textfiles/magazines/STB/stb-1934-08.txt

SHORT TALK BULLETIN -Vol.XII   August, 1934   No.8

GIFTS OF THE MAGI

by: Unknown

“. . . and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto 
him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.”  (Matthew 21:11)
“A young man asks, ‘What will I receive from Freemasonry if I become 
a member?  My father was a Mason, and I’d like to be, but I want to 
know what the Order has to offer me.’”
Freemasonry “offer” nothing.  The petitioner requests; the Lodge may, 
or may not, give.  But the question is entirely legitimate; any young 
man sufficiently thoughtful to want to know something of the Craft 
which he expresses a desire to join, is good material for a Lodge, 
and should receive a satisfying answer.
The first gift of Freemasonry is that of standing in the community.  
To pass the investigation of a competent committee, and the secret 
and unanimous ballot of a Lodge, is to be stamped with the earmark of 
a good character.  Freemasons have an enviable reputation.  To become 
one is to share in that reputation, since acceptance as a Freemason 
marks recognition of character by men well thought of in the 
community.  Cicero said:  “To disregard what the world thinks of us 
is not only arrogant, but utterly shameless.”  If his Freemasonry 
makes the world think better of a man, it is worth all it may cost in 
time and effort.	
The young man who becomes a Freemason has the privilege of giving 
charity and relief to those less fortunate, in a way which is 
beautiful, because it is secret and unselfish.  Addison wrote:  
“Charity is a virtue of the heart and not of the hands.”  As all know 
who are concerned in Masonic charity, it is truly of the giving 
spirit.
The young Mason has also the privilege of receiving charity and 
relief for himself, should he need it.  It is to be emphasized that 
Freemasonry is not primarily a charity and relief organization.  
These are incidental to her practice and ac result of her teachings.  
No Freemason has a right to either, but he has certainty of receiving 
both, should he, or those dear to him, be in need.
This gift of the Craft makes a greater appeal to men as they grow 
older.  To the young man just facing the world, with the future 
stretching hopefully before him, the possibility of needing the 
comfort of a hand on his shoulder, a check for a ton of coal, a 
helping hand for a penniless widow, seem remote.  But he receives the 
precious privilege of giving to those who have traveled further on 
life’s pathway.	
Gifts of Freemasonry are the opportunities she provides for service 
other than charity; service in friendships, service to the ill, 
service to brethren in trouble, service to the Lodge.  Nor care that 
the service to be rendered may not be great.  Wordsworth sang: “Small 
service is true service while it lasts The daisy, by the shadow that 
it casts, Protects the lingering dewdrop from the sun.”
As all know who have lived, service to others generates the greatest 
happiness.  He who lives for himself alone, lives miserably.  He who 
lives somewhat for others finds that peace which passeth 
understanding.
The Ancient Craft gives her sons a liberal education in the difficult 
art of character building.  World activities are founded upon 
ramifications of character.  We travel in a railroad train at 
dizzying speeds, secure in the belief that the engine is controlled 
by a man of “character;” sober, reliable, industrious, careful, 
cautious and able.  We never see him; we do not know him personally; 
but we believe that he could not be where he is, had he not 
demonstrated character.  Business is done on credit, which is only 
faith in a man’s word.  We accept as money a piece of paper with a 
name on it, certain that the character of the maker of the check and 
the officials of the bank, will secure to us the money for which the 
checks calls for.  We have faith in the character of the doctor, our 
lawyer and the judge in the court.  Character is the foundation of 
our civilization.  Freemasonry offer such opportunities for the 
development and the increase of the stature of character as can be 
found nowhere else in like amount.
“Many men build as cathedrals were built, the part nearest the ground 
finished first; but that part which soars towards heaven, the turrets 
and spires, forever incomplete.” Beecher’s simile need not apply to 
Freemasonry; he who does not finish his turret and his spire of 
character in the Fraternity fails because he will not, not because he 
cannot.
To the Freemason the Lodge offers the gift of intelligent patriotism.  
Not the “one hundred per cent American, America first and the devil 
take the hindmost” patriotism of the demagogue, but the real 
patriotism of genuine love of country, which comes to those who 
genuinely try to make their country lovable.  The history of 
Freemasonry in this nation is inextricably intermingled with the 
stirring events and the deathless deeds of literally hundreds of 
Masonic patriots without whose devotion the United States might not 
have been a nation.  Paul Revere, Warren, Washington, Marshall, 
Jefferson, Lafayette and Franklin - pages might be filled with 
immortal names of great men in our history who have known and loved 
and used the Ancient Craft for the betterment of the nation.
“For how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds
For the ashes of his fathers
And the Temples of his Gods?”
It is this patriotism which Freemasonry teaches; we may not keep the 
bridge with old Horatius, but in the Lodge we can and do learn to 
reverence the “ashes of our fathers” and the Temples of our liberties 
and our traditions.
