Our Changing Freemasonry
by Michael R. Poll, PM
From the Archives of the Louisiana Masonic Library & Museum Most Worshipful Brother Charles Francis Ratcliff, PGM (1938) being presented with his 50 year pin, in 1943, by Most Worshipful Brother W.D. Haas, PGM (1933) at a district meeting at Trinity Union No. 372, in Baton Rouge.
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young kids are creating trouble! They are trying to shove new things on us that we don’t want or understand. They want us to change from how we have always done things. They are the problem!”
One group is mostly composed of, but not all, younger Masons. They point at the older Masons and say that they are the source of the problems. “It’s those old guys! They refuse to change! All they want out of Freemasonry is to read minutes and argue over bills. They want nothing else and know nothing else!” The other unhappy group is the older Masons. Again, not all, but mostly. They point at the young Masons and say that they are the problem. “Those
Two sides with firm opinions on problems along with who and what is wrong. So, which side is the right side? To begin to understand this situation and problem, I believe that we need to first look at the concept of change itself. The truth of the matter is that it does not matter what anyone likes, dislikes, wants, or doesn’t want. Change is going to happen. It happens every day. Our grass keeps needing cutting, our house needs to be repainted, and we gain weight and hurt where we never hurt before. Change is natural. It happens to everyone and everything, and Freemasonry is constantly changing. I once heard someone say with all the authority in the world, “Freemasonry does not change. In fact, innovations
ver the last few years, I’ve received a good many emails from Masons in a number of different jurisdictions. Regardless of where the mail comes from, much of it seems to have a common theme. They basically say, “I am not happy.” Then when they give their reason as to why they are not happy, it has something to do with some aspect of change. But they are not all in agreement as to the deeper problems. It is here that divisions begin.
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The Louisiana Freemason // Winter 2019
