A Brother Asks: How do you KEEP members coming back?

 

 
A Brother Asks: I’m curious if anyone you've talked with has tried to manifest members.

Coach: Far too many to recall here.

Brother: I keep hearing about our numbers dwindling, but so far, every time I’ve tried to manifest members they have come.  Upwards of 50 in a year multiple times... 16 regularly... In multiple lodges, as well as a DeMolay chapter…. 

 

Coach: What attracts candidates is not the problem.  You're descriptions are typical and par for most Freemasonic courses, most especially in the USA where most all Lodge activities are Making Members Centric.

 

Brother:  Exactly! The problem truly isn’t in getting good men to join, most all lodges have that process ingrained.  The problem is keeping them!

Coach: That's a great observation, my Brother.  However, the problem is not keeping them!  That's the challenge!  The problem is not knowing how!

Brother: Yes!

Coach: trouble is, once candidates' interest are satiated, you lose them. 

Brother:  Precisely!

Coach: And you'd like to know how to keep them interest enough to continue attending?

Brother: Yes!

Coach:  I can't offer you any "How To:" on this.  

Brother: Well, why not?

Coach: Because each Lodge is a gathering of men with similar interest...

Brother: ... and because each gathering of men have selectively different interests that bring them together, there is no patent "How To:" that can be offered that can be applied to every situation.

Coach: I'm glad you took the ball and ran with it here.

Brother: It was easy once you set it up for me.  

Coach: Thanks!

Brother: So, Coach.  What Light can you offer that can more favorably position these "gatherings of men with common interests" to keep the group cohesive, supportive, and nurturing to the point where member want to come back for more?

Coach: Ah!  That's the question to ask!  Here are some thoughts and a list of things to consider should you desire to attract new members and keep them coming back:

THOUGHT:  

To have any group manifest and be cohesive, supportive, and nurturing to the point where member want to attend for more, you must...

ALWAYS ADDRESS THIS:  

Once satiated, interest wanes. 

What attracts members is... ???

To Address this question properly, you MUST Manifest PASSION in your Lodge activities at all times:

The Passionate Top Ten!

• 10 - Know the difference between Desire & Passion!

1. Desire is what a person seeks because they want it.
   
2. Passion is what a person actively engages in seeking and willingly suffers to get because they must have it.
   

• 9 - Find their Passion!

1. When members know what is driving their interest, they are in control of directing their future actions.
2. When all members know each member's Passion, they favorably position themselves to support their future efforts to assist each member.
   

• 8 - Ask them about their Passion! 

1. The more members know about what drives any one member, the better they can support him in having him pursue it.

•  7 - Encourage them to Pursue their Passion!

1. When members continually and gently remind other members of their Passions, they better assist in keeping each member mindful of what he truly wants.
2. Genuine encouragement is seen as supportive and everyone wants sincere support.
   

• 6 - Educate them in their Passion!

1. Educated seekers make much better choices in their pursuits.
2. Better choices make for more successful results
   

• 5 - Support their Passion!

1. When each member realizes that the support he receives from their Lodge involvement for his pursuits is superior to any other support system, or at the least complementary to it, he will seek more involvement.
   

• 4 - Make meetings about there Passion!

1. No one likes coming to meaningless meetings.
2. Meaningless meetings drive members away.
   
3. When meetings have great meaning to members pursuits, attendance becomes a necessity.
   

• 3 - Make meetings satiating to a point where there's hope for more!

1. Where there's hope, there's life (and attendance!)
   
2. When support for a member's Passion is provided and more is provided each time, each member is internally driven to attend.
3. Always end with the hope for more of the same for what a member originally came for.
4. Members come for something; never leave any member hopeless in what they came for!
   

• 2 - Don't assume your Passion is theirs! 

1. Everyone has their own Passions.
2. Sometimes we find others who have the same or similar Passions.
3. It is crucial to the harmony of any relationship that you know your Passions and how they differ from those of other members.
   

• 1 - Don't let any one's Passion pain others, ever!

