A Lodge recently looked at suspending a brother for non-payment of dues. No one had heard of him, let alone seen him in Lodge. It appeared he wasn’t contributing much except a cheque and, even then, he stopped contributing that. Several attempts to reach him failed.
It would have been very easy to be lazy Craftsmen and vote for suspension, thereby saving the Lodge the ever-increasing fees to Grand Lodge. It would have been very easy to be lazy Craftsman and simply remit his dues automatically. But a new brother in the Lodge instantly whipped out a chequebook and put out his own money for a brother he didn’t know and likely would never meet.
It was an act of selflessness that serves as an example for Freemasons far senior in the quarries.
Then someone decided to try once more to check into the situation. It turns out the brother, now 82 years of age, had been hospitalised much of the year and barely had money for medical costs. He hadn’t attended meetings as he had moved 300 miles away to a small town in the 1960s but continued his membership.
The old brother was astounded. He wrote the Lodge and explained how he loved the Craft, had followed the principles of it as best he could and hoped he could live up to those many men in his Lodge years ago who did the same.
Brethren, it’s imperative as Freemasons that we continue to remain in constant contact with each other to lend help and encouragement and just to let a brother know that someone is thinking of them. For while a brother of the Order may not be able to be at meetings, that may not make him any less a brother. Or a Freemason.
(This post has been modified from one published on the original version of this blog on 31 January 2011. Since then, the absent brother passed away, in good standing, while the kind brother STILL continues to help others in financial difficulty)
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