from whence came you?
Published in the New Age Magazine (Scottish Rite Journal)
Sept. 1986
"ED, now that I'm a Master Mason son, how am I really going to benefit from
being a Mason?" asked the recently Raised Mason.
Ed, a Past Master and posting instructor, looked at the young man with
sagacious understanding and wondered what life and Masonry had to offer him.
"Many people live in darkness, " Ed said, "never to find the light. They
proudly wear their age as some kind of sacred vestment which the mere number of
years has seemingly ordained upon them. These same people believe that the time
spent traveling is more important than the distance traveled.
"Ecclesiastes expressed it this way, 'Better is a poor and wise youth than an
old and foolish king.' In other words, it's not how long you live that counts,
but rather what kind of life you live which matters. You'll benefit from Masonry
because once you live and apply the teachings of our hallowed Craft, you'll
discover that you'll have traveled a much greater distance in your life than.
those who boast the highest number of years-or age-as their greatest
achievement."
Ed continued, "Before joining this Fraternity, many men have had little or no
moral instruction other than perhaps the Ten Commandments or values taught in
the home. When Masonry came into their lives-and once they put their lives into
Masonry-Masonry became for them a way where they could travel great distances on
the paths of moral, intellectual, and spiritual advancement. Incidentally, have
you ever reflected on the question propounded to you as an Entered Apprentice
which asked, 'From whence came you?"'
"To be honest Ed, I memorized it for my proficiency but I'm not sure that I
understand what it means."
"The question 'From whence came you? has several meanings," said Ed. "To
answer your original question on how you'll benefit from .being a Mason, I'd
like to ask you some questions. Based upon your answers, you'll know where you
are, where you need to go, and whether you've really been traveling on the
Masonic Path.
"Since you were Raised a Master Mason, have you practiced brotherly love,
relief, and charity? Have you learned that true charity has nothing to do with
money but alludes to the giving of yourself and the forgiving of your fellow
brothers and sisters? When tempted to speak ill of someone else, and especially
of another Mason, have you circumscribed your thoughts by the compass? Have you
enriched your mind with the seven liberal arts and sciences? Have your endeavors
been supported by wisdom, strength, and beauty? Have you gone to the aid of a
distressed Brother, his widow and orphans? "Have you tried to penetrate the
hidden meaning of our symbols?
- Has Masonry taught you a self enforced morality; that is to say, do you do
good even when someone isn't looking?
- Has Masonry given you a keen appreciation and awareness of the oneness and
underlying harmony of the universe?
- Has Masonry taught you reverence and respect for all religions even though
they may differ from your own?
- Has Masonry become for you, a lamp unto your own feet, to seek the God of
your heart without the need for third party intermediaries?
- Has being a Mason improved your work ethics and business conduct?
- "Has Masonry given you a deep appreciation of the value of history,
freedom and knowledge?
- Have the allegorical lessons made you abhor intellectual tyranny and
spiritual despotism?
- Have you used the common gavel to divest your heart of deceit, unworthy
passions, prejudices, slander and backbiting?
- Has Masonry made you friendships which transcend the superficial?
- Has Masonry taught you courtesy in the home, Lodge and world?
- Have you spread liberal amounts of brotherly love-inside the Fraternity as
well as without-with the trowel?
- Has Masonry added something noble and uplifting in your life?
- Has it imbued you with eternal values to help you live in a mundane world?
- Has it burned in your heart the adoration and justness of the Great
Architect of the Universe?"
"Well, how did you do?"
"I have some things to work on," said the young Mason, while still pondering
over the questions. "I'd like to hear more."
Ed continued, "Humanity is hoodwinked. In other words, humanity is for the
most part in the dark. Envy, superstition, greed, hate, desire for power over
others and the pursuit of materialism as the sole goal in life are the
self-inflicted darkness to which people sentence themselves. Masonry is the
sunshine which dispels the darkness and herein is the age-old purpose of our
Order.
"As a Mason, your lineage is more glorious than the bloodlines of kings,
potentates and Caesars. Your loins have been girded by that pure reminder to
live an innocent and just life: the sheepskin. You've been armed with the
working tools of life and Light to do battle in a world beset by darkness. And
you've partaken of the fraternal spirit which even today, echoes the presence of
King Solomon, Hiram Abiff, and other noble personages. You're in good keeping
and in good company.
"Masonry is a force, eternal and vibrant, symbolized by the common gavel.
When applied to our laudable undertakings, it produces a perfectly squared and
polished stone, tried and true. This force should be applied to ourselves, our
families, our countries and the world.
"Our rituals are unique and free of dogma; our symbols, ancient and sublime;
our history, glorious. noble, inspiring, and uplifting. How fortunate-and
blessed- are those men who can rightfully say, 'I am a Mason. Like the craftsman
of old, I too am laboring to build a temple not made with human hands. Like my
Brethren before me, I too have suffered hostile attacks made by the ignorant,
the fanatical and the tyