For Masons with Disabilities, a Special Connection

Mind, Body, Connection

FOR MASONS WITH DISABILITIES, MEMBERSHIP POSES CHALLENGES

By Brian Robin

Being a part of something bigger than himself. That’s what led Conor Moorman to knock on the door of his lodge the moment he turned 18, despite fully recognizing the difficulties he’d encounter along the way. No matter, he was up for the challenge. And 13 years later, Moorman has not only cleared that hurdle, but is among a group of California Masons lighting the way for others who, like him, have had to forge their own paths.

Moorman has for virtually all of his life lived with quadriplegia, the byproduct of post-polio syndrome contracted as an infant. “When Masonry was created, they didn’t have me in mind,” Moorman says. “But I can do this just fine.”

He isn’t the only one demonstrating that. People with disabilities, whether physical or mental, can be found in lodges up and down the state. Some, like Moorman, are easy to spot. Others are not. Kelly Ranasinghe, a past master of Imperial Valley № 390, was diagnosed with bipolar type 1, major depressive disorder, ADHD, and PTSD. In his case, mastering the written, verbal, and memory work presented serious problems. Both men have been able to overcome those obstacles through a combination of creativity and team support.

It wasn’t always that way. Historically, one of the requirements for joining the fraternity was that applicants be of “sound body and mind,” which prevented many disabled people from joining.

It wasn’t until the end of World War I that lodges began making allowances for members, many of whom had been injured in battle. Writing in 1918, the grand master of Rhode Island stated, “It is elementary that the internal rather than the external qualifications are the essential requisites for entrance into the institution. If a man possesses suitable qualities of mind and heart, the physical qualifications are and should be considered as secondary.”

Moorman, of Cypress Mountain № 196 in Atascadero and King David’s № 209 in San Luis Obispo, is certainly a testament to that. Since joining in 2011, he has served as chair of his lodge’s charity committee, on its executive committee, as ex officio master of the Paso Robles Temple Association, and as a member of the building committee. When his former lodge, Atascadero № 493, consolidated with Thaddeus Sherman № 196 in 2021, Moorman was elected as the first lodge master of the new group— just as he has been each of the three intervening years. “His energy and passion for our craft is second to none,” says secretary David Coss.

Not that it’s come easy for Moorman, who uses a wheelchair and speaks through a ventilator. “I can’t imagine how difficult putting on the degrees for me was,” he says. “I wish I could have been in the room when they were discussing how to give me the third degree. They’re lucky I’m a good driver, because leading me around the room blindfolded in a large wheelchair would be hard if I wasn’t.”

Despite that limited mobility, Moorman has become one of the preeminent ritualists in the state. In 2022 and 2023, he won the California Masonic Ritual Award and has earned the division’s top award several other times. “I make the joke that I enter ritual competition because I can’t play football and this is what I know how to do,” he says. “I’m very competitive, and I like being able to say I won.”

In his case, Moorman is able to lean on his team for support. During lodge meetings, Moorman has what he calls “the shadows,” two fellow Masons who handle the physical duties inherent in degree work—everything from showing the candidate how to wear the apron to kneeling with them during an obligation.

At certain points of the ritual ceremony, Moorman pauses to describe the movements outlined in the degrees.

Invisible Disabilities

Ranasinghe’s challenge has come on the other end of that degree performance. As any Mason can tell you, few things are as stressful as sitting in front of a roomful of Masons and reciting a complex ritual written in cipher. For people with reading or learning difficulties, that can be even more daunting.

A government attorney who works child welfare cases and is a self-described “knowledge geek,” Ranasinghe was originally drawn to Masonry for its connection to notable scientists like Edward Jenner and Alexander Fleming, the fathers of immunology and penicillin, respectively. Initiated at San Diego № 35, Ranasinghe later moved to El Centro and became active at Imperial Valley № 390, where he embraced the lodge’s commitment to community service. Still, he says, “Learning the ritual was an extraordinarily hard challenge for me from a communication and performative standpoint.”

On that front, Ranasinghe had to get creative. “I used every trick I could to learn the ritual,” he says. Simply trying to read and memorize was, for him, “torturous. My brain was bouncing back and forth.” Instead, he drew pictures and created PowerPoint slides. He wrote poems and created puzzles. He color-coded sections of text. He set the words to movement, walking around as he recited. “I interpreted that ritual artistically as many ways as you could,” he says. “The original ritual artists are probably rolling in their graves.”

Now, Ranasinghe is proud to serve as an advocate for mental health issues, including with the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and is a vocal advocate for people with what he calls “invisible disabilities” throughout the Imperial Valley.

Throughout, the lodge has had his back. During National Suicide Awareness Month in September, he led fundraising efforts at his lodge for several local mental health care providers, during which he was “overwhelmed by the wonderful support the brothers gave me.”

And while the fraternity has come a long way from the days of injured soldiers being turned away from lodge, there’s still work to do to make the fraternity welcoming to all, he says.

“The nature of the stigma surrounding mental illness, even today, means there’s a little trepidation in discussing it with other people,” Ranasinghe says. “One of the things that’s important for Masons to understand is that there is a subset of Masons who have these disabilities, and it’s important to recognize their part in all of this.”

Above: Conor Moorman is a two-time winner of the California Ritual Award.