There is a new Nova Science Now Production coming up on PBS this week. It's about building the Parthenon: how the Masons designed and carried out the building.
You can see a webpage of it here:
SteveB,
Maryland
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Normal
"We've tried that, and it didn't work." "No one's interested in that." "Those guys haven't been here in so long that we don't even know where they are."
FreemasonFromTheFreestate has ranted about this in the past, but it seems to me that it's the responsibility of those who are active in our Lodges to see to the needs of all, especially those who are inactive. It is a problem. Our records are incomplete when it comes to brothers who haven't been around for a while; no one has time to bring the records up to date; calling the numbers that we have takes time and the ability to handle rejection.
Our population is aging. Many of our missing brothers need help to get anywhere, let alone to Lodge meetings. Those who don't need help to get there, figure that they don't know anyone anymore, and no one cares whether they show up.
I hear from every one I talk to about the dichotomy between how many members are on our roles, and how few show up to meetings, that this is normal.
There's a parable about normalcy that I've illustrated in the two pictures here. They show Betas in a fish bowl. Betas live their whole life in the fish bowl. Some have little castles or plants or divers to make their lives full. They usually don't have other Betas, because they fight. Anyway, Betas live their whole life in this bowl.
They swim around all happy, preening and displaying their colors. They wiggle with happiness when you feed them. They do everything in there. They eat, swim, play with the diver, and poop in there. The more you feed them, the more they poop.
As time goes on, the clear bowl I've shown first, becomes the second bowl. Cloudy, stinky. The fish doesn't wiggle much anymore. He doesn't play with the diver. He doesn't preen or show his colors. He kind of hangs there. Drooping.
Do you know what the fish calls this? He calls it normal.
FreemasonFromTheFreestate has ranted about this in the past, but it seems to me that it's the responsibility of those who are active in our Lodges to see to the needs of all, especially those who are inactive. It is a problem. Our records are incomplete when it comes to brothers who haven't been around for a while; no one has time to bring the records up to date; calling the numbers that we have takes time and the ability to handle rejection.
Our population is aging. Many of our missing brothers need help to get anywhere, let alone to Lodge meetings. Those who don't need help to get there, figure that they don't know anyone anymore, and no one cares whether they show up.
I hear from every one I talk to about the dichotomy between how many members are on our roles, and how few show up to meetings, that this is normal.
There's a parable about normalcy that I've illustrated in the two pictures here. They show Betas in a fish bowl. Betas live their whole life in the fish bowl. Some have little castles or plants or divers to make their lives full. They usually don't have other Betas, because they fight. Anyway, Betas live their whole life in this bowl.
They swim around all happy, preening and displaying their colors. They wiggle with happiness when you feed them. They do everything in there. They eat, swim, play with the diver, and poop in there. The more you feed them, the more they poop.
As time goes on, the clear bowl I've shown first, becomes the second bowl. Cloudy, stinky. The fish doesn't wiggle much anymore. He doesn't play with the diver. He doesn't preen or show his colors. He kind of hangs there. Drooping.
Do you know what the fish calls this? He calls it normal.
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