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Stewart M. L. Pollard is a member of Ralph J. Pollard Lodge #217, Orrington,
Maine and served the Masonic Service Association as its Executive Secretary from
1977-87.
Stew shares many stories of "why" men have become Masons.
MSA would encourage Lodges to use this STB as a program and ask the Brothers
present to tell their story too!! Editor.
THE SHORT TALK BULLETIN The Masonic Service Association of
the United States (Vol. 70 April 1992 NO. 4)
"Why I Became A Mason"
By Steward M. L. Pollard
Prior to his initiation, a candidate is asked pertinent questions relative to
his motivation in seeking the privileges of Masonry and is asked to give
assurances that his decision was not influenced by mercenary motives, However,
he is not asked to be specific as to what actually influenced him to become a
Mason. It is not until we listen to the ritualistic exchange between the
Worshipful Master and the Senior Warden that we hear the question "What
induced you to become a Master Mason?" The ritual answer to that question
is familiar to all of us.
The Master of a Virginia Lodge a few years ago received word just as he was
about to open his lodge that his guest speaker for the evening had been rushed
to the hospital moments before. Undaunted, he opened the lodge, conducted the
necessary business, and then announced the alternative program for the evening.
"What induced YOU to become a Mason?" he asked. After allowing the
brethren to think about it for a few minutes, he called upon several brethren to
give their answers. It seems that each of us have vivid memories of when, where
and why we made the decision to apply for membership in the world's largest and
oldest fraternal organization.
This paper was inspired by the answers given on that night. Since then, all
over the country, that question has been posed to many brethren. The responses
have been fascinating inspiring and interesting. Basically, the responses fall
into several general categories:
- Examples set by family and friends
- Urging of wives, mothers or sweethearts
- Demolay activities
- Impressive Masonic funerals
- Masonic Charities
- Curiosity
Surprisingly, the number who indicated that they joined just so they could
get into one of the appendant bodies, or who acknowledged that they were ASKED
to join, were so few that it appears not to be a major factor.
One Grand Master confided that when he proposed to his wife, one of the
stipulations she made before she would agree to marry him was that he would have
to petition a Masonic Lodge. (She was active in Job's Daughters.)
R. W. Brother "Jack" Kelly, Pasta Grand Master of Texas, recalls
that when he was a small boy in Indiana he was recuperating from pneumonia at
the time that his grandfather died. He remembers being wide-eyed when the house
seemed to be filled with men wearing funny hats with white feathers on them and
carrying swords. He was told that they were Knights Templar and were there to
conduct Grandpa's funeral. He also has fond memories of the kindnesses and
concern the men had for him. When it was explained that his grandfather had been
the Commander of the Knights Templar and the men were there because of their
love of his grandfather it made a great and lasting impression upon him. One of
his most cherished possessions is the engraved Templar sword which had been his
grandfather's. He claims that that early exposure to Masonic brotherhood was a
great influence on his desire to become a Mason.
A surprising number of brethren informed me that they were Masons as a result
of the urging of their children, who were anxious to join one of the youth
groups, and many of them expressed how surprised they were when they learned
that other close family members or business associates were sitting on the
sidelines when they were raised. Had they known that these family members or
friends were members of the fraternity they would have petitioned sooner. This
points up the fact that we tend to carry Masonic "Secrecy" too far
when we fail to talk about our Masonic activities to our friends and family.
A young Junior Warden of a Wyoming Lodge, approached me at a Grand Lodge of
Wyoming Annual Communication and announced that he was a Master Mason as a
result of an M.S.A. Short Talk Bulletin. When asked to explain, he said that he
had come home from work one day and his father passed him a copy of a Short Talk
Bulletin, suggesting that he read it. That evening he did read the bulletin and
the following morning asked his father for a petition. As a matter of curiosity,
I asked him if he recalled the title of that Short Talk Bulletin. It turned out
that it was a bulletin I had written several years before, entitled, "Dear
Son." I hope his father knows how proud I am to have assisted in being an
influence.
