WHAT DID YOU EXPECT?
Masonic Service Association - Short Talk
Bulletin - November 1963
This Short Talk Bulletin is the work of
Elbert Bede, Editor Emeritus, The Oregon
Freemason, Past Master, Cottage Grove Lodge
No. 51, and Charter Member, Research Lodge of
Oregon and Ashlar Lodge No. 209, Oregon.
The title of this Short Talk Bulletin asks a
question, and it isn't being asked "just for
effect." It is meant to give those in the
body of the Lodge an opportunity to
participate with the speaker.
About twenty years ago I gave an address on
this subject with the understanding that I
should tell what induced me to present my
petition and what I expected o f Freemasonry,
and that, at the conclusion of my remarks,
the Past Masters present would do the same.
Every Brother had a different story, and we
had a wonderful evening.
I wish to preface the story of how I came to
present my petition fifty-five years ago to
Chisago Lodge No. 232, North Branch,
Minnesota, with another story that is a
partial answer to our question. It is a
serious story, with a moral, but it has some
humorous aspects.
A young man passed a pawnbroker's shop. The
money lender was standing in front of his
shop, and the young man noted that he was
wearing a large and beautiful Masonic emblem.
After going on a whole block, apparently lost
in thought, the young man turned back,
stepped up to the pawnbroker, and addressed
him: "I see you're wearing a Masonic emblem.
I'm a Freemason too. It happens that I'm
desperately in need of $25.00 just now. I
shall be able to repay it within ten days.
You don't know me; but I wonder whether the
fact that you are a Freemason and that I am a
Freemason is sufficient to induce you to lend
me the money on my personal note."
The pawnbroker mentally appraised the young
man, who was clean-cut, neat and well-
dressed. After a moment's thought, he agreed
to make the loan on the strength of the young
man's being a Freemason. The two went into
the pawn shop, where the young man signed a
note and received the $25.00, then went his
way. Within a few days the young man repaid
the loan as agreed, and that ended the
transaction.
About four months later the young man was in
a Lodge receiving the Entered Apprentice
degree; he had not really been a Mason when
he borrowed $25.00 from the pawnbroker. After
he had been admitted for the second section
of the degree and placed where all candidates
are placed, the young man looked across the
Lodge room and noted sitting there the
pawnbroker from whom he had borrowed $25.00
several months before, on the strength of his
being a Freemason. His face turned crimson
and he became nervous and jittery. He
recollected the admonition he had just
received from the Master, and he was
bothered. He wondered whether he had been
recognized by the pawnbroker. Apparently not,
so he planned, at the first opportunity, to
leave the Lodge room and avoid his
benefactor. The lecture and charge probably
were lost on him. As soon as the Lodge was
closed, he moved quickly for the door of the
Tyler's room, but the pawnbroker had
recognized the young man, headed him off west
of the altar and, to the young man's
astonishment, approached him and greeted him
with a smile and outstretched hand.
"Well, I see you weren't a Freemason after
all when you borrowed that $25.00," the
pawnbroker commented.
The blood rushed to the young man's face as
he stammered, "No, I wasn't, but I wish you'd
let me explain. I had always heard that
Freemasons were charitable and ready to aid a
Brother in distress. When I passed your shop
that day, I didn't need that $25.00. I had
plenty of money in my wallet, but when I saw
the Masonic emblem you were wearing, I
decided to find out whether the things I'd
heard about Freemasonry were true. You let me
have the money on the strength of my being a
Freemason, so I concluded that what I had
heard about the Masons was true, that they
are charitable, that they do aid Brethren in
distress. That made such a deep impression on
me that I presented my petition to this Lodge
and here I am. I trust that, with this
explanation, you will forgive me for having
lied to you."
The pawnbroker responded, "Don't let that
worry you too much. I wasn't a Freemason when
I let you have the money. I had no business
wearing the Masonic emblem you saw. Another
man had just borrowed some money on it, and
it was so pretty that I put it on my lapel
for a few minutes. I took it off the moment
you left. I didn't want anyone else borrowing
money on the strength of my being a
Freemason. When you asked for that $25.00, I
remembered what I had heard about the Masons,
that they were honest, upright, and cared for
their obligations promptly. It seemed to me,
that $25.00 wouldn't be too much to lose to
learn if what I'd heard about Freemasons was
really true, so I lent you the money and you
repaid it exactly as you said you would. That
convinced me that what I'd heard about the
Masons was true, so I presented my petition
to this Lodge. I was the candidate just ahead
of you."
