Each lodge is responsible for their own finances which is raised largely by dues. Grand Lodge in turn charges a levy per member from each lodge. Some lodges are successful, others are in disarray. It's completely voluntary so some people don't have the acumen to be able to run their lodges like a business. Which it is.
Fees to join also vary depending on which lodge you choose. Some lodge charge an initiation fee as much as $1500. Mine charges $500. Which is about average st the moment. Yearly dues are $400. Which is again relative to the lodge you join.
You can spend as little as one night a month. (Your lodge meeting night). While some (like me) can spend anywhere from 50 to over 100 nights a year. Masonry went through a phase of simply initiating anyone who asked. We aren't so liberal anymore.
Masonry in essence is the world's oldest personal development organization. It wants and expects you to participate and become part of the management and fabric of the lodge. So time is relative to what you're willing to give. But it will also change your experience. The more involved you are, the more you understand it, men as a whole, and yourself.
There is a ton of romanticism about masonry. Which I think the organization plays off of as it is a great recruitment tool. Yet it doesn't truly reflect what it is. It's a microcosm of the world. Meaning all that is good and equally all that is bad exists in Freemasonry. It exposes men for who they truly are. No matter if they are successful businessmen, or a janitor. All that will be asked of you is what has been asked of others for hundreds of years. In doing so your success, and sometimes the lodge's success will be determined by your own actions.
Why did I become a Mason? Long story, but the Cole's notes version is I worked with a few guys. They were different. Well liked and respected and took care of one another. Its a fraternity that values your honor above all else. Nothing unjustly given. The ritual is based on a man who would rather die than betray his oath(faith).. so he was murdered. The essense of masons and masonry is, if you're not a man of your word, then what are you worth.
15 yrs in, all of my friends now are masons. Men I can trust and rely on. Men who also took an oath to respect an honor our wives and children, and each other. We live in crazy times where society seems to have lost basic fundamental decency of respect and true self worth.
I'm not saying it is for everyone. But I've come to learn through meeting 1000's of men and traveling across the province and the United States that this is always been its aim.
