By: Walter C.Slack, PM; Pacific Lodge, No. 16; Mission, BC;
Adapted by V.W.Bro. Norman McEvoy for use in The Educator
By far the greatest part of our conscious life experience consists in our mental or intellectual activity.
A much smaller part has to do with the physical material world around us.
This latter part we can know only partially through the medium and limitations of our five inadequate senses.
Yet, strangely enough, so many cling tenaciously to those senses and, the quickly passing experiences, they afford us. Sometimes we wonder what the world would be like if we possessed an additional sense, such as a magnetic sense.
If we think about it, we must surely ignore the changing unreliable experiences of our senses and wisely place our whole trust and faith in:- The Supreme Architect and Creator of the universe.
Is so doing we would be acting, not only in accord with a fundamental principles of Freemasonry, but also in harmony with the strong basic tendency of our real nature, implanted in us by the Supreme Being Himself.
If the three degrees of Freemasonry teach us anything at all, it is the lesson of the impermanence of life, noted here below:-
The body comes and goes, is handicapped and limited.
The body is clearly not the Real Man, nor is the mind which waxes and wanes.
It is the Spirit beyond, which alone can live forever.
This recalls to our minds that dramatic point in the Third Degree when the
Chaplain intones that well known passage from the Volume of the Sacred Law:
“Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth . . . “
and ending “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was;
and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.”
This, again, confirms that the real nature of man is spiritual.
A further expression of this truth would be our belief that the four cardinal virtues:-
Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence and Justice
These are also facets of the character of the Supreme Being, and in our daily
persevering efforts to practice these virtues. we are but struggling, as we ought to do,
to realize and identify ourselves with Him.
Surely our endeavours to live such lives, are focused on the intellectual assurance and satisfaction of being in harmony with the will of God.
But then we ask ourselves, what is the practical usefulness of such
Truth & Knowledge?
especially in our times when everything seems fated to be measured in
terms of dollars and cents?
Surely it is not right that truth should be measured by such standards, never-the-less there is in fact, the highest utility, of a different sort, to be had and enjoyed in the knowledge and practice of Truth itself. It creates that state of happiness, that peace of mind which:-
“passeth all understanding”
& which, after all, is really what everyone is seeking, and rightly so.
Unfortunately, for lack of light, the majority seek it in things that are not real, but evanescent and passing. No true happiness was ever found in the senses, nor has any person ever found happiness in the same,
“Happiness is to be found only in the Spirit”.
Therefore, we must conclude that for mankind the highest utility, the highest good to be sought after life, is this happiness in the Spirit.
And the wonderful fact is that, the tools and means for achieving this highly desireable state of being, are readily available within Freemasonry.
Namely, by the thinking, the believing, and the living practice of the great and fundamental Masonic principles which, in addition to the four cardinal virtues mentioned above, are
“Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth”.
These are the criteria and the guide lines to be thought about, believed in, meditated upon, and then acted out in our daily lives to the utmost of our power and ability.
Comment
This is another one of those papers that I uncover in my research, and having found, I feel
I must share will you all. The message is extremely clear to those of us who are Freemasons & I see no need to add anything further.
Have a wonderful Day & God Bless, Norm