Expectations of Masonry

1. Officers of a Masonic Lodge serve their offices as a privilege and not as a right.

2. Brothers who obtain positions of responsibility must demonstrate good faith and possess the ability to make serious time committment and sincere desire to correctly perform the necessary duties.

3. It is the responsibility of the lodge to provide candidates with instruction about the teachings and symbols of masonry to apply in their daily lives.  Qualified Masons are always encouraged to provide Masonic Education to their Brethren in the form of presentations, answering questions and promoting discussions.

4. It is expected that every Mason teach the importance and benefits of duty and service.  Working hard and taking responsibility in all a brother do will allow Masonry to thrive.  This involves attending all meetings of the lodge, and if unable to do so, inform a brother or the secretary of the lodge of the reason in advance.

The Master Has to Have Help

                An old Negro had secured the use of a vacant lot. He had dug out the weeds, removed the stones and rubbish, plowed it, harrowed it, planted seeds and cared for the plants until what had been a stony weed patch became a thing of beauty.

                One day the pastor passed by and entered to have a conversation with the old Negro, who was loosening the soil with his hoe and pushing it up around the roots of the plants. The pastor remarked, “Brudder Jackson, you and de Lord sure has worked miracles with this old vacant lot.” The Negro responded, “Yes, suh, pastor, yes suh, me and the Lord sure has done a fine job here; you ought to of seen all the weeds and stones and rubbish there was here when de Lord was looking after it all by himself.”

                That’s only a story. It may never have happened, but in it are lessons for Masons, just as there are lessons for them in some of the things that never happened that we teach in Masonry. Freemasonry gives the Brother only the rough. Yes, it provides him with the vacant lot, with the implements and even with the seed, but it is up to the Brother to do the plowing, the harrowing, the planting, and the cultivating that will bring out the plants and the beauty. He must push the soil up around the roots of the plants.

                The Master, working alone, can’t make Freemasonry to bloom in this Lodge room, any more than the Lord was able to make a flower garden grow on the vacant lot without the help of the old Negro. Without the “help of the Brethren” there will be here only a weed patch strewn with stones and rubbish. There will be no beautiful plants, their rooms carefully covered with rich soil. Masonry can’t be funneled into you. You have to use your brains in digging for the beauty of it. Put your mind to it and you may be astonished at the pleasure you will derive from seeing the soil become productive through your efforts. You may be astonished at the pleasure, you will get from seeing the seeds of wisdom send up shoots that climb upward, turn their blossoms to the sun and burst into beautiful flowers of Masonic knowledge.

To further your Masonic Education, please check out the following books by Bro. Damien Jack, Past Master of Paul Drayton Lodge #7 in Charlotte, NC:

Teachable Moments 1-4: Lectures for the Lodge 

Keys to Leadership: How To Serve In The East (Pertains to both men and women)

Keys to Leadership: Members Vs. Membership (Pertains to both men and women)

These books can be purchased on Amazon.com or https://app.thebookpatch.com/BookStore.aspx. 

Also, please be sure to check the Prince Hall Think Tank YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/princehallthinktank.