Meandering Around the Grange Way of Life
by Walter Boomsma
When we celebrate the degrees, there’s a natural tendency for us to get tired if they’re all done on the same day Of course, it wouldn’t make sense but I’ve occasionally wondered if once in a while we should do them in reverse! Whenever I decide to review them, I sometimes do just that—I start with the Fourth!
So let’s do that because there’s one particular section of the Fourth Degree that offers some amazing wisdom and ties some things together. It starts with the candidates receiving this advice from Ceres.
Brothers and Sisters, my tribute is the seed corn. Have FAITH. Faith in the spring of the year and the springtime of life. Even as little children have faith in their parents, so should we have faith in the great provider. We prepare our fields and plant the seed having faith in its resurrection.
And then Pomona admits she probably doesn’t need to say this.
I need not prompt you to nurture HOPE. Hope is the heavenly light that gilds our labors. Were we deprived of that source of consolation, life would indeed be dreary. When you see the blossoms open in the early summer hope is there for the luscious fruit. The labors of the husbandman and matron encourage hope at every turn. Let the fruit blossoms be to you an emblem of hope.
Then Flora teaches.
Let flowers be to you an emblem of CHARITY. In kind words and deeds dispense charity, as freely as Flowers do their perfume, and as generously as they cover all God’s footstool. Beautify and adorn your homes with Flowers. The home that is thus made fragrant and cheerful is prepared to be the abode of sweeter affections and more radiant virtues.
You may find yourself humming the tune “Faith, Hope, and Charity… that’s the way to live successfully…” But we’re not quite finished. The master is going to add a capstone.
Let the agate it be to you an emblem of FIDELITY. May your principles of manhood and womanhood be as firmly impressed as the lasting colors in the stone , and may our friendship be as firm as the stone itself.
There’s of course more but the Master quickly teaches the salutation of the Fourth Degree.
“A good Patron places faith in good, nurtures hope, dispenses charity and is note for fidelity.”
Do you see the pattern here? One of the often unnoted beauties of Grange Ritual is the way so many things tie together. So let me suggest an idea for you. I plan to ask the Master to allow me to do this as part of our next meeting or you can do it right now all by yourself. Start by standing up. Begin the salutation, “A good patron has faith in God…” Now stop, read and consider Ceres’ advice. Force yourself to pause and think about Hope. Do the same with Hope, Charity, and Fidelity.
And allow yourself a smile of satisfaction when you realize the power and beauty of the Grange teachings and Grange Way of Life.
Any degree or ritual quotations are from the forty-sixth edition of the 2013 Subordinate Grange Manual or the most recent edition of the Pomona Grange Manual. The views and opinions expressed in “Exploring Traditions” are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official doctrine and policy of the Grange. Information about the book “Exploring Traditions—Celebrating the Grange Way of Life” can be found at http://abbotvillagepress.com, on Amazon, or by contacting the author.