textfiles/magazines/STB/stb-1934-06.txt

SHORT TALK BULLETIN -Vol.XII   June 1934   No.6

MASONRY IN THE GREAT LIGHT

by: Unknown

The Short Talk Bulletin of December, 1931, on <20>The Three Scripture 
Readings,<2C> described the symbolic significance of the passages from 
scripture used in conferring the three degrees.
Masonry in the Bible is not confined to these three poems in prose.  
Masons are taught to look to the Great Knight for spiritual comfort, 
as the inestimable gift of God to man for the rule and guide of his 
faith and practice.  If he searches intelligently, he will there find 
much Masonic teaching, an amplification of ritual, a continuation of 
symbolism as beautiful as it is intangible, as lovely as it is 
ethereal.
At the door of every Lodge stands the Tiler with a drawn sword in his 
hand.  How apt to this office is this verse:
<EFBFBD>So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of 
Eden, Cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep 
the way of the tree of life.  (Genesis 3:24)
A man not a Mason is not permitted in the Lodge; the Tiler<65>s sword 
<EFBFBD>turns every way<61> to keep the path to the tree of spiritual life to 
be found in every Lodge.
In the opening of the Lodge is mention of the widowed and the 
fatherless, that we may never forget a Mason<6F>s duty to those whose 
natural protector is no more.
<EFBFBD>A father of the fatherless and a judge if the widows, is God in his 
holy habitation.  (Psalms 68:5)  Learn to do well; seek judgment, 
relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.  
(Isaiah 1:17)<29>
In these two passages are the charity teachings which Masons follow; 
the very heart of that care of the lonely and the orphan which is at 
once a Master Mason<6F>s duty and his pride.  He who visits his 
Jurisdiction<EFBFBD>s Masonic Home, and there sees the helpless helped, or 
is happy to contribute to the support of the Charity Foundation, 
Grand Lodge Charity Fund or Lodge gift, can be comforted that he 
follows the inspired teaching of these words from the Great Light.
In many Grand Lodges there is much discussion as to the <20>Doctrine of 
the Perfect Youth<74> which proclaims that a man must be unmaimed to be 
accepted as a candidate.  Modern ideas in some Grand Lodges lean 
toward relaxing the severe restrictions; others still cling to the 
old idea that he who has lost a member - even a finger - must suffer 
for the good of the whole Order, that the Ancient Landmark be 
preserved.  Some quotations from the Old Testament seem to show that 
the priests of Israel regarded physical perfection much as the 
Fraternity has done:
Only he shall not go in unto the veil, nor come nigh unto the altar, 
because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries; for I 
the Lord so sanctify them.  (Leviticus 21:23)  Ye shall offer at your 
own will a male without blemish, of beeves, or the sheep, or of the 
goats.  But whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer; for 
it shall not be acceptable for you.  (Leviticus 22:19-20)
On the other side of the question, and bearing vitally on the 
principle that Masonry is universal, and no respecter of race or 
creed, is this clear exposition:
<EFBFBD>But Peter said, Not so Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is 
common or unclean.  And the voice spake unto him again the second 
time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.  Then Peter 
opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no 
respecter of persons; but in every nation he that feareth him, and 
worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.  (Acts 10:14-15-34-35)<29>
Where is a man first prepared to be made a Mason?  Think of the 
essential symbolism and then read:
<EFBFBD>For the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward 
appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.  (Samuel 16:7)<29>
The Great Light shadowed forth the truths of our symbolism and the 
teachings of the three degrees long before Operative Freemasonry, as 
we know it, came upon the earth to extend and promote the 
dissemination of those great principles on which all true character 
making is based.
