tubulcain420

A Radical Idea
Imagine, for a moment, a Grand Master armed with both the vision to dream an
unbounded future for Freemasonry and the courage to pursue the dream.
Looking around, he sees the glaring disconnect between the mindless repetition
of today’s rote “tradition” and the core purpose and core values that Freemasonry
used to represent. Seeking to recapture that which was lost, he creates a new
haven for experimentation—an at-large Grand Master’s district. The purpose for
this special district is to create a home for new lodges to creatively explore new
and innovative ways to practice the timeless core of Freemasonry in a manner
relevant to today. Freed (by special dispensation) from the weight of rules,
regulations, and district deputy grand masters, these lodges answer only to the
Grand Master himself, who in turn, wisely, benevolently, gives them the freedom
to create, be fruitful, bountiful, and multiply!
Alas, we all know that the above scenario is all but impossible in the oppressive
climate that governs grand lodges. So, if grand lodges will not suffer creativity,
will not suffer successful lodges to orbit their Grand Hairball, then perhaps the
time has come for those lodges that dare to accelerate to escape velocity and,
following the challenge of Dr. Harari, start with a new dream, a bold vision with
audacious goals.13
The challenge, according to MacKenzie, is to orbit the Giant Hairball, which
means to actively engage in the opportunities that an organization presents
without being sucked into the Hairball of the organization.14
Orbiting is responsible creativity: vigorously exploring
and operating beyond the Hairball of the corporate
mind set, beyond “accepted models, patterns, or
standards”—all the while remaining connected to the
spirit of the corporate mission.
To find Orbit around a corporate Hairball is to find a
place of balance where you benefit from the physical,
intellectual and philosophical resources of the
organization without becoming entombed in the
bureaucracy of the institution.15
The challenge to the Hairball is to allow people to achieve orbit. But the more
massive the Hairball grows, the greater gravitational pull it exerts, sucking
everything into the “nothingness of corporate normalcy made stagnant by a
compulsion to cling to past successes.”16 In such cases, orbiting may not be
possible (nor tolerated by the Hairball), leaving one with the stark choice of
remaining to be suffocated by the soul-crushing rule of what worked in the past
or flying out into deep space, liberated, but alone.
A very recent occurrence provides an example of what can happen to lodges that
dare try to orbit the Grand Hairball. A few years ago, a group of young men
dedicated themselves to reinvigorating their local lodge in Cleveland, Ohio. The
newly renamed Halcyon Lodge, #498 F & AM, beholden to the Grand Lodge of
Ohio, has a rich history going back to 1877. They occupied a magnificent temple,
which sadly, in a refrain all too familiar to most masons, was deteriorating due to
lack of attention and money. The building was home to a number of nonproductive
masonic tenants and little else.
The young men of Halcyon Lodge decided that it was time to take aggressive
action. First, they raised their outdated and grossly insufficient annual lodge dues
to $150. This caused a mass defection of “veteran” masons who apparently did
not think that their masonic experience was worth 42 cents a day. Had any who
were truly in distress asked for remission, it certainly would have been granted.
None did.
Next, the men of Halcyon Lodge took on their non-productive masonic cotenants.
They asked them to pay their arrearages and begin contributing to the
restoration of the Temple building. Their masonic brethren answered this call by
abandoning the temple to find cheap space in some other crumbling masonic
edifice. Ultimately, the men of Halcyon were left in sole possession of a tenantless
building that needed work. So they rolled up their sleeves and set to work!
They restored the grandeur of their lodge room, the elegance of their dining hall,
and added amenities like wireless Internet, HDTV, and workout equipment. But
they did not stop there. Seeing the opportunity in their underutilized asset, they
endeavored to build out rooms to serve the non-masonic community as well.
After meeting with their local youth boxing association (a 501(c)(3) charity), they
built a boxing ring! Their aim was to reimagine their heretofore mostly empty
temple into a vibrant community center that could once again teem with life.
Then, this lodge full of enthusiastic young men did the unthinkable: they gave
their shining temple away! One of the largest budget items for any lodge that
owns a temple building is real estate taxes. In Ohio, fraternal groups are not
exempt from real estate taxes; but charities are. So, in an inspired maneuver, the
young men of Halcyon Lodge formed a charity for the community and gave their
building and a substantial sum of money to this new charity that was created to
serve not just masons, but the community at-large. Now they could not only
claim an exemption from the heavy burden of real estate taxes, but they could
grant deductions from Federal income taxes for donations made to the entity.
And as their mission had expanded to serving the community as a whole, they
could now solicit support from that community.
Along the way these young men also embraced the Traditional Observance Lodge
movement, adopting TO practices like use of a Chamber of Reflection and an
intensive candidate education program. They created an impressive web site that
quickly became recognized as being one of the best lodge-hosted web sites on the
Internet.
So, these enthusiastic, dedicated young men: revived their lodge, attracting new
young candidates to Freemasonry that had previously not found anything there
to interest them; restored their magnificent temple building; invited the
community into their newly restored building, turning a once mysterious
building into a hub of community activity (and exposing many people to
Freemasonry for the first time in the process); and solved the intractable real
estate tax problem by transferring their building to a 501(c)(3) charity. Any one
of these feats would be impressive, but the young men of Halcyon Lodge did them
all in less than three years!
And what was the Grand Lodge of Ohio’s response to their inspired success? Was
their success acknowledged? Were they asked to share their model as a template
for other lodges to follow? Were they even given an “atta-boy” from any grand
lodge officer? No. They were investigated, intimidated, castigated, probated, and
threatened. Why? Power and control, as always. In Ohio, the grand lodge tightly
regulates temple companies that own masonic buildings. In the eyes of the grand
lodge officers, the real estate transaction must have seemed like a plot to free
Halcyon Lodge from the power and control of the grand lodge, and that they
could not suffer.
Apparently, they did not care that the Halcyon Model made good sense or even
that it was wildly successful; all that mattered was their power and control.
Ultimately, on November 12, 2007, the brothers of Halcyon Lodge returned their
charter to the Grand Lodge of Ohio following a visit by a delegation of grand
lodge officers sent to threaten them into submission.17 Apparently, the Grand
Lodge of Ohio will suffer no orbiting satellites, no matter how successful they
may be.
Perhaps in the end, the need for grand lodges is more illusion than reality. Like
the Wizard of Oz, grand lodges attempt to project an image of being great and
powerful, but if you follow Toto and look behind the curtain, all too often you find
petty men, frantically turning knobs and pulling levers in a vain attempt to
appear more important than they really are. In order to encourage and organize
the creation of new lodges, eliminate the artificial divisions of state boundaries,
and liberate lodges from the whims of petty men vested with a little brief
authority, perhaps it’s about time we begin exploring a new organizational
structure for the 21st Century that is independent of the antiquated grand lodge
system. Exploring this new organizational structure is the topic in the next and
concluding section, Freemasonry 3.0.

