textfiles/magazines/STB/stb-1930-04.txt

SHORT TALK BULLETIN - Vol.VIII   April, 1930   No.4

THE REPUTATION OF THE FRATERNITY

by: Unknown

“To preserve the reputation of the Fraternity unsullied must be your 
constant care.”
Every Master Mason is charged with that great duty.  
Obviously it means the reputation of the Fraternity before the non-
Masonic world.  That reputation is one of the greatest assets of 
Freemasonry; indeed, only by our reputation do we live and grow, 
since Masons are forbidden to proselyte.  No real Mason ever asks a 
profane to join the Order; the man must seek the Light; not the Light 
seeking the man.
The reputation of Masonry in the world is that of an Order in which 
men bind themselves to secrecy; practice charity and brotherhood; do 
good without self advertising; choose wisely among our petitioners; 
work a gentle influence upon themselves and their fellows towards 
right conduct, clean thinking and fine citizenship.
Freemasonry has certain contacts with the public; for instance, her 
Masonic Homes are public in the sense that they stand as monuments to 
Masonic Charity for all the world to see.  The world at large 
observes us in funeral processions, burying our dead with reverence, 
honor and ceremonies strange to profane eyes.  It watches our Grand 
Lodges lay the corner stones of public buildings, pouring the ancient 
sacrifices of corn, wine and oil; dedicating and consecrating (if it 
is a church) the building to its uses.  It sees us occasionally 
attend Divine services in a body.  It can obtain beautiful books 
about Freemasonry, from which it can learn of the fundamental 
principles which underlie the Order.
But “the secrets of Freemasonry are safely lodged in the repository 
of faithful breasts.”
Some Masons consider certain matters as “secrets” which are not so, 
in fact, even though they are not the subject of common talk or vain 
boast.  It is no “secret” that Freemasonry teaches and inculcates, in 
so far as her power lies, those principles of law, order, morals, 
citizenship, fear and love of God which make for the highest type of 
manhood.
The non-secret teachings of the three degrees are briefly as follows:
In the Entered Apprentice Degree the initiate is taught the necessity 
of a belief in God; of charity towards all mankind, and especially a 
brother Mason; of secrecy; of the meaning of brotherly love; the 
reasons for relief; the greatness of truth; the advantages of 
temperance; the value of fortitude; the part played in Masonic life 
by prudence and the equality of strict justice.
He is charged to inculcate the three great duties; to be reverent 
before God, to pray to Him for help, to venerate Him as the source of 
all that is good.  He is exhorted to practice the Golden Rule and to 
avoid excesses of all kinds.  He is admonished to be quiet and 
peaceable, not to countenance disloyalty and rebellion, to be true 
and just to government and country and to be cheerful under its laws.  
He is charged to come often to lodge but not to neglect his business, 
not to argue about Freemasonry with the ignorant but to learn Masonry 
from Masons, and once again, to be secret.  Finally he is urged to 
present only such candidates as he is sure will agree to all that he 
has agreed to.
In the Fellowcraft Degree he argues that he will be secret regarding 
that which must be kept secret; that he will obey the by-laws of his 
own lodge; and the laws, rules, regulations and edicts of his Grand 
Lodge; to answer proper summons; is again reminded of his duty as a 
Mason in charity and relief.  He agrees that a good Mason is an 
honest and upright man.  He is taught the importance of the seventh 
day and the advantages of learning in general are placed before him, 
with especial reference to the science of geometry.  Emphasis is 
again placed upon a reverent attitude before Deity.
Then he is charged with the need for balanced judgment; is exhorted 
to study the seven liberal arts and is shown that geometry is not 
only a mathematical and Masonic science, but also a moral one.  
Regular behavior is impressed upon him, as well as “the practice of 
all commendable virtues.”
In the Master Mason Degree all that has gone before is again 
emphasized, and many additional duties and responsibilities are laid 
upon the initiate.  Science, secrecy, fidelity to trust, courage, 
resignation and sacrifice are taught in the great drama.  His 
obligations are extended; his brotherly relations with his fellows 
are more clearly and strictly defined.  Her is taught the need for 
willing service; that prayer is not only for the petitioner; that he 
must be worthy of confidence; that his strength is not only for 
himself but for his falling brother; that wisdom in not only for the 
possessor but should be shared; that a brother has the right to know 
of approaching disaster.
He is charged to set a good example; to guard others, as well as 
himself from a breach of fidelity; he must preserve the ancient 
Landmarks and he must not countenance any changes in our established 
customs.  Secrecy is again emphasized; the dignity of the character 
of a Master Mason is to be upheld; the faith and confidence of his 
fellows is put before him as the reward for fidelity and faith.
Reducing these great teachings to the least possible number of words 
and avoiding duplications produces the following list of those 
matters which a Mason is taught, and to which he promises, either 
actually or by implication, complete agreement.  On these rest the 
reputation of the Fraternity.
Belief in God
Charity
Secrecy
Brotherly Love
Relief
Truth
Temperance
Fortitude
Prudence
Justice
Reverence
Prayer
Veneration
Golden Rule
Peaceableness
Good Citizenship
Obedience to Masonic Authority
Honesty
Observance of the Sabbath
Education
Judgment
Fidelity to Trust
Courage
Resignation
Self Sacrifice
Service to Others
Trustworthiness to Confidence
Sharing Strength and Wisdom
Setting a Good Example
Preservation of the Ancient Landmarks
Faith
Dignity

