Earlier this month, before the most recent shut down order, I was able to open Chehalis Lodge. This wasn’t done for any regular purpose, rather the Lodge had to open in order to make an extremely serious and rare decision that will impact it, potentially, for generations to come.

In keeping with our Governor’s guidelines at the time, there were only five of us present in the entire building, we maintained social distancing, and the Secretary collected contact tracing information from each of us.

It was the very first time I’ve been able to wear the Deputy Grand Master apron and Jewel since I was installed half a year ago.

It was also the first time I’ve done any Masonic ritual in what has become almost a year. I regret to say, my memory wasn’t good. I had a hunch that I would be rough, and I needed to get the Lodge open quickly so that we could turn on the Zoom feed for everyone who was at home, so I opened the Lodge with the assistance of our printed Standard Work. I decided to close it from memory though, and let me tell you, that was rough. Much rougher than I ever hope to be again.

To my mind, none of that is particularly important though.

What is important is the feeling that I got from being with my brothers, in person, despite maintaining the mandated distance. What was also important was hearing, and once again absorbing, our ritual as so many men have through the generations.

It was to me an uplifting experience, a spiritual experience.

I must confess, although this may sound ‘sappy,’ that it felt very similar to me as my first entrance into Lodge years ago when I became an Entered Apprentice Mason.

It reminded me of a question about Freemasonry:

Is Freemasonry a social organization that is a part of our larger society?

Or

Is Freemasonry a spiritual organization that is set apart from our larger society?

I think that question has likely been pondered by a great many Masons over our long history.

Indeed while he doesn’t use the same words as I use above, Albert Pike discussed the question in detail, interestingly taking both opposite opinions through the course of a single one of his books.

I suppose that it is for each of us an individual question, and that like so many things in Masonry the answer may be different for each of us.

As for me personally, I come down to the latter option. I do see Freemasonry, our brotherhood, and our mission in the world as belonging in the realm of the sacred. Of course we have secular concerns as well, but ultimately I believe Freemasonry should be, and is, uplifting to the soul.

This past month stood as a stark reminder to me that it is just that for me.

I think that is likely why our Masonic forefathers called our buildings Masonic Temples. The term ‘Masonic Center’ is much newer, the result of some misguided public relations idea. To me, and I think to the vast majority of our Masons, our buildings are just what they were called in the days of old, Masonic Temples.

Since that meeting of Chehalis Lodge, and since I had these thoughts, our great State has again shut down normal operations. We had hoped that Lodges that felt it best to do so would have been able to begin meeting (with limitations) on December first. Unfortunately, for reasons of public health, those plans have had to be put on hold.

It is my hope that all of us can remain safe and healthy, so that we can all be present when this pandemic is defeated and we can once again sit in Lodge together.

#Spiritual #AlbertPike #Lodge #Chehalis

-Cameron

Cameron M. Bailey Past Grand Master The MW Grand Lodge F&AM of Washington

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In my last post I talked about how important it is for a leader to both hold and communicate a vision to those around him. You can read that post here.

In this post I'll be writing about one of the ways in which a leader can lose this essential vision, even without realizing that it is being lost.

As leaders we badly run the risk of losing our vision if we get overly caught up in the details of the day to day operations of our Lodge or other organization. This is because in order to properly utilize vision, it must be held at the forefront of our minds. If however we are so focused on side issues and little details, those things move to the front of our minds, and vision gets lost somewhere in the back, with all the clutter.

At the Lodge level, if we are Worshipful Master, I suggest that we don't need to be intimately involved with our charity and scholarship funds, rather we can let 'Bob' know what our vision is for those funds, and trust him to take care of things. We don't need to plan our annual camping trip/retreat, rather we can let 'Alan' know what our vision is for that weekend and let him plan it.

These are just a couple quick examples, but the principal holds true across all activities of the Lodge.

We need to communicate our vision for the Lodge to our Brothers, and then step back and let them help us achieve that vision. If we can't step back and feel that we must control everything, well then we will lose that vision because we will become consumed by meaningless details.