Freemasonry gives to her sons the gentle gift of fellowship.  Our 
fiends are those we know well, who love us, perhaps, as much because 
of our faults as in spite of them.  Those with whom we fellowship we 
may see only once, and yet, because of our common bond, we know them 
as men who might become friends, did opportunity offer; it is to be 
hoped that they fell thus of us.  The spirit of fellowship in a Lodge 
cannot elsewhere be found.  We come to the tiled door a stranger; 
when passed within we are not among strangers, but brethren.  William 
Morris phrased it thus:  
“Forsooth, brethren, fellowship is heaven and lack of fellowship is 
hell; fellowship is life and lack of fellow-ship is death; and the 
deeds that ye do upon earth, it is for fellowship’s sake that ye do 
them.”
Freemasonry stops not with fellowship.  She gives the gracious gift 
of the most favorable opportunity to make friends which can come to 
any man.
“If a man does not make new acquaintances as he advances through life 
he will soon find himself left alone.  A man, Sir, should keep his 
friendships in constant repair.”
Samuel Johnson’s philosophy might have been written of his who finds 
the Lodge the cradle of new friendships.  The initiate is vouched for 
to his fellows.  This is a “man,” so the committee has said.  He is 
worthy.  He is well qualified.  His reputation suffers not under the 
tongues of his friends.  He is honest, upright, of good character.  
What the committee has said of him to the Lodge which accepts him, 
other committees and the Lodge have said of every member the newly-
made brother will greet.  Surely no happier beginning to friendships 
could be imagined.  The young Master Mason who cannot find in his 
Lodge the men who will later become the friends of his heart - surely 
is he fortunate in his choice of a Lodge!
The Lodge gives the gentle gift of innocent recreation to her sons.  
The initiate will find here a conception of “good time” quite 
different from that of the world without.  The “good time” of a Lodge 
smoker, banquet, informal picnic, entertainment, ladies’ night, 
concert, Masonic talk or what-have-you; has a charm all its own quite 
distinct from similar functions arranged by other bodies.  “Pleasure 
the servant. Virtue looking on,” wrote rare Ben Johnson, almost as if 
he had learned the phrase in the pleasures of refreshment in Lodge.
The “camaraderie” of the social hour of the Lodge cannot be equaled 
elsewhere.  Within these portals where men upon the level and part 
upon the square, the “good time” is not confused by questions of “who 
is he?” or “what does he do?”  Men enjoy Lodge functions not only 
because of the “innocent mirth” which the Old Charges enjoin, but 
because of the freedom and happiness; one must accept all others in 
the Lodge at face value.
A great gift of the Fraternity is that of home in a strange place.  
That “The Mason is never homesick” is a truism.  In practically any 
town in the land - aye, in thou-sands of towns the world over - are 
Freemasons and Freemason’s Lodges.  Come to any Lodge a stranger and 
knock on the door.  If the knocker can prove that he is a member a 
royal welcome awaits, warming to the heart, easing the pain of 
loneliness, comforting to him who is far from those he loves and 
knows.  One thinks naturally of Byron’s:
“Tis sweet to know there is an eye will mark our coming, And will 
look brighter when we come.”
and Shakespeare’s:
“His worth is warrant for his welcome.” Nor is this “home for the 
homeless” all sentiment.  
Many a Mason has been stranded in a strange place - and been speeded 
to his destination by brotherly hands.  Many a man in a town he does 
not know has entered it a stranger and departed with new friends upon 
his list.  The Mystic Tie is a “real” tie, too strong for breaking, 
be the strain put upon it never so great.
A gift of the Fraternity which it is good to take from the box of 
memory and muse upon is that of kinship with the old.  To do as all 
good brothers and fellows have done who have passed this tiled door 
before is inspiring to all but the most practical minded.  To kneel 
where George Washington knelt; to take the obligation which was 
sacred to Benjamin Franklin; to sit, in fancy, with the first Grand 
Master in London; to be initiated with Elias Ashmole; to look over 
the shoulder of the unknown priest whose careful penmanship lives to 
this day on our Regius poem; to gather with Athelstan and the great 
Assembly in York a thousand years ago - to go back, back, and still 
further back, through the Roman Collegia, Ancient Mystery, into Egypt 
and perhaps the very birth of the legend of Isis and Osiris - be 
spiritually one of a long line of brethren who have knelt at this 
Altar, taken these vows, lived this life and loved these teachings - 
that is a gift all Freemasons may have for the taking, and which none 
take but value.
“O, there are Voices in the Past
Links of a broken chain;
Wings that can bear me back to times
Which cannot come again;
May God forbid that I should lose
The echoes that remain.” (Proctor)
A companion gift is the kinship with the present day.  
More than three million men in this nation are now living who have 
taken the Masonic obligations, and who hail the new brother, as he 
may hail them, with that dearest of titles given by man to men - 
“Brother!”  These three million - more than four millions in the 
world - will look upon the work you may do in the Lodge as important.  
Anciently it was written “Laborare est orare” - to labor is to pray.  
He who accepts the responsibilities of Masonic membership will learn 
to pray by unselfish labor; labor on committees, labor on fellowcraft 
teams, perhaps labor in conferring degrees.  Labors of love, all, but 
all bringing their own reward.  Not the least of her gifts is this 
opportunity the Ancient Craft puts before her sons, that they may 
work for the common good.