1. When we revisit what Passions are, we come to understand that no other person should suffer for what another must have.  This is the entire basis behind out circumscription and subduing.
2. When you pursue your Passion, assure nothing you pursue makes others suffer as well, and visa versa.
3. When any Lodge narrowly focuses its Passion support, only those with that Passion will attend. Every other member will pursue his Passions elsewhere.
   

 -----------------

The Most Important Questions to Consider
before you Pursue Improving Attendance:

How well does your Lodge address these Passionate Issues?

Your Lodge attendance lets you know.

How well do you know your Brothers' Passions? 

When you don't know,
you're sending a strong message
of disinterest to your Brothers!

What does not knowing your Brothers' Passions
tell them about your interest in their interests? 

You will not begin to improve Lodge attendance
when you have not paid attention
to your Brothers' interests.

 

FILED UNDER: Having FB Private Messenger

 

FILED UNDER: What I Experience Daily by having FB Private Messenger
--------------

Unsolicited Seeker: Please Father, I am ready and I want to join the Freemasonry.
Coach: Why?

Seeker: I want to become financially rich.
Coach: If you join, membership will cost you to do so initially and then continuously thereafter.

Seeker: But how long before I become rich.
Coach: You will never become money rich if you become a member. In fact, you will continue to pay money to remain a member.

Seeker: Then why would I want to join if it will not make me rich?
Coach: Exactly! Why indeed?

Seeker: I need to rethink this.
Coach: Yep. If you can't financially support your becoming and remaining a member, joining would be a bad thing. And if you think you'll become rich by joining, you're unworthy of becoming a member.

Seeker: But I was told joining will make me rich.
Coach: You have been misled, and likely by a scammer who wants you to think that you will get rich by joining and get you to pay money to them so that they can make it possible for you to join. They are lying! They will never deliver on their promises to you and they will make you poorer if you listen to them.

Seeker: Wow!
Coach: Wow indeed!

For Further Light:
Help Me to Join

 

 

A Brother Asks: Quantity or Quality?

A Brother Asks: Coach, should we be more interested in quantity or quality?

Coach: Good question!  Let's first put something out on the table that needs to be understood in light of the nature of organizations.  There's a serious survival versus thriving game that has to be both understood and played out by every lodge.  That game is first focused upon making sure there are enough bodies in the Lodge organization to accomplish all the tasks necessary to keep the doors open. 

In that vein, there is a specific base line number of members that has to be available for this to occur.  Once that base line is met though, if the lodge doesn't focus upon improving quality, not just numbers, then they will continually be focusing upon quantity just to survive.  Far too many lodges are caught upon in the survival aspect of lodge management to clear the base line numbers necessary to even start focusing on quality.  Some never get past it.  Some do but continue to focus on numbers and never bring quality into their focus.

Brother: I had not thought of it this way?

Coach: Many members don't.  They came up through survival mode lodges and never experienced lodges that are in thriving mode.

Brother: I see that happening all too often.

Coach: Exactly! That being said, I'm never impressed by the quantity of men who show up. I am always impressed by the quality of the men showing up. Their quality tells me what kind of lodge experience that can be expected.  I believe all good men are impressed in this way.  When a lodge is thriving, it also tells me the right men are attracted to what is offered.

Brother: So, what's the problem?

Coach: It's a cascade of problems.  The first thing that gets in the way is our lodges being dominated by men who selectively ignore the very things that bring about quality men.  That leads us to the central problem:  Very few members are actually doing the Work that ritual directs them to do in improve themselves.  Ignoring the Work and not doing the Work are innovations to the Craft.  These collective undesirable innovations rule lodge activities in covert ways that undermine the very ideas that founded this society - making good men better. 

Brother: Innovations?

Coach: Yes.  Innovations.  The support staff is going through the motions but they are not practicing what they preach and they are not supporting what needs to be done to improve our members.  These are innovations and contrary to the very essence of our Craft's "being true to one's word". 

Brother: So, they're not walking the talk? They are not abiding by their obligations.