After a candidate enters the Lodge by the West gate, the first 
question asked him sets the key to all that the degree may be to him; 
he who answers this solemn inquiry must be sodden minded indeed if he 
visualizes not the serious import and the glorious future of the 
ceremony thus anticipated.  Long, long ago sweet singers sang:
<EFBFBD>In God have I put my trust; I will not be afraid what man can do 
unto me,  (Psalms 56:11)  Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and 
lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge 
him, and he shall direct thy paths  (Proverbs 3:5-6)  Thou wilt keep 
him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee; because he 
trusteth in thee.  Trust ye in the Lord forever; for the Lord Jehovah 
is everlasting strength.  (Isaiah 26:3-4)<29>
Masons know the benefit of Lodge prayer.  Never the Lodge is opened 
but a petition to the Most High is a part of the ceremony; never a 
degree is conferred but humble petition to Deity forms an important 
part.  The Bible is filled with exhortations regarding prayer, which 
show the essentials of asking what we may receive.  Familiar though 
we are with these beautiful passages, recall this one here:
<EFBFBD>And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye 
shall receive.  (Matthew 21:22)<29>
Nothing equivocal, nothing hidden or obtuse about that promise; a 
clear cut statement from the lowly Son of Man who walked by Galilee; 
a truth acceptable alike to Jew and Gentile, Mohammedan, and Parsee, 
Buddhist and Christian, profane and Mason.
By slow degrees, in a solemnity which no man who has experienced it 
can ever forget. the initiate approaches the Holy of Holies - the 
Sacred Altar of Freemasonry - there to assume obligations of such 
importance that no man who takes them upon his heart and conscience 
is ever quite the same thereafter.  The old testament is filled with 
stories of the altar, of places of worship built of rude stones in 
the open, of silver and gold in Temples, of high hopes and devout 
hearts in tents in the wilderness.  Most tender and touching, as well 
as most symbolic from the Masonic viewpoint, are these verses: 
<EFBFBD>And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I 
give this land; and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who 
appeared unto him.  (genesis 12:7)  And he said, Take now thy son, 
thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of 
Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one the 
mountains which I will tell of.  (Genesis 22:2) And they came to the 
place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, 
and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on 
the Altar upon the wood. (Genesis 22:9)<29>
If a man have not a humble and contrite heart before the Altar of 
Freemasonry it were better for him not to kneel.  For the Altar is a 
symbol of sacrifice.  Abraham was required to give his very heart; 
true, it was but a test, but he knew it not.  How many times may the 
Freemason be required to sacrifice before the Altar of Freemasonry as 
a test only - and know it not?  Here must he offer up selfishness, 
and learn to live for others; here he must enter into a solemn pact 
with his brethren that they are, to him, more important than he can 
be to himself; here he must lay pride and egotism and selfish 
independence, and bow not only his head but his very soul before the 
Great Architect of the Universe.  Brethren cannot know if the 
sacrifice is real or but lip service, but he is a brave initiate 
indeed who does not believe that One knows in what spirit and with 
what self-abnegation he lays his sacrifice upon our Altar; even as 
Abraham of old.
We are told to read the book of Ruth; many if not most rituals follow 
almost exactly these words:
<EFBFBD>Now this was the manner in former times in Israel concerning 
redeeming and concerning changing, for to confirm all things; a man 
plucked off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbor; and this was a 
testimony in Israel.  (Ruth 4:7)<29>
<EFBFBD>Redeeming and Changing<6E> refer to property in general and land in 
particular; he who had given his land as security for a debt, 
redeemed it just as we can pay off a mortgage on our house.  
<EFBFBD>Changing<EFBFBD> is an old word for selling; he who sold his land <20>changed<65> 
it to another owner.  We sign a paper, and perhaps acknowledge it 
before a Notary Public, by swearing to it.  Our ancient Jewish 
brother plucked off his shoe as a testimony that he sold that which 
he had a right to sell.  It is not improbable that the custom arose 
from the inability of a shoeless man to run away; it is analogous to 
removing the glove before we offer our hand, as Knights of Old 
stripped off their mailed gauntlet before shaking hands, in testimony 
that they feared no enemy.