One of Freemasonry’s most precious gifts to those who seek her light 
is her emphasis on religion.  Freemasonry is not a religion - 
Freemasonry is “religion,” which, without the qualifying article, is 
quite a different matter.  A Religion is a method or mode of worship 
of God as conceived in that system.  “Religion”, with no qualifying 
article, is knowledge of, obedience to, dependence on and utter 
belief in Deity.  The Freemason mat worship any God he pleases, and 
name as he will; God, Jehovah, Allah, Buddha, Christ, Primordial Urge 
or Great First Cause.  Freemasonry’s term for Deity is “The Great 
Architect of the Universe,” but she cares no whit what her sons may 
call Him in their prayers.
For a thousand reasons men may wish to “become” Freemasons, but the 
great reason why men “remain” Freemasons, devoted to the principles 
and teachings of the Order. is vitally concerned with this non-
doctrinal, non-sectarian, non-dogmatic teaching of religious truths 
which neither conflict not interfere with the tenets and practices of 
any religion; nay, which buttress and uphold the teachings of the 
Church.
All men at heart are religious and desire kinship and communication 
with a Supreme Power.  Many men do not phrase this need to 
themselves; many never think of it.  Yet it is within all, as truly 
as hunger and thirst for material food and drink are present.  
Freemasonry satisfies this hunger in men who cannot, or do not, 
appease it in church; Freemasonry adds to the hunger, and therefore 
to the satisfaction, of men who “do” find in the church the 
gratification of a spiritual need the stronger that they may not put 
it into words.
In a Lodge emphasis is everywhere upon an Unseen Presence.  Lodges 
are erected to God.  Freemasons open and close Lodges with Prayer.  A 
candidate receives the benefit of Lodge prayer and later must pray 
for himself.  The number three is everywhere in Lodge - three 
degrees, three stations, three principal officers, three Great 
Lights, three Lesser Lights, three steps on the Master’s Carpet, 
three pillars . . . and three is the numerical equivalent of the 
triangle, most ancient symbol of Deity.  The initiate may learn of 
this as he will; he cannot escape the implications of the Letter “G” 
whether he will or no.  As millions have learned before him, he will 
come to the conviction that there is a “Winding Stair,” which “does” 
lead to a “real’ Middle Chamber the Letter in the East stands for a 
“reality,” to know and understand which is the end and aim of life.
The young man petitions a Lodge, is passed by the committee, receives 
a favorable ballot of his fellows, and lives thereafter with the 
proud privilege of wearing a Masonic apron and saying to those who 
ask, “I am a Master Mason.”  For a little space he walks forward up 
the hill; then he turns his steps downward on the sunny side, facing 
the western sun.  At long last the shadows fall and he steps into the 
sunlight beyond the horizon.
Then he has that precious heritage which is for all Masons, and only 
for Master Masons - to be laid to rest with the tears of his 
brethren, the white apron of initiation the only decoration on his 
bier, the solemn words of the comforting Masonic service in the ears 
of his relatives and friends, and, at the end, peace under the Sprig 
of Acacia of immortal hope.  Surely this is not least among the gifts 
which the gentle Craft has for those who love her and whom she loves.
The greatest gift?  It is, of course, a matter of opinion.  To some 
it will be one, to others another of those here so slightly sketched.  
Sadly sang the great Persian poet:
“There was a Door to which I found no key
There was a Veil through which I might not see;
Some little talk awhile of Me and Thee
There was - and then no more of Me and Thee.”
To many, her greatest gift is  this; Freemasonry gives to her sons a 
Key.  Many never fit it to the door.  Others turn the Key, but never 
push the portal wide.  Some there are who swing the gate on its 
hinges to enter the “foreign countries” of Freemasonry, there to 
wander and to ponder, to study, and to learn, to delve and to dig 
into the foundations, the symbolism, the history, the inner meaning 
of the old, old society.  For these are the gifts transcending gold 
and frankincense and myrrh; gifts of spiritual satisfaction, of 
knowledge gained, of understanding won. 
For many pleasures of this life man has invented names,; the glory of 
music, the loveliness of painting, the beauty of sculpture, the 
satisfactions of the body, the happiness of unselfishness.  For 
others, more ethereal, no words have yet been coined.  But the Key 
leads to the door, beyond which stretches the path to knowledge of 
those unknown, unnamed joys which only the possessors understand.
In Freemasonry, as in the Great Light, it is said:
“Ask and ye shall receive; Seek and ye shall find; 
Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”
He who asks, seeks and knocks, in Freemasonry will receive gifts as 
beautiful as they are indescribable, as desirable as they are 
imponderable.  And here the word of those older and wiser in the 
Craft, since it is not given to any man to catalog in words that 
which no words may limn.
Say to the you man who asks you what he will find in Freemasonry; 
“You will receive what you expect and all you expect.”  Say to him: 
“If you expect little and give much, you will receive far more than 
tongue may tell.”  Finally, sat unto him: “Ask of Freemasonry what 
you will - and it shall be given to you, even the gifts of the Magi.  
But ask of her nothing, unless you come with a heart open first to 
give.”
“FOR THAT, AND THAT ONLY, IS BROTHERHOOD!”