The Tao of Masonry

The following article by RW Carl Ek is reprinted from the November 2009 issue of The Connecticut Freemasons publication, which is running a series of articles celebrating the 20th anniversary of our mutual recognition. Read other articles in this series: 20 Years.

(Editor’s note: in the span of several months in mid-1989, the Grand Lodge, A.F. & A.M. of Connecticut and the Grand Lodge, F. & A.M., Prince Hall Affiliates, of Connecticut, Inc. crafted an agreement that changed how Masonry operated, not just in Connecticut, but worldwide. In our eighth installment, we examined the responses nationwide and worldwide when both Grand Lodges overwhelmingly approved resolutions of mutual recognition. This is the final installment in a series of stories in Connecticut Freemasons that have celebrated the 20th anniversary of mutual recognition.)

Part of the reason for the publication of this series of articles was to collect and preserve the memories of those who were a part of the process of achieving mutual recognition two decades ago. Being able to speak with both Gail Smith’s, Lew Myrick, Ken Hawkins, and others who, it can be argued, made the recognition happen, provides a valuable historical record for the future, removed as far as possible from speculation and conjecture.

Graphic: joint recognition pin from 1989, probably Day Spring Lodge No. 30.

It should not have come as a surprise, then, when information not previously available to this author came to light after the publication of the October 2009 Connecticut Freemasons. MWPGM Richard A. Hodgson, now retired to Arizona, was a part of the meeting held at the request of the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) to discuss recognition. Slightly excerpted, his account follows.

“The day following my installation, together with Past Grand Masters Harrison, Desmond, and Lorenson, I went to Boston to meet with the Grand Secretary and Chairman of the Committee of General Purposes of the Grand Lodge of England, a board having duties similar to our Committee of Recognition. Unfortunately I do not remember the name of the Chairman. [Editor’s note: presumably this was Michael Higham of the UGLE.] Most Worshipful Darling [Charles Darling, MWGM of Massachusetts] met us at the Grand Lodge to host the meeting but declined to take part.

“On arrival we were met by Most Worshipful Brother Don Smith and Right Worshipful James Wood, Grand Master and Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Washington. As well as Grand Master, Brother Don was a Judge of the Supreme Court of Washington…MW Don asked that although I was entitled to conduct the meeting as the Grand Master of Connecticut, that I consider allowing Most Worshipful Brother Dean Massey, Grand Master of Wisconsin, then also Dean of Law at the University of Wisconsin, to conduct, as he had come prepared with a great deal of research.

“I then welcomed and introduced all and asked Brother Massey to present his questions and concerns to the English brothers. Brother Dean had indeed come prepared.

“England had denied that Prince Hall was chartered by the Grand Lodge of England, which was indeed true. However, they chartered African Lodge 459, which later changed its name to honor Prince Hall. Brother Dean then brought out the yearly assessments paid by the Grand Lodge of African/Prince Hall, to the Grand Lodge of England up to the mid 1800′s, and that lodge being dropped from the rolls although they maintained their payment beyond that of several other American Grand Lodges who were not (dropped).

“At the conclusion of Brother Dean’s presentation, Brother Higham remarked that he could not repudiate Brother Dean as they (the English) were not as well informed as he, and they would have to go home and research Dean’s challenges and questions.

“We enjoyed a nice lunch and fellowship provided by Most Worshipful Brother Darling and departed in peace and good will. The result of this meeting was the removal of the restriction on visitation by the Grand Lodge of England, which had had, little if any effect.
“The record in a nut shell by one who was there.”

As noted in a prior article, the UGLE recognized the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Massachusetts before the A.F. & A.M. Grand Lodge did so. This was an odd circumstance, made even more so by the historic recognition of Prince Hall Masonry by that Grand Lodge in 1947.

It is more than a bit sad that 20 years after the first Grand Lodges A.F. & A.M. and P.H.A. opted for brotherhood, there are so many American Masons that have not yet accepted the concept of brotherhood that is not based on racial characteristics.

This failure borders on the absurd when these same Grand Lodges recognize African and Caribbean lodges chartered by the Grand Lodge of England in which all of the members have the same racial background as those Prince Hall Masons whom they shun here.

Has recognition worked? A Prince Hall grand officer put it well: “Not everything everybody feared happened, some things people hoped for happened, and some things people expected didn’t happen.”

What did happen was the opportunity for Masonic brothers – who all express belief in Deity, take the same obligations, and meet on the same level – to do so on a broader basis, with artificial barriers removed. On this basis alone, recognition has certainly worked.

Brother Ben Franklin once wrote that the biggest secret in Masonry was that there were no secrets. He later expanded his commentary on Masonic secrets to note that “The good effects … have subdued the rancor of malevolence and broken down the barriers of political animosity and sectarian alienation.”

To that we may add that progress has been made in breaking down racial barriers that divide, rather than unite, men and Masons. To those who took these bold steps two decades ago, we owe our thanks. To those who will lead our fraternity in the future, we urge their efforts to continue the good work begun by different Grand Lodges two decades – and six decades – and a century ago.

Thus may we honor our obligations as men and Masons. So may it ever be. So mote it be.

