Meandering Around the Grange Way of Life
by Walter Boomsma, Guest Columnist
When you don’t know what to say…
By Walter Boomsma, Guest Columnist
“Give us patience and wisdom in our counsels as a body, that our work may be good and acceptable in Your sight, and that our labors may be blessed with a liberal harvest.”
(The Chaplain’s Prayer while opening a meeting..)
While preparing for our Grange’s Community Celebration, I found myself distracted more than once by the words used in the recommended “Open Meeting” format, also referred to as the “Subordinate/Community Grange Alternate Opening and Closing.” I found myself occasionally thinking of different words than the ones I was seeing. Given my interest in words, I wondered how precise we ought to be in the Ritual. Is there a noteworthy difference between “declaring” and “proclaiming?” We could have an interesting discussion about that. It is my understanding that the latest (2013) manual made some efforts at “updating” the language. Did they succeed?
I also found myself paying closer attention to the words of the Ritual. One of the downsides to any ritual is how easy it becomes to “perform” it somewhat automatically. That may be doubly true when we have memorized the words. I occasionally listen to a Granger speed through the language and am sorely tempted to interrupt. “What did you just say?”
For reasons I can’t fully explain, I paid closer attention to the Chaplain’s opening prayer than usual. In the included snippet, there are several interesting thoughts or questions.
“Give us patience…” I chuckled a bit because I found myself thinking we are sometimes too patient. Where’s the line between patience and apathy? Of course, that’s not exactly what the Chaplain is asking for and talking about. The key is found in the word “counsels,” which refers to advice. (Think of “legal counsel.”) So we need divine assistance with each other as we work together (“as a body”) as we develop advocacy. I suspect our forebears spent time in friendly, positive debate before formally writing resolutions—or considering whether or not to support them.
Notice also how often the word “labor” is used in both the opening and closing. The Master/President begins, “The hour of labor has arrived, and the work of another day demands our attention…”
Wait. Grange Meetings are work?! I think they’re supposed to be. Come back to the Chaplain’s Prayer. “… that our labors may be blessed with a liberal harvest.” So as we think about the words of the Ritual in general and specifically the Chaplain’s Prayer, there’s an important question to ask ourselves. “What’s this liberal harvest we’re supposed to gather?” We keep referring to the work and the harvest. What is it that we are trying to harvest?
“Give us patience and wisdom” as we consider the answer. We only need to open a copy of the “Declaration of Purposes,” the first general objective. “United by the strong and faithful tie of an agricultural fraternity, yet welcoming all of good moral character to membership, we mutually resolve to labor for the good of our Order, our country, and mankind.” And we get further guidance in the two specific objectives.
When filling the officer of Overseer, I am occasionally tempted to have a little fun. The Master asks, “Worthy Overseer, are the labors of the day complete?” I sometimes want to say, “Can we talk about that?” See, we didn’t gather together for fellowship and fun. We gathered together because “the work of another day” demanded our attention. Did we complete it? What can we expect to “harvest” as a result of this meeting?
Imagine walking to the garden along the same path and sitting there on a regular basis. Sing a song or two. Recite some poetry. If that’s all you do, what will you harvest in the fall? We are still an agricultural organization. We should know how this works.
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 Mr. Boomsma’s Amazon Author Page, or by contacting the author.