Neil T. Beaty, 32°
1614 Welton Street, Denver, Colorado 80202

The issue is not that there are no benefits to being a Mason, but that they just aren't obvious.

People keep asking me "What's in Masonry for me?" The most recent inquiry came after I had just returned from the small town of Fairplay, Colorado, where I had seen some ancient rituals performed in a tiny, roasting-hot building, the namesake of the Lodge Room over Simpkins' Store.*

Yes, I had seen it all before, most of it a hundred times. Yes, I had seen the Lodge Room before, and I read about the famous poem "The Lodge Room Over Simpkins' Store" written in 1898 by Ill. Lawrence Nichols Greenleaf, 33°, Grand Master in Colorado (1880) and Deputy of the Supreme Council. This time it was different. It's always different. I had a wonderful time. Yet "What's in it for me?" is still a pretty good question, and it goes to the heart of Freemasonry.

Any conversation about Masonry seems to dance around this topic as if it were too low-minded a question to try to answer directly. Why would anyone want to go through so much trouble to join a club that has no obvious benefit? The secret, as you all know, is not that there are no benefits, but that they just aren't obvious.

Masonry means friendship. My primary reason for joining the Craft and Rite was to make new friends. I've never been apologetic about this. I like to come to Lodge to hang out with my friends and hash over the week's activities. I like to yak. I like to listen to yakking. I like to watch my friends give a lecture that has been said the same way for hundreds of years, but do it in a way that is a little bit different than the last guy. I like to see them succeed. I even like to see them screw it up because I know that the next time they do it, they will be better and their success will be that much sweeter. I've met people who are interesting, hard-working, articulate, and honest. We all meet upon the level, and I can say with a straight face that many of my best friends were met here in the Lodge.

Also, Masonry keeps you sharp. Your mind needs exercise as badly as your body. The memory work of Masonry is unlike anything I have ever done in my life. I thought I would hate it. Actually, sometimes I do hate it. But I love it, too. The mental calisthenics of learning a new part in a Degree, a new prayer, or another lecture have taught me that I can do far more than I ever thought possible.

Masonry also is entertainment. My life is busy. Very busy. Work seems to expand to fill every possible moment. The schedules of the Lodge and Temple force a break. I know years in advance that I have an appointment on the 1st and 3rd Thursday. I know that if I don't show up, someone will notice. Sometimes the program is excellent and sometimes it's lame. Sometimes there is nothing at all, but every time I go home after attending Lodge or Temple, I have an improved outlook on life, and I am reassured that the world is bigger than just the cubbyhole where I work.

Masonry makes you proud. The driving force of this and of every Masonic Body is to do good. We help our members, we help our community, and we help ourselves. Every time we consider involving ourselves in something, the first and often only issue on the table is how will doing this benefit the Fraternity, the members, or the community. I've never even once heard Brothers ask what was in it for them. They already seem to know. I've never found any other group that comes even close to such a glorious purpose. When I find myself talking about what my Masonic Bodies are up to, it is always with pride.

I wish I could give a simple answer to the question, "What's in it for me?" An answer that would fit on a T-shirt or a bumper sticker would be really helpful. It has taken me 700 words to even begin to answer "What's in it for me?" Clearly there is a lot more to Masonry than what I have mentioned above as my personal benefits. But the only way you will find out your own answer is to participate in your Lodge or Temple. Only then will you truly find out what Freemasonry has in it for you.

*Illustrations titled "The Lodge Room over Simpkins' Store" (interior and exterior views) were original prints of a limited edition signed and numbered by the artist. The original art was commissioned by the Supreme Council to celebrate the 1991 Biennial Session. All prints of "The Lodge Room over Simpkins' Store" have been distributed and are no longer available.
  Neil Beaty
is the current Worshipful Master of Denver Lodge No. 5, Denver Colorado. He is a member of the Scottish Rite, York Rite, and the El Jebel Shrine in Denver. Doric Lodge No. 25 meets in Fairplay, Colorado, the site of Simpkins' Store.