WHAT IS THE MATTER?
The Master Mason - May 1927
On all sides it is asked, What is the matter with Masonry?
The answer is,
Nothing. It is not Masonry that is at fault; it is the same gracious, wise
and benign spirit and art that it has always been. The matter is with
Masons who slur their vows, hold their obligations lightly, and do not take
the Craft seriously.
Often enough, to be sure, the question is asked by those who do not know
what they want, and who do not know why they want it, or how they are going
to get it. Usually they talk glibly of too much symbolism and not enough
service, by which they seem to mean rushing Masonry into the service of
some pet reform, or otherwise involving it in affairs in which it does not
meddle.
Yet it has to be said that the spirit and truth of Masonry is not felt in
our communities as it should be, remembering how strong the Craft is. But
the same is said of Christianity, and with equal truth; it is far less
fruitful than it should be, and would be if it had its way with men in the
daily walks of life. Indeed, it is now the fad to snipe both the church and
the lodge.
But neither Christianity nor Masonry can be administered like chloroform;
each depends upon the seriousness and earnestness with which men take their
teachings to heart, and put them to the service and test of life. The creed
of the church, no less than the vow of the lodge, may be a matter of
rote-nothing more. Or it may be marching orders, a challenge to adventure,
a flag to follow.
To repeat, the matter is not with Masonry but with Masons, many of whom do
not know what Masonry is, much less how to use it in the service of
humanity. Until we can bestir our men to take Masonry seriously, study it,
seeking to know its truth and obey its teaching in the everyday affairs of
life, there will still be the wonder and regret that Masonry seems useless.
It is true, alas, that Masons, like church folk, lack cohesion in behalf of
ends to which as individuals they are devoted. The politicians of Quebec
put every stone they could find in the way of the proposed United Church of
Canada, in the hope of defeating it, dreading a united Protestantism more
than all else. Happily they failed, and must now reckon with a new and
mighty force.
If, as might be done, the men of our Craft, and others like-minded, ever
learn the art of standing and working together in behalf of the great ends
and aims of the common good, things will be very different in this land,
and much that goes ill now would be put to rights in the right way.
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