From the East
Anderson Campbell, Worshipful Master
As we move deeper into spring, I want to note that there is a subtle shift that takes place in Lodges about this time every year. The excitement of a new year has passed. The vision we articulated in January is no longer fresh. The seeds we planted in earlier months are no longer just ideas. They have either begun to take root, or they have not.
The month of May, in that sense, is something of a mirror. It is a moment that reflects back to us what we intended to do and what we have actually done.
At the beginning of the year, it is easy to feel motivated. There is energy in a fresh start. There is clarity in naming a vision. There is a sense of possibility in imagining what could be, but motivation is fleeting. How many of us make personal resolutions the first week of January only to see them dropped and long forgotten by May? That fresh start energy doesn’t last very long.
Momentum is something else entirely. It is built
over time. It is not created in a single meeting or a single decision, but through repeated action: through showing up, participating, following through, and doing the work, even on the days when we do not particularly feel like it.
If motivation is what gets us started, momentum is what carries us forward.
And this is where the mirror of this season becomes important.
Because by now, each of us has begun to build patterns. We have established rhythms for our year, including personal Masonic rhythms. We have, whether intentionally or not, decided how we will engage with this Lodge and with the
work before us.
So the question is not, “What did I hope this year would be?”
The question is, “What am I actually doing?”
Where have I found myself showing up consistently?
Where have I begun to step forward, take ownership, and contribute to the life of this Lodge?
And just as importantly, where have I drifted?
Where did I begin the year with good intentions, only to find that those intentions have not yet taken root in sustained action?
The good news is this: unlike that fresh start motivational energy, the opportunity to build momentum is not fixed. It can be created at any
point.
No matter what the first few months of the year have looked like, the opportunity before us now is the same as it was in January, that we can still choose our level of engagement, decide what we will contribute, and how take the next step forward.
For most of us, building momentum first looks
like showing up.
It looks like saying yes when there is work to be
done.
It looks like choosing one area—ritual, fellowship, fundraising, mentorship, or service—and investing yourself in it with consistency.
It looks like moving from observer to participant.
Our Lodge, as I have said before, is changing.
That change is driven by our collective, sustained effort. By our momentum.
As we approach the midpoint of the year, this is
our opportunity, yours and mine individually and collectively, to look honestly in the mirror, to see clearly what has taken root, and to decide what we will build from here.
So I leave you with this question:
What would it look like—for you—to build momentum in the months ahead?
April Stated Communication Highlights
- Our Lodge has signed another contract with TNT to sell fireworks this coming Independence Day season. Fortunately, this time the booth will be in the parking lot near the Buffalo Wild Wings on Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway. The expectation of this new location is much more traffic than last year, due to a better location, the fact that this will be the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and that Independence Day this year falls on a Saturday. We will likely need a minimum of 5-6 people to serve the patrons and keep supplies stocked.
- WB Will Erickson gave an educational lecture during the stated meeting on understanding the nature of divinity, titled Clouds In the N-Dimensional Divinity Field. This was a condensed version based on his paper, which elicited a lot of questions and conversation afterward.
Calendar
Access the full calendar online here!
✦ Every Monday — Monday Morning Coffee, 8-10 AM, Social Hall
✦ May 7th — May Stated Communication, dinner at 6 PM, meeting at 7 P