Masonic Unity
Both Jurisdictions of the Scottish Rite, as well as the Shrine and other Masonic Bodies, have helped to fund the Masonic Renewal Committee of North America in the development of membership enhancement and retention materials. Where they have been used, these materials have proved successful. In these and other ways, the Scottish Rite has been advancing Masonry — all of Masonry. But true Masonic Unity involves more than the commitment of leaders and financial resources. True Masonic Unity requires the commitment of the individual Mason. For, in the final analysis, you and only you can make a difference. We can produce programs, videotapes and information packets — but unless you talk to your friends about Masonry, unless you tell them why it is good and that you would like to share Masonry with them — that all we can do amounts to little. Grand Lodges can offer Lodge Leadership training programs which can make a great difference for any Lodge. But unless you attend those programs and put what you learned there into practice in the leadership of your Lodge, the effort and expense are futile.
Masonic Unity begins in the heart of the individual mason. It comes from a deep knowledge that Masonry is good and does good. It comes from a personal commitment to masonry prospering as a whole and to your making that happen. It comes from a determination to become personally involved in that Unity, that growth. It meas that you will talk up, not down, every Masonic Body, whether you are active in it or not. We are a family. We must support each other fully, unconditionally.
You literally make the difference in Masonic unity. There are things which could and should be considered at the national level — a public awareness campaign, coordination of efforts, increased philanthropic outreach. But Masonry grows when you talk to a friend about the Fraternity, give him a petition, and bring him into the Blue Lodge. You can do that, but without you, nothing will happen.
Those are the alternatives. We can work together, and we can bring our friends into the Fraternity. If we do — Masonry — all of masonry — will not only live, it will be better than ever before. In contrast, we can do nothing or, worse yet, we can undermine by talk or action, the Masonic Unity which has been the tradition and strength of our Craft from its beginnings.
It shouldn't be a hard choice to make.