Because of declining membership, doom-sayers are ready to bury the Craft. In fact, the future of Freemasonry does not lie with those who are at present old enough to petition for membership. Rather, our future lies with the youth of our nation. If those writers of gloom and doom could leave their marble sanctuaries and come down in the quarries of the workmen who are grooming the young men of today to be the Freemasons of tomorrow, they would see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Recently, Ill. Norris E. Cartwright, Sr., 33°, Valley of Baltimore, Maryland, spoke to the Scottish Rite Brethren of the Valley of Wilmington, Delaware. He reported that seven men who were in the Salisbury DeMolay Chapter when he was Chapter Dad have gone on to become Masters of their respective Blue Lodges. An eighth is in his Lodge's Officer Line. DeMolay is our future. We must redouble our efforts to support this Masonic youth group. Working with the young men of DeMolay helps anyone develop a positive attitude about the future of Freemasonry.

If your Lodge does not sponsor a DeMolay Chapter, help get one started. Lodges who sponsor DeMolay Chapters grow. Not only do the young DeMolay men grow up to become Freemasons but they also attract new members. This has happened in my own Blue Lodge, and we have been sponsoring a Chapter for only one year.

A Chapter of DeMolay will never cease to function for a lack of young men; it will cease to function only for a lack of adult advisors. If you want to see Freemasonry grow in the 21st Century, become active in DeMolay. The time it takes to write an alarmist story about the future of Freemasonry could better be used working with the young men of today who will become the Masons of tomorrow.

Stop the negativism and despondency about our future. Replace it with the positive attitude found in DeMolay Chapters.

David F. Coady is a Past Master of Temple Lodge No. 9, Milford, Delaware, and its current Secretary. He is a member of the Wilmington, Del., Scottish Rite Bodies, N.M.J., and Chairman of the Advisory Council, General Torbert Chapter, Order of DeMolay, in Milford. He is also a member of Nur Temple Shrine, Wilmington; Associate Patron of Kent Chapter, No. 11, O.E.S., Milford; Past Grand Tall Cedar, Evergreen Forest No. 49, Tall Cedars of Lebanon, Milford, and Past High Priest, Kent Chapter No. 8, Royal Arch Masons, Dover, Delaware.