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Introduction

What are the principle parallels of Freemasonry and Twelve Step Recovery Programs?

Ritual, Mentorship and Spirituality are the principle parallels Brother Florenza -Bailey found between Free Masonry and Twelve Step Program such as Alcoholics Anonymous.  He develops those and other parallels as well as key differences in the paper which follows.

Ritual

You will learn  how both use ceremonies and storytelling to teach and encourage members in their search for a more fulfilling and meaningful life.

Mentorship

In both organizations you find individuals who will assist and encourage you in your journey to find meaning in your life.  John describes in detail how important that has been and how much he appreciates those mentors.  Of course, he has paid that debt forward many times over by mentoring countless Masons and Twelve Step participants.

Spirituality

Belief in a higher power is core to both Freemasonry and the Twelve Steps.

Power of Prayer

One of the stories told in Freemasonry is about an individual who finds that his human efforts to accomplish a task are useless.  Success slips through his fingers with each attempt.  He is admonished to stop and pray for wisdom and guidance.  He does this, and is guided to a grip on the solution that does not fail. The story teaches us to always remember that when our wisdom and strength fail, we have an inexhaustible supply from God that will be yielded to us through prayer.  You find a parallel focus on effective prayer in the Eleventh Step and throughout the Twelve Steps,

Who is the author of this paper

The author of this paper is a Past Master of Wyllys St. John’s Lodge No. 4 in West Hartford Connecticut.  The date on which he became a Freemason, was the 26^th anniversary of his sobriety. WB John works with individuals who are struggling to overcome a wide range of chemical addictions and is an active member of his Lodge.  He has served it in numerous capacities. This paper was originally presented to the Philosophic Lodge of Research on February 17, 2012.

His paper is published on this site by the very kind permission of the author in the hopes it will increase the understanding of how the two programs can work in harmony to enrich the lives of participants.