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One Day Masonic Class/Journey

bezobrazan

Registered User
I'm old school, the more time & effort you put into something the more you get back. Also, more knowledge & understanding of what this thing of ours is really about will hit home. One day classes have their uses, but so does instant mashed potatoes.
 

Glen Cook

G A Cook
Site Benefactor
I'm old school, the more time & effort you put into something the more you get back. Also, more knowledge & understanding of what this thing of ours is really about will hit home. One day classes have their uses, but so does instant mashed potatoes.
I don't think anyone disagrees that effort brings reward. The question is whether accelerated degrees as have been done for centuries (old school) frustrates that reward. I've seen many candidates. I've not seen any difference in their diligence as Freemasons based on how they took degrees.
 

Morris

Premium Member
I've always been a little slow on change and I have to force myself to look at things from others' point of view. This is a pretty good example for me. The line that I once drew isn't so clear.

Thanks for the discussions.
 

jets1230

Registered User
I've always been a little slow on change and I have to force myself to look at things from others' point of view. This is a pretty good example for me. The line that I once drew isn't so clear.

Thanks for the discussions.
With all that has to be learned I just can't see it and it to me seems your being robbed of the learning experience of it all.
We have to memorize all three degrees before one obtains it all so later you can go thru the chairs and know what to say or even fill in when one is absent.
More power to you if you memorized it all and your mind is a lot better than mine
 

Zack

Registered User
Memorization is one thing, understanding what is memorized and putting it to work in your life is another thing altogether.

Personally, the memorization process is important to me. By the repetition it focuses my mind on what the lessons are. Sometimes it has taken years for me too see what's behind the veil.

I don't agree with ODC's , but as I stated above, I've met some great Brothers who have travelled that way.
 

JJones

Moderator
(Warning: The following is merely opinion and may be offensive to some, despite my efforts to to be)

What is easily obtained is easily discarded. Even if a brother is still required to memorize the work after the degrees are given the fact remains that they have still been rushed through what were originally intended to be transformational and life changing experiences. It's sad enough that they are rarely conducted in such a way, as it is, that they are impactful, now some of us want to bestow all three degrees in one day to a group of men? This isn't a fix for the (IMO non-existent) membership problem...all we're doing is cheapening the fraternity.

Yes. I know. -Some- one-day brothers turn out to be very active and good masons. This isn't a testimony to any kind of one-day success so much as it's a fact of probability. If you confer the degrees on 100 men you'll get a handful of active members out of it, maybe. The rest of them will go on with the rest of their lives, unchanged, except now they can wear a ring and know the secrets of Freemasonry which were once closely guarded and held dear.

That being said, I have nothing against those men who were raised in a day. In many cases they often never know there's a different way of doing it.
 
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Rick Carver

Premium Member
In my jurisdiction you are not required to pay dues until you are made a Master Mason. EA and FC Masons are not charged any dues, however the do pay an Initiation Fee. I always thought this seemed a bit odd, and it almost seems like it is the intention of the system to run new members through quickly so GL can get the per capita and the Lodges get the dues. Both are a necessary evil in order for the Craft to survive.

I wonder if payment of dues were to begin when the candidate was Initiated as an EA, maybe the "rush" would end, and with it the end of the One Day Class? I hate the Make a Master Mason in a Minute classes. It robs the man of the initiatic experience and cheapens the whole meaning of what is being conveyed.
 

Warrior1256

Site Benefactor
I did a one day class for Scottish Rite. I did my Royal Arch degrees like I did my Blue Lodge degrees: in steps of months, and learning my proficiencies, which I did in open lodge, and then I got right in line.

It is my personal--and I repeat personal--opinion that a one day class is fine for Scottish Rite, but not good for Blue or Red Lodge. In my particular Grand Lodge, it's not permitted for the first three degrees. Not only that, but we are required to recite our proficiencies. I don't know how one could do that in one day.
I was going to go through the York Rite in a one day class but that fell through. Will be doing it the old fashioned way now.
 

dfreybur

Premium Member
Memorization is one thing, understanding what is memorized and putting it to work in your life is another thing altogether.

Thing is I've seen certified ritual instructors who can't discuss the meaning to save their lives. They can recite word for word not just every word for every point in the ritual but also the stage directions for the floor work, yet it seems like they are playing a tape.

Memorization is good. Some don't believe they can and when we teach them it breaks down a self imposed limitation. But memorization doesn't equate to understanding.
 

Zack

Registered User
Thing is I've seen certified ritual instructors who can't discuss the meaning to save their lives. They can recite word for word not just every word for every point in the ritual but also the stage directions for the floor work, yet it seems like they are playing a tape.

and that my Brother, is the shortcoming of the ritualist not the ritual. Like any other instructions...you can heed the lessons or ignore them.
The beauty of ritual is that it can be passed on by those who do not understand it to others who might.
 

bezobrazan

Registered User
I think the real prize is in process as much as it is the result, maybe even more so. I'm not doubting anyone's commitment, but we're not Neo from the Matrix, we don't just plug in and automatically know kung fu. What is honestly the hurry? My life is crazy busy, just like anyone's, but I made a commitment to make time.
 