I doubt whether the experience of either of
those men persuaded any one of you to become
a Mason; but it would be interesting to know
what did induce each of you to present his
petition and what each of you was expecting
of Freemasonry. One of those in the story
expected to find men who were charitable and
ever ready to give aid to a Brother in
distress. The other expected to find men who
were honest, upright, and cared promptly for
their obligations. That was what they had
heard about Freemasons.
And in a general way, isn't that true of each
member of the Fraternity? Didn't each one of
us present his petition largely because of
what he had heard about Freemasonry? Because
contacts with those he knew as Freemasons had
led him to believe that what he had heard and
read was true?
George Washington once made the statement
that he was led to petition Freemasonry
because he had noted that the noblest men of
Virginia were members of the Fraternity, and
because of the favorable opinion formed
through contacts with those men.
Freemasonry is judged by what others hear and
read about it. Our members come to us because
of actions which seem to prove that what is
said about us is true. Brethren, we have a
reputation to maintain.
My first interest in Freemasonry was
developed some years before I came of age. I
had a room in the home of a superintendent of
schools, who was secretary of the Lodge in
which I later received my degrees. In those
days so many years ago we didn't have TV,
radio, motion pictures and automobiles to
take up slack time; hence, although the
secretary was a man of some years and I a
stripling of eighteen or nineteen, sometimes
of an evening he and I would have an hour or
so of pleasant discussion, probably during a
game of dominoes, which was aristocratic
entertainment in those days.
Once in a while Freemasonry was mentioned.
The secretary wasn't too well-informed on
Freemasonry, as I have since learned; but he
was an enthusiastic practicing Speculative
Freemason and a good salesman, although a
discreet one. He didn't suggest that I
present a petition. Anyway I was too young
for that, but he planted the seeds that later
took root. In addition to the favorable
opinion formed through my conversations with
that Lodge secretary, I formed some opinions
of my own. For one thing, I noted that all
the better men of the small community of a
few hundred were members of the little
Masonic Lodge, including my employer, who was
editor of the little community newspaper.
I developed a certain interest in Freemasonry
in a manner that I am sure hasn't applied to
any of you. I was intrigued and confused by
little filler items about Freemasonry and
King Solomon that appeared in the city
newspapers. King Solomon usually was spoken
of as the first Grand Master of Masons. We do
not see such references in the daily
newspapers today, but my recollection is that
in former times there were many of them. One
of them read, "King Solomon, first Grand
Master of Masons, had a thousand wives." Just
what those ladies had to do with his Masonry
I never did find out. When I received the
degrees, I experienced some slight
disappointment because nowhere in any ritual
is there a word about the personal life of
King Solomon. The thousand wives, of course,
do not get so much as honorable mention.
In later years, after I became active in
Freemasonry, I wondered how a man with a
thousand women cluttering up the house ever
found a quiet nook in which to memorize the
ritual. I came to the conclusion that King
Solomon wasn't much of a ritualist. In fact,
no one can convince me that he had ever had
anything to do with Freemasonry.
Shortly after I reached maturity, I became
owner of the little community newspaper of
which I had been an employee. My favorable
opinion of Freemasonry was increased by again
noting that nearly all of the business and
professional people with whom I had to deal -
practically all the persons in the little
community who amounted to anything - were
Freemasons. I noted a fellowship among them
into which I could not fully enter. It is my
recollection that I felt I wouldn't amount to
much in the community unless I became a
member of the little Masonic Lodge. So I
asked for a petition and soon found the
fellowship which I expected to find.
Yet I have never felt that my approach to
Freemasonry was all that I would recommend
for others; but it may suggest that many men
have come to us with little of the
understanding of what Freemasonry is that has
come to me during almost six decades as an
active member.
However, I am sure that most petitioners
today come better prepared for the beauties
of our rituals than I did. There are greater
opportunities to learn about Freemasonry.
