Larry J. Crocker, 32°
9100 Diceman Drive, Dallas, Texas 75218-4126
lcrocker@juno.com

It is foolish and stagnating not to move forward in all aspects
of our lives, including Masonry.

Ill. Jim Tresner's excellent article "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall" in the February 2002 issue of the Scottish Rite Journal brought to mind that Masonry is just one of many institutions which suffer from the famous seven last words of the organization, "But we've always done it this way." I serve as the pastor of a church which has a large constituency of older members. Being past 50, I am told by my daughter that I am one of that constituency.

The question comes up from time to time, "Why are so many churches declining?" I asked my congregation recently how many people owned microwave ovens. Many hands went up. I asked how many had remote controls to their televisions. Again most hands went up. I asked how many had central air and heat in their homes. All hands went up. I asked how many had touchtone telephones. All hands went up. I asked how many had computers. Most hands went up. I then told them that I had gone out and looked over the parking lot just before worship and that I didn't see a '49 Ford or its equivalent anywhere on the premises. So why can't they learn a new hymn?

After the laughter died down, I explained that we are willing to learn new things every day of our lives and that it is not only foolish but also stagnating to refuse to move forward in our faith just as it is stagnating to resist change blindly in our everyday lives. It is the same in Masonry. I haven't seen a '49 Ford at any Lodge or Scottish Rite meeting I have attended in years. Nor have I seen a hand-crank telephone or a coal stove or a real ice box in any of our Masonic facilities. But I have seen that same stagnating reluctance to move ahead.

When I was a young seminary student pastor of a small country church, the members were always telling me about how grand the church was back in 1955. That was apparently the glory days of that congregation and the town itself. They kept saying that they wanted to grow, but what I finally realized, and helped them to realize, was that they really didn't want to grow. They wanted the same people in church every Sunday who were there in 1955. I told them, "Folks, I'm good, but I'm not THAT good. Only God can bring back those who are out in the cemetery."

It was after that realization finally sunk in, that we can't go back in time to our younger, hardier days, nor can we hold fast to the present while the rest of the world passes us by, that the little church began to grow. I read recently that they have purchased land for a new building.

Hopefully, we can come to that same realization in Masonry. We can't fill the Lodge Room with the Brothers who were there in 1955. Many of them have gone on to a Greater Lodge. And when we see them again, they may ask us, "Why didn't you keep it growing as we did for you? I hope you like it up here, because we do things a little differently. And please don't tell the Supreme Grand Master how to run things as they were in your year. He has some great ideas, and He wears the hat."

Younger Masons embrace the world around them as did our forefathers in Masonry. They respond to the needs of the present and plan for the future. And so should we. In the words of Bro. Will Rogers, 32°, "Things ain't what they used to be, and probably never was."

Larry J. Crocker is the pastor of Lakeview Christian Church in Dallas, Texas. He is a Past Master of Perfect Union Lodge No. 10, San Antonio, Texas; Edwin J. Kiest Lodge No. 1310, Dallas, Texas; the San Antonio Scottish Rite Bodies, and the San Antonio York Rite Bodies.