Burn Share After Reading

by PJ Roup, 33˚, Editor, Active for Pennsylvania

As editor of The Northern Light, I occasionally get requests for extra copies of the magazine–some from Brothers who want to share stories with friends and some from those who have inadvertently thrown their copy away. It made me wonder about the fate of the nearly 100,000 copies we distribute every issue.

I know some of our members are compulsive collectors. Many of you can boast complete sets of The Northern Light neatly boxed and cataloged by decade. Some save issues with special meaning–perhaps because it made mention of your home Valley. Still others read them and toss them into the recycling bin.

In the iconic 1960s television series Mission: Impossible, each episode would open with Peter Graves’ character, James Phelps, receiving a recorded message with detailed instructions for his next mission. The message would always end with the same warning: This message will self-destruct in 5 seconds. Similarly, the phrase burn after reading was meant as an admonition to the recipient of sensitive documents; they should commit their contents to memory, and then destroy the paper trail.

The idea for a story about what happens to our magazine once it gets to your homes was starting to take shape in my mind. I was unsure exactly where it would lead, when it would run, or how it would conclude, but I knew I wanted to talk about it.

Call it fate or call it coincidence, but on the very day I began taking notes for said story, I was contacted by a Brother requesting extra copies of the most recent issue. I told him I was happy to help and asked, curiously, what he needed them for. “I’m an ambassador for the Valley, and our magazine is the perfect way to show our Blue Lodge members just what awaits them in the Scottish Rite.” Within days of that conversation, I was having a completely unrelated chat with a member of my own Valley. Unsolicited and apropos of nothing, he informed me that he regularly leaves his copy of the magazine in his doctor’s waiting room–with permission, of course. “I figure it can’t hurt to expose others to the good things we do. I have no idea if it ever inspired anyone to join, but I’d like to think it has,” he said.

Just as each of us serves as a billboard for Freemasonry as we live our lives, so too are we ambassadors for the Scottish Rite. If you feel woefully unequipped to talk to nonMasons about what our great Fraternity offers, you are not alone. In fact, I would venture to guess that you are in the majority. No matter your grand jurisdiction, you are probably left scratching your head about just what you are and are not allowed to share with someone on the outside. The same is probably true when it comes to the Scottish Rite: What can we share with Blue Lodge Masons who are deciding on whether to take the next step?

Answer: this magazine.

Tremendous effort goes into making this magazine relatable to all our members. We highlight Valley successes, take deep dives into our ritual, and feature Brothers who are doing exceptional things both in the Fraternity as well as in the world at large. As an aside, I will never stop being impressed at the diversity of talents, gifts, and resources of our members.

I promise you that there is someone in your life who would enjoy the Scottish Rite like you do; he just doesn’t know it yet. If you’re comfortable talking about the benefits of membership, have a conversation with him.

If you’re not comfortable, introduce him to an ambassador or someone from your Valley who is. It’s okay to let someone do that lifting for you. The important thing is to start the conversation.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is simple: Don’t toss this issue of The Northern Light into the trash. Instead, find it a new home. Hand it to a Blue Lodge Mason, drop it off at your lodge (after you’ve finished reading it), or leave it at your doctor or dentist’s office (with permission, of course). I firmly believe that any Mason who sees what we do–whether it is charitably, socially, or ritually–would want to be a part of Valley life.