‘It was in Street Harley’s hallowed halls that I meet with David Rosin. Overawed by both the person and the place, I could but only stammeringly ask, "And how Sir did you get to where you are today?"
    "I was born and bred in what was then Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia. Grandfather a Rabbi, Father a surgeon, and Mother the first female Member of Parliament, both Jewish. It was an idyllic childhood: an abundance of open air, good climate, friends, sport and horses. At age seven I took out my teddy-bears appendix. Noting that I had gone in on the correct side – I gained Father’s nod to consider a surgical career."
    "At about that same time, I started at a Catholic school. Loved it, was into everything, and wanted to talk about everything." He questioned and disputed endlessly, causing his teachers to consider his position. "My future at the school was reviewed by the clergy and they unanimously concluded that they did not wish to become Rabbis. Of course they would say that, they were Jesuits."
    Bemused by a potential cultural incommensurability I asked, "Being Jewish in a Catholic school did you not have peer pressure?" "No, being a boxer, I could have knocked the **** out of a putative bully."
    Equivocation aside, it seemed appropriate to move on to medical matters. He told me, "As my father did, I liked seeing people get better and at seventeen came to England, to Westminster College Medical School. I Received wonderful teaching in general surgery and then specialised in cancer surgery. In 1979, I was appointed Consultant at St. Mary’s. In 1990 I pulled together a not inconsiderable sum to purchase a laser. A supplier claimed that with their instrument "keyhole" general surgery was possible. In disbelief I was flown to Kansas and saw the technique demonstrated by one of the world’s leading practitioners. The laser was obtained and I came back to London and performed the first gallstone removal by keyhole or as I call it, ‘minimal access surgery’.”
    I always wanted to know what keyhole surgery was about and who better to ask: "Instead of operating inside the abdomen directly, using eyes and hands, a tiny incision is made and a camera inserted. Using instruments through two more tiny incisions the whole thing is watched on TV. This avoids long incisions to gain access and thereby enables healing in days rather than weeks and recovery in weeks rather than months. This art form took over my life; I have written three books and am series editor of nine."
    David Rosin has also delivered lectures and written scores of chapters in other volumes and learned papers enjoying world-wide dissemination. He holds, and has held, scores of posts in surgical teaching and management. Asking if I could add keyhole surgery as taught by his goodself to my CV I received a disappointing response.
    With all that activity I suggested that he had little time for anything else. "Far from it", he replied, "they think I am mad. I am into everything: Council of the Royal College of Surgeons, President of the British Association of Surgery Oncology, Garrick, Freemasonry, Apothecaries, Barber-Surgeons, you name it. I can’t say "no". On the other hand, I don’t like missing out!"

Is Freemasonry a hobby?

Cautiously I suggested that Freemasonry must be just one of his hobbies.
    "No, its more than that, it has to be or it is not Freemasonry. Whilst in my fifth year at medical school a fellow student suggested that I might like to join. Although Father and Grandfather were masons, having left home at seventeen, I knew nothing about it and said that I wouldn’t join anything of which I didn’t have sufficient knowledge. Sensibly, it was adequately explained, and I joined Westminster Hospital Lodge. I enjoyed the regulation and learning the ritual. I took to it and liked showing off and went through the Chair in six years, Secretary for eight, and presently Assistant Director of Ceremonies. Later I joined St. Mary’s Lodge, went through the Chair and am now Almoner. I am a holder of London Grand Rank and a Trustee of the Freemasons 250th Anniversary Fund."
    "What’s that?" I asked.
    "To mark the 250th Anniversary of Grand lodge in 1967 each mason was invited to make a £1 donation to establish a charitable fund with the income being made available to the Royal College of Surgeons. Since then over £2.5M has been awarded in research grants. I would claim that never has masonic giving been more gratefully received or more faithfully applied. I do like the charitable side of the craft, I know it makes me give more than I would otherwise."
    He said that with characteristic expressionlessness and he couldn’t understanding why I exploded into laughter. He doesn’t show his feelings, he indicated that to do so is a weakness although I couldn’t be sure if he meant that the weakness was showing feelings or having them in the first place. Still, his adult children say that they don’t know him!
    I had to sympathise and assure him that Freemasonry makes us all more generous than we would otherwise be. But, I wanted to return to the freemasonry/hobby theme.
    His view is, "Freemasonry must inform your way of life. Hobbies you leave behind you and in partaking in them you may not necessarily meet people with significantly shared values. Club membership is transitory; freemasonry is a unique fellowship remaining with you when you leave the lodge and which pervades all of life"
    "But", I asked, "you are a scientist, what do you make of a Supreme Being?
    "What many would call "God", I call "Air", that is to say, a necessary omnipresence, which makes us the way we are and forms our way of life. I do not subscribe to any of the organised religions; I view them as a prescriptive support for those who chose them. I value freewill and have a way of life that is informed by professional ethic, fraternity and charity. I do not have an understanding of "soul…"
    "But" I interjected, "You play at God." "Ha." (Quite a major reaction for David Rosin.) "I try not to. It is a patient perception; you have their lives in your hands and make decisions that may appear "Godlike" but the same is true of many professionals, air traffic controllers come to mind. But do passengers on an aeroplane normally see it that way? Perhaps Hippocrates did more for our PR than we think."
    "Why is Freemasonry not attracting new younger members?" I asked.
    "It is the negative media image based upon a perception of secrecy and helping each other out beyond reasonable limits. There must be increasing openness and the PR machine must do better. When and how we meet is based upon too rigid structures, there must be less time-consuming possibilities in response to modern life styles and pressures…."
    "So what about your own rather full life schedule?", I demanded. He was unable to convince me why he could find time for Freemasonry and others couldn’t; and then he said it:
    "We must open up to women, the church and the MCC have. When I was first on the Council of the Royal College of Surgeons there was the concept of "WIST", (Women In Surgical Training). I objected to this concept and similarly the male "MIST". I told them I wanted to get "PIST" (People In Surgical Training). Freemasonry must have the courage and decency to make the revolutionary step to discuss and agree it in principal then have an implementation strategy through evolutionary frameworks for a flexible changeover on an agreed timescale."
    It was certainly time to move on and I asked, "What are your own more general fears and hopes?" He replied, and I did detect some show of feelings, "People, tribes and nations learn so little from the past. Yugoslavia did not learn from the previous killing fields – even now there are great problems in the country of my origin. Neither politicians nor scientists can save the world and we are capable of polluting our planet – that’s why I am interested in space travel. Scientific research needs control but I am not sure by whom or how. People have looked to priests, politicians, doctors, bank managers and now it is life-style coaches. What is most important is what we leave behind; our individual well-being is bound up with the well being of those around us. Freemasons and other community minded people can only improve their small corners and hopefully this can lead us to a world of merit, peace and brotherhood." He doesn’t mind that he is not a Grand Officer or that he is not a "gong" holder even though he is a meritocrat. He doesn’t show or talk of feelings yet he passionately cares. A pioneer hence not a conformist. But, through and through a clinician.

Gerald Reilly is a member of St. Osyth’s Priory Lodge No. 2063, Clacton on Sea.