Yesterday was Steve Martin’s 75th birthday. Happy belated birthday Steve!
His comedy routine with the arrow through his head has always been one of my favorites. It’s spontaneous, wacky, and makes you wonder what’s coming next.
The anticipation of what’s coming is what made Steve the accomplished comedian he is.
Steve once said this:
“Be so remarkable they can’t ignore you.”
This statement leads me to some thoughts about improving your lodge.
I have always thought that you can improve engagement by the lodge members by focusing on doing the best you can in every instance. Planning well and then executing in an excellent manner whether 10 or 100 are there. If you do this consistently, you can become remarkable.
You also become remarkable by creatively thinking as you plan. Don’t use the “cookie cutter” method. Don’t stamp out the same old routine that has been used over and again. You don’t become remarkable by serving the same meal every time, using the same format for your awards night, or not even thinking about what would make a lodge event remarkable.
You become a remarkable lodge by delivering the message of the ritual in a manner that conveys meaning. Monotone delivery of the degrees is not remarkable – it is just a string of sometimes strange sounding works and phrases. Ritual is theatre, make it remarkable theatre.
Your lodge can’t be ignored if it attempts to be the best it can be in every instance. This means the officers and brethren adopt an attitude that demands a remarkable standard.
A statement that reflects a remarkable standard says this:
“we will strive to provide a lodge experience that delivers with excellence the message of Masonry for the purpose of improving ourselves so that we may live and act daily in a manner that is worthy of respect.”
Given the divisiveness we experience every day, being remarkable is as simple as showing love, providing relief and speaking the truth.
You have a great start in being a remarkable lodge – your lodge is a part of a remarkable organization with remarkable values.
Don’t be ignored – be remarkable – live the values.
Today I am the best I can be, tomorrow i will be better. I will defeat my way of thinking today by breaking myself beyond the limitations of my mind, and seek out knowledge beyond my common way of thought. “Dr. Oliver Plummer”.