𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐎𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠.

Nothing gives me more pleasure than the repurposing of old buildings. Something occurred to me the other day after the purchase of the Masonic Temple in Michigan City, which came a few years after I brokered the sale of the Moose Lodge. Three buildings each over 20,000 square feet—would fall to low membership and come up for sale. These three buildings are all within 4–5 blocks of one another. The Elks, the Moose Lodge, and the Masonic Temple are all in various states of repurposing. This rebirth is an amazing thing. The downside is that it also means the death of something.

Now, you know I talk to senior citizens. The expression on their faces when they talk about the heyday of these organizations—it’s easy to understand why they get choked up. The building of, and the impact on, the community was profound. Weekly meetings, dances, and dinners with entertainment were the center of communal life with neighbors and friends. The essence of all these groups was the betterment of the commonwealth. What held them together through membership made them—and the communities they lived in and served—better. That part of our culture is almost completely decimated.

I don’t know, as suggested by the data below, that the advent of the personal computer and cell phone perfectly coincides with the decline of the fraternal order of everything.

Maybe there were other market forces that led to the decline in membership in these groups, as well as the decline in church attendance. I am not a religious man and take issue with a lot of what organized religion is. That said, I know that for the Jewish people and many of the black people in the South, their faith and community were critical to their survival. 

One has to ask: What has filled this void of community and faith-building organizations in the U.S.? In some cases, it has led, in my opinion, to loneliness and alienation from one another. Maybe it has also contributed to the level of discourse in our daily lives. Why is everyone afraid of everything, and so quick to anger and violence? If you happen to bump into someone by accident on the street, it’s somehow an act of war. If you happen to cut someone off while driving, it could quickly escalate into a scene from Mad Max.

I believe it’s not enough for you and me to just be good people. If we are just silos of goodness without ever reaching out to one another and creating the kind of community we want to live in, then the decay is also on us. How do we reverse this course of isolation and dependence on social media and our screens? I do not know. What I do know is that the balance of my life will be spent talking to strangers and stitching together the fabric of a real life—one spent with the community of people around me.

Comments from Readers on my last piece.

Sounds eerily similar to my life... The other day i asked my daughter "Where does Joy come from"? She didn't know and so she replied "where"? I told her Joy comes from suffering.

Thanks for the read.

BB.