Don’s Diary
(Hubris)
Where
we see lodges fail, too seldom is the Master of the lodge, and the system that
puts him in the Chair, called to account.
It fails to do so at all levels and in all dimensions in
Freemasonry. We see these failures in
terms of falling membership, particularly quality members, poor attendance, and
failure to afford little or any meaningful benevolence and charity. Not infrequently when so called experienced
Masters are in the chair again, the problem is their hubris. “Hubris, arrogance, is just one step ahead of
loss of integrity, because if you think you're better than other people, you
know more, then you're going to think, as many leaders have, that the rules
don't apply to them - so they lose their integrity.” (Charles Koch, US Businessman b.1935.) Integrity is of principal importance to
Freemasons, particularly in our leaders.
The
gullible and thoughtless will readily accept the usual reasons given for
lodges’ failures – an aging membership, competition from similar organisations,
time demands in particular on younger members, and so on. Some will lack sufficient real-world
management experience to appreciate that the problem is likely to start at the
top. There is the proverb that “The
fish rots from the head”.
It
seems that the problem seldom occurs when we have new Masters in the Chair and
when the Master elect has been subject to the open selection procedures of
fulfilling progressive offices before Installation. Hubris also seldom seems to be an indulgence
of those who, in addition to their Masonic roles, have a high community
standing or professional status. These
people do not need to pretend to be something that they are not. They do not need to regard Freemasonry as an
opportunity for a “career” and to give them a perceived status that they could
never, or would otherwise attain. They
do not need to pretend that they are superior to everyone else to the distain
of all those all those who can see through them. They seem to forget that merit should be the
title to our privileges.
The
potential to appoint someone likely to display the destructive hubris, is
likely to occur when the advancement system is closed. This can occur when a number of Freemasons
belong to the same lodges allowing an incestuous appointment relationship to
develop. It is seen when, for ambitious
personal reasons, a Freemason is advanced with the expectation that this favour
will be similarly returned when the opportunity occurs. The end result is that the lodges are likely
to end up with a lot of second rate but experienced duds at the top. Hubris thrives.
Structures
for the formalisation of closed, or relatively closed advancement systems have
long existed. Thirty years ago the
so-called “Northcote Mafia” was said to excersise control of appointments in The Other Orders and on the death of its
principals, it was said to have been replaced by other “King makers” with a
dubious outcome. I have been told in the
Craft that one lodge, or perhaps two, that see themselves as able to secure for
their favourites, key appointments which are stepping stones for the most
senior levels of leadership. Such
preferential advancement with no measure of merit assured, is likely to create
the ingredients for hubris and not detect and eliminate its occurrence. To reduce the potential for hubris, avoid
having so-called experienced Masters in office and keep the advancement system
open. Reject approaches from “King
makers”. If you get one with hubris call
him to account for falling numbers and charitable inactivity. Life is too short for these opinionated
rent-seekers. Join Lodge Devotion if you
are unhappy.
Yours fraternally,
Don