There are more Freemasons from whom to get
information. In a number of Grand
jurisdictions, education of petitioners
starts with printed material provided before
they receive a degree and continues while
they are receiving the degrees.
Fortunate are those petitioners who have
learned about Freemasonry from close friends
and associates. Even more fortunate are those
who have learned about Freemasonry from
members of their families who are Freemasons-
father, grandfathers, brothers, even sons. I
did not have such opportunities. I helped
confer the degrees on my father and son. The
latter, I am sure, had been influenced by
what he had heard from me about Freemasonry.
Even with all this, petitioners do not have a
great deal of information about Freemasonry.
They only know what they have heard or read
about it. If they have formed a favorable
opinion of it, they have been impressed by
what Freemasonry seems to mean in the lives
of those they knew as Freemasons, especially
when such persons are in their own families.
They expect to find an institution which
inculcates great moral truths, a worldwide
institution in which every member is firmly
knit with every other member in developing
the best there is in each of them. They are
led to expect moral uplift, mental
stimulation, and spiritual inspiration. They
expect to find something that will make them
better men and better citizens. They may not
be able to put into words exactly what they
expect, but they certainly expect a great
deal. We who have preceded them to the altar
of Freemasonry have definitely encouraged
them in those expectations.
Now, having partially answered the question
as to what petitioners expect of Freemasonry,
we come to the question, "What does
Freemasonry promise them?" Freemasonry exacts
many pledges and promises FROM them, but what
promise does it make TO them?
None! Absolutely none! Nowhere in the
ritualistic ceremonies, so far as I
recollect, did Freemasonry make any definite
promise to me. Nowhere, except possibly in
the historical lectures and in the charges,
so far as I have been able to discover, is it
even hinted that petitioners will receive any
of the things they expect of Freemasonry -
the things you and I expected -the things you
and I have led others to believe they might
expect.
Many have received all they expected, and
more, much more. We who like to believe we
have become a part of the fabric of
Freemasonry have found the pleasant
companionship we expected. We have become
associated with men with whom it is a
pleasure to be associated. We have received
moral instruction that has meant much to us.
We have been led to higher and nobler
attitudes. We have been benefited mentally.
We have been benefited spiritually. We have
developed new understandings that have given
us many hours of pleasure.
But you didn't receive these things, and
neither did I, sitting around waiting for
Freemasonry to bring them to us. You received
these things, and so did I, through the
discovery that we had promised everything
while Freemasonry promised nothing. You
received these things, and so did I, through
the discovery that it was only through our
own efforts that Freemasonry could measure up
to the preconceived idea we had of it when we
presented our petitions.
You have received these things, and so have
I, through a realization that Freemasonry as
an institution can give us only what we put
into it. It is not an inexhaustible warehouse
of the things we expected of Freemasonry.
Unless you and I put in, the putting out soon
must cease, and it has been a pleasant
discovery that our putting in has taken
nothing from us. We have been enriched by our
giving. We have been rewarded through the
pleasure which our efforts have provided for
others. We have been stimulated mentally; we
have been uplifted morally; we have been
elevated spiritually through our own efforts
to make Freemasonry mean for others what we
expected it to be for ourselves.
Freemasonry as an institution promises its
petitioners nothing; but if each of us, and
each of those who follow us to the altar of
Freemasonry, does his part to make
Freemasonry what he expected it to be for
himself, our Fraternity will become for
others all that we expected it to be.
Freemasonry as an institution promises
nothing, absolutely nothing; but she returns
with interest -compound interest, if you
please - all that we commit to her care.
What do you expect to get OUT of Freemasonry?
What are you putting IN?
POTS
I have ever felt it my duty to support and encourage the principles
and practice of Freemasonry, because it powerfully develops all
social and benevolent affections, because it mitigates without, and
annihilates within, the violence of political and theological controversy;
because it affords the only neutral ground on which all ranks and
classes can meet in perfect equality, and associate without degradation
or mortification, whether for purposes of moral instruction or social
intercourse. - EARL OF DURHAM.
George Helmer FPS
PM Norwood #90 GRA
PZ Norwood #18 RAM
MBBFMN #362
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