This past year I have had the privilege and honor to sit to the right of the Worshipful Master in the East, as the Senior Deacon. This was my first appointed position in our lodge as I have only been in the fraternity for a little over two years. Since being appointed, I have come to learn the critical importance of the Senior Deacon’s duties within the lodge. The Senior Deacon is the face of hospitality in the lodge. Not only is it their duty to ensure the lodge is set up for stated meetings, they are the greeter, introducer, and work as a liaison of the Worshipful Master. More importantly though, in my opinion, is the Senior Deacon’s duty of conducting candidates.
I was extremely fortunate to have the same Brother perform the duties of the Senior Deacon for all three of my degrees. The bond I share with that Brother is immeasurable. He guided me, educated me, and instilled what our fraternity needs most, trust. This Brother exemplified trust and taught me the importance of connections we can formulate within our lodge as I blindly trusted in him. After my third degree, I mentioned to this Brother how much I felt a connection with him during this entire process. I’m hesitant to say that it’s a stronger connection compared to the rest of the Brothers in lodge, as each one is unique, but when I think of my Masonic journey, my mind immediately draws and image of this Brother.
Last week, during our stated meeting, our Brother Secretary read the results of a poll that was issued out by the Grand Lodge of Washington. The results conveyed some good along with bad points. What I gathered most from the information presented is that our craft is in need of renewed trust. Since hearing this, the thought of building this higher level of trust has been kicking around in my head. The idea of trust is relatively simple but it’s certainly not easy to implement. To facilitate a resurgence of trust, our communication skills needs to be improved. By communicating more with others, especially Brothers outside of our own lodges, we gain a more global perspective. This can give us valuable insights to help us see ideas and issues from different angles, helping us to navigate our own blind spots. I implore you to seek out helpful mediums in order to become better communicators and listeners (I highly recommend the book, Listening: The Forgotten Skill by Madelyn Burley-Allen). Taking the necessary steps towards building better communicating and listening skills will serve to improve the trust our fraternity.
My time as the Senior Deacon in our lodge is coming to an end. I am headed to the South as my Brothers elected me as the Junior Warden. Although I am moving to a different position, I am still encouraged to be the example of what has been exemplified to me. Trust was modeled and it is my (our) obligation to follow and seek to improve upon that. I am very fortunate to be surrounded by men in our lodge who focus on building each other up. I can only hope that during my Masonic journey I will be able to instill the amount of trust in another person like my Brothers have done so with me. That’s what our fraternity is all about.