This question has been posed once or twice, in one form or another, to those seeking initiation throughout the ages but I believe it serves an even greater purpose in today’s Craft. As interest in the fraternity has ebbed and flowed over the centuries, generation after generation of men has brought not only their individual gifts and graces to Masonic institutions, but also their own perceptions of what the fraternity was in their time and what it was to be in the future.
The Masonic fraternity can be whatever its members, in a given time-frame, want it to be. Organizations and institutions are shaped by the people that call them home, Freemasonry can be as fluid as any other organization, if we want it to be, but do we want that? What kind of organization does our Craft have the right to be?
There are three other organizations doing great work out in the world. For example, Susan G. Komen, Habitat for Humanity, and Samaritan’s Purse. Three superb organizations that are doing great and meaningful work for humanity, and are worthy of consideration financial support. That said, we can’t join any of them. We can assist them in the work they are doing by providing financial support, which is the first appeal you will see on all three websites, but we can’t be brought into the organization. That is why I believe it is just as important or perhaps more important for organizations to know what they are not rather than what they are.
The Masonic fraternity is not comparable to these three wonderful charities I listed because it is not a charity it is, exactly, as I referred to it, a fraternity. Masonic sponsored charity is simply the natural by- product of a well-regulated and benevolent institution, however our charity does not define us. Fraternalism, self-improvement, and relief are the terms that
ought to define our Craft. I believe, that is what our true destiny has always been and why men around the world continue to seek us out.
The Scottish Rite tells us that Masonic work is, “To assist, encourage, and defend the brethren; to protect the oppressed, right the wronged, raise the fallen, relieve want and distress, enlighten the people. Serve well the commonweal and be fruitful of all the good works.” We are meant to view our beautiful degrees, read about them, reflect on them, and then go forward in a new direction that will make us better husbands, fathers, employees, supervisors, brothers, citizens, and practitioners of our own faith and creed.
Personally, I try to be as objective as I can but it does not come naturally for us. If we find ourselves wondering why our fraternity continues to decline, we should ask a question: “Have I been a good representation of the fraternity lately? Have I been attentive to others? Have I been sincere in addressing the specific flaws that are inherent to my character? When I’m in public, do I speak and act in a way that brings honor or shame upon my brethren? Does my community, children, friends and family see me actively participating in my faith, or do they only see me go to work and Lodge?”
What good are the great truths of Masonry if they are but half-learned? Just as it is not wisdom to simply know the titles of books, there is no growth or introspection in simply exciting the various Masonic lectures without missing a word. While Masonic ritual must be preserved and its proficient performance is always appreciated by all, the true meaning is lost if it is just a regurgitated piece of “Parrot Masonry”, and the unknown victim is the brother doing the speaking. I am not suggesting that each member must learn the esoteric meaning of all facets of ritual or study root-words to be a good and true Mason, but it is my belief that the more we deviate from the rich contents of our ritual, as well as the reasons for its existence, we will continue driftaway from our fraternity’s noble intent. That the noble intent, I believe, is for each initiate is to arrive at a greater realization of himself and to re-institute that that “Divine Harmony” which man instinctively knows and yearns to observes.
I leave you with these words, delivered by the Minister of State in the 32nd Degree, Master of the Royal Secret, “When Freemasons shall have faith in their creed and have men of faith to lead them, Masonry will be what it has the right to be, and what, we do believe, God means it to be: a mighty, yet beneficent power in every civilized land. The Holy Empire will be everywhere, the Empire of Intellect, Reason, Philosophy, and Wise Morality.”
This article was published in the August 2024 edition of the Voice of the Orient.
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