A Mason's Response to the Sovereign Grand Commander's Report  
              Wayne Carr Linder, Jr., PM 1988  
            Elmer Timberman Lodge #54, AF & AM  
  
     While I claim no great titles, other than Past Master  
of my Lodge, I do claim the right to speak on a subject very  
near and dear to my heart.  Not being a member of the  
Scottish Rite or Shrine, I can only view their actions from  
afar, and from my interpretation of the message of Francis  
G. Paul, Sovereign Grand Commander, I can only hope they  
remain even further afar.  

     I'm particularly upset by the suggestion of changing our  
ritual.  It seems to me that EVERY Mason took an obligation  
and is constantly taught to permit NO innovations or changes  
in the body of Masonry.  I strongly suspect the leaders of  
the bodies claiming Masonic affiliation have been too long  
from their Mother Lodges, and have lost sight of the great  
and important teachings of the Blue Lodge.  

     On the issue of balloting, while some good men have   
been rejected by "private pique and spite", permitting a  
ballot to pass with up to three negative votes strikes at  
the heart of Masonry.  It leads me to wonder whence came   
the members of the committee?  Surely not from any body   
Masonic!  I would go ever further and suggest that if any  
member of the "Supreme Council" were a member of my Lodge,  
I would have him brought up on Masonic Charges!  

     The antiquity of Masonry lends it a charm which no  
re-write of the obligation or other changes in the ritual  
can come close to in teaching the important lessons only  
brought forth in the Blue Lodge.  Being somewhat of a  
ritualist, teaching the floor work and lectures of the three  
degrees, and District Lecturer in the Grand Royal Arch,
I strongly resent any attempt to change what has  
worked for over 200 years.  While I admit there have been  
changes in the past, and some of the thinking of today may  
be a wee bit slanted, changes in the ritual will NOT make  
Masonry better.  I have been told that in times past, men  
clamored to be allowed to "get in line".  In a lodge with a  
membership of over 450, I can vouch for the fact that it is  
difficult to find a man willing to devote 7 years to the  
Craft.  Changing the ritual will not create devotion to the  
Craft.    

     A close examination of Masonry today will reveal a  
problem no one wants to acknowledge.  We just do not give it  
the time and attention our fathers and grandfathers did.   
There are many demands on our time in today's world.   
Only when we decide to put Masonry third in our lives,  
immediately behind Family and Church, will Masonry become  
the wonderful influence it was 20 plus years ago.  It is up  
to you and I to make it happen.  Sitting at home, saying it  
isn't what it used to be will assure it never being so  
again.  As I already spend 3-4 nights a week with things  
Masonic, it is up to you now.