The Membership Number & Worldly Possessions
Over the time I have been a Mason, the last 16 years the discussion about the membership number continues to rear its head. Each time is sparks debate and discussion which results in unproductive discourse.
On the long drive to Dubbo for the Grand Communication over the weekend, I had a few hours to really process this and I have come to the following conclusion. But, before I give you that I want to take you on a little journey and thought exercise.
Forget about Freemasonry, forget you even knew of it, your memory has been wiped.
You have just landed in a new country with absolutely nothing.
To survive, you need to get a job which you do.
The company you start to work for has been around for many years, you join for all the right reasons, with good intentions and a positive view of the business. They seem to provide a good service to their customers, look after their employees and are involved in helping the local community. Everything seems to be going well. They have around 6,000 customers, and few hundred locations throughout this new country you arrived in.
Many of the older employees who have been with the business for 30, 40, 50 years and longer, combined with a number of lifelong customers seem to talk about how the business is not like it used to be. There used to be more customers and more employees 20, 30, 50 years ago.
In your mind, things start to unravel, you question the longevity of the business. The negativity from these employees and customers really plays on your mind. After all, you have nothing especially being in a new country with amnesia. Your livelihood depends on this business succeeding and the negativity seems to make you think that they won’t be around for the long term, but the problem is, you will. You are in your mid 30’s.
But,
There is another company who is similar, they also have been around for a long time - after all, you need job security. They have around the the same number of customers, maybe less, similar number of locations and provide a similar service. They look after their employees, but far better than your company. There is all the modern technology to support the delivery of their core product, which hasn’t really changed over their history. Customers have an amazing experience and the service they receive is high quality and far superior to your business - it’s modern, but timeless - like a Classic Suit that has been made with modern tools.
Unlike your current employer, with this business the customers and employees are not concerned with their past, although they do acknowledge it and are proud of their history, but more importantly their attitude is clear— they look forward to the future. They have a clear goal of what they are building. The business listens to their customers and updates their service without compromising the integrity of the history of their product. Everyone is focused on today, building towards tomorrow and building the company for the next 100 years.
The question is - which business would you want to work for?
In this example, as you can agree - the answer is clear. You would quit your job at the first business and go and work for the second. Your livelihood depends on it.
Sound familiar?
This brings me to the topic of Membership & Worldly Possessions.
The membership number is a worldly possession, it’s monetary & metalic substance
Freemasonry teaches us that all these material things in life are not important and don’t matter - that what lies beneath, the quality of the person, is what does matter.
When we speak, dwell or think about what the membership number is, was or could be - we are accounting the value of Freemasonry by a worldly possession.
Men who are becoming Masons today don’t care what it used to be, they want to be Masons because of the value and impact Freemasonry has on their lives today & now.
Our ceremonies teach us and continually reinforce that that we are not to concern ourselves with these material things. Yes, we constantly fall foul on applying the lessons the craft is teaching us. We are a progressive science, with moveable and immovable objects; we are not to account ourselves of worldly possessions.
If you want to Make Masons and keep them active members of the Craft, we need to walk the talk and apply the lessons from our ceremonies in our daily lives— at home, at work and at lodge — and focus on building the temple, that is all we should be focusing on, building the temple.
The temple is, our selves, our lodge, our local community, our masonic district, our region, our jurisdiction and the craft in general.
Build the temple for tomorrow, and remember what is history is history for a reason. Focus on the value of Freemasonry today and how we are building the temple for tomorrow.
By focusing on what matters most, making masons and living a masonic life, the membership number will sort itself out.