“While you’re both here…” said the Junior Steward, standing in the doorway of the Lodge’s storage room on the third floor of their old building “…there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask about.”
The Lodge’s Master and The Old Webmaster had both arrived early for the rehearsal that evening and they’d gravitated to this sanctuary to talk about – as they’d both describe it: ‘life and all the parts therein’. Although the Junior Steward was very new Mason, having just completed his degrees two years earlier, this middle-aged man had a motivation and drive that put some of his much younger fellow officers to shame. In addition, he had taken on the role of ‘translator’ of sorts working to avoid a precipitous gap between the much older members of the Lodge and the much younger ones, two or three generations separated.
“How much time and money will this one cost me?” The Master grinned and exaggeratedly rolled his eyes towards the tin ceiling, so beautiful in its prime. The broad smile on his face radiated out from the dimly lit room. The Junior Steward had nothing, if not big plans. Nevertheless, once he undertook a project, it was done with thoughtful planning and due consideration for all of the potential consequences. Like a good carpenter, he measured twice before cutting once.
“I’ve been thinking that we need to get ourselves a new lodge building.” There was silence from within the storage room. The Master spoke: “I’ve been thinking that same thing actually. There have been so many things going on, what with candidates, deaths, and so on, that I just hadn’t had the time to sit down and think about the potentials and the pitfalls. In fact, I was going to invite myself over to the Webmaster’s house some evening to plumb this very topic.” The Junior Warden’s question wasn’t a case of one person co-opting another’s authority: things like that might happen in business but here, with the changing of lodge officers every year, a project of this size would not be be finalized by the men who’d started it. Perhaps even the Junior Steward himself would be Master when – and if – a new building was finally dedicated. “Want to start that discussion now?” the Master offered, turning to The Old Webmaster.
As he leaned back some, the Old Webmaster’s chair squeaked. “It’s not a new idea, certainly.” He spoke with the knowledge of the many discussions, both formal and informal, that had gone on over the past couple of decades. There were many others, he was sure, which he hadn’t even known about. In the end, it all came down to the inability of the Lodge’s members to make a break with the past. Tradition was a very powerful emotion and when men stood with tears in their eyes and spoke of the meaningful times they had shared together in this building, it was difficult to move past such things.
“I think there are two major parts to the issue: there’s the preservation of many wonderful memories which continued involvement with the building helps keep alive. Conversely, there’s the need to modernize if for no other reason than to recognize that we have a widely divergent membership in terms of age and interests who need far more than this simple structure can provide. Our building was built at a time when trolleys dropped members off at the front door on meeting nights and took them to their homes three hours later. Those who came by horse and buggy simply hitched their mares to the fence at the side of the building where a four story bank now stands. Men at that time generally were dead before age 70 while now we’ve got over a dozen members in their nineties and a not insignificant number of men well past 60. Many would love to attend lodge but can’t find a parking place close enough to the building and can’t navigate the stairs. Stair lifting devices are threatening and frankly, I wouldn’t dare use one myself even now. The tightrope that’s before us is whether we can meaningfully and constructively preserve the heritage of our wonderful building while providing for a more meaningful future as our Lodge grows in the future. Whether you’re 75 with respiratory problems or 25 with three young children, these stairs aren’t what’s needed – and with the fuel costs to heat this place, it seems that there’s little choice but to move forward.”
“I imagine there’ll be a lot of howling…” said the Lodge’s Master. He too, though, realized that times had changed and that circumstances dictated something be done. “Heck, there was some blogger not long ago railing about the Scottish Rite in his state selling off some marvelous building they’d had. I had to wonder how much money he had given in support of its upkeep. Sure, it’s tough to say goodbye to an old friend but practicality has to trump sentimentality. We need to be careful to not throw out the baby with the bathwater but we also can’t be so bound by the past that the future eludes us.”
“That’s the problem with things like this, Worshipful.” said The Old Webmaster in a very matter-of-fact tone. “The ones who holler the most seem to have the least stake in it all. I’ll bet if you approached Brother Needham or Brother Bailey, they’d be the first to encourage you to move ahead. In fact, I suspect Cyrus would have his wife pull out the checkbook and hand you a not-insignificant check to get us started.” The mention of these two Lodge stalwarts was a stark reminder of the problems the aged building caused. The Senior Past Master served nearly 40 years ago but was too frail to even ride in the chair lift now. Whenever the Lodge held a program at the Community Center or somewhere outdoors, he was always present in his wheel chair. How much he would love to return to a lodge meeting…. The other man, celebrating his 75th year as a Mason, had almost fallen from the chair lift at the ceremony they’d held for his 70th Anniversary as a Mason. He had not been back since. He too found the building far, far too threatening.
“I’d spoken with you last year about getting together the current lodge officers along with all of the Past Masters in an ‘Architects and Artificers Club’ to deal with major lodge decisions. For whatever reason, I never got that in place before my term started but I’m going to do that now. I’ll call our Past Masters tonight and invite them to a pot luck dinner in a couple of weeks. At our officer’s rehearsal tonight, we’ll figure out who’ll bring what to eat and I’ll work with the Junior Steward on a presentation of about our building needs and lodge future for them to mull over. Are you in?” The Lodge’s Master was clearly enthusiastic.
“Absolutely!” said The Old Webmaster with conviction. “And I think we might have the future Building Committee Chairman standing there smiling as well.”
The Junior Steward just beamed. Yes, there’d be lots of obstacles to face but he’d already given a great deal of thought to the process. They’d get lots of pictures of the building as it was today and they’d have them hung prominently around the new facility. They’d use the same pillars and the same altar but they’d replace the horrid bench seating and they’d have air conditioning. They’d…. He looked into the room and saw the two men watching his mind at work.
It said in the ritual, ‘…who can best work and best agree.’ It was so very true.
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