Good and wholesome instruction is a solemn duty assumed by the Worshipful Master, to continue unabated as long as he rules and governs his Lodge. What would happen if a Lodge had a Worshipful Master that took his duties seriously?

5 - Good, Wholesome Instruction

Dear Tom:

EMEMBER that nighttime telephone call soon after you were installed in which you said you were trying to get a clear understanding in your own mind of what it's all about?

From that moment on, I've had no fears, no doubts about your capacity to make an impact on old Acacia Lodge when you assume the Chair of King Solomon. Whenever a Master Mason reaches the point that he is willing to do some thinking and put forth some effort to discover for himself what it's all about, then things will begin to happen in his own life and in the lives of those who come under his influence.

You spent a year in the South, my lad, and now one-third of your year in the West has slipped away. Scores of times you have participated in the ceremonies of opening and closing the Lodge. I wonder, did it ever occur to you that every time a Lodge of Freemasons in Indiana has a meeting the officers and Brethren are reminded of one of the most basic of all Masonic duties?

It is "to set the Craft to work and give them good and wholesome instruction for their labors."

Twice the commitment is emphasized--at the opening of the Lodge and at its closing--and it is the Worshipful Master who has made that commitment.

Rarely is the admonition heeded. Seldom do we find a Worshipful Master who will set the Craft to work in a manner calculated to bring out the best in each workman. Setting the Craft to work becomes a perfunctory recital of words memorized. Trestleboards bearing designs that are poorly conceived and carelessly prepared are all too common.

Nay, more. By now you are aware of the fact that each Worshipful Master-elect must receive the Actual Past Master degree before he is eligible for installation. Someday, in about seven months, perhaps, you and I can talk about it. (And I hope, for your sake, that you are not as disgusted and disillusioned at the conclusion of that degree as many a new Worshipful Master has been.)

But my point in mentioning the Degree of Past Master is this:

In the most solemn moment of that ceremony the newly elected Worshipful Master again makes a commitment to give good and wholesome instruction. He "spells it out," so to speak, making a promise before the Great Architect and his Brethren that is broader in scope and more specific than any made theretofore.

He will neither open nor close a Lodge, he pledges, "without giving a lecture or section of a lecture for the edification of the Craft."

In other words, good and wholesome instruction is a solemn duty assumed by the Worshipful Master, and it is to continue unabated as long as he rules and governs his Lodge.

Tom, what would happen if next year Acacia Lodge had a Worshipful Master that took his duties seriously?

I'd be happy to look on from the sidelines and applaud. And I'm willing to make a wager that old Acacia would take a new lease on life!

But giving good and wholesome instruction has its hazards.

The teacher must know more than the pupil, for one thing. But that isn't all. Instruction in Freemasonry can wreck any Lodge if it isn't planned and executed intelligently. For example, I would say that four rules should govern any program that anticipates instruction. Two of them are "do's" and two are "don'ts."

THE DO's

• Keep it simple. Remember the Parables in the New Testament: The Sower, The Prodigal Son, The Mustard Seed. Nothing dry, nor academic, nor philosophical in those stories. Just plain good sense that any man can understand and remember.

• Teach through symbols. That is Freemason-ry's way. And it works. Don't you ever forget it. The lesson of the Square, for example. And the Trowel. And the Ashlars.

THE DON'TS

• Don't call your program Masonic Education, whatever you do. Not even instruction. Sugarcoat it, if you must. Call it The Round Table. Or T h e Smoking Room. Or The Log.* Call it almost anything, just so it isn't suggestive of the classroom.

• Don't unload the whole load each time you feed the cow. Keep your messages short, and to the point. Give your instruction in small doses, and see to it that those doses are phrased in simple language.

SUBJECT MATTER

And what about subject matter?

The possibilities are unlimited, but here are a few that perhaps will set you to thinking:

January--"The Old Charges and What They Mean Today."

February--"The Declaration of Principles and What It Means Today."

March--"Freemasonry: A Way of Life" (pamphlet published by the Grand Lodge).

April--"The Two Pillars and What They Mean Today."

May--"The Rough Ashlar and the Perfect Ashlar: What Do They Mean Today?"

June--"The Ancient Landmarks" (only seven of them, but they are fundamental).

July--"The Forty-Seventh Problem of Euclid and What It Means Today."

August--"Lesson of the Northeast Corner" ("You there stand a just and upright Mason").

September--"Lesson of the Compass and Its Two Points."

October--"A Language All Its Own" (the fascinating words and phrases used in Freemasonry, in many ways unlike the terminology of any organized association of individuals).

November--"Remember Now Thy Creator" (interpretation of the 12th chapter of Ecclesiastes --but please, let's have more than one interpretation ; those far-fetched allusions to senility are greatly overworked).

December--"Religious Universality: What Does It Mean, Here and Now?"

And if additional subjects are needed, you can always fall back on these:

"Happy Ways of Doing Things" (Masonic etiquette) ; "Differences in Work"; "How Could He Have Known?" (the endless question of why the Tyrian Fellow Craft used the imprecation of the Master Mason degree. It has a perfectly logical answer, by the way) ; "What and Where Is the Lodge of the Holy Sts. John at Jerusalem?"; "The Obligation of a Master Mason" (with emphasis on more than just two points).

Many other subjects could be developed to the interest and edification of all.

And what about instruction of candidates in their catechism? You'll find that that will take care of itself, my lad, particularly if the candidates are panting to rush through the three degrees and on to whatever it was they really wanted in the first place. For these Brethren, any kind of good and wholesome instruction is of doubtful value.

And what about the Mentor Plan? Well, it looks good on paper, and that's about all. Let's make good and wholesome instruction a major concern of Acacia Lodge first. Then we can start thinking about Plans, whether it be Lodge, or Mentor, or Intender, or Big Brother, or what.

And the only one who can create that major concern is the Worshipful Master.

Come January and you'll have your great opportunity. I can hardly wait!

--Your Old Mentor

*For Education is, Making Men;
So is it now, so was it when
Mark Hopkins sat on one end of a log
And James Garfield sat on the other.
--Arthur Guiterman