Coach: Exactly!  But let's get into that a little...  which obligations?

Brother: The ones that focuses upon not wronging, cheating or defrauding.

Coach: So how is ignoring the Work that ritual directs us to do and not supporting doing this Work wronging, cheating and defrauding?

Brother: When members don't do the Work that ritual directs them to do, they don't get the benefits that such Work provides.  They don't improve.  The don't get better.  They are wronged, cheated and defrauded out of the value they would have received had they done the Work.  What's more, when they are in charge, they progress other members who likewise don't follow suit in doing the Work ritual directs them to do and are likewise wronged, cheated and defrauded as a result. 

Coach: Yes.  We have countless generations of members who have no clue that being Masterful and being a titled Master are two entirely different things.  Each has been wronged, cheated and defrauded and, when they get involved in progressing candidates, they support the same for their Brothers.

Brother: What do we do about it?

Coach: To attract the kind of men the Fraternity needs to transform good men to better men, our lodges must show signs of Masonic Life, not just Freemasonic Activities designed to keep the doors open.  Brothers must demonstrate Masonry in our everyday living and be an example of what transformation is possible.
 
These quality men in turn shall Attract the Attention and Support of Good quality men and bring the fraternity from just surviving to thriving.

Here are questions for you to perpend:  Are you a member of a lodge that's in constant survival mode, or is it thriving and for all the right reasons?  How do you tell the difference?
 
F&S,

Brother John S Nagy

A Brother Asks: What's up with Ghana?

A Brother Asks: Why are we getting so many requests from men in Ghana asking for help with joining Freemasonry ?

Coach: The reasons are quite simple and are alluded to by the very men who seek membership. 

One seeker conveys:

In Ghana it is very hard to join the great brotherhood. As the general rule goes like 2b1ask1, you can rarely see Freemasons. You can only reach them on the various platforms on social media but are not open. Please I may need a brother from the masonic lodges in Ghana...

This seeker put into words the underlying reasons why we are getting so many posts from men within this nation. 

What are those reasons? 

1. The perceived game of hide and seek going on and seekers believe that they should play along.
2. Men, the seekers,  within Ghana hear the unbelievable Ghana Freemasonry Mythos, get excited by it and want to join. 
3. Men who have joined, the hiders, are keeping to themselves and are doing so for a whole bunch of other perceived reasons, including and not limited to:

• keeping the "mythos", "mystic" and "mystery" intense
• knowing full well that being a member isn't all that the mythos portrays
• it's an "in the know" clique
• charging higher initiation fees and dues
• perceived "society favors and perks"
• perceived power and ego tripping

All this perceived holding back only drives the seekers to want to join even more, especially when they are being compelled by the belief that they will benefit only if they try harder to join.  This in turn drives members into keeping to themselves even more due to the perceived side perks.

Of course, the frenzy only escalates for those who get fixated upon becoming a member.  This is typically expressed in words conveyed by yet another seeker: 

...please help me, i'm determined to do anything that it might require to become a member...

And there's another perceived game, as is conveyed by yet another seeker, and it is quite crazy making:

...there are Masonic Lodges in Ghana according to what I read at www.Grandlodgeofghana.com. But the fact is none of the email addresses nor phone numbers of the mentioned Lodges are active... ...even their locations are not well known except the main one in Accra...  And even when you call or visit the main Hall you are told to get a Mason to introduce you.

And another conveyance from the same seeker:

...in Ghana, even when you go a Masonic Lodge for a petition you are told to go look for a member, befriend him to introduce you...

So, according to the first seeker, "2b1ask1".  But according to the second seeker, when you ask someone within the main organization or at an actual Freemasonic Lodge, who you would think are themselves members, "...you are asked to get a Mason to introduce you..."  or "...you are asked to go look for a member, befriend him to introduce you...", which is next to impossible to do when the very members that you are asking are telling you to seek elsewhere. 

It's insanity exemplified!  However, it is also evidence of some awesome word-of-mouth marketing techniques at play. 

 

Brother: So how do we help these membership seekers?

