FREEMASONRY

A man who is on a Quest, a man who seeks a place to work and fellows to work with, a man who has been recognized as someone who is worthy to share in the labors and rich rewards of personal growth and community involvement is the sort of man who knocks at the door of the Masonic lodge.

The lodge is a place of refuge from the immorality of the world, a freemason can be confident that when he attends lodge he will be surrounded by good men who strive to improve the world they live in. He can trust that his brothers are going to support him and not betray him out of selfish motives. A Freemason is obligated in the most serious manner to aid and assist his brother and not to defraud him, and this is the platform of trust that forms the foundation of Brotherly Love.

As the world outside the lodge crumbles in decay, the light shines in the darkness. The lodge strives to inculcate the morals that enable one to come to self-knowledge. It is this deeper awareness of the true self that the mason cultivates as he learns to wield the square and compass. The inner life of the freemason is enriched by his constant efforts at self-improvement.

As one progresses through the degrees, the symbols take on deeper and deeper meanings. As an apprentice he must go through the trials of life, symbolized as the rough ashlar and refine himself. Striving for the perfect ashlar, the perfect cube, and the solid foundation.

Before he arrives at perfection he finds that his labors have earned him the title of fellow craft, and now he is entitled to receive wages. The effort to refine himself leads the candidate to find that he can do more when he is making good decisions and begins to attain success, he is a good man and he has begun to knowtice the change that he has undergone and feels a sense of pride. No longer is he motivated by selfish greed alone, or is he seduced by every lusty attempt at his attention from the TV, he begins to feel confident in the impulse from his heart when making descisions.

When the freemason achieves the summit of his experience as a Master Mason he realizes that something very important has been lost, something that made this world a nice place to live, something that gave meaning to life. He sees that the world has always been a place where evil and unfortunate things happen to the greatest men. The freemason can take this in stride; he has seen that if you endure to the end a reward is waiting. But more important, if you strive to live by the Masonic principles you will have a better life and bring more light into the world.

With out an effort on the part of the candidate the symbols stand like mute sentinels guarding the gates of the inner Mysteries of the temple. Wisdom once attained by deep contemplation does indeed make a man better. It is a mystery that one can experience this wordless wisdom during a ceremony that otherwise could not be conveyed.

The freemason sets the example silently with his well ordered life, and thus others will emulate his success by applying the principles of the Craft. The lodge is his refuge that give him strength to live in the world and the hope that what we build and what we are building will reflect the goodness and truth we have received from the divine architect of the universe.

Only those men who are willing to work for the improvement of our world make the grade, and achieve the title FREEMASON. A true Mason who can build with love and skill, with out being hampered by the ills of poor morals.