__________________
Know you not yet, weak and superb man,
That the humble insect hidden beneath a leaf
And the imperious eagle who flies to heaven's dome,
Amount to nothing in the eyes of the Eternal.
All men are equal: not birth but virtue
Distinguishes them apart."

tubulcain420

take your own advice georgey boy

__________________
Know you not yet, weak and superb man,
That the humble insect hidden beneath a leaf
And the imperious eagle who flies to heaven's dome,
Amount to nothing in the eyes of the Eternal.
All men are equal: not birth but virtue
Distinguishes them apart."

shadrack420

Hey WJesus,
Jump down off your stupid cross, We need the extra space to nail the next fool myrtar.

Your comments thus far on this and other threads regarding this topic have been way out of hand.

This is America not the Vatican.

I wish I could play God!

Fraternally
Thomas J.

tubulcain420

it was not an expenditure, it was a gift.
GL codes do not cover donations amounts
look it up georgy boy

__________________
Know you not yet, weak and superb man,
That the humble insect hidden beneath a leaf
And the imperious eagle who flies to heaven's dome,
Amount to nothing in the eyes of the Eternal.
All men are equal: not birth but virtue
Distinguishes them apart."

NY Mason

We can debate this til' we're all blue in the face, but ultimately the courts will no doubt make the final decision if that is the route the Grand Lodge so chooses.

witnessofjesus

NY Mason is correct, the topic of discussion is a mute point, let's not part hairs over it any more.

I will say that the financial acheivements of the former Halycon 498 were impressive, and I'm surprised that Masonry as a whole doesn't consider itself to be a Charitible organization, we give a lot more to charity than most churches do, to the tune of about 2 million per day and we don't even claim this as being charitable?

I do not agree with their decision to leave the GL of Ohio, but maybe their model of innovation by turning their lodge into a charity could be put to use someday in the future and with Grand Lodge permission to help keep the system afloat and to help it avoid real estate taxes.

Fraternally,

Witness

witnessofjesus

Maybe then we could claim our annual dues as a tax write off? Hum? Interesting indeed. A great idea I say! If we can claim donations to our churches, why not be able to claim our dues as a tax write off a well?

Interesting indeed.

D. W. Brown

Oh My TC, I almost fell out of my chair reading that. That is one of the most insightful post I have ever seen, no I take that back that is the most insightful and inspiring. Even I had no idea the lengths Halcyon had gone through or how inspiring the story really is. I was lost a little in the beginning but man it really took off there once I started to understand the story.

WitnessofJesus – I'm not ashamed of who I am, I don't post under assumed names, and no you just cannot figure out how to change your avatar. There is a help section here.

__________________
Dale Brown, 3°
TBL Staff
__________________

Must Reads for Every Mason:

A Peculiar System of Morality | Laudable Pursuit | The Ancient Landmarks
The Truth About the Antients and the Moderns | It's About Time
__________________

Must Visit Links for Masons:

Grand Orient de France | Grand Orient of the United States of America
The Burning Taper | Halcyon Lodge | The Philalethes Society

George the 3rd

The original statement I commented on was:


The implication of my commenting thus was that the Grand Lodge has treated the Brothers in Good Standing with professionalism and respect. According to reports I have read on other forums, the Grand Lodge of Ohio not only notified them that Halcyon Lodge #498 has not surrendered its charter in the eyes of The Grand Lodge but arrangements have been made for those Brothers to meet in an alternate location until those assets that rightfully belong to Halcyon Lodge #498 are returned to their control.

Do you deny that what I have just posted is the truth?

George

P.S. My name is not "georgey boy"

George the 3rd

Quote:

Quote: Quote: Originally Posted by George the 3rd Well, an expenditure of that magnitude must be approved by Grand Lodge, and that is in the Code. It wasn't sent for approval and I doubt seriously it would have been approved anyway. Secondly, if the only reason the "charity" was formed was to abscond with the property and assets of Halcyon Lodge #498, there may have been illegal actions despite the "charity" having been issued its status according to Ohio process and procedures. Of course, I'm beginning to doubt if those who only wish to believe "Halcyon good, Grand Lodge bad" would be able to see the subtle difference. it was not an expenditure, it was a gift. GL codes do not cover donations amounts look it up georgy boy

I guess that is for the Courts to decide now, isn't it? I'm not a betting man, myself, but if I were, I think I know where I would put MY money!