Hep! Hep!

THANK you for tiling," smiled the Old Tiler, as he resumed his sword
after a trip for ice water. "What are they doing in there now?''
"Fighting like a lot of snarling puppies!" responded the ew !rother
disgustedly. ''"y idea of "asonry is not a red#hot discussion e$ery meeting,
as to whether or not %im %ones is or isn't, or we ought or ought not, to spend
ele$en dollars for something or other."
"&o on, tell me what your idea of "asonry is!" The Old Tiler's $oice was
sardonic.
The ew !rother had crossed swords with the Old Tiler 'efore. ''ot much
( won't, and ha$e you 'low my ideas full of air holes!" he retorted. "!ut you
tell me why some lodges pull so well together, ha$e such harmonious
conception of their goal, and others, like ours, are always fighting. "
'')id you e$er see ( do#fight, with only one dog?" asked the Old Tiler. '')id
you e$er see a 'oiler e*plode without too much steam and not enough water
in it? )id you e$er see a team of horses take a hea$y load uphill all pulling
different ways?
"+ lodge can't fight unless it has something to ,uarrel a'out. We are ha$ing
a series of floor fusses 'ecause we ha$e a'out three or ele$en alleged
'rothers who don't know anything a'out military drill! (f they had heard an
old drill sergeant say, -hep, hep, hep,. a few thousand times, they'd get 'hep'
to themsel$es. +t first they'd 'e like the soldier son of the proud old (rish
mother watching her 'oy parade and saying, -+h, do ye/ moind, they is all
out o. step 'ut him!. +fter a while they'd learn that they couldn't keep in
step 'y going as they pleased ## they'd learn to watch the fellow to the right
and the chap to the left.
"(n a lodge there are 'rothers who won't stay in step, not 'ecause they can't,
'ut 'ecause they are too 'usy watching their feet to see the other fellow's
shoes. Take !iggs'y, now0 !iggs'y is the 'ig fellow with the o$ergrown
grip on a nickel, who is fore$er and always 'locking 'usiness 'y insisting on
a detailed e*planation of e$ery appropriation. 1e isn't in step. Our lodge is
rich enough to spend some money without worrying. !iggs'y thinks that if
we don't pinch ten cent pieces until they coppers, we are going to the
"asonic 1ome!
"(sn't it right to ha$e someone watch the appropriations?" interrupted the
ew !rother.
"Watch 'em 'y all means," answered the Old Tiler, "and kick if anyone tries
to slip something o$er. !ut watching is one thing and o'2ecting to the
wishes of the ma2ority 'ecause of pri$ate 'eliefs regarding the sacredness of
two#'it pieces is another. o one cares if !iggs'y wears out a dollar's worth
of shoes sa$ing a ten#cent car ride. They are !iggs'y's shoes and that's
!iggs'y's 'usiness. !ut in lodge he should get in step and not o'2ect to
lodge e*penditures on personal grounds.
"There should 'e no politics in "asonry, 'ut there ne$er was a lodge that
didn't ha$e politics in its elections. (f %im %ones lo''ies trying to get !o'
3mith elected, and Frank 4o'inson spends time and effort to get !ill !rown
elected, no special harm is done, unless they keep up their fight after it is
won and lost. '3ome people ne$er know when they are licked' is not always
a compliment. (n a lodge with real spirit, !ill forgets after he loses his fight
and works for the successful candidate. (n a lodge where !ill isn't 'hep' to
his "asonry or himself, he carries a grouch, tries to make the successful
chap unhappy, gets in the way of the machinery and generally stirs up
trou'le.
"5ou are 2ust 'eginning in "asonry. 5ou ha$e 2oined a good lodge. What.s
happening in there is 2ust a phase. Those fellows will learn, in time, that
when ten or forty or four hundred men form a real "asonic lodge, as a 'ody
they are something 'igger and 'etter than ten or forty or four hundred times
the 'igness and goodness of the indi$iduals. + true lodge spirit pro$ides a
lot of gi$e and not much take. When e$ery mem'er is -hep. to the other
fellows. ideas 6 when e$ery mem'er makes a distinction 'etween conduct
for himself and what his organi/ation should do 6 when each of us thinks of
his fellow#mem'er as his 'rother in heart as well as in organi/ation, then
your lodge de$elops real lodge spirit and stops foolish fighting."
"( see," answered the ew !rother. "+ lodge, like a piece of machinery,
s,ueaks if it isn.t well oiled. (f any part of it is out of order, the whole
suffers. +nd 'ecause "asons are human 'eings, we are not perfect and so
no lodge is e$er perfect. !ut we can make our lodges 'etter 'y sinking
indi$idual desires for the good of the organi/ation."
"Well, well!" said the Old Tiler. "+lmost do you persuade me you ha$e the
makings of a real good . . . "
!ut then there were three raps, and the ew !rother is still wondering what
the Old Tiler meant to say "fellow" or ""ason" or "officer!"