A District Inspector in the Grand Lodge of Maryland is quick to explain that
he was influenced to become a Mason by the example set by Past Grand Master
William Jacobs of the District of Columbia, who many years before had been the
Dad Advisor of his DeMolay Chapter. "I wanted to be just like Dad Jacobs,
who so willingly gave of himself to every boy in the Chapter. If Dad Jacobs was
a Mason, then I wanted to be one! What an example he was to us!"
Ed Rose, former Director of the Veterans Administration Voluntary Services
Division, tells this fascinating story related by his Grandmother when he was
growing up. It seems that she and his grandfather had gone to Arkansas from
their home in Virginia for a vacation. While there, his grandfather became
gravely ill and passed away. His grandmother was at wits end. She wanted to take
the body back to Virginia for burial in the family plot, but she had no funds
until she could get back. Fortunately, the Coroner learned that her husband was
a Mason, and contacted the local Arkansas lodge. Almost immediately, members of
the lodge were there to comfort and console her and to offer assistance. Within
a few hours, they had made arrangements for the body to be shipped to Virginia
by train and she was provided with a train ticket to accompany the body. Members
of that lodge also traveled with her until they were met by members of her
husband's lodge. She quickly went to the bank and withdrew funds so she could
repay them, but those who had accompanied her could not be located. She told
that story over and over again to her grandchildren, emphasizing that that was
the kind of men they should try to be. Ed likes to tell that he made the
decision to be a Mason when he was eight years old. Isn't it great to know that
there are men of that stature in our government!
Ill. Brother Joseph R. ("Jose") Gilbert, 33, a Pennsylvania Mason
living in New Jersey gave this reply when asked what had induced him to become a
Mason. "Without the built-in advantage of having my Dad or brother as
members of the Craft, I made my decision to petition a lodge for membership only
after much thought and some years of decision. I did my best to find things I
did not like about Freemasonry and found that I was wasting my time; there was
no such thing! Every man I saw with that pin on, every man I called a dear
friend who wore the Square and compasses, every man I met in Business, at
church, socially...all were of a purpose, a principle, a way of life...that I
felt a kinship with. I felt quite sure, even before I submitted my petition,
that the men I assumed to be Masons as I went through life, were an accurate
representation of what I would find if I were fortunate enough to be accepted.
That was over forty years ago and I have no reason to think otherwise since that
night I was raised. I thank God for that!"
In the January 1989 issue of the Virginia Masonic Herald, there was an open
letter from a newly raised brother (Bro. Michael Stairs of Willis V. Fentress
Lodge #296, Virginia Beach, Va.). As his letter so graphically explains his
motivations in joining the fraternity, generous extracts from his letter follow:
"Several years ago I met and married a young woman who would turn
my life around in ways neither she nor I expected. You see, she is the daughter
of a Master Mason. I knew very little about Freemasonry then, but the more I
became acquainted with her father the better my perception of Freemasonry
became. My respect for this man has grown to immense proportions. He is a good
man, an honest man, a man of virtue and integrity, a spiritual man; a man that
will go out of his way to do what he feels in his heart is right; a man that
can't be swayed by the evils of the world and a man of immeasurable character
and pride. The more I got to know this man the more I began to think to myself
that there must be something to Freemasonry.
Several years after I married, I approached my father-in-law and asked him
how I could become a Mason, He said, "All you have to do is ask." I
did and soon thereafter, I was initiated into the mysteries of Freemasonry. This
was the first step towards what have been some of the richest, greatest, and
most profound experiences of my life."
To avoid him any embarrassment, we won't identify the brother who confided
that his original motivation to join the Craft was because he thought it would
be "good for business." He had noticed that a number of men who were
in the same line of work were Masons, and that maybe he could gain some
advantage if he were to become one. As he progressed through the degrees he
realized how wrong he had been. One of his business competitors served as his
mentor as he learned his catechisms and became one of his closest friends. On
the night that he was raised he was amazed to find his father, his father-in-law
and two of his uncles had flown in just to be with him on that "Special
milestone" in his life. It was then that he fully realized how wrong his
initial motivation had been.
Think about it! What induced YOU to petition for the degrees? Think about the
Masons who have influenced your life, and your way of thinking.
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