Several brothers have now asked me pointedly why I haven’t written anything about the recent split of Halcyon Lodge from the Grand Lodge of Ohio. First of all, I haven’t written anything in almost over a month; even some of my online friends have noticed that I’ve hardly even left any comments lately. This is because I’m getting into the year-end crush at work, and also the year-end rush in Connecticut Freemasonry. In the last month I’ve been to (or have been in) four degrees, three rehearsals, two Grand Lodge meetings, one District meeting, and several regular and special meetings at several different lodges. Somewhere in there I managed to make some family time, get a Christmas tree, do some household projects, do the single parent thing while my wife was on a business trip, and I’m sure I frittered away some spare moments as well; which means that just about every time I sat down to write something, I ended up reading the backlog of messages and then – more than once – dozing off at the keyboard.

The other reason I haven’t written anything about Halcyon, (and now, Euclid and, um, the other one, wherever it is) or the American “Grand Orient” thingie though, is because while the subject has generated enormous quantities of heat in several venues, there has been disproportionately very little light. And frankly, when I step back from the subject matter a little bit, there isn’t much worth writing about.

No, really.

A small group of Freemasons worked very hard at revitalizing an older lodge. During the course of this, they ran into some Grand Lodge regulations that they believed complicated their designs. Unable to work out an amicable compromise with their Grand Lodge, they chose to turn in their charter and go it alone.

Yeah, yeah, I’ve read all about the other stuff. Allegations of financial chicanery, hot-headedness, stubborn Grand Lodge officers, politics, breaking of obligations, revolution against the established order, and disturbing the peace and littering.

Big, fat, hairy deal.

The first Grand Lodge was formed in 1717, and within twenty years lodges began splitting off, which means that it took less than a generation for lodges to develop issues with their overseeing Grand Lodge. Even a quick perusal of the literature shows that schisms in Freemasonry are surprisingly common; and although that latter half of the 20th century has been fairly quiet in that respect in the US and UK, splits and schisms in other countries have made recognition of various Grand Lodges throughout the world a mish-mash. However, it’s interesting to note that even Paul Bessel’s slightly out-of-date website on the various Grand Lodges operating within the US shows well over 200 non-mainstream (i.e., not AF&AM or Prince Hall) Grand Lodges extant. This averages to roughly six unrecognized jurisdictions per state in the US.

The point is that schisms within Freemasonry, and indeed, within almost any organization are fairly typical. To me, though, the more interesting aspect is not the schism itself, but the reaction to the split. In reading the responses on the several blogs and websites that have been carrying such discussions, I’m reminded of the old Emo Phillips joke. I posted this back in August, but under the circumstances, it bears repeating:

I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off. I immediately ran over and said “Stop! Don’t do it!”
“Why shouldn’t I?” he said.
I said, “Well, there’s so much to live for!”
“Like what?”
“Well … are you religious or atheist?”
“Religious.”
“Me too! Are you Christian or Jewish?”
“Christian.”
“Me too! Are you Catholic or Protestant?”
“Protestant.”
“Me too! Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?”
“Baptist.”
“Wow! Me too! Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?”
“Baptist Church of God.”
“Me too! Are you Original Baptist Church of God, or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?”
“Reformed Baptist Church of God.”
“Me too! Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915?”
“Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915!”
To which I said, “Then die, heretic scum!” and pushed him off.

The thing that makes this joke so funny is that we all recognize that some perversity of human nature makes us less tolerant of a group that is almost like us than, than we are of some group that is very different. But we also recognize that any group that splits off from us becomes a them; this implies some kind of rejection of us; we get defensive and wonder – demand – that they explain themselves in order to make things more consistent with our own world view. This is difficult enough, but we then add to this volatile mix that they have their own reasons for splitting off, and have probably endured a long time – years, maybe decades – in harboring frustration. In order to justify splitting off, they develop a psychological or sociological rationale, which often takes to form of blaming us for actions or situations which they believe to be unfair. The result is generally a situation in which the groups, despite being very close on many other issues, harbor some animosity toward the other for some narrow range of wants or desires.

Certainly a number of my brethren have been reading the web boards and the several blogs – notably Burning Taper – and wondering why there is so much arguing. And frankly, I’ve long since stopped reading the threads on Burning Taper because I’m embarrassed, even mortified by the displays of vitriol from all sides. Personally, I’m of the mind that if you belong to an organization in which you don’t like the management, then make an attempt at trying to change things. If it doesn’t work, and if you can see that it’s going to cause some hard feelings, then get out and go to Plan B while everyone still has the opportunity to make things work.

But I also understand that we hate for people to split off from whatever groups we belong to because that implies that they weren’t happy; people who aren’t satisfied tend to break away out of anger, and others in the original group tend to see it as a rejection of established ways. This prompts the question “What was wrong with the established way?” and from that, any answer is bound to cause some kind of defensive reaction. Perhaps a Martian, unschooled in human nature, might wonder why such splits can’t be amicable affairs, but I think that most of us can well imagine that once we start to develop the “us vs them” mindset, then it’s only a matter of time before the rioting starts.

At some point, one has to take a step back and ask “Is there any evidence that would convince me that the other side is correct?” If the answer is “No,” then chances are that the people of the opposite opinion feel the same way, and the argument is at a stalemate. Go home. Sit down with a book and have a quiet scotch by the fire. Rebuild that old PC in the corner of the basement that you were going to give to your niece. Clean out the garage. Do something constructive… or not. But stop wasting your breath – or your bandwidth – once you understand that nothing is going to change, be it the situatio
n or your mind.

Tao of Masonry | Freemasonry | Masonry

Tao of Masonry | Freemasonry | Masonry