As I grew in the Masonic organization I never thought twice about how it would help me to grow into a good man and a good Masonic brother. Looking back over the years I really didn’t think much about those things. As a young boy I was encouraged to learn specific things to which I could grow on. I believe it’s like that in anyone’s childhood, you become involved in something be it sports, academics, youth clubs, etc.. Often times we never see the value of what we are truly achieving as we begin developing our own character traits and personalities towards those things of which we are involved.
There are many who ask what is Freemasonry? They want to know if masonry is a religion and what happens in Masonic society. Well, you can rest assured that Masonic organizations and Freemasonry is not a religion as a matter of fact it is a fraternal organization accepting those of all religious denominations. All that is required to be a part of us is that you have a belief in God and this is in the God of your choosing.
So, this applies to all true Masonic organizations if you are a Christian be a good Christian, if you are Muslim be a good Muslim if you are a Jew be a good Jew it does not matter if you are Buddhas or Hindu as long as you have good faith, good character and an open heart Masonic organizations will welcome you.
There’s been a lot said about the Masonic Hall and its secrets and masonry religion (once again Freemasonry is not a religion and have no religious boundaries). The Masonic order is a sacred not a secret order like many other organizations there is knowledge within the organization that is not readily available to the general public however, in today’s world of science and technology it is highly unlikely to have secret societies when all one has to do is search the Internet and almost any information you need on any subject matter including information on Freemasons is available at your fingertips.
As a long-standing fraternal organization which has survived the centuries, today Freemasons and all Masonic organizations face many challenges going forward. The future of many fraternal organizations seems like a general forecast of gloom and doom, the reason I say this is because the challenge of the leadership is becoming more and more difficult every day. The problem being that the rest of the world has evolved at a much faster pace than organizations such as the Freemasons. As a result Masonic organizations must catch up with the times.
Reasons for the gloom and doom forecast
1. People have been pushed into working harder and longer and this truly affects the availability and their want or need to belong to any organization.
2. When recruiting new members consideration should be made for the sacrifices that they have to make in order to be a part of masonry society be it home, hobby or career.
3. In order to recruit new candidates of high quality with progressive, intellectual thought processes they must be made to feel like they belong to something, something great, something that’s good within the community, something that fulfills the need within them to be charitable, strong, honest and willing to give to the community.
4. We must encourage more involvement in the sciences and technology we expect to survive, maintain and grow as a fraternal organization. We cannot forget that much of the time that was dedicated to organizations like ours is now dedicated to Facebook, twitter and various forums and chat rooms.
5. Many men are looking for relief and solace in their lives today. In today’s fast pace disposable society men want to be a part of something that offers good social values, brotherly camaraderie and a feeling of community.
To the core of our nature we are social beings who long to belong to organizations with safe, nurturing, dependable and honest fellowship. This gives us a way of being able to relate to likeminded people if for no other purpose than to be able to spread the word and grow in harmony.
We have a long way to go to maintain and grow our organization with the challenges steadily mounting responsibility for our survival and growth falls not just on the leadership of each and every member of our organization.