The Old Past Master
by Carl Claudy- 1924
"Silk Stockings"
"Well,
what do you know about that!"
exclaimed the Young Mason, as a dress-suited figure with a jewel on his
coat stepped in front of the Altar. "That's Jamison, Past Master of
Joppa-Henderson Lodge."
"I
see it is," answered the Old Past Master. "But what is it
that surprises you?"
"Why,
that anyone from Joppa-Henderson should leave the sacred
confines of his own lodge and come to a simple, democratic, every-day
lodge like this one, let alone a Past Master. I never could get this
'silk-stocking' Masonic idea, anyhow. Of course, you know, they have
two hundred dollar fees and forty dollar dues and you can't get in
unless you have a bank account, an automobile, a wife with diamonds and
a box at the opera."
"Is
it as bad as all that?" asked the Old Past Master, smiling.
"You didn't, by any chance, make application to Joppa-Henderson and get
refused, did you?"
"I
certainly did not. And I would not, under any circumstances. Why,
you know
it isn't Masonic. Here in this lodge-
look along those benches. There is Branch, who lays bricks for
a
living, and Taggert, who is a bookkeeper, and sitting next to
him
is Wilson, who is a bank president, and there is Colton,
street car conductor, and Dr. Baird, the X-ray specialist, and
Hillyard, who sells ribbons down in the department store, and
Ellsworth, who is a Senator-democratic, this lodge is! Here
you
find real Masonry. We really do not
regard any man for his worldly distinctions here- but in
Joppa-Henderson Lodge---"
"Have
you ever heard of a man being refused in Joppa-Henderson because
he isn't wealthy?" asked the Old Past Master.
"Certainly
not! They never apply there," was the scornful answer.
"Ah!
Now we are getting at the meat of the matter. My brother, you
could travel about a bit to your advantage. You will find, if you look,
there are many different kinds of lodges. For instance, in the
metropolis is a French lodge; that is, almost entirely composed of
Frenchmen, who are Americans, not French Masons. You wouldn't want to
join that lodge, and perhaps they would rather you wouldn't. Yet it is
a fine lodge of fine men. There is a Daylight Lodge in the city which
meets in the afternoon. Its membership is almost wholly among
theatrical and newspaper men who cannot meet at night. you wouldn't
feel at home among them, perhaps, and yet they are good Masons. There
are several lodges in this country composed almost wholly of Masonic
students; you wouldn't feel at home with them, but that doesn't mean
they are not good men and good Masons.
And
while it is true that the members of Joppa-Henderson Lodge are almost
wholly well-to-do business and professional men, it happens so because
the lodge was founded by fifty such, who naturally attracted to each
other their own kind.
"If,
indeed, what I may call a class lodge refuses an application
because he doesn't belong to that class, that lodge is unMasonic. But I
don't think it works that way. I think the class lodge attracts its own
kind of people. I would call this a class lodge. It is a very
democratic organization, with an intense pride in what you have just
noted; that is, mixes all kinds of men in the Masonic cauldron and thus
cooks a truly Masonic brew. You are attracted to this lodge for that
reason, and so were the men you named. But men who are essentially
aristocrats may not feel as much at home among the democrats as among
their own kind; for such there is Joppa-Henderson Lodge.
"The
ideal system of Masonry considers all men are alike and all
lodges are alike, just as an ideal democracy is founded on the theory
that all men are free and equal. This country is a republic, with
democratic ideals, yet we all know that we are not all equal, and no
words will make us so. The bricklayer isn't the financial equal of the
banker, and the banker isn't the labor equal of the bricklayer. But
don't get the idea that because two things are unequal, therefore one
is better than the other. A circle and a triangle are not equal, but is
one better than the other?
"Joppa-Henderson,
and all so-called 'silk-stocking' lodges, newspaper lodges, class
lodges of any kind, are not equal to each other; they are quite
different. But that does not mean that one is any better or any worse
than the other. And each attracts its own kind of men, to whom it gives
a precious Masonic light, they all do their work. Without some of these
class lodges, good men might not be attracted who now are; without
Joppa-Henderson, for instance, we might not have visiting us tonight
one of the finest Masons, most earnest Masonic workers and most
brilliant Masonic officers this jurisdiction ever saw. So I say to you,
my brother, beware how you judge the other fellow and his lodge, lest
he, in turn misjudge you.
"I
have known Joppa-Henderson Masons for years. I have visited their lodge
many times. The way they do their work is an inspiration. And I have
never known of a man rejected in that lodge that I couldn't guess why he
was rejected; and it was never for
anything else than his character. Money plays no part. They are as
willing to take the hod-carrier or the chimney sweep as we, if he can
live up to their schedule of finances. But the poor man isn't attracted
to that lodge; he goes to a lodge where he finds the simple democracy
we have here.
"All
lodges who do honest and sincere work, my brother, have their
places in the great system we call Masonry. There is room for all
kinds; the high, the low, the rich, the poor, the democratic, the
aristocratic. This lodge, with an income from dues of twenty-five
hundred dollars last year, spend a few dollars more than a thousand for
charity. Joppa-Henderson with an income from dues of sixteen thousand,
spent ten thousand in charity. Charity is but one measuring stick, but
by it, they measure up."
"Yet
you," countered the Young Brother, "stick to this
lodge, and don't demit to Joppa-Henderson."
"Perhaps
I can do more real Masonic work here," smiled the Old
Past Master, looking the younger brother full in the face.
The
younger brother had the grace to blush.