We see this I think in Grand Lines as well. A new fellow gets elected and has a vision of where he would like to see our Fraternity go. Very quickly though that vision is consumed by meaningless details. He's spending countless hours a week on the highway, sitting in meetings discussing property the Grand Lodge owns, sitting in other meetings talking about the stock market. Still more meetings discussing charitable efforts. Eventually he becomes Grand Master and whatever vision for the future, whatever help he was going to provide our Fraternity is dead and buried, buried under a mountain of details because he never was able to trust his Brothers enough to let go. Or, he didn't feel that he could let go given the expectations of the Masons of his Jurisdiction.

To be successful leaders we must have a vision, we must be able to hold that vision first in our minds, and we must be able to communicate that vision. If we can't do all three of those things we will fail in our duty to lead. Therefore, we must guard against putting too much focus on those things that would tend to overwhelm our vision. If we can do this, we can have a great year in the East.

#Leadership #Lodge #Vision #GrandLine

-Cameron

Cameron M. Bailey Past Grand Master The MW Grand Lodge F&AM of Washington

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As Freemasons those of us who desire leadership have that opportunity. We can have the tremendous honor of becoming a leader of men by becoming Worshipful Master of our Lodges.

Title and position however, no matter how lofty, do not make a man a leader. Position is simply a place, title is only words.

What actually makes a man a leader is having at least one other person who is willing to follow where he leads. It is impossible to be a leader without having followers in turn.

It is I think important to ask, what makes a leader? What makes a man become someone who other men want to follow?

I argue that the answer to that question is vision.

In order to lead, a leader must hold a vision of where he wants his Lodge to be in the future, and of equal importance, he must be able to communicate that vision to the members of his Lodge.

If he either lacks vision, or can't communicate that vision, then the members of his Lodge can't follow him, if for no other reason than the fact that they won't know where they are headed, or where their efforts should be directed.

What this means for those of us who lead our Lodges, or who plan on leading a Lodge is that we must spend some time figuring out exactly where we think our Lodge should be in the future, and plot out at least a few initial steps that can be taken to get the Lodge there.

What it also means is that we can't just bounce from our Installation to our first Stated Meeting as Worshipful Master. Rather we must sit down with the members of our Lodge, at the very least the key members of our Lodge, and we must explain our vision for the Lodge to them in the most complete manner possible.

By doing so, the members of our Lodge can help us to achieve our vision.

By neglecting to do so, we have little to no chance of success during our time in the East.

Standing in the East we have no greater duty than to hold a vision for our Lodge, and communicate that vision to our members.

Why?

Because a single bad year can and does decimate a Lodge when it happens.

A Lodge can go along very well for years, improving a bit with each passing year until it is ticking along at a superb level. Providing education, providing fellowship, growing. That is the work of years, the next year all of that work can be destroyed.

I've unfortunately experienced that exact thing in one of my Lodges. If you've been a Mason long enough, you probably have seen it too. You have probably also seen that it takes years of good leadership to repair the damage done during a single bad year.

This cycle can be crushing to a Lodge.

The good news is that the cycle can be prevented. We prevent it by holding a vision for our Lodge's future, and communicating that vision to our members. If we do that, we are actually leading our Lodge, and we will be assured of a good year in the East, for our Brothers will be there to assist us. With the help and support of the members of our Lodge, we can not fail.

#Leadership #Lodge #Vision

-Cameron

Cameron M. Bailey Past Grand Master The MW Grand Lodge F&AM of Washington

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Yesterday VW Jeremy Yielding and I had our first meeting to discuss the 2021 Lodge Leadership Retreat.

Short story, It's going to be great!

We'll be in a new venue at the Wenatchee Convention Center, be offering some wonderful new classes, and have added some new instructors to the mix as well.

Building a strong and thriving Masonic Lodge isn't an easy thing to do, but this retreat gives those who attend the tools needed to do so.

Plus it's a lot of fun. A casual event, filled with loads of fellowship!

Don't forget, your wife or girlfriend is welcome too. Melinda is planning a ladies program that will prove to be both informative and fun. I understand it will include wine too, likely a lot of wine!

Here's a touch of straight talk though.

