Tag: Grange Heritage

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.

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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.

When you don’t know what to say…

By Walter Boomsma, Guest Columnist

“By command of the Worthy Master, I proclaim this Grange opened in ample form for promoting the welfare of our country and of mankind, and for advancing interests, elevating the characters and increasing the influence of all Patrons of Husbandry, by transacting our business and by exemplifying our principles in Faith, in Hope, in Charity, and with Fidelity.”

(The Overseer’s Proclamation while opening a meeting.)

A few years ago, Grangers heard a lot about having an “elevator speech.” The idea behind it seemed to be that you should be prepared to give a short speech establishing the value of the Grange to your fellow passengers. I was never a big fan. For one thing, I’m not sure we will attract members by making speeches. For another, it seems to imply that our best opportunity to recruit was found among people who were trapped and forced to listen.

But I do accept the reality that it can be hard to know what to say when someone expresses interest in or asks a question about the Grange. I suspect our forebears recognized the importance of even members being reminded of some fundamental truths about how and why we have meetings. They, therefore, decided the Overseer would remind us at the beginning of each and every meeting.

If you’ve been a Granger for any length of time, chances are you’ve heard the proclamation often enough to recognize it and be at least somewhat familiar with it. You might even be surprised to find that you could come close to reciting it from memory.

You may not have considered that it includes a fairly succinct description of why and how we operate. The Grange promotes the welfare of our country and of mankind. (Anyone who thinks the Grange has lost its purpose and relevancy might reflect on just that part.) The second part sounds a bit self-serving, but we need to remember that this is part of the opening of a meeting—there will likely be mostly members in attendance.) We are about elevating the characters and increasing the influence of our members.

I suppose we could have some fun with that, thanks to the peculiarities of our language. We sometimes say that “so and so is quite a character!” Does that mean people should join the Grange so they can become a character?” In the truest sense of the word, the answer is yes! Character refers to a good reputation, as our adversities can build our character. “Increasing the influence” of our members originally alluded to the Grange’s representation of agriculture and farming. But in a more general sense, people who want to improve the welfare of our country and mankind should have more influence.

When we set out to do these things both in our meetings and in our lives, we are guided by and exemplify the principles of faith, hope, charity (love), and fidelity (truth and loyalty). That sounds like a pretty good organization to me.

It’s more important to understand it than to recite it. There are really three points:

1. The Grange is about promoting the welfare of our country and mankind. As an organization, we start at the community level.
2. Being a member also means building our character in such a way that we are, by example, improving our country and mankind.
3. Everything we do, we try to do it faith, hope, love, and truth.

Is that something you’d like to be part of? If you are a member, is that something you ARE part of? Are you a patron (member) that others enjoy being with? People do not join organizations based on good speeches. They join organizations based on shared values. The biggest benefit an organization can offer is an opportunity to achieve, a shared sense of purpose, and a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction. Let’s offer that to prospective members.

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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.