I’d first like to say that in the midst of the Pandemic we are all going through, I hope this message finds you and your family safe and healthy. If there is anything that is needed, please reach out to the Relief Committee and we will try to help as best we can.
Where are we first prepared to be a Mason? Is it just our heart or is it also in our thinking mind? We must first ask the question, do all men think? All men do think, but they seldom spend the time to comprehend the great questions of the universe that others may delve into. One of these questions is inherently the nature of man and the Great Architect of the Universe, and their relationship to each other.
While it is true that many individuals do not choose to even begin to tackle such deep and heady concepts, they do still endeavor to think about the things that they encounter every day around them. Many men do not pause to think about these great concepts, but rather think in a rather hurried and unfocused way upon their daily lives and vocations. A man may think about what he has to accomplish at work that day, or about what he expects to do when he returns home from his vocation, but he rarely takes the time to think on a higher scale of thought. All men do think, but not necessarily about the things that are most important.
Masonry does indeed provide and demand the man seeking the door to think. Only through thought and introspection can a man truly become a Mason. Masonry provides the means for each man to think upon its meaning. This is achieved by the fact that Masonry does not necessarily provide meanings for its symbols, but rather leave those symbols open to interpretation for each man to discover. If Masonry was about teaching one dogma over another, then the symbols would be defined as rigid, rather than fluid in their meanings and interpretations. By leaving the interpretation of its symbols to the minds of each individual Mason, Masonry teaches the concept of thinking about its symbols and meanings. We know that the compasses are provided to circumscribe our desires and passions, but can it not only be there to draw a mystic circle around each and every Mason to remind them that they are bound to each other? Can the cable tow be more than a symbol of humility, but rather also a symbol that we are bound to each other by mystic and deep ties that each individual Mason must strive to realize? This is why Masonry teaches a man to think. Masonry does not define itself but rather lets each member seek the pathway that he needs to find the ever-increasing Light of the Great Creator of the Universe.
Masonry is more than ritual and symbols. Masonry is a requirement that we always seek more and more knowledge and Light, thereby causing us to think on subjects that we would rarely have given a passing glance before we joined the Fraternity. When we choose to think about the higher subjects and symbols of Masonry, we are more certain of our final destination after we leave this plane and pass through the veil. We know that there is more than just the life of existence that we see on earth.
Fraternally,
Worshipful Bro. Peter