a bible presentation talk
My
Brother, you are now a Master Mason. You have served your apprenticeship as a
bearer of burdens and as a hewer of stone in the quarries, and have come at last
to the exalted position of an overseer of the work, a Mason, entitled to travel
in foreign countries, work and receive Master's wages. We have given you your
tools to work with and have taught you their Masonic uses. We have taught you
how to properly divide your time by the twenty-four inch gauge, in order that
you might have eight hours in which to work, eight in which to rest and eight
more to serve your fellow man and Worship your Creator. We gave you a common
gavel with which to rid your mind and conscience of the vices and superfluities
of life, so that when the appointed time arrives, you will find your proper
place in the Spiritual Temple, that house not made with hands, eternal in the
heavens. We have taught you to walk uprightly by the plumb, to square your
actions by the square of virtue and to meet and work upon the level. And
finally, we gave you a trowel with which to spread the cement of Brotherly Love
and Affection which binds us together into the greatest Fraternity that the
world has ever known - a Brotherhood which extends into every far-flung corner
of the earth.
But, my Brother, there is one thing that we have not yet given you; something
which every workman must have in order to do a good job. We have not yet given
you a set of plans to work by, or, in our own Masonic language, your Trestle
Board. Therefore, it is my pleasure and privilege at this time to present you
that Trestle Board, and here it is.
Here is your book of plans - the most complete set of plans ever given to man.
Here you will find a plan to guide you, to sustain you, in any contingency. In
joy or in sorrow, in riches or in poverty, in fair weather or in foul, the
answer to every question, to every need, can be found between the covers of this
Great Book. How you will choose and use these plans, my Brother, is not for me
to say; that is something you must workout for yourself. You may find the answer
in the words of the prophets; in the Ten Commandments as laid down by Moses, and
other records of the Mosaic Law found in the book of Exodus - in the inspiration
of the Psalms as written by David and those other men who came after him - or in
the wisdom of the Proverbs of King Solomon. Or you may find it by example - the
example of that perfect and most successful Life lived over two thousand years
ago by a humble carpenter. But let me tell you this my Brother, and I say it in
all sincerity; whenever you turn to this Great Book to find your plan, it will
never fail you.
So, we give you this set of plans, this Trestle Board, with our best wishes and
our blessing. It is yours to serve and guide you, in your social, your business
and your family life. And now, properly equipped with your Trestle Board, go
forth and do your work as a man and as a Mason.
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