Robert Burns #243 Trestleboard

 March 2008

      From the East

Being an officer in a Lodge means so much more than just merely sitting in a chair and learning the work.  Unfortunately, for some it means just that and I think that the Lodge suffers for it.  Leadership is neither in attendance nor just in ritual work.  If an officer has nothing more to offer than that he never misses either a stated communication or a word, then he has little to offer to the members of his Lodge as he travels to the East.

Each of the officers agreed at the beginning of the year to take a particular place in the leadership of the Lodge, and should have taken to heart that he wasn’t just filling a chair.  The basis of good officer is truly in the mind and effort put into the duties of his office.  A great officer is dedicated to that office and brings to his work enthusiasm that displays the true values of our Lodge to its members and the community.  For what does an officer do, if not be an example and lead?

In our hands are committed the most excellent tenets of our fraternity and the reputation of our Lodge.  Our newly obligated Brothers judge the Masonic experience and lessons by our actions and deeds.  It is not so much what you say as an officer, but how you say it and not so much what the candidate sees or hears as to what he feels in his heart.  If you as an officer, are dignified, impressive, and earnest in your actions and deeds, then so will he be.  But if he sees you are not prepared, casual in your responses, and that ritual work is just not done well overall, then he will believe that this is how it is done and we can expect no better from him.  It is our responsibility as officers of the Lodge to instill in all the members that each and every officer does the right things right, but more importantly, the officers are enthusiastic students of Freemasonry and want to share the culture of our Fraternity with others.

Finally my Brethren, support the rest of your officers.  Be willing to do more than your share.  Put thought and time into your work.  Then and only then, will you be worthy of the honors that lie ahead of you.  It is the responsibility of all the officers to assist the Worshipful Master in setting the craft to work and giving them good and wholesome instruction for their labor.

And Now for this Month’s Questions:

7.  A brother may be elected officer of more than one lodge at a time as long as he is not Master or Warden of both at the same time.

(  )  True             (  )  False             Reference: ___________________

 8.  Every officer of the Lodge must be a member of that Lodge except the:

1.  Chaplain

2.  Musician

3.  Tyler                                         Reference: ___________________

9.  Every Lodge must have a Musician duly appointed by the Worshipful Master.

(  )  True             (  )  False             Reference: ___________________

Fraternally,

Steve Wandel

Worshipful Master

Fraternally,

Jim Hamlin

Junior Warden

Masonic Trivia:

"We must build a new world, a far better world -- one in which the eternal dignity of man is respected."

Harry S. Truman, 1945

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