Cover Page Essay Title: Concept of Masonic Renewal What does it mean to you now and in the future? Author s name: Julian F. Wheeler Lodge name: Parkland-Lakewood Lodge # 299 Jurisdiction: Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Washington 1
Masonic renewal begins with me, and obliges me to aid in building its future. I keep these sentiments in front of me by observing that "Masonic" ends in "i-c," reminding me that "I see" truth. I joined my lodge in this decade. I see an institution in decline, with a doubtful future, and beset by challenges that beset other institutions. My task now is to look at challenges that arose since World War 2 that influenced where Freemasonry is now, impacting houses of worship, labor unions, and political parties. I. Challenges: Three factors I ascertained can be referred to as 'the boom', 'the boob,' and 'the 'burbs.' They led to our current state, including the 'peak' of masonic membership in 1957 followed by a steady decline. I offer a solution to these challenges: To turn them to our advantage. A. Boom: The Baby Boom Generation, born between 1946 and 1965, placed great demands on industries and strained institutions that were quickly adapted to service it. Over 70 million births define this unprecedented generation. After soldiers came home from World War 2, domestic tranquility ramped up, boosting birth rates until 1965. Businesses that adapted to this generation thrived and helped define the culture. And yet they were less likely to have a personal connection with older institutions, like lodges. The economy redefined gratification, and set new standards of satisfaction that led to successes and failures based on who could appear to supply gratification more quickly -- whether that meant lower prices or lower taxes or lower resistance to upward mobility. For Boomers, this included responding more positively to institutions that would anticipate and reciprocate with more positive stimuli and satisfactory 2
outcomes. This also meant responding more negatively to institutions that would impose higher costs to engage, higher barriers for entry, and higher risks to life. Churches would suffer as they sought to strictly enforce morals and ethics upon their Boomer members. Institutions that required vigilance, like labor unions, saw a decrease in membership as a percentage of workers in the economy. Institutions that imposed high barriers to entry to membership, including those requiring secret and unanimous votes, like lodges, saw a fall in membership beginning in 1957. Moreover, such institutions that included compulsory service, like the military, incurred highly visible protests when Boomers came of age. In this context, the end of the Vietnam conflict and the negligence shown towards veterans coming seems natural. Institutions during the Baby Boom era saw a spike in responsiveness or acquiescence when subjected to Boomer s demands, whether advancing civil rights, ending the draft, or amending the Constitution numerous times, including to lower the federal voting age to 18. When presented with an institution that required exceptional conduct, long term commitment and respect for older members, Baby Boomers have voted with their feet, resulting in institutional decline. In this current era -- of retirement age for Boomers -- many lodges are declining, physically deteriorating, reaping the results of deferred maintenance, or experiencing consolidations. B. Boob: Television, invented in the 1920 s, didn t emerge into the public s consciousness until the New York World s Fair in 1939. As the use of the cathode ray tube (or boob tube ) increased in the 1950 s, it created a more instantaneous means of gratification. On one end of this spectrum of gratification can be placed enterprises and people that offered and delivered a 3
more appealing image and greater satisfaction of physical and material needs and desires. Superficial appearance increased as a means of signaling a more desired outcome, whether that outcome occurred or not. This came to include, in time, demands for content in life in general that could be reduced to television images, like attractive politicians, spiffier vehicles, sexy rock stars, winning the space race, and later music videos. Conversely, negative images tended to generate large societal reactions, like an assassination, graphic images beamed from Vietnam, and televised protests set upon by cops and police dogs. This later evolved into miniaturized and streamlined means like the internet. As the attention of a viewer was drawn towards instant gratification, it was conversely drawn away from deferred gratification, such as in organizations that required good standing, payment of dues, continuous involvement, memorization, and strict barriers of entry like unanimous and secret ballots. C. Burbs: With the invention of the automobile came the rise of sub-urban residential subdivisions. Suburbs proliferated after World War 2. With the convenience of the car, car manufacturers, land developers, and housing construction flourished as highways spread across the country, into undeveloped lands. Moving out to the suburbs was made affordable, both to benefit the industries servicing this trend, and to address an ongoing population growth, including the post-war baby boom, that necessitated more housing. Mainstream families moved further away from seats of traditional power, including threats like urban disease, drugs, crime, and political bossism. Physical distance between suburbs and big cities eventually reflected social disconnect, especially as some people migrated out of cities out of fear of social change. This resulted in a loss of understanding between the suburban middle-class and the urban and 4
rural poor. Attachment to traditional institutions thinned and strained, so their influence declined. Lodges would compete with a suburban, car-centric culture, as young men would see all around them the fruits of a new society that didn t necessarily appear to rely on the traditional supports of a blue lodge or Freemasonry as a whole. II. Solution: And this brings us to the present moment. Masonic renewal in the future strongly implies my obligation to ensure continuation of this tool of enlightenment, and therefore my task to lay out solutions to expedite it. Addressing the three factors above, my proposed solutions fall along these lines: A. Boom: Just as the Fraternity declined during the Baby Boom era, so we can apply tactics to mitigate its effects. We should revisit the original need for our Fraternity, including the need to help others, practice virtues like faith, hope, and charity, and make a tangible difference for men and their families in the community. We should set targets for attaining outreach events, presenting ourselves to the world as Freemasons, and allowing men to come to us thereafter and ask one to be one. As we consider the rise of the latter Baby Boom Echo, or Millennial generation, we should hone our message, presenting our Fraternity in light of the values they grew up with. This includes crafting a careful equilibrium, broadcasting our conservative and progressive attributes. Conservative in that we adhere to longstanding values like acknowledging God and remaining loyal to our civil government. Progressive in that we involve both women and men, younger and older, adolescent and mature, within the scope of our Fraternity. We should also connect with large employers and other institutions, and do outreach as we do now in local 5
street fairs. Not only should we reach out to military communities, but also aim to restore the access to military reservations that ended in the 1960 s. Our Masonic heritage includes the Knights Templar. This commonality can help appeal to men in the military. (I approached the Fraternity as a soldier in the U.S. Army.) B. Boob: As television evolved into Smartphones and ipods, we should pivot on that convenience and expand our welcoming portrait of Freemasonry on-line. We should incorporate and consolidate tasks for Freemasons and prospective members on-line, including dispelling myths and rumors about the Fraternity, encouraging Freemasons and supporters to write letters to the editors. From within the Fraternity, business analytics can be used to draft maps with precise details about where the Fraternity is doing well or not; and, going to the outer world, find areas hit by poverty or natural disaster and send in teams of Freemasons to visibly help. C. Burbs: Finally, to strengthen contacts across geographic lines, we should strategize around how to make up for the post-war subdivision of our country. We as Freemasons can make an affirmative effort to reach out to urban, rural, and suburban areas. Not only does Freemasonry need us to do this, but our country needs Freemasonry to do this. We can spread out like cement to maintain the unity in our country. Whether we celebrate the history of our big cities where manufacturing sectors made this country an industrial giant, or our rural communities that fed the world, or suburbs as ongoing opportunities to practice self-government and good environmental stewardship, Freemasons have plenty of foregoing principles to bring to bear to renew not only Freemasonry but also our country. 6
Conclusion: My life is moving into its third act. I should have joined Freemasonry sooner. If my membership can be considered a part of Masonic renewal, that would be honor enough. My future is limited. Looking forward, my hope is that Freemasonry s is unlimited. As I have acquired knowledge over the years as a soldier, cancer survivor, law student, veterans advocate my obligation compels me to share this with you in the hopes that it can aid Masonic renewal. 7