I am writing this on a Thursday evening after I got home from a meeting of my lodge. We practiced a Master’s degree tonight in preparation for a degree next week. I needed to be at lodge tonight not only to practice, but mostly because I am Master of my lodge this year. When some brethren have heard that I am serving as Master of my lodge, they have expressed surprise that an SGIG and Past Grand Master would be Master of his lodge.
I joined Freemasonry in 1994 and became a very active member of my lodge. I went through the chairs and served as Worshipful Master in 2000. I also became a member of a number of appendant bodies, including the Scottish Rite and to a greater or lesser extent have been active in many of them as well. I went through the Grand Lodge line and was honored to serve as Grand Master in 2008. Over all of this time, I remained pretty active in my lodge; I was there most of the time when the door was open and something was happening.
Of course, the pandemic affected everyone and my lodge was dark like most others. Since the pandemic, however, I just didn’t get back into the habit of attending my lodge. I was there infrequently, enough so that sometimes the brethren would jokingly call me a “visiting member”.
It wasn’t because I had had any sort of bad experience at lodge. Or because I had grown tired of it. Or because I didn’t enjoy it. Things were just busy at work and with the appendant bodies in which I am active and I just let my lodge attendance and participation slip.
Last fall, a couple of brethren who I consider to be very dear to me came to me and said “your lodge needs you”. We had a break in the line of officers and the lodge needed someone to step in to be Master in 2024 and then the progressive line would be ready to move up. I have to tell you that serving as Master was not on my radar. But when close brethren say to you “your lodge needs you”, what do you do?
So I am Master this year. And it has been fantastic! My lodge, Albert Pike #714, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. How cool to be master during a centennial year!! And I did not realize how much I missed the brotherhood at lodge. So, I am very blessed that some brethren said to me “your lodge needs you”. Your lodge needs you as much as my lodge needs me. So, I’m writing to say to all Arkansas Scottish Rite brethren: Your lodge needs you!
This article was published in the August 2024 edition of the Voice of the Orient.
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