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crono782

Premium Member
I heard an analogy recently that kinda hit the point home:
A guy's kid, let's call him Jimmy, wanted to become a boy scout. Unfortunately, Jimmy was so busy with sports and other activities that he didn't have time to go to scout meetings, work on merit badges, on campouts, etc. The local council, seeing the perceived decline in membership decided to offer a chance for boys to join and become Eagle Scouts in just ONE day! That's right, little Jimmy could go from Scout rank all the way up past Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star, and Life right up to Eagle, no need for lengthy merit badges, leadership, service and whatnot. The theory was that, they would go back *afterwards* and learn woodcraft, camping, pioneering, orienteering, wilderness survival, rowing, knots, first aid, citizenship, etc on their own time and they could enjoy being an Eagle scout straight away. Sure, some of the boys who went this route this ended up growing up to becoming quite well-rounded individuals so the practice was kept around, but sadly a lot of boys didn't see the benefit in this and so fell away, quit, and forgot about the whole thing.
 

Glen Cook

G A Cook
Site Benefactor
The assumption seems to be that waiting a month or so between degrees is some significant achievement and men gain great knowledge in 30 days. You can tell I don't accept that premise. Remember, this emphasis on candidate memorization is largely a phenomenon of the newer US GLs. I'm old school (i.e., my UGLE province was founded in 1725 and we don't require memorization) and in two decades of Masonry on two continents have not seen that memorization is necessary for learning the lessons of Freemasonry. Birds don't have particularly large brains and some of them can repeat words. That does not make them a Mason either. One of the best ritualists I have known is under a sentence of suspension for violating his MM obligation. Memorization does not a Mason make.

And, lest you think it is sour grapes, I am a Past Grand Lecturer and senior ritualist in Utah and conferred all three degrees and recited my obligation from memory as WM of my Cheshire lodge. I've done AASR, YR, Sojourners, and Red Cross ritual. That doesn't make me a good Mason. It just means I can parrot. How I've lived the obligations I made is the true gauge of my achievement.
 

bezobrazan

Registered User
You know what? You're right. Heck why not one hour classes? Hey, let's do all 3 degrees in one minute! Clearly, time put into doesn't mean anything. Saying there's no difference in one day or thirty days is a stretch. Also, a bird doesn't understand what it is parroting, we do.
 

JJones

Moderator
@Glen Cook

I don't think anyone here believes the sheer act of memorization is enough to transform a man, if that was the case we'd never have a need for masonic charges.
 

Glen Cook

G A Cook
Site Benefactor
The time taken to perform a degree is different than the the time between degrees. However, as we know, the two degrees were conferred in Scotland in the same day. And, degrees do only take about an hour in UGLE We don't perform the Hiramic play.

I don't accept that men understand what they are parroting, having corrected ritual that made no sense if one one really understood what was being said (my favorite is the WM reciting a penalty as "severely twanged." We had no idea what that meant, but it sounded awful). However, assuming for argument that men do understand the words, I've sat too long on international and local JP and GA committees to believe that memorization makes a good Mason.

Many GLs/GMs waived time between degrees for WWII service members who were leaving. English Masons do not have the US memorizaton requirements. Are they somehow undeserving?

An analogy: GL of Utah has demanding requirements for a WM, more than I've heard of in any other jurisdiction. To use the premise of some, only WMs who have met those stringent requirements are worthy and deserving of the WM title. They are the only ones who put the time in. The fact that they are in a minority in imposing the requirement doesn't matter.

This newer requirement of memorization in the US has not been shown to have a relationship to being a Mason in my experience. It is not tradition. It is an innovation. I have not seen that waiting a few weeks between degrees makes a difference Masonic character. Certainly, as seen by internet discussions, they have not learned to subdue their passions.
 

Glen Cook

G A Cook
Site Benefactor
@Glen Cook

I don't think anyone here believes the sheer act of memorization is enough to transform a man, if that was the case we'd never have a need for masonic charges.

I agree as to the conclusion, but not so sure of the premise. Why then do people believe that this memorization is "better" when the Home Grand Lodges do not?
 

Morris

Premium Member
Bro Cook. Please correct me if I'm wrong but UGLE doesn't require memorization but there is a large time awaited between degrees. Is that correct? If it is, what's the reasoning on the wait, if you know. Is that wait required in Scotland?
 

Glen Cook

G A Cook
Site Benefactor
Rule 172: Four weeks. Rule 90: lodges abroad, one week with dispensation. I do not know the reasoning. I do know that Senior GL Members REALLY do not like the practice of US GLs which do accelerated classes.

I do not know the current rule in Scotland. At one time it was two weeks, except in cases of emergency. XXIV, section 6.
 
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