The idea that when a candidate is made a Mason he is thereby made a member of a local Lodge is unfortunate, because the Mason who makes that mistake loses that which is largest and best and most wonderful in Freemasonry. No local Lodge has a monopoly on his membership, nor can any local Lodge cut his Freemasonry down to its own size.

3 - Part of the Main

Dear Tom:

HREE cheers! You have read the chapter in Haywood that I hoped you would read, and it has done to you what I hoped it would do. Keep his words ever in mind, and your experience as a Freemason will be broader and richer always. Let's read again what Haywood says:

A newly made Mason may begin with the feeling that he is a member of Freemasonry only in the sense of being a member of a local Lodge, and that in a tenuous and secondary sense he also is a member of a Grand Jurisdiction. As for Freemasonry in other countries it is "foreign Masonry," it is not American Masonry, and therefore it is not his affair . . . While he is often curious to hear about them he feels that they are no concern of his. To such a member Freemasonry means "my Lodge."

And so, my lad, you got the message. Bully for you! I hope you'll never be the same. As a Senior Warden, it's good that you're beginning to comprehend what the poet John Donne had in mind when he wrote:

"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if it were a promontory ..."

Don't despair, Brother Senior Warden. It isn't going to ruin you to be a part of the main. On the contrary, old Acacia Lodge will take on a new significance. As Mark Antony would say it, you will not love Acacia Lodge any the less; you'll love Freemasonry more.

Let's refresh our minds further with those paragraphs in Haywood* which set you to thinking:

This idea that when a candidate is made a Mason he is thereby made a member of a local Lodge only is unfortunate not only because it is a mistake about the facts but also because the Mason who makes the mistake loses that which is largest and best and most wonderful in Freemasonry . . . No local Lodge has a monopoly on his membership, nor can any local Lodge cut his Freemasonry down to its own size . . .

A local Lodge is the whole of Freemasonry as it is at work in a given local community ; but the work which it is doing in that local Lodge is not the whole of Freemasonry. It is also and at the same time doing that same work in thousands of other Lodges.

I rejoice, Tom, that you have come across something in your reading that shocked you to your foundations. It suggests to me that you are headed in the direction of a broad overall view--something beyond the city limits.

Once you have accepted the fact that Acacia Lodge is a part of the main, then the next step is to work endlessly to make that wider perspective of Freemasonry your own. Only in that way can you become a better-than-average Worshipful Master.

In my elementary school Fifth Reader (that was awhile before your time) I used to chuckle over a poem by John G. Saxe, "The Blind Men and the Elephant." It told a story that was humorous, but that "packed a wallop."

It seems that five blind men went to the circus, met up with an elephant, and then, separately, each tried to describe the creature.

Number One, who felt only the animal's leg, described him as like unto a tree.

Number Two, whose hand grasped the elephant's tail, concluded that the creature must be like a rope.

Number Three took hold of the ear and was convinced that the elephant is exactly like a fan.

Number Four held out his hands and clutched a writhing trunk; then went away certain that the elephant is like a snake.

Number Five's sensation was still different; the smooth ivory tusk, tapering to a point, left him satisfied that he knew all about the animal. He is like a spear, of course.

Each man, considering his limited experience with elephants, was right. But because his experience was limited, each man was wrong. Not one of the five could comprehend the gigantic proportions of the animal. Each had been isolated within the tiny circle of his sightless environment.

Perhaps a simile that likens Freemasonry to an elephant is not entirely adequate. Instead, let's think of our Craft as a diamond with its scores of facets. Hold the precious gem to the light and it sparkles with icy whiteness. Turn it ever so slightly and it becomes a rich crimson. Turn it again, ever so slightly, and it sheds forth a mellow golden hue.

Truly, Tom, the glory of Freemasonry lies in its innumerable facets. Trouble is, many-sidedness so often begets one-sidedness. First thing we know the vision is narrowed to the point that only one facet can be seen. In becoming "all wrapped up" with just one facet, a Brother is in danger of becoming Masonically near-sighted, a myopic Mason. Gets so close to the forest that he can't see the trees.

He may become absorbed in the ritual to the exclusion of everything else. Or it may be the religious aspect of Freemasonry. Or its mystic quality. Or its history. Or the Eastern Star. Or one of the youth organizations. Or the Scottish Rite. Or one of the York Rite bodies. Or t h e Masonic Home.

Whatever his "magnificent obsession" may be, the fiddler with only one tune is like the blind man who couldn't comprehend the massive proportions of the elephant. Or like the near-sighted individual who can't visualize the beauty of the diamond because he looks at only one facet.

Then your next question, I'm sure, will be, What can I do as a Senior Warden to prepare myself for such leadership as will set the sights of Acacia Lodge, at least for one year, on the broad view?

Here are some ideas to start you out in your planning:

• Hold fast to the mental picture of Acacia \ Lodge as a part of the main. Its charter was granted by Grand Lodge; as Worshipful Master you will be a member of Grand Lodge. Acacia, therefore, is a unit in a state-wide Fraternity, in a great nation-wide, world-wide brotherhood. The Grand Master of Masons is the symbol of our continuing relationship to an ancient Craft. Never permit the i isolationists in our Lodge to let you become hostile to the Grand Lodge of which you are a part. (And don't refer to Grand Officers as "you fellahs" when you're talking to one of them.)

• The Annual Communication of Grand Lodge is the third week in May. As a member of Grand Lodge you are obligated to be present--for two full days--if you accept election.

• The Founders' Day Conference is the Saturday nearest January 12. It is a "short course" of information and inspiration for Masters, Wardens and Secretaries. Be prepared to attend without fail.

• The annual Pilgrimage to the Indiana Masonic Home is on a Sunday in mid-September. Be prepared to go and take a delegation from Acacia Lodge.

• But don't stop with just one huge pilgrimage to the Masonic Home. Organize one for the Brethren of the Lodge some week-end. You'll come back with a new appreciation of what Freemasonry is and does.

• Visit, visit, visit. And then visit some more. Start with neighboring Lodges, then branch out to other parts of the State. Move the Lodge charter and confer a degree.

• Encourage other Lodges to pay a visit to Acacia. Start with neighboring Lodges, then promote a visitation from a Lodge in an adjacent state. It's Masonic fellowship at its best.

• Organize a pilgrimage to the historic Scho-field House at Madison, birthplace of the Grand Lodge of Indiana; two or three carloads at the least.

• Then try making a sizable trip, covering an entire weekend. How about a pilgrimage to the George Washington Masonic National Memorial at Alexandria, Va., at which Acacia Lodge could confer a degree in those historic precincts?

Now it's your turn to add to the list. Keep it up, my lad. Keep on thinking of Acacia Lodge as a part of the main. It will open your eyes, broaden your vision, enrich your mind, gladden your heart.

--Your Old Mentor

*H. L. Haywood, The Newly-Made Mason; Chicago, 1948; Chapter 27.