Many years ago a friend of ours, Glenda Phillips, a lady house painter, had a bumper sticker on her paint wagon which read, "Lead, Follow, or Get the Hell Out of the Way."

Glenda is a type "A" with a very strong, opinionated, and aggressive personality. When she is painting in a room, no one steps in. If you stand still for a moment, she will paint right over you. The bumper sticker fit her to a "T."

One night recently, my wife Debbie and I were traveling home from a Lodge in Southeastern Oklahoma. I was thinking of Glenda and her bumper sticker. I was also thinking of our struggle to revive and sustain Masonry in Oklahoma—especially the struggle to get some Brethren to accept the fact that we, as a Fraternity, must change our way of thinking. We must concentrate on a revolutionary concept in Masonry—meeting the needs of our members today. Change in Masonry is a strange thing. On one side are the traditionalist ritualists, those Brethren who insist Masonry has never changed and never should. One even told me that the old “exposures” someone had shown him were some kind of plot, because if they were true, it would mean that the ritual used in 1730 was not identical to the ritual used now—and that was impossible!

On the other side are the ultra-liberal Masons who complain about the lack of change in the Fraternity.
Neither side can understand the other—nor wishes to.

I'm using that word "ritualist" to refer to a mind-set, not an ability. I don't mean the thoughtful Mason who has learned the ritual's words, studied their meanings, and does his best to make Masonry a rich and rewarding experience for everyone. I mean the person who memorizes the ritual, defends every comma, and insists that the meanings of the words aren't important as long as you get the words right. This type of Brother feels anyone can get all the Masonic education he needs from the ritual. He thinks if a Brother is good at memorizing, he is a good Mason and, obviously, intelligent. The "ritualist" believes a good Mason comes to Lodge to watch the ritual opening, pay the Lodge bills, and adjourn. There is, he will tell you, no need to go into the community to do civic or charitable work. A "real" Mason can satisfy any important needs he may have right there in the Lodge room.

The ultra-liberal Mason thinks the "ritualists," in this sense, are killing us. He believes they are 100 years out of date. Liberals want nothing to do with ritual or this type of ritualist. They complain to the Grand Lodge that the traditionalists of this type block every Lodge effort at real civic involvement or charity—that they have no Masonry in their hearts. Ultra-liberals often see the opening and closing rituals, and even the Degrees, as just hoops to be jumped through, with no purpose or meaning.

I've given extreme examples in both cases, although they are real-life examples. But the division is real. Grand Lodge officers and local Lodge officers must be aware of that division and try to find a middle ground—knowing that both sides will probably view that middle ground as treason. If the Grand Lodge develops a program to help the local Lodge with its ritual, the cries go up immediately: "It won't work!" "It's a waste of time!" "It'll just help the ritualists, and they're already strangling us to death!"
If the Grand Lodge comes up with a program to get our Brothers out of the Lodge and into their community, a different chorus of equally strident voices arises: "It won't work!" "It's a waste of time!" "We tried that 20 years ago—didn't do any good then, and it won't do any good now!" "What's that got to do with Masonry?" "We've no business going outside our own walls!"

Masonry teaches toleration, but many Masons seem to think that applies only to religion. Masons who would not dream of attacking a Brother's faith will show him no mercy on questions like these. Yet toleration should apply to the whole person in all his complexity, not just to his relationship to the Deity. It seems obvious that we must learn to tolerate each other before we can presume to teach the world outside about toleration.

We must understand that toleration involves realizing, understanding, and acknowledging that each person is different, with different needs, different views of the world, different ways of saying what he thinks, and different ways of expressing Masonry. Everyone has a right to his opinion, and everyone's opinion is right in his own mind.

It all boils down to this: if your local Lodge or Grand Lodge has an idea or program, and it doesn't seem to fit your idea of Masonry, don't fly off the handle and try to kill it. Sit back and observe or jump in and help. If you have an idea to help advance the cause and growth of Masonry—LEAD. If you find an idea by another which you can see will lead to the good of Masonry—FOLLOW. But if you are opposed to everything on general principles, if you are more willing to protect your tiny world than to help Masonry thrive, prosper, and take its great lessons to the world at large—well, your views will be tolerated and even welcomed. But if you intend to be an obstacle and an obstruction—GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY!

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