If “every” Freemason lived up to “all” these teachings, what an 
Utopia the world would be!
But what is remarkable is not how many Masons fail, but how many 
succeed!  That they do succeed is evidenced by the reputation of the 
Fraternity in Non-Masonic circles.  Were Masons as a class false to 
their teachings, lax in their conduct, forsworn as to their 
obligations; Freemasonry would not posses the fair reputation she 
has:
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy 
soul and with every mind.  This is the first and great commandment.  
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as 
thyself.  On these two commandments hang all the law and the 
prophets.”
If the Man of Galilee was content to reduce “all the law” to fifty-
three words, surely Freemasonry might formulate an equally short 
statement of her aims and purposes.  But while “all the law” may be 
put into a few words, many thousand words of New Testament are needed 
to explain the teachings of Christianity.
Men learn by repetition.  They absorb that which is told to them, and 
retold, and told once more.  Freemasonry but follows the ancient 
manner of teaching when she iterates and reiterates the duties of a 
Mason towards his God, his neighbor and himself.  But because 
Freemasonry teaches by repetition, her detailed reiteration makes 
possible many ways in which a Mason may offend.  If he does not 
actively break a rule, he may fail as a Mason merely by a negative 
attitude.  To fail to do good is not necessarily to do evil, but 
neither is a failure to work mischief necessarily a doing of good 
works!  It is expected of men that they will fail, otherwise they are 
not men, but Gods!  If no man ever failed, Freemasonry would be 
unnecessary.  When a building is completed, the workmen depart.  When 
the House Not Made With Hands is perfectly erected, the Craft is no 
more use. 
It is one thing to fail in any Masonic duty; it is another to fail so 
publicly that the reputation of the Fraternity is hurt - that 
reputation of which we are taught that its preservation is of vital 
importance.  Occasionally, more’s the pity, it is necessary for a 
Masonic organization to take practical steps in regard to some 
brother who has failed to live up to the Masonic teachings.  Masons 
are only men who have solemnly agreed to do certain things; sometimes 
they are foresworn.  Sometimes our committees do not do their work 
aright and we are given cracked stones to work upon.  Sometimes a 
good man changes as he grows older, and even the sweet and gentle 
influence of the Craft cannot hold him in the straight and narrow 
way.
The lodge in which someone holds membership may well be advised to do 
little rather than much.  There are times when something must be 
done; when the reputation of which we think so much is hurt by 
failure to do.  Then we have all the misery and pain of a Masonic 
trial; the sad washing of dirty linen in the lodge; the grief of 
seeing our good and great Order dragged to some extent into public 
notice; when ever a Mason receives the worst Masonic penalty - 
expulsion, or Masonic death - the world at large usually hears of it.
Few are the Masons who have no friends!  Hence a Masonic trial is 
very apt to create tense feelings in a lodge, if not worse, and the 
harmony which is “the strength and support of all well regulated 
institutions” is made into a discord.

However, it cannot always be helped! - “But in a great many cases it 
can be helped!”

It is human to want to “get even.”  Our brother wrongs us; it is only 
natural to wish him taken before the bar of lodge opinion, and, 
perhaps, punish him for his infraction of his obligation.  Brethren 
often see no further than the immediate present; the immediate wrong 
doing; the immediate lodge trial and its results.  A word of wise 
caution may make him look further.  No man, unless suffering wrong of 
the most grievous character, but may be caused to stop and think by 
reminding him of the many obligations and duties he assumed when he, 
too, became a Mason.  Let all such be asked, gently, kindly, 
considerately but pointedly - “will this action you propose benefit 
you as much as it will injure the lodge and the Fraternity?  Will the 
results, inevitably to some extent public, do more harm to that 
reputation which we cherish than they will good to you?  Is it not 
possible that our erring brother may be brought to make amends by 
less drastic means than the sad lodge trial?
Let no brother retort “but it should not become public!”  Agreed, a 
lodge trial should never be a public matter.  But while we hold our 
own Mystic Tie, and the cord of secrecy is tight about our lips, we 
do not hold relations and friends in the same manner.  John Smith is 
tried and suspended, perhaps expelled.  He no longer goes to lodge.  
People want to know why.  In self defense he says what he can - but 
what can he say?  Inevitably the result of the trial becomes public.  
Then we suffer.
At times it is necessary to stand pain to get rid of a cancer.  But 
the best surgeon does not use a knife until all other means fail.  
That lodge, that Master and those brethren who seek to compose 
differences, win the erring back to the path their feet should never 
have left, do a real service to their lodge, to their offended 
brother, to their erring brother and to the Fraternity whose 
reputation “should be our constant care.”
To whisper good counsel in the ear of an erring brother is sound 
Masonic teaching.  To prevent tarnishing the reputation of the 
Fraternity we must not only endeavor to live up to the high level of 
our teachings, but strive to help our brethren do likewise.  The best 
way, the brotherly way, the way of Freemasonry is by kindly caution, 
the friendly word of admonition, the hand stretched out to assist and 
save the worthy falling brother.
Only when these fail - and never then until after thinking first of 
the Order, next of the lodge and last of self - should we go to the 
court of last resort, prefer charges, have a trial and do ourselves 
the injury which comes always from the knife of publicity in the body 
of our Ancient Craft. 
Freemasonry - so we truly believe - is one of God’s bright tools for 
shaping of the rough ashlars which we are.
“LET US STRIVE TO KEEP IT BRIGHT!”