WHAT MASONRY MUST PRESERVE
It is well to pause at times and ask ourselves the question: "Whence
arises my love for Freemasonry?" Does my enthusiasm arise from the devotion
to a name, an institution, or does it come from the desire to understand the
great principles and teachings, truths which stand today as they have stood
since creation?
Institutions have grown big and powerful only to lose sight of their original
purposes. Numerical values have been the goal of these institutions; they have
branched out in their various ramifications and have become arrogant because of
that power figured in numbers. Their political influence far exceeds their
spiritual influence. The most heinous crimes have been committed by religious
zealots. The history of persecutions throughout the ages is the story of
religious intolerance.
The design of Masonry is to develop individuality, individual thought, so
that men may concentrate on the substance and not the shadow. The work of
Masonry is to preserve, not cold edicts, not idle claims to infallibility, but
those things which insure to posterity rights that are God-given, and which can
only be preserved in the hearts of all mankind.
Masonry is the agency for the preservation of all that is worthy to be
preserved. If principles are preserved the agency need not be concerned about
its place in the future.
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