WORKING TOOLS ARE THE SYMBOL OF EVERY CULTURE
A public lecture for non-Masonic audiences
Working tools in every age, are the hallmark which attest to the
degree of skill attained by any society or nation. Over the millenniums of time,
in more cases than not, only the working tools remain, long after the people
have disappeared. Archeologists now unearth these tools and from them, they can
with remarkable accuracy, reconstruct the civilization of that day.
The tools of the man designate his skills, his work, his
knowledge and his dreams. We as Freemasons probably realize better than most,
the significance of the tools found, for we can trace the achievements of the
toolmakers by the tools they made and used. The simple evolution of the club for
instance; to a stone axe, was a traumatic advance. The original club was a
primitive weapon for offensive and defensive use; the axe or adze became a
creative tool. Even the simplest tool extended the ability of the earliest
craftsmen, to create images, carve canoes and shape stones for the builders use.
More elaborate tools brought more refinement to our civilization
and these advances brought about writing; engraving; weaving; painting;
sculpture. Then as the world hurtled into one cultural and industrial revolution
after another - we found printing; architecture; mathematics; engineering;
astronomy; navigation; and chemistry. All of these sciences are dependent upon
the tools which enable man to execute the innate skills within himself.
At this point I would like to talk about the working tools of
some distinct societies in this part of the world that we are familiar with;
namely the Eskimo and coastal Indians. Let us imagine a trip back into their
history, legends and workings.
While this in no way reflects on freemasonry, what I would like
to show is, that each society when given specific aims to be achieved within
their environment, develop and utilize certain tools that enable them to become
the people that they are. Their tools are incorporated into the symbolism of
their race. Let us consider the working tools that could be compared by their
cultures to the working tools that we as Masons accept.
In our imagination, let us enter into the Eskimo Chiefs igloo.
It is the meeting of the tribe, in, what to them is the Eskimo Grand Lodge. The
Chief sits on a tremendous white bearskin and presents the working tools of his
craft to the young men who have reached manhood.
The chief says -
"The working tools of a blood brother Eskimo, are, the polished
runner; the glistening harpoon; and the humble snow knife. These instruments are
not only practical tools in the every day life of Northern man, but through
there proper use have become symbols of our race."
"The Polished Runner" is an instrument made use of by Eskimo
families to take their goods from place to place, but we as brethren of the
North visualize taking our worldly goods and knowledge to share with our
brothers across the vast territories.
"The Glistening Harpoon" is the means of sustenance to our
people but it can also show that we can strike the mind of man, with new
thoughts, with new teaching and ever be the leaders in the minds of Northern
man.
"The Humble Snow Knife" which in the hands of skilled craftsmen
can erect an architecturally perfect dome from nature's simplest building
material - snow. The deeper meaning is to never belittle the skills of others,
but to utilize our own skills for the greatest comfort and survival of all
mankind.
Next let us visit in the great wooden long house of a coastal
Indian tribe. The their Chief sits on a raised split cedar plank and presents
the young warriors with ancestral tools. As we sit in wonder in that smoke
filled lodge we hear the Great Chief say -
"I present you with the working tools of the tribe; the
"Obsidian Adze", the "Cedar Root Wedge" and the "Bone Needle."
With the Adze you are empowered to create the magnificent totems
which are our heritage, to carve the big canoes which carry us across the waters
to reach out to our brothers that we might share our knowledge with them and
thus continue on the work of our ancestors.
"The Cedar Root Wedge" is a simple. tapered. tough cedar root,
which was used since time began by our craftsmen to split the great cedar logs
into the planks with which they built their lodges. It is a simple but effective
tool in the hands of skilled craftsmen.
The moral of the wedge is that it illustrates the capability of
splitting from the parent tree, a part, a plank, which when taken with others
can he made into a new whole. The lesson is, that as you split from the parent
tree you build and rebuild to form ever stronger ties with your heritage and
your history.
"I now present you with "The Bone Needle." This tiny,
insignificant needle was, for primitive man, often the difference between life
and death. Cold and exposure kills men; the needle in the hands of women sewed
his clothes, fashioned his tents, and was the tool of a thousand uses in every
Indian encampment.
Handing the young brave a needle, the chief now says:
"Even as with this needle and sinew, skins may be sewn together
to bring comfort to the members of the tribe; so in the sense of remembering our
heritage and history, may you bind one Brother to another with the sinews of
friendship".
The company of Freemasons is one of the oldest societies known
to man and with this heritage let us be sure that the story of our work in this
life lives on in the record of the working tools that we leave behind. Primitive
man has come a long way from the stone axe to the computer; adapting, learning,
progressing. This is the nature of man. Masons have come from the prehistory of
rough ashlar buildings to gleaming skyscrapers. Let us never forget that the
basis for our successful continuance is the square, the level and the compasses
- shining brightly in the reflected light of the Grand Architect of The
Universe.
back to top | 
