have a high conception
Masonic Standard reprinted in
The Canadian Craftsman, Sept.
1898
Every one will see in Freemasonry that which the faculties he
possesses enable him to perceive. One beholds merely a social organization and
appreciates more the "Fourth Degree," which is "the hour after" the Lodge
meeting, than the grand truths taught in the First Degree, or the impressive
lessons of the Second. He misses the true aim of the institution.
The "Fourth Degree" of the Lodge is only incidental to the
pleasant associations of Fraternity. The true meaning and import of the
institution are found in the sublime teachings of the symbolism of the degrees.
All men have not the power of appreciation, or the faculty of looking beneath
the surface of rites and ceremonies. They make comedy of tragedy, and farce of
reality. There is neither comedy or farce in Truth. They look upon life itself
as a frivolous pastime and are serious about nothing. They go with the multitude
who keep holiday, and, spending as they go, alike in material things, mental
things, and spiritual things, they fail to find the true essence of the
fraternity. Such men are Masons only in name. They may be active in the Lodge,
be able to confer degrees smoothly, and be praised as good workers, but their
degrees and their work fail of their true purpose. The parrot and the magpie
chatter away, but neither the parrot nor magpie have any conception of what they
say. The parrot and magpie are without any heart or soul in their utterances,
hence they jabber and jabber away. Precisely so with those who see words, and
only words in the sublime, beautiful, impressive and well-nigh divine lessons of
Freemasonry.
He appreciates the fraternity who beholds in it a
comprehensive system of the highest ethics, the noblest sentiments; a wise
exposition of the old truths of philosophy and religion; a code of the honored
precepts of chivalry; an instrumentality of the Deity himself to make men wiser
and better, and to fit them for the enjoyment of life here with its blessings of
civil and religious liberty, and lead him to prepare for the enjoyment of
happiness hereafter. How the mind of man longs for the blessedness of
immortality! How his God-like spirit revolts at the mere suggestion of
annihilation, and how it pants for a realization of its lofty aspirations. This
globe which we inhabit is far too small to satisfy the desires of the expanding
soul. The more we learn the more we feel our littleness, and the circumscribed
existence we have in this world. What are the stars? What is the firmament
above? What is eternity? These questions crowd upon the mind and remain
unanswered. God, eternity, immortality, are serious things that Masonry
considers; and if there is a God, whose existence is from everlasting to
everlasting; if man has a soul immortal and aspiring, it is the part of wisdom
that we give heed to everything that will lead us to a proper appreciation of
their importance. It is the aim of Freemasonry to aid in this appreciation.
The great temple of our existence lies beyond the vestibule,
which is this life. As we approach the doorway through which we are to be
admitted to the temple, we should see to it that our raiment is in proper
condition to stand the strong light that shines from the glorious East of the
Celestial Lodge, and that the rents made by our sins and the patches upon our
character may not appear in glaring accusation. Our shoes should be cleaned of
the mire and fifth of the highways of wickedness, for nothing that will pollute
or make unclean will be admitted there.
Appreciate properly Freemasonry, for it will surely aid you
to prefer for admittance into the Temple of Life. "The mission of Freemasonry is
not obscure," wrote the late George C. Connor. "It is not to make imaginary
masters, but to teach devotion to one another, the necessity of preparing the
final ending of all things earthly, and the ascent of the soul, when delivered
from the environment of the flesh, into that peace which remaineth to the people
of God. An organization having such a mission may well be devoted to its
calling."
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