 

Coach:  The first thing to do is understand the insane games that are actually going on and the influence these perceived games have upon the seekers.

 

Brother: Then what?

 

Coach:  Then realize that you truly cannot help them in the way they are seeking you to help them.  The games that are actually going on are internal to the culture and, more specifically, the members within that area.  The seekers are making effort to circumvent the perceived games by going outside their cultural boxes in hope that outsiders can and will influence the perceived game going on toward each seeker's favor. 

 

My response to your last question is this, and I shall paraphrase our mythical Grand Master Hiram:   

Other than letting them know the nature of these perceived insane games and the actual games and how each is influenced by members within their area, we cannot; we should not; we will not get involved.  It's a waste of time for all involved.

Brother: So what do we say to them?

 

Coach: Communicate the actual game going on...

1. Seekers are required to find a member through non-organizational means or connections. 
• Members will not cooperate through these channels.
2. Once a member is found, seekers are to befriend them. 
• Members are not looking for more members.  They are looking for friends.
3. Once befriended, seekers are to invest time in building that friendship. 
• Members want to know that seekers are invested in the friendship and not the hopes of attaining membership.
4. Seekers should continually keep in mind that no one person outside that relationship is to influence it coming together or progressing forward. 
• Members are turned off by outside interference.  The friendship should be brought together and supported by the relationship between the two and separate from outside influences.  
5. Once built, seekers are to live on hope that members like them enough to support each seeker's efforts to join.
• Members are keenly aware that their membership status is a beacon for member-wannabes. Members detecting non-friendship motives for the relationship connection will likely continue to be friendly, but not likely friends.
6. Should seekers try to discuss becoming members before the approached members determine if the motives for joining are acceptable, the seekers shall most likely never be supported toward membership.
   • Once again, members are very keen on detecting motives that are outside those that should be influencing the relationship coming together and driving it  forward.

Brother: But, that game doesn't sound insane at all?

Coach: Yes.  It truly doesn't.

IMPORTANT UPDATE:  According to research done by a trusted Brother regarding obtaining membership in lodges that reside in and around Ghana, the following should be understood:

1. To obtain a petition from a lodge you want to join, you must be proposed by a member of that lodge.
2. To be proposed by a member of any lodge, that member must know, like and trust you.
3. To be known, liked and trusted by a member, you must first have an ongoing relationship with that member outside of your seeking membership.

RELATED POST:

 https://buildinghiram.blogspot.com/2017/06/help-aid-assist-distant-membership.html

F&S,

Brother Nagy

Help, Aid & Assist Distant Membership Seekers

(There are many membership seekers who contact existing members on line for assistance in becoming a member.  Here is an article/response that you can link to when you get contacted through social media networks regarding these membership queries.)
 
A Membership Seeker Asks:  I want to be part of Freemasons now. Can you help me?
 
My Response:  Are you seeking to become a member of the Freemasonic Order?
 
He Continues: Yes!
 
My Response:  Okay.  Where do you live?

He Continues: I live in [location deleted by me].
 

My Response:  Thank you. You are outside of my area.  You have several options.  Here are only a few, with caveats:

1. When Freemasonic Orders are outlawed in your area:
• Immediately stop any further activities or you will put yourself in harms way. I cannot stress this any more emphatically.
2. When Freemasonic Orders are legal in your area, you should:
• Identify a local lodge member, make contact with him and ask for a petition. If he turns you down, find out if it is the local practice/tradition of turning membership seekers down several times before acceptance and act accordingly.
• Identify a local lodge, make contact with the lodge secretary and ask for a petition. Same "if" as above applies.
• Identify a Grand Lodge, contact the Grand Lodge secretary and ask for a petition. Same "if" as above applies.

He Continues:  But you are a member of Freemasons.  Would you help me join?

 
My Response:  I have done just that.
 
He Continues: I know that you want to help me ... But honestly, I do not know of any places in my area... Please let me talk to some members you know in my area, give them my phone number (############), or give me a phone number of a member and I will take it from there.
 