We do have Lodges, and Districts, who very consistently attend the LLR each year. We also have Lodges and Districts who haven't sent anyone to the LLR for many years.

As expected, Lodges that don't send members to the LLR seem to be Lodges that are consistently struggling from year to year. We can certainly learn from that, if we are willing to see that which is plainly in front of us.

If your Lodge is struggling, there is nothing better you can do to turn it around then send your Wardens and Deacons to the LLR. It will equip them with the knowledge they need to help your Lodge thrive.

#Lodge #LodgeLeadershipRetreat

-Cameron

Cameron M. Bailey Past Grand Master The MW Grand Lodge F&AM of Washington

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Yesterday I ran across something that was quite surprising, disturbing actually.

My local newspaper had written a story about a short speech our local, elected, Sheriff gave. Given that even local newspapers have online multi-media components now, they also posted the video of his speech.

Well, You Tube took the video down.

The tech giant declared that it didn't meet You Tube's Community Standards. What standard did it violate? Well, the Sheriff's comments suggested that people consider not wearing masks during this time of pandemic.

What the Sheriff said though, right or wrong, is irrelevant to this discussion.

The fact is that his comments were newsworthy.

The local newspaper ran news coverage about them. That is the job of a newspaper. To report what happened.

To be clear here, when I'm talking about my local newspaper, I'm not talking about some crazy guy in his basement. I'm talking about a real newspaper that has been printing the news since 1889.

The power of tech companies has grown exponentially over my lifetime. Now it seems they are even claiming the power to decide what is, and what is not newsworthy. All while remaining completely shielded from any repercussions.

Do we really want a tiny handful of super rich people in California's bay area deciding what the rest of the people throughout the United States can read and see?

If we allow that to happen, will not our news consumption be as effectively tightly controlled as that in North Korea?

The fact is, our Republic, any Republic, needs a strong press if it is to survive, let alone thrive.

As Freemasons we are charged to find Truth, Knowledge, and Light. If a nameless, faceless, someone else controls what we can read and see, well then it becomes impossible for us to find the Truth, to gain Knowledge, to become enlightened.

Let's also remember that while things like Presidential politics get all the attention, the things that really impact our daily lives happen at the Local level. The Legislature, the County Commission, and the City Council. Places that national news outlets won't and can't cover.

These most important bodies are covered, almost exclusively, by our own local newspapers.

We must support our local newspapers, and we must fight against the takeover of the news by big tech.

How do we do so?

It's easy actually.

Subscribe. Pay for the paper. Give local media the money it needs to survive.

That's all it takes.

I also suggest however that our Lodges take it a step further and develop a relationship with the local paper.

They don't have the resources to track down what the Masons and all the service clubs are doing like they may have had thirty years ago. They will however, very often, print our news if we make it available to them.

In many cases they will print stories of our service work, and our Installations. If we let them know what our Lodge is up to.

Doing so is good for them, it helps to keep their reporting relevant to the community. Doing so is great for a Lodge, it shows people that we are in the community, accomplishing things, and thriving.

Its a win win, and it is easy for a Lodge to do.

It makes our own community stronger.

As I close, I will acknowledge that most of us now get all of our news online. It goes without saying however, that if the newspaper goes down, so too does their online presence. When that happens, our community loses its voice.

Make no mistake, the day that we lose our last newspaper is the day our Republic itself dies.

#News #Lodge

-Cameron

Cameron M. Bailey Past Grand Master The MW Grand Lodge F&AM of Washington

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I think that for the good of our Lodges, we must carefully consider the Progressive Officer Line, and how it should be utilized.

Masonry utilizes the Progressive Line for a number of reasons.

First of all, it is a leadership development tool. By moving through the Chairs, a man is able to slowly learn the requirements for leading a Masonic Lodge. He is able to observe and closely witness practices that he will want to emulate or avoid when his own time in the East arrives.

Secondly, it offers all who are interested an opportunity to lead. Being open to everyone, and regular movement through the Chairs, ensures that any Mason who seeks to lead a Lodge can have the opportunity to learn to do so.

Thirdly, it prevents a man from ever being able to take over a Lodge and with the support of his friends become dictator of it. It ensures regular leadership changes as men move through the Chairs each year.

