In the beginning, God said, “Let there be light and there was light”. Since that time light and truth has been with us. Over time the banners under which that light and truth has been bought to us has changed names many times, and most likely change many more times before the end of time.

As we are beginning our travels in this New Millennium, the question I have is are we bringing in the banner of Masonry with us or we leaving that banner behind and bringing in a new banner?

As the teaching of Masonry have been with the world in the past and the present, they will also be with the world in the future.

As truth and light always find a way to make it through the dark, so will Masonry find a way to make it through the dark times?

So the two questions that need to be asked are: Will Masonry come through the dark times with new principles that are different from the ones of old? Or will the principles of old come through the dark times with a new name?

As the issue of numbers becomes more important, the issue of quality becomes less important. As the desire for a title becomes more important, the issue of becoming a better person becomes less important. As we worry more about how many Lodge meeting a Brother attends, we worry less about what a Brother is doing to improve himself and his community.

Now that we are doing all we can to increase membership, we find that we have lost more than we are gaining. Now that we have more members than Masons, we find that the members are starting to run the Order. Now that the members have the majority vote, we find that the members are changing the rules of the Order to make it more of a Social Club and less of a Masonic Fraternity. Now that the Masons have lost control of the Masonic Order, they are crying, “Who Left the West Gate Unguarded”?

Well, we left the gate unguarded, and now we are seeing the cost of doing that and find that closing the gate now is not an option. Everybody wants to talk about what is wrong with Masonry now, but no one wants to talk about how to fix it. Everybody wants to talk about how they did it in their day, but no one wants to talk about how to do it. Since Everybody is talking about their day, isn’t today still their day?

Well, as I see it we have several options:
Starting teaching the members that we have today how to become the Masons of tomorrow.
Do nothing and watch the slow death of Ancient Freemasonry, as we know it.

If we start doing 1 and 2, we will see a turn back to Freemasonry as it was.
If we do 3, we will see new Organizations spring up claiming to teach the lessons of Freemasonry.

The Modern Rite of Memphis is only the first of many that will come unless we do something to get back to the basics of Masonry. Even though it appears that the Modern Rite of Memphis has failed in its first attempt at a start, it has set the idea in motion that a change is needed and that idea will only grow if we do nothing.

Only when the majority of members of Masonry can ask themselves, “What came you here to do”, and truthfully answer themselves, “I came to learn to subdue my passions and improve myself in Masonry”, then and only then will Masonry make a comeback in its present form. But if that does not happen in Masonry, then it will happen in some other organization where men can ask themselves, “What came you here to do”, and truthfully answer themselves, “I came to learn to subdue my passions and improve myself”, and that will be where you will find True Masonry under a new name.

So it is up to us to determine which of the above will come to pass in the future.

If the present is the ending of Masonry, as we know it, it is also the beginning of Masonry, as it will be known in the future

Byron E. Hams
A lifetime Apprentice

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