I meant much more simply that the Past Masters who control the lodge are fathers and husbands of the the Mother Lodge, and the younger masons ultimately have to learn to husband the lodge properly, as the Celestial Lodge above will eventually call the older Past Masters to labor there. You are absolutely right that younger masons must consider their future leadership, husbandry, stewardship and control of the lodge almost immediately upon becoming Master Masons. That doesn’t mean they should wrest that control, but merely that they should consider that they will be in control eventually, and prepare well for their future duties. A mason about to enter the Officer’s Line should regard the Inside Sentinel and Junior Steward as their Senior Warden and Worshipful Master in the future when they first sit in the South. The third-year officer should regard the two officers immediately below him in station as his future Wardens when he sits in the East. Not all lines are progressive, nor should be, but you get my point.

One of the reasons that a progressive line is slow is to get the lodge accustomed to new leadership. But these days, with work and family interrupting, and brothers moving, and other ways membership gets depleted, a young mason can find himself a Warden before he knows it, and sitting in the East all too soon. He has to be mindful upon being raised that he is being considered as a future officer, and upon joining the line that he is being considered as a future WM. If others are already considering him that way, he should consider himself and other younger masons that way, and be ready and capable when the time comes.

If the latter is the Oedipal theme you refer to – then I hardly see how that might be a bad thing. If the former, however, I think the allusion rings hollow; no one advocates the overthrow of the old order here, nor of assuming what rightfully is the place of another – I simply urge that younger members take the second of the three steps in Masonry. In my view, this step is often blocked by the Old Guard (who stand on the third step). Although we – the Craft — are tradition bound (and often proudly so), too often we are shackled to outmoded customs that serve no useful purpose, and in fact, serve to prevent all change, all of the time. I do not advocate a palace rebellion, but I do urge that younger members start getting involved now, before it’s too late. Too often an isolated voice or two for change in the lodge is rolled over by more vocal members senior in rank. By coalescing, younger members can withstand the insistence that all change is to be avoided, and through the normal Masonic process (not by killing Papa and marrying Mama) effect change. This is not neurotic, in my opinion; rather, it is common sense.

That said, I nod my head in agreement at the rest of your post, with only a quibble that the caliber of each lodge’s assortment of past masters is a huge variable, and in those halls where there influence is largely negative (or at the very least, stymieing), the younger members must move ahead with their agendas by placing it before the lodge for its consent.

All of the points you make about making changes are valid, necessary, vital for the fraternity. But we need to do it with Brotherly Love for our older Past Masters. We need to be so good at our tasks as Masons that the older brethren are reassured and delighted to leave trusteeship of the fraternity in our hands. We need to win them over, to have them love us and trust us with the Craft that they have faithfully served for their entire Manhood. We cannot do that by making them the enemy. The line of officers ends with power and then powerlessness, and that’s to teach a moral lesson. Depending on the lodge, the Past Masters can be an arbitrary, exacting, retrogressive power bloc or they can be the greatest cheerleaders of younger Masons. They can ruin or resurrect a lodge. The natural progression of things is to have a new young Line emerge that is so capable and so diplomatic that the older Past Masters are thrilled to have them continue the lodge. Only Brotherly Love can achieve that aim. I’m not suggesting obsequiousness, and I’m not suggesting that we can’t implement the changes we need to make to continue the vitality of the Fraternity. I’m saying that the older Past Masters, no matter how crotchety, are our Brothers, and we are obliged to extend the hand of Brotherly Love to them (even when that looks to some like Tough Love).