Lastly, but I fear that this has been forgotten by the vast majority of our Lodges, it gives the Lodge an opportunity to evaluate the leadership skills of the men moving through the Chairs, and their willingness to actually learn those things that are required to properly lead a Masonic Lodge.

The Progressive Officer Line can be an excellent method of Lodge Officer selection, if we utilize it correctly, incorporating all of the four points listed above.

If however we forget the fourth point, or we skip over it because we don't want to hurt a man's feelings, well then we do great harm to our Lodge. Harm that can take years to repair.

We can not use the Progressive Officer Line as an excuse to place an unsuitable man in the East.

If a man can not learn those things that are required to lead a Lodge well, or if he is not willing to do the work needed to learn those things, then he must be bounced out of the line, not seated in the East.

Long practice in many Lodges could make it appear that the Progressive Officer Line was designed to be almost automatic. Alas though, that is not how it was designed. The fact that we actually hold elections for Wardens and Masters each year proves that to be true.

When selecting our Lodge officers we must remember the sad fact that a Lodge can be humming along, doing great, for years, but be wrecked in one single year if an unsuitable man assumes the East. When this happens the hard work of years is lost, and it can take a great many more years to fix the damage that was done.

No unsuitable man should ever be made Master of the Lodge.

We can not allow concern over hurting a man's feelings destroy a Lodge.

Due to the pandemic, no Lodges in Washington have yet held elections this year. When those elections do happen, I hope that our Lodges will carefully consider the men they are electing into leadership, having the fortitude needed to drop an unsuitable man from the line if there is such a man in the Lodge.

I sincerely hope that as our Washington Lodges contemplate their future officers, they will remember the wise words of Worshipful Brother Andrew Hammer:

“A progressive line should only function when the next man down has the full faith and trust of his fellows that he will rule and govern his Lodge properly, because he has properly learned the requirements of his office. Of course, human nature is what it is, and mistakes can always happen, but they can be mitigated if such a standard is put in place, because no one advances until and unless they are ready to do so. The only way to justify a progressive line is if every officer is carrying his weight to the extent of his office, while at the same time preparing himself diligently to advance to the next one. Lodges ignore this step at their own risk.”

#Lodge #LodgeElections #ProgressiveLine #AndrewHammer

-Cameron

Cameron M. Bailey Past Grand Master The MW Grand Lodge F&AM of Washington

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When I was still fairly new to Freemasonry, the then Secretary of Centralia Lodge, Lauren Jessup said something to me that has always remained at the forefront of my mind whenever I contemplate our Masonic Lodges. He said (I'm sure that I'm paraphrasing a bit given the passage of years):

“An excellent Masonic experience needs nothing more than three committed men sitting in a garage, talking about Freemasonry.”

It seems to me that between the trappings of Masonry, the business of Masonry, and the buildings of Masonry, we often loose sight of what Masonry really is. We think so much about our temples, our bills, our organized charities, and our stuff, that we might have little time left to think about Freemasonry itself.

Little time left to do that which we profess to be in Lodge to do.

We also, collectively, worry way too much about the number of men in our Lodges. Numbers do not in any way relate to excellence in Masonic practice.

In short, we need to remember the words of WB Jessup. We only need three men, if they are three great Masons, each personally dedicated to Masonic principals and growth.

Beautiful Temples are nice, as are our organized charities, and all the trappings of Masonry. None of those things are however Freemasonry.

Freemasonry is men, joined together in Brotherhood, each working to improve themselves. Nothing more. When we loose sight of that, when we allow that to be overwhelmed with everything required to run a major organization, well, at that point, we loose Masonry.

When we neglect to properly Guard the West Gate because we grow desperate for a large enough membership to support our Temples and our organized charities, well, then we loose the ability to attain true Masonic excellence.

Freemasonry was designed, from its inception, to be an elite organization, not an organization for everyone. It is designed to house the best men in society, not every man. It specifically limits its membership to men who are already good men, good men who are seeking to become even better men. When we loose sight of that and take in lesser men, we do nothing but harm ourselves, and harm our Fraternity.

