Page 15 - MFM Jan Feb 2024

in the offi ce without being put to the test beforehand, Rather, it means that when every man pulls his own
and without having the confi dence in himself as well weight as he should, and performs that duties of the offi ce
as from his brothers that he can do the job, then the with aplomb, then the desired progression towards the
lodge becomes the proverbial frog in a pot, and will not East can occur naturally, and correctly, with each brother
understand that it is dying until it is too late to jump out. receiving the wages he is due, advancing by merit alone.

REQUIREMENTS TO BE INSTALLED
You will have a generation of men just moving through AS MASTER:
chairs and becoming Masters because they are “next”,
never learning what they are suppose to learn, or 1. Having been elected, installed, and
served for one year as a Warden of a D.C.
knowing what kind of good and wholesome instruction Lodge.
they are obligated to provide, and then, within just that
one generation, the lodge will have lost everything that 2. Profi ciency exam: Ideally done while you
are Junior Warden; no later than June of
made it useful to the Craft. you year in the West as Senior Warden.

True harmony is achieved when brethren embrace and 3. Code test: The earlier the better for both
enjoy the labor that is required to gain preferment in a you and your lodge; as you can benefi t your
lodge with your increased knowledge.
lodge, reward each other based upon that labor, and fully
understand what we mean when we say that there should 4. Leadership test: Same as with the Code
be no contention among us other than our time-honored test.
contention of who can best work and best agree. 5. Past Master’s Degree: Obtained through
a Royal Arch Chapter, by special conferral
In saying this, one does not mean to suggest that there through a Lodge using a Board of Installed
should always be contested elections for every offi ce in Masters or a Lodge of Actual Past Masters,
or at a special conferral convened at the
the lodge. Nor does it mean that it is impossible to have direction of the Grand Lecturer.
an orderly arrangement of offi cers that moves along
from year to year. Reprinted with permission of The Voice of Freemasonry
in the Nations Capital, Volume 39, Number 3, 2022.