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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