I agree with a lot of the things the essay talks about, but some of the things it complains about, persay us claiming to be Texas Masons and such, I'm not so sure. We claim to be Texas Masons because we can't claim to be American Masons without some jurisdiction telling us that's not right. Maybe if we did claim to be American Masons the 50 Grand Lodges would get together because they found out they could claim jurisdiction together and claim more dues, and if you wanted to claim yourself as an American Mason that meant you belonged to another lodge, plural memberships, plural dues. I feel, and I'm absolutely positive I will rub someone the wrong way here, that the generation gap is what is holding Masons back in a lot of areas. Younger Masons want technology to be incorporated because of the great things it provides, WHILE KEEPING TRADITION in the lodge. We want to bridge the racial gap that we have. And in due time, well in time anyway, things will all change. We will embrace the things that will help us grow, because we really do believe that in time, it will be sink or swim. We will have to change how we do things, being a Mason won't mean being an isolated organization anymore, it will mean getting out and making ourselves known to the masses who have absolutely no idea who or what we are and what we stand for. Masonry has spent so many centuries telling nothing, saying nothing, sitting back because good men came forward to join but now being a good man is something that's frowned upon, not having a criminal record means you're boring, bland, not any fun. Don't get drunk and crazy on the weekends? You're not in with the in crowd.
We as Masons must learn that times are changing, and like all things, we have to embrace the change, or get out of the way of change. Too many feel that if we change, that automatically means we must give up tradition, give up what we believe and what we cherish as induvidualism. That, my brothers and friends, is not the case. We must learn to change while grasping tightly to our past, keeping all traditions, rituals, and history in tact and present in our work. There are 1000's of articles about the declining lodge numbers, just look here and see the articles written about not having members in the seats, and the threads asking for advice on how to get non active members back in the lodge. We, as "field" Masons, those of us who are out here, living the Masonic life, SEE and KNOW this. But, I fear those who oversee the Masonic laws and such do not see what we do. They are in large jurisdictions and have Masonic communication on a daily basis because it's business, it's a necessity to them however to us, it has become something that gets pushed back. We, as operative masons do not conduct business all day every day as the Grand Lodge officers may do, so we see the declining memberships, we're hit by study nights of 2 or 3 brothers, we feel, to the highest degree, the impact of brothers not showing up to lodge.