My Response:  It's not that I will not help you any further.  What you are asking me to do is not something I can or should engage in, and for many specific reasons.  You must do these things for yourself.
 
He Continues:  But you are a member of Freemasons. Why will you not help me further?  
 
My Response: That is a extremely important question.  Thanks for asking.  Here's why:

1. You are asking an existing member...
• from a different area than yours,
• who has no influence whatsoever over the lodges or lodge members in your area,
• whom you do not know,
• who does not know you,
• to do something further that he should not do. 
2. In some areas, you MUST already have an existing relationship with a member of a lodge in your area; not members outside your area, especially those that do not know you and that you don't know.  In this case, you MUST wait for that person to propose you to the lodge before a petition will be offered to you.
3. I am not from your area and therefore cannot tell you what lodge to approach as it is NOT in my area and within my knowledge.
4. You asked for advice/help/support.  What is offered to you is exactly what you can and should expect to receive from an unknown stranger and outsider to your area.
5. Your next step it to locate a lodge near you, ask for its admission requirements and then you should act accordingly.

One more caveat you should consider when seeking membership:  There are many bogus groups and individuals who claim to be members of Freemasonic Orders.  Be CAUTIOUS of their Scams!
 
He Continues: Well, okay. Thank you very much.
 
My Response: You're most welcome...  Good Luck!

BTW - A good Brother made an awesome video that expands upon this theme.  You can find it here:  https://youtu.be/pmEO_eA-idg
I high recommend you listen carefully to what this Brother has to say and what he has to offer you in your current situation.

Respectfully,
 
Coach John S Nagy

A Future Brother Asks... Scams

A Membership Seeker Asks: How do I know I might be scammed by those who seek me to join?

My Response: You are likely to become a victim of a membership scam...

1. If any member approaches you first to ask you to join. 
• The exception is that some jurisdictions allow members to let a non-member know that they would make a good member, but they allow this to occur only once. 
2. If any member tells you that they can make you a member. 
• They cannot.  They can only provide you a petition.  It is up to the Lodge to make you a member and that is through a specific process.
3. If any member approaches you and tells you that you'll make money or have greater influence by being a member. 
• Legitimate Freemason costs you money to be a member; it will not make you any money or give you influence outside the organization.
4. If any member asks you for money to help him in any way, and especially related to making you a member, other than suitable initiation fees.  (Check with the Grand Lodge office in your area to verify!)
• Other than initiation fees, and dues to be paid once you are a member, no member should be asking you for any money.
5. If any member abuses you verbally or physically as part of your interview process or your initiation.
• Freemasonry is not about abuse in any way shape or form.
6. If any member approaching you doesn't have legitimate connections to Grand Lodges that are Recognized by UGLE, GLS or GLI.
• Unrecognized Lodges are not legitimate.  Stay away from them and their members.
7. SPECIAL WARNING: If they mention "Illuminati" even once, RUN!  
1. They are NOT legitimate.
2. You are being SET UP for a scam.
3. You will not come out of any exchange better off in any way.
4. No matter what is offered to you, the price you pay will far out-weigh what you lose in the exchange.
   

There are other things to look for, but these are a few that should raise red flags. 

Good Luck!

F&S,

Bro. John S Nagy

The Summons Silenced

 

Don't expect to bring back to the lodge

those who have fled for good reasons...

 

A member of a certain Lodge, who previously attended meetings regularly, had stopped going. After a few months, the Worshipful Master decided to visit him. It was a chilly evening, and the Worshipful Master found his brother at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire.

Guessing the reason for the Worshipful Master’s visit, the brother welcomed him, led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace and waited. The Worshipful Master made himself comfortable, but said nothing.

In the grave silence, he contemplated the dance of the flames around the burning logs. After several minutes, the Worshipful Master took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth, all alone. Then he sat back in his chair, still silent.