It would be easily possible to extend this Bulletin for many pages, 
and still remain in the Entered Apprentice Degree; the obligation, 
the bringing of light, the poor, the house not made with hands, the 
northeast corner, the lambskin - practically all the symbols of our 
initiatory ceremony can be amplified and made clearer by an 
intelligent reading of the Holy words.  But space forbids.
The Fellowcraft Degree is often less appreciated than its inner 
meaning deserves.  It is no mere stepping stone to the Master<65>s 
Degree, not a ceremony designed only to stretch out the process of 
initiation and make the neophyte wait a bit longer before he receives 
full Masonic Light.  It holds a series of teachings of such 
importance that no brother may truthfully declare himself a good 
Mason who has not taken at least its essentials into his heart.

We are taught of the <20>glorious works of creation<6F> as indicating the 
<EFBFBD>perfections of our divine creator.<2E>  What is glory?  Here is not 
meant fame, applause, the exalted opinion held of a man by his 
fellows; but the glory which is the sunset, the glory which is great 
music, the glory which is inspiring poetry.  The <20>glorious<75> works of 
creation are those which inspire man with reverence and awe, those 
which the Great Light typifies in:
<EFBFBD>When I consider the heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and 
the stars, which thou hast ordained:  What is man, that thou art 
mindful of him?  and the son of man, that thou visitest him?  (Psalms 
8:3-4)<29>
Freemasons are taught to reverence the Sabbath day and keep it holy.  
Save to attend divine services, or to lay away a departed brother, no 
Lodge may meet or work on the Sabbath, for Freemasonry, not a 
religion, is an upholder and supporter of all religions.
<EFBFBD>Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of 
them.  And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; 
and rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.  
And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in 
it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.  
(Genesis 2: 1-2-3)  I am the Lord your God; walk in my statutes, and 
keep my judgments, and do them; and hallow my sabbaths; and they 
shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I and the 
Lord your God.  (Ezekiel 20:19-20)<29>
	
How many craftsmen built the Temple?  Curiously enough; many rituals 
do not strictly follow the plain statement in the Old Testament, 
which reads:
<EFBFBD>And he set three score and ten thousand of them to be bearers of 
burdens, and four score thousand to be hewers in the mountain, and 
three thousand and six hundred overseers to set the people awork.   
(2 Chronicles 2:18)
The wages for these laborers and overseers, as all who ever heard a 
Middle Chamber Lecture know, were paid in corn, wine and oil - the 
currency with which those of olden times bought and sold.
<EFBFBD>And behold, I will give to thy servants, the hewers that cut timber, 
twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand 
measures of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty 
thousand baths of oil.  (2 Chronicles 2:10)<29> 
The word <20>corn<72> is not mentioned, but our <20>corn<72> is a generic term 
for all the grains of the Israelites, and has no reference to maize.  
The Wages of a Fellowcraft of these modern days are paid in symbolic 
corn, wine and oil; the refreshment of mind and soul which comes from 
brotherhood practiced, duty well done, lessons humbly learned; wages, 
indeed, far more valuable than their ancient prototypes of fruit of 
the land and the vineyard waiting only for the worthy Fellowcraft to 
stretch forth his hand to take.
It is hardly necessary here to draw attention to those passages of 
Scripture which are the foundation for that part of the Middle 
Chamber Lecture which deals with the pillars in the Porch, the 
passage of the Jordan and the war between the Ephramites and the 
Gileadites; much of our ritual follows the words of the Old Testament 
(Judges) almost exactly.  The fellowcraft follows his brethren of 
olden time who <20>went up the with winding stairs to the middle 
chamber, and out of the middle into the third.<2E>  (I Kings 6:8)
In our Middle Chamber we find a Holy of Holies indeed, for here is 
displayed that Letter <20>G<EFBFBD> which is the very essence of Freemasonry.  
Never the Lodge or Grand Lodge which has not some such symbol; in all 
lands and climes and Jurisdictions is some sign of the Most High in 
the East.
