Cause of Masonry by Justin J. Daza-Ritchie. P.M., Inspector, 709th Masonic District
Greetings Brethren,
It is always a pleasure to address you, my brethren, through your bulletin. It is a labor, to be sure, to produce it.
I was just recently at a Town Hall Meeting. Our Grand Master, Most Worshipful Russell E. Charvonia, came to discuss with the brethren about what Freemasonry is in general, and what it is on the Westside in particular. He opened up the forum by asking questions, and recording answers. I will not go into all that was said because in truth, my short-term memory is not so great. But one thing that made me think was a remark made by a former member of our Lodge, that the purpose of Masonry is unclear. What I think he meant was that we have no identifiable cause, like so many other organizations which compete for the interest and loyalty of good men. I enjoyed hearing that our fraternity in California has a 97% member renewal rate. That means very few men relinquish their memberships after taking the degrees of Masonry. I don’t know how the percentage was determined, but smarter men than me do that math. What I do extrapolate from this is that somehow, the experience of becoming a Mason stays with people, whether or not they remain active in their lodge. People hold on to something. If you are not a presently an active participative Mason, ask yourself why you joined, why you don’t participate, and more importantly, why you still maintain your membership. There is obviously something valuable to you about your membership in our Craft that causes you maintain it, even in absentia.
Getting back to the “cause” of Masonry: Each of our several competing Masonic organizations have causes. Some groups fund language clinics. Others, sight and heart research. Shriners have their famed hospitals. But the Blue Lodge, not so much, and while on a large scale we are encouraged to philanthropy through the campaigns launched by several Grand Masters, it is not the end for which we labor. My take away from the evening was that we do have a cause, or a reason to exist. The DeMolay kids are explicitly told that their only purpose in joining their fraternity is “trying to make each other better and to do good.” When Master Masons are likewise raised, they are told in plain English (see your cipher to make sure) by the Worshipful Master to “convince the world by your acts that on becoming a Master Mason, you have become a better man…” That is “the cause.” It is the hardest of all of the causes of the Masonic family. No check you can write will make you better. The perfect knot of your tie, or the exquisite fit of your suit only points to self-respect or deference to our fraternity, but not innate goodness. Our cause is the hardest because it is advanced through chronic self-examination, and is rewarded more often than not with failure, because being good is difficult, and being better than you were on your as of yet best day is even tougher. Meanwhile, quitting takes no effort at all.
Fortunately, our fraternity does not require a leap to perfection from a weeknight of dense and highly meaningful rhetoric. Our cause takes years, consistent contemplation, and quite frankly is never finished, because every tomorrow offers the opportunity for each of us to be better men than we were when we woke up today. So to those men who labor on behalf of the Lodge, whether at the Secretary’s desk, on the bulletin, for the building which houses you, or in an officer chair, I say “thank you.” Your labors advance the cause, create the environment where we can be, through recital of and reflection upon our ritual, reminded of where we are today and where we need to arrive when our last day comes. And when that day comes, maybe the small corner of the world in which we live will be the more enlightened, improved and repaired for our having lived and our cause never more clear.
Fraternally,
Justin J. Daza-Ritchie. P.M.
Inspector, 709th Masonic District
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