When a Mason is suspended or expelled within our jurisdiction we hear that reported in our Lodge meetings. When we hear such a report, we know that a Lodge didn't bring in a good man. Didn't even bring in an average man. The Lodge brought in a bad man.

Let's be clear, one bad man within a Lodge will drive away at least ten good men. Thus bringing in a questionable man, because the Lodge believes it needs another body, will in fact backfire on the Lodge. In the long term the Lodge will loose far more good men because of that questionable man.

I must confess, I am guilty of this error. I once was on an Investigation Committee, and I recommended a man who it turned out was unsuitable to the Fraternity. I didn't do it on purpose, nor did the other members of the Committee, but we made an error, and that error harmed our Lodge and harmed our Fraternity.

The thing is, from that, I learned. I won't make the same mistake a second time.

Perhaps that is what Guarding the West Gate comes down to.

Personal responsibility.

If we sign the petition, or err in investigation, of a man who turns out to be unsuitable to Masonry, well, then we have done a very bad thing, and we need to feel that mistake and learn from it so that we don't repeat it.

Certainly we all make mistakes, as mentioned, I have made this exact mistake. If we learn from those mistakes then all is well. If however we just gloss them over or refuse to even acknowledge our role in the bad result, well then we are truly doing a disservice to our Fraternity.

Ultimately, I think that Guarding our West Gate is the most important task we have as members of a Lodge. By doing so well, by rejecting those who are unsuitable, we will actually create the conditions needed for our Lodge to grow. This may be counter-intuitive, but it is nevertheless true.

If we remember WB Jessup's admonishment that we only need three good men and a garage, well then hopefully that will help make it easier for us to do our duty when it comes to Masonry's West Gate.

#GuardingTheWestGate #Lodge #MasonicExcellence #Petition #Investigation

-Cameron

Cameron M. Bailey Past Grand Master The MW Grand Lodge F&AM of Washington

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“No one ever joined a Masonic Lodge to pay the bills, or hear the minutes read.”

That's been said by much smarter men than I, for much longer than I've been a Freemason.

It is a fundamental truth that a Lodge ignores at its own peril.

Men become Freemasons in order to learn about Freemasonry, so that they can receive the promise of Freemasonry.

That's it.

If our meetings (that do not include a Degree conferral) focus on the business of the Lodge instead of on Masonry itself we are not providing our members the benefits that they signed up for when they petitioned.

This is not to say that the business of the Lodge should not get done. Certainly taking care of business is vital. It is however my belief that the business of the Lodge should never be allowed to become the focus of the Lodge. Doing business must always remain secondary to teaching and providing Masonry.

Teaching Freemasonry, and sending our Masons home from a meeting with something that will help them to improve their lives is not difficult. It can be accomplished in a myriad of ways, whatever best suits the Lodge, but I'll provide one easy and effective way here for any Lodge that wants to create an ongoing educational forum, without it becoming a large burden for any one individual.

Communicate the importance the Lodge places on education.

The importance a Lodge places on Masonic education is communicated by the educational program's location on the meeting agenda. It needs to be first in prominence.

A Lodge should open and once open immediately move into its educational program. First on the agenda, whenever there is not a Degree to confer.

By doing this a Lodge both communicates that Masonry is the most important item on the night's agenda. It also ensures that there will be enough time available for meaningful discussion to take place.

If Masonic Education is placed last on the agenda, as far too often happens, all the time of the meeting will likely be taken up by less important discussions about things such as the bills, leaving men in a rush to get home, and the Master urging the program to move along quickly.

If time is an issue, ample time needs to be provided to Masonry, if speed needs to be brought into a meeting, the bills and minutes are much more appropriate items to speed through.

How to do it.

One of the easiest, yet also most effective forms of Masonic education is the Round Robin Discussion format.

The Master or other designated Mason chooses a topic, and the Lodge discusses it, each Mason getting his chance to talk in turn.

Getting into the details, almost every Lodge has a library of some size or form. From that library topics can be found.

