Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Edgar A. Guest.....Masonic Poet

Enjoy my brothers.

   By Edgar A. Guest

 It is not ornamental, the
cost is not great,
There are other things far more useful, yet truly I state,
Tho of all my possesions, there's none can compare,
With that white leather apron, which all Masons wear.

As a young lad I wondered just what it all meant,
When Dad hustled around, and so much time was spent
On shaving and dressing and looking just right,
Until Mother would say: "It's the Masons tonight."

And some winter nights she said: "What makes you go,
Way up there tonight thru the sleet and the snow,
You see the same things every month of the year."
Then Dad would reply: "Yes, I know it, my dear."

Forty years I have seen the same things, it is true.
And though they are old, they always seem new,
For the hands that I clasp, and the friends that I greet,
Seem a little bit closer each time that we meet."

Years later I stood at that very same door,
With good men and true who had entered before,
I knelt at the alter, and there I was taught
That virtue and honor can never be bought.

That the spotless white lambskin all Masons revere,
If worthily worn grows more precious each year,
That service to others brings blessings untold,
That man may be poor tho surrounded by gold.

I learned that true brotherhood flourishes there,
That enmities fade 'neath the compass and square,
That wealth and position are all thrust aside,
As there on the level men meet and abide.

So, honor the lambskin, may it always remain
Forever unblemished, and free from all stain,
And when we are called to the Great Father's love,
May we all take our place in that Lodge up above. 


thanks to WB Mark Taylor for sending to me

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

.....the strength and SUPPORT.....

It never ceases to amaze me as to the choice of words that the author(s) of our ritual used. They certainly maximized the use of choice words and phrases to communicate their points and teachings. We hear the words over and over again and too often we take those for granted. Therefore delving into the meanings behind the words sheds a whole new light on the ritual.

Light....that reminds me of a story. A year or so ago I picked up a cap at a flea market with a nice square and compass on it. Shortly after getting the hat I stopped in a gas station, and a gentleman in line saw my hat. He said, " You a Mason?", to which I replied "Yes." "What you lookin' for?" was his next question and my reply was, "Nothing really."......his comeback was stellar......"You a Mason, you supposed to be lookin' for light.....you supposed to be always lookin' for light!"

That really has nothing to do with the focus of support as it's used in conjunction with harmony and strength......but my point is that it's true....we should always be searching for more light.....the ritual is a source of light and enlightenment....but it has a dimmer switch.....if you leave it closed it's off....if you read it....then it's dimly lit.....the more you read and study and get into the meaning behind the words then the dimmer switch continually increases the light.....at this point I am willing to concede that the max setting of that dimmer switch is infinity.

Harmony being the strength and support of all institutions but especially this of ours

Looking at the word support we find that it is defined in the physical sense as something which bears a load, to sustain and withstand weights, pressures, strains, etc. Support can also be defined in the emotional or mental angle; to sustain a person, institution, policy or theory.

So we know that harmony according to the ritual performs two tremendous tasks for the craft. Harmony is not only the strength but the support of our fraternity. Anything that bears or displays great strength has to have an equal or greater amount of support.

All things which endure, start with a firm foundation capable of bearing predicted loads at a minimum and hopefully increased unpredictable loads.

Further, support is necessary to maintain principles and theories. Coupled with strength, support is an integral part of our craft. While pure strength can endure for the present, to have longevity it must be supported.

Unfortunately most of us have seen the results when there is a lack of harmony. Disharmony can be a terrible disease which can totally destroy a lodge. When disharmony is prevalent in a lodge, surely there is a serious lack of strength and support in that lodge. For the good of the whole, if a lodge fails for whatever reason....the craft survives.....although weakened, the craft rebuilds and continues on. This was proven in the dark ages of Masonry....when the Fraternity nearly folded due to the "Anti-Masonic Movement".....however harmony among the few and tremendous amounts of strength and support, the craft survived.

Well WB Carl Davis was correct in his idea that the word harmony plays a major role in our fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons. We are very blessed in AD20 to see harmony's true definition alive and at work....not always...but most generally. However, we are also keenly aware of when that harmony is challenged.

Freemasonry notwithstanding has still survived.

Monday, January 5, 2015

...being the Strength and Support

Happy New Year !!

Harmony being the strength and support of all institutions, but more especially this of ours.....


As I mentioned in the piece on harmony, I was challenged by WB Carl Davis about the use of harmony in our ritual and the meaning of the word. Since writing that, the words strength and support have been running through my head constantly. Little did I know the depth of the definition I would find.

Strength is one those words that can be used in a variety of ways yet have a continuity of meaning.
In researching the word, there are anywhere from 8-12+ definitions or uses of the word...strength.

Obviously it the quality or state of being strong. This can apply to raw physical strength, mental strength, and moral strength. Power of moral firmness, vigor, and courage.

We've always heard that there is strength in numbers which is also another definition or usage. Strength can be measured in the moral potency such as in the effective force of argument. As we continue, the term strength can be used to describe one's ability to resist force or wear.

Strength can define the effectiveness or essential characteristic of certain chemical bodies or in our case the effectiveness and essential characteristics of the fraternity. Going further, strength alludes to a particular proportion of light, color, intensity, sound, etc.

My favorite is that it is something or someone that gives one strength or sustenance....a source of power and or encouragement.

The above is paraphrased and in some cases plagiarized from Dictionary.com

We can draw many parallels from the meanings in the dictionary to the craft. The fraternity of Freemasonry teaches lessons from many symbols, but also words. Harmony being the strength indicates that the very fiber that holds this great institution together is the strength we need to survive and is the reason we have survived all of these years.

Recently we have seen the effects of weakening standards.....by being weak we were not able to resist the wearing away of our moral teachings.....thus we allowed some to join our ranks, only to learn that they were less than honest and began to eat away at the fiber of our being.....we have to be strong in whom we allow to join our ranks. To regain the strength that we once had, I'm certainly not suggesting that the fraternity as a whole is weak, just certain aspects need to be tightened up.

Freemasonry can provide power and encouragement to those brothers that seek it. If you have talked to a brother that is "strong" in the craft who has experienced an illness.....he will testify to the strength of the brothers of the craft who visited, prayed for, and encouraged that brother during his illness.

I know for myself that when I attend a degree, I draw a feeling of being rejuvenated, something that I gain much strength from.......the warmth of the fellowship of my brothers.

From the Fellowcraft lecture think about the five pillars.....the way in which their different components work together to provide strength, unity, and beauty. The five senses of human nature that work in harmony with each other and how one strengthens the other. The seven liberal arts and sciences that also work in harmony, in fact the part concerning music illustrates that composing delightful harmony by a mathematical and proportional arrangement.......mathematics work in conjunction with music, astronomy, geometry, logic....and grammar and rhetoric leads into logic and the circle continues in.....you guessed it.....harmony.

At this point I am going to let support be the next topic.....stay tuned