<EFBFBD>G<EFBFBD> is not in the Bible as a symbol, but other letters are:
<EFBFBD>I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, 
which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.  (Rev. 
1:8).
And God said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM 
hath sent me unto you.  (exodus 3:14)<29>
Here the cryptic phrase <20>I AM THAT I AM<41> is a symbol, just as our 
Letter <20>G<EFBFBD> is a symbol; the inspired prophet who wrote the Old 
Testament knew the value of the symbol, even as we know it.  So when 
for the first time the Fellowcraft hears of the significance of the 
Letter <20>G<EFBFBD> in the East, he is kin to those ancient teachers and 
spiritual rulers who wrote of God with symbols, even as we so typify 
Him.
Omitting many another Scripture reference to the teachings of this 
beautiful degree we pass on to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason.  
Some Lodges of some Jurisdictions exemplify an especially beautiful 
lesson from the contention and confusion which existed among the 
workmen of the Temple at the time of the tragedy.  In these Lodges 
the Master instructs the brethren, if any have any cause of 
difference with their fellows, to leave the Lodge room, nor return 
until that quarrel is reconciled.  Authority for this is found in 
several places in the Great Light - whether or not it be the practice 
in most of our American Grand Jurisdictions matters not; to be at 
odds with a brother of the lodge is not to live the true Masonic 
spirit.
Ponder these instructions:
<EFBFBD>Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest 
that thy brother hath ought against thee; leave there thy gift before 
the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and 
then come and offer thy gift.  (Matthew 5:23-24)  Moreover if thy 
brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault 
between he and thee alone; if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained 
thy brother.  (Matthew 18:15)  And if he trespass against thee seven 
times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, 
I repent; thou shalt forgive him  (Luke 17:4)<29>
In the Master<65>s Degree a brother must pray for himself. 
Happy is he who has the prayers of his fellows, standing as one among 
a united group, all for one and one for all.  But in the life of 
every man comes the time when the prayers of others avail not; when 
he stands spiritually naked and alone before the Great White Throne, 
there to offer up his petition with none to say <20>In too, speak for 
him.<2E>  So is the brother about to be raised taught to pray, alone 
with his God.  It is good here to recall the words which promise that 
such prayers are heard:
<EFBFBD>In my distress I call upon the Lord, and cried to my God; and he did 
hear my voice out of his Temple, and my cry did enter into his ears.  
(Samuel 22:7)  In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee; for 
thou wilt answer me.  (Psalms 86:7)<29>
All Master Masons find a peculiar significance in the expression <20>the 
clefts of the rock.<2E>  How many know the symbolic, as well as the 
historic meaning of the phrase?  In our ceremony it is place of 
hiding which availed not against those who had the right and 
righteousness on their side.  In symbolism it is an emblem of the 
uselessness of pride and self-sufficiency; no clefts of the rock - 
nay, not caves nor valleys nor mountain tops not any hiding place 
upon earth - exist where sin may hide either from itself or from the 
All Seeing Eye.
<EFBFBD>The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in 
the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his 
heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?  Though then exalt 
thyself as the eagle and though thou set thy nest among the stars, 
thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord.  (Obediah  1:3-4)
Fifty pages would not supply space for all the beautiful allusion to 
Masonic truth and Light which a careful perusal of the Great Light 
discovers.  But enough, perhaps, has been quoted to show that 
Freemasonry is in the Bible in full measure, pressed down and running 
over.  We who have so much from the Scriptures to be a part of our 
ceremonies, have left far more than we appropriated.
Two final quotations; even as the raising and the Substitute Word 
form the very crux and climax of the Sublime degree; so are these the 
head of the corner of all the many Scriptural expositions of 
symbolism to be found in the Rule and Guide of Our Faith.
<EFBFBD>So shall ,y word be that goeth forth out of my mouth; it shall not 
return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and 
it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.  (Isaiah 55:11)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the 
Word was God. (John 1:1)<29>
<EFBFBD>SO MOTE IT BE!<21>