For example:

“We do not assert that this legend (The Hiramic Legend) is true. We only know that it has come to us by tradition. At what time the legend of the death of Hiram took the place of the older legends in the mysteries of Persia, India, and Egypt, we have no information. Nor is it important for us to know. For Masonry is a succession of allegories, the mere vehicles of great lessons in morality and philosophy.”

The above quote is from Albert Pike's Magnum Opus. It communicates a belief, fairly widely held, that Freemasonry is a continuation of the Ancient Mysteries. That it is just the current successor of those earlier Mysteries. That the lessons taught by it are the same lessons taught in the Ancient Mysteries, that those lessons have remained constant, only the legend itself has changed.

The Master can give the quote from the East, or even better provide it in email a few days before the meeting, and then pose some questions about it.

Some that quickly come to mind are:

Do you believe this succession of the Mysteries to be true?

Why or why not?

Is the truth or falsehood of the assertion important to your own personal Masonic journey?

If so, why?

The discussion then moves around the room, with each Mason encouraged to speak, either answering the questions asked, or otherwise giving his perspective on the topic.

When doing this, it is important that every Mason participate, and it is important that everyone remember that there is no right or wrong answers. What one man believes Masonry to be for himself is right for himself, even if others believe something different.

Such a discussion will likely be lively, of interest to the men of the Lodge, and will send those men home with something important to think about as they continue moving along their Masonic path.

Regularly having discussions like that in Lodge is one of the ways the Lodge actually delivers the promise of Masonry that it holds out to its candidates.

The Pandemic

After writing all of the above, I have to acknowledge doing so at a time in which our Lodges can't actually hold Stated Meetings.

I might suggest that during this health crisis, all of our Lodges should be holding virtual meetings using Zoom or other video conferencing platforms.

A discussion as outlined above, even standing alone, would make for a superb virtual meeting.

If your Lodge is lacking in the provision of Masonic education, I strongly encourage you to improve things by bringing in a good educational program. The ideas outlined above are both easy to implement, and extremely effective.

I offer them for your consideration.

#MasonicEducation #Lodge #StatedMeeting #RoundRobin #AncientMysteries #HowTo

-Cameron

Cameron M. Bailey Past Grand Master The MW Grand Lodge F&AM of Washington

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Yesterday evening found me out on the back porch of my home. The sun was beautiful, and the end of day beer tasted great.

As has become so common in this time of pandemic, I was alone, yet not alone, for our Grand Master, Grand Wardens, Grand Secretary, and his Assistant GS were with me on Zoom. It was yet another virtual meeting of the Executive Committee of the Grand Lodge of Washington.

Our main topic of discussion?

I imagine that you can guess it...

Yep, can we open our Lodges yet?

Well, regretfully the answer is no. While our State continues to open, cases of people infected is growing again. Growing quite fast in some areas. Our Grand Master will continue to hold our Lodges, and other Masonic bodies closed. For the health of all our members, this decision is wise.

That decision made, we talked a great deal about the need for us to communicate to all of the superb men who make up this Jurisdiction, the Freemasons of Washington.

Since the closures of our Lodges, all of us have participated in Lodge and District virtual meetings, various online Masonic education events, and even shot some videos for posting on social media. I received a new side-degree via zoom, and that was a great deal of fun.

We talked about the need to encourage all of our Lodges to continue their embrace of virtual meetings, but more importantly we talked about our own responsibilities to continue doing all that we can to communicate and interact with our Brothers.

The creation of more videos was talked about, as were offering of online classes similar to those from our annual Lodge Leadership Retreat, and modernization of our Masonic Tribune.

We talked about the fact that each of us have different strengths and weaknesses, and different comfort levels with different forms of communication.

So, I guess that for part of my own solution, this is it.

I enjoy writing, and I enjoy writing about Freemasonry, so this will be a place for me to share my thoughts about Freemasonry in general, and Washington Freemasonry specifically. At least for as long as we are all kept out of our Lodges.

Please do visit this site regularly, follow it, or even sign up for the email updates. I'll do my best to keep it eternally green until we can meet again.

#Lodge #Freemasonry #Masonic #Pandemic

-Cameron

Cameron M. Bailey Past Grand Master The MW Grand Lodge F&AM of Washington

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