding someone who is willing to learn… fun because of the simple fact that I miss teaching and I enjoy seeing people learn something new in freemasonry. With this in mind, I think I will begin my search with the newer masons and work my way through the membership according to fit, availability, willingness, and, to a certain extent, eagerness to learn. As always, I will let you know how the search turns out.   

Double Duty

Last night I experienced a case of masonic split personality as we struggled to fill all the positions to get the degree work done. Oddly, it wasn’t that we were short on men present at the lodge as we saw plenty on hand during the sandwich bar before the meeting but we had a number of brothers that had to accompany candidates, serve as guides, and a couple that needed to sit on the sidelines and observe. So during a night when my role is relatively limited as Secretary, I was also called into service to sit in the chair of the Senior Deacon. For many of you this all seems like a foreign language but my fellow brothers know that by moving over a chair, I was now right in the middle of the degree work.

However, there were a few things that I still had to do as Secretary throughout the night as there were still communication from the Grand Lodge, a few notes that had to be taken, attendance that had to be checked, and the ledger had to be prepared for the new brothers to sign. Basically, the times when the Senior Deacon would normally be resting, I was shifting back to my desk to take care of all these things to ensure that they were not forgotten. The last thing I want to do is forget any of my primary duties. After all, that is the job I am expected to do.

There were still a few things that had to get done after the conferrals came to an end around 10:30 so it was back down to the basement office to take care of the book keeping, correspondences, and updating of Masonic records. Many of these things I usually start while at my desk during the meeting but on a double duty night they were obviously pushed back making the night a little bit longer. Fortunately for me, my assistant was there to give me a hand and the Treasurer has always been a great brother to work with as we both do our best to be efficient with our time when work needs to be done.

So, after a full day at the car dealer and office and pulling double duty at the lodge it was finally time for me to head back home and get some rest. Usually I am up for some time but when I made it home it didn’t take long to get from the apartment door to the bed. Thankfully, today was a relatively light day. Well, at least as uneventful as I could have hoped for which just means that it was really busy but without any major surprises. Most importantly, no double duty beyond my split time between my regular occupation and my lodge duties.