Are You A Master Mason ?

Are you a Master Mason?I have been a Mason for a year now," remarked theYoung Brother to the Old Past Master. "While I finda great deal in Masonry to enjoy and like thefellows and all that, I am more or less in the darkas to what good Masonry really is in the world. Idon't mean I can't appreciate its charity or itsfellowship, but it seems to me that I don't getmuch out of it. I can't really see why it has anyfunction outside of the relationship we enjoy inthe Lodge and the charitable acts we do." "I think I could win an argument about you," smiledthe Past Master. "An argument about me?" "Yes. You say you have been a Master Mason for ayear. I think I could prove to the satisfaction ofa jury of your peers, who would not need to beMaster Masons, that while you are a Lodge member ingood standing, you are not a Master Mason." "I don't think I quite understand," puzzled theYoung Mason. "I was quite surely initiated, passed,and raised I have my certificate and my goodstanding card. I attend Lodge regularly. I do whatwork I am assigned. If that isn't being a MasterMason, what is?" "You have the body but not the spirit," retortedthe Old Past Master. "You eat the husks anddisregard the kernel. You know the ritual and failto understand its meaning. You carry the documents,but for you they attest but an empty form. You donot understand the first underlying principle,which makes Masonry the great force she is. Andyet, in spite of it, you enjoy her blessings, whichis one of her miracles. A man may love and profitby what he does not comprehend." "I just don't understand you at all. I am sure I ama good Mason." "No man is a good Mason who thinks the Fraternityhas no function beyond pleasant association in theLodge and charity. There are thousands of Masonswho seldom see the inside of a Lodge and,therefore, miss the fellowship. There are thousandswho never need or support her charity and so nevercome in contact with one of its many features. Yetthese may take freely and largely from the treasurehouse which is Masonry. "Masonry, my young friend, is an opportunity. Itgives a man a chance to do and to be, among theworld of men, something he otherwise could notattain. No man kneels at the altar of Masonry andrises again the same man. At the altar something istaken from him never to returned, his feelings ofliving for himself alone. Be he ever so selfish,ever so self-centered, ever so much anindividualist, at the altar he leaves behind himsome of the dross of his purely profane make-up. "No man kneels at the altar of Masonry and risesthe same man because, in the place where the drossand selfish were, is put a little of the mostDivine spark which men may see. Where was the self-interest is put an interest in others. Where wasthe egotism is put love for one's fellow man. Yousay that the 'Fraternity has no function.' Man, theFraternity performs the greatest function of any institution at work among men in that it provides acommon meeting ground where all of us be ourcreed, our social position, our wealth, our ideas,our station in life what they may, may meet and understand one another. "What caused the Civil War? Failure of one peopleto understand another and an inequality of menwhich this country could not endure. What causedthe Great War? Class hatred. What is the greatestleveler of class in the world? Masonry. Where isthe only place in which a capitalist and laborer,socialist and democrat, fundamentalist andmodernist, Jew and Gentile, sophisticated andsimple alike meet and forget their differences? Ina Masonic Lodge, through the influence of Masonry."Masonry, which opens her portals to men becausethey are men, not because they are wealthy or wiseor foolish or great or small but because they seekthe brotherhood which only she can give. "Masonry has no function? Why, son, the function ofcharity, great as it is, is the least of the thingsMasonry does. The fellowship in the Lodge,beautiful as it is, is at best not much more thanone can get in any good club, association, ororganization. These are the beauties of Masonry,but they are also beauties of other organizations.The great fundamental beauty of Masonry is all her own. She, and only she, stretches a kindly andloving hand around the world, uniting millions in abond too strong for breaking. Time has demonstratedthat Masonry is too strong for war, too strong forhate, too strong for jealousy and fear. The worstof men have used the strongest of means and havebut pushed Masonry to one side for the moment; notall their efforts have broken her, or ever will! "Masonry gives us all a chance to do and to be; todo a little, however humble the part, in making theworld better; to be a little larger, a littlefuller in our lives, a little nearer to the G.A.O.T.U. And unless a man understands this,believes it, takes it to his heart, and lives it inhis daily life, and strives to show it forth toothers in his every act unless he live and loveand labor in his Masonry. I say he is no MasterMason; aye, though he belong to all Rites and carryall cards, though he be hung as a Christmas treewith jewels and pins, though he be an officer inall Bodies. But the man who has it in his heart andsees in Masonry the chance to be in reality what hehas sworn he would be, a brother to his fellowMasons, is a Master Mason though he be raised buttonight, belongs to no body but his Blue Lodge, andbe too poor to buy and wear a single pin." The Young Brother, looking down, unfastened theemblem from his coat lapel and handed it to the OldPast Master. "Of course, you are right," he said,lowly. "Here is my pin. Don't give it back to meuntil you think I am worthy to wear it." The Old Past Master smiled. "I think you wouldbetter put it back now," he answered gently. "Noneare more fit to wear the Square and Compasses thanthose who know themselves unworthy, for they arethose who strive to be real Masons.