I joined the fraternity a few years ago and realized that I wanted to learn the ritual and be good at it. However, life happened and I stepped away for a while. I don’t want to take anything away from my Intender, Worshipful Brother Frank Della, or Right Worshipful Brother Reuben Owens who were and are instrumental in my learning ritual. But Right Worshipful Brother Wayne Spooner showed me what it means to be an upright Mason. I was at a degree and saw how the Ritual Instructors moved with precision, but weren’t arrogant about it; instead, they were proud. I remember reaching out to Brother Spooner and asking what it means to be an instructor and how I become one.

I remember Brother Spooner saying that’s great, I’ll send you an Excel sheet that outlines the requirements on what a Certified Lodge Instructor must learn, fill it out, and we can start working. I thought this was going to be easy since I knew a lot of ritual at that time, but then I quickly realized I didn’t. We had long talks together about why things were and why they needed to be this way in our ritual work. It made me think about things from a literal and a spiritual point of view. He would always say that the interrogatories in the ritual spoke to everything about a Mason and why they are provided at that point in the candidate’s journey because it tells you what Masonry is all about.

We’ve had countless virtual Zoom sessions to discuss and perfect my understanding and execution of the ritual. Every time I think about and share a new idea or question, he never shoots it down, and says have you thought about trying it this way?

I believe a mentor isn’t someone who always has the answer, but helps you realize that you’ve had it all along inside. You just needed to dig deeper to find it. Right Worshipful Brother Wayne Spooner does that every time we talk or see each other, and for that I am grateful.

Brother Michael Lynch
Paul Revere Lodge No. 998