Perspectives on Freemasonry

The year our country was born, 1867 Canada had a population of 3.4million.  After WW1, as leaders arrived in Paris to redraft the borders of Europe and end war forever we were 8,300,000. At the end of WW11, the second largest country by land mass had grown to 12million citizens. And today  we are only 35.3million; 11% the size of US and slightly more than half the size of UK's 65million. Except for a growth bubble after WW11, interest in freemasonry has been fairly steady. Economists told us that  economic stability depended on a growing population- more people gainfully employed producing and spreading the tax base. Sociologists and political leaders have known for decades that immigration has been below the growth required.  But what has this to do with freemasonry?  Everything and nothing. The pool has become shallower. To replenish our numbers we did what any old firm might do and held fast relying on the appeal of our brand.  What we didn't calculate were the unassailable social and cultural changes that  made us compete in the marketplace of popular opinion. Many factors congealed and bumped us off our pedestal. And we have only ourselves to blame for our struggle to get ahead of the curve. One might think the drop off of membership  might reenergize us to challenge the trends, to objectively understand what has been happening and adjust accordingly. Even though we are chaffing, it is no easy matter for this old firm to modernize. The facts revealed the folly.   It isn't a matter of 'if' we modernize but when and how? We need to be cosmopolitan; we need to be colour blind; we need to be secular; we need to show intelligence and confidence. Confidence happens when we have the necessary courage to act.   Intelligence we reveal in the way we design and conduct ourselves. Has age made us that timid?