His host watched all of this in quiet contemplation. As the one, lone ember’s flame flickered and diminished, there was a momentary glow, and its fire was all but gone. The host Brother soon reached out and put the ember back into the flue’s draft.  He then scooped up the other embers with the ash shovel and put them in an ash bucket, closed its heavy lid down upon it, and sealed them off from the natural draft.  He sat back and enjoyed the warm glow of the remaining ember, now flared up in brilliant glow brought about by the swift flow of the flue draft.

The Worshipful Master raised his eyebrows but remained silent.  After a while he glanced at his watch and chose this time to leave. He slowly stood up, removed the lid to expose the cold dead embers that were sealed away, and placed them back in the flue draft with the one remaining glowing ember. As they were exposed to its warm heat, they sprung to life and began to glow once more and with all the light and warmth of the one burning ember that had remained in the flue’s draft.

The Worshipful Master turned to leave, and as he reached the door, he turned back toward  the host Brother and said with a tear running down his cheek, “Thank you so much for your fiery response, my brother. I’ll make sure we make the necessary changes before I visit with you again.”

-- Brother John S. Nagy
(with sincere appreciation to both the original and the unknown authors*)

--------------------------------------


* The Silent Summons (Based upon "The Lonely Ember**")

   A member of a certain Lodge, who previously attended meetings regularly, had stopped going. After a few months, the Worshipful Master decided to visit him. It was a chilly evening, and the Worshipful Master found his brother at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire.
   Guessing the reason for the Worshipful Master’s visit, the brother welcomed him, led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace and waited. The Worshipful Master made himself comfortable, but said nothing.
  In the grave silence, he contemplated the dance of the flames around the burning logs. After several minutes, the Worshipful Master took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth, all alone. Then he sat back in his chair, still silent.
   His host watched all of this in quiet contemplation. As the one, lone ember’s flame flickered and diminished, there was a momentary glow, and its fire was no more. Soon, it was cold and dead.
   Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting. The Worshipful Master glanced at his watch and chose this time to leave. He slowly stood up, picked up the cold, dead ember, and placed it back in the middle of the fire. Immediately, it began to glow once more, with all the light and warmth of the burning coals around it.
   As the Worshipful Master reached the door to leave, his host said, with a tear running down his cheek, “Thank you so much for your fiery summons, my brother. I’ll be back in our Lodge next meeting.”

-- Author Unknown

--------------------------------------

The Lonely Ember by Dr. John MacArthur

  A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending services regularly, stopped going.
  After a few weeks, the pastor decided to visit him. It was a chilly evening. The pastor found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire.
  Guessing the reason for his pastor's visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a big chair near the fireplace and waited. The pastor made himself comfortable but said nothing. In the grave silence, he contemplated the play of the flames around the burning logs.
  After some minutes, the pastor took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone. Then he sat back in his chair, still silent. The host watched all this in quiet fascination.
  As the one lone ember's flame diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and "dead as a doornail."
  Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting.
  Just before the pastor was ready to leave, he picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire. Immediately it began to glow once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it.
  As the pastor reached the door to leave, his host said, "Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery sermon. I shall be back in church next Sunday."
 

A Brother Asks... More Occupied Seats?

A Brother Asks: How can I help to get more brothers in the seats?

My Response: To do this, your lodge must do what far too many American lodges across the country refuse to do...  require attendance or lose membership.  

Along with this, you must also divest your lodge of many of the American trappings that plague them and adopt the disciplines that many early lodges had.

What are American trappings?

1. burdening operating budgets centered around unnecessary property ownership that brings no positive return on investment
2. large membership roles that deflate dues and reduce relationship value
3. non-attendance/non-participation rules that maintains membership
4. more than quarterly meetings with a high proportion of them organization centric
5. meetings that have no true relevance to life outside the lodge or member enrichment
6. no true educational programs outside of those with an organizational focus
7. reduced waiting times and minimal criteria to join which do not enhance the value of the lodge
8. degree dates and schedules that coddle prospects and candidates
9. mind-numbingly quick progressions with no truly challenging or relevant proficiencies that reflect degree themes
10. casual attitudes toward the lodge and its true mission and purpose

... shall I go on?

F&S,

Brother John S Nagy

Grand Lodge Backs Dollar Raise Club

Dull Glades MS – In what could only be considered by Craft Members as a valiant effort to save Craft dying Lodges, the Grand Lodge of Mississippi has announced it is now offering for a limited time a Lodge Replenishment Program called, “The Dollar Raise Club[1]”. 

Grand Lodge Spokesman, Right Worshipful Frank “Kick” Starter said he got the idea one evening while watching a twelve hour infomercial.  “It was the darnedist thing!” he said with enthusiasm. “I was watching this very long and fascinating program and only realized toward the end that it was trying to sell me a product.”  He added, “After realizing how swept away by the program I was, and by the way it was all put together, I thought we could certainly use this same technique in our Craft recruiting efforts!”

Brother Starter said the Grand Lodge initiative to replenish dying Lodges was formulated and implemented shortly afterward. 

Initially it caused some confusion within the older members.  One old timer and past Master, Worshipful Brother Wee B. Small, said, “It’s not how we did it in my day, but I guess changing times means we need to adapt.” He shrugged his shoulders and added, “Other than increasing revenues, I don’t see how this is going to rebuild Lodges though.” 

From what is revealed on the initiative's opt-in website, the program offers three tiers of commitment for all new members and even has an opt-in program for already established members. The first tier only requires an investment of one dollar a month for a Regular Disposable Membership card.  Shipping and handling is extra at this level.  The site also says that this card is good for one month and should the member need a new card for the next month, all they need to do is order it on line.  If they don’t need a new card too often, they can opt to have a new card mailed to them every other month and pay accordingly. 

Details on the other two tiers include varying degrees of attendance, voting, visitation rights, degree viewing, degree participation and elaborate titles; all available at the click of a button and additional fees.

The Grand Lodge Treasurer, Most Worshipful Ben E. Stretcher, was extremely excited about the entire initiative and reported the coffers have never been fuller.

For further information related to this and other programs, please call Brother Legg Pullum in the Grand Lodge’s Ruffian Acquisition and Termination Department.

F&S,

Brother John S. Nagy

Footnotes:

 [1] not to be confused with "The Dollar Shave Club"

The Masonic Ledge - Are you a Member?

The Masonic Ledge[i] -- Are you a Member?

It’s unfortunate that it happens all too often, and if you’re someone fortunate to experience it for yourself, then you know exactly how it feels.   

ae) LOOK AROUND YOU )fb

Hello my Brother.  Yes, it’s me and I know that you’re standing there.  You’re not as stealthy as you want everyone to believe.   Sure, I know the vast majority of your Brothers can’t see you there but I know you’re there.  You don’t have to believe me though.  You don’t have to invest anything into my words, but it’ll change nothing about my awareness of your situation.  Your Ledge activities are more obvious to me than most.  This shall never change, ever.

You might be wondering about how I could possibly know that you’re there.  You might even be trying to figure out how you can move one or two Steps to the Left or Right to Better conceal yourself from spying eyes like mine, but you’re not going to succeed in any of your efforts whatsoever.  You’ve not got the ability yet to conceal yourself and standing on that Ledge isn’t going to hide you.  It’s only after thoroughly searching your heart that you shall understand how I know that you’re there. 

No.  It doesn’t take much “know how” to know such things.  It’s simply a Strong sense you get about others after you connect solidly to your own Heart.  Once you do, you get really good at picking up on all those “on-the-Ledge” vibes others give off and without much effort too.  Ere you’ve been there yourself, you just don’t have what it takes to pick up on the Ledge activities of others.

And I can very much tell you that you’re there on the Ledge due to tremendous frustrations and repeated disappointments.  You expected something different from your involvement or your Brothers or both!  And you believe that you’ve been let down, or even misled by them!  And you believe that you didn’t get what you wanted, don’t you?  And you asked for something and something was given to you, but you didn’t get what you truly wanted, right?  And you sought something that you thought you’d wanted, but what you found was utterly unsatisfying, true?   You knocked upon a door, and sure, it was opened to you, but did you actually walk through it – really?

Yes.  I’m sure that I’m being unusually brutal in my questions and observations.  I know that I am.  And I can tell you without reservation that most Brothers get disgusted by this kind of bluntness.   They expect more “candy coating” on such things. 

And perhaps that’s exactly why you’re on the Ledge.  You might have expected everything that you asked for to be sweet when you got it.  You might have expected everything you sought to be acceptable to your past conditioning and views.  You might have expected every door that you knocked upon to swing open effortlessly so that you could enjoy what you thought was on the other side.

But the reality that you found was probably overwhelmingly real, unbelievably demanding and perhaps very much unacceptable to the point where you’re still a bit Speechless and have not gotten your Head back upon your shoulders quite right.   If it was presented properly, what you saw put out before you were sets of conditions that required Work from you; Work that you knew required you to Transform yourself from a child to an adult; Work that was not exactly what you wanted to invest your Heart in either.   And you know that what you heard were conditions that had to be met for true growth to come to Fruition.  What you felt most likely was your gut being pulled in two differing directions, intuitively knowing that neither direction was truly right for you.

Yup.  Without a doubt, the Masonic Ledge you’re currently on is possibly experienced as a place of solitude and maybe for some time now.  It’s were you found yourself after you were whisked through your Degrees, participated in your fair share of mind-numbing business meetings and engaged in endless “service” work.  It was where you found yourself when you finally took a good honest look at what you were involved in and recognized that you were starving for something else that such participation would never give you.

And I’m here to tell you that you’re exactly where you should be – on the Masonic Ledge! 

You’re almost certainly for the first time looking down at Masonry believing that you’re getting a good bird’s-eye view of its offered Reality.  But you should by now realize too that the view that you currently see is one of your own making.  You chose to see your involvement this way.  You chose to do what others have done and all that got you was on to that Ledge. 

And that is a good thing!  Your choices mean that you created this condition and your view so that you could see where bad choices can lead you. 

But it ain’t all that bad!  If anything, you can redirect your Masonic choices and recreate them so that you do get your needs met and perhaps lead others by example toward more nurturing Masonic activities.

 

Ledge Membership

You can start by choosing to look at your situation differently.  You have already made it through the Initiation, Passing and Raising and now you have your Traveling Papers.  Think about it!  This paper allows you to go anywhere that Recognized Brothers have inter-visitation.  What’s even better, now that you have your Papers, you can make connections worldwide with other Brothers who are on the Ledge with you. 

Yes!  You heard me right.  You’re not alone on this Masonic Ledge.  There are countless other Brothers just like you taking in that view.  The ones who have stuck around have recognized three important things about it. 

The first is that the Ledge is filled with Brothers just like you who want more.  They each realized that they weren’t going to get more from participating in the usual venues and that they could get what they wanted much easier Working with other Ledge members. 

The second is that the Ledge is an illusion.  They each realized that they were actually standing on the Ground Floor of a rich Foundation laced with valuable Veins of Light ready for the getting. 

The third is that the Ledge is all about each of them and not about others.  Rather than stepping off the Ledge, each of them stepped into its Light by Taking Personal Responsibility for their own Transformation.  Each of them no longer relied upon others to give them what they needed and wanted. 

In short, they all embraced Adulthood and all that comes with it and left youthful dependence behind.

Are you truly ready for Better?  Then take a Step in the Right Direction and join them!

Points to Perpend: 

1)  Who do you know who’s on the Ledge?

2)  How would you coach them to get their needs met without directing them back into the Lodge?

3)  What’s your plan to help Lodge members from becoming hopeless Ledge members?

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[i] 1) A cut or projection forming a shelf on a cliff, a solid wall, or a rock wall; a raised, horizontal, or projecting edge or molding intended to protect or check

2) An underwater ridge, rock shelf or reef

3) A narrow flat surface or shelf; especially one that projects from a wall of rock; rock that is solid or continuous enough to form ledges

4) A level of rock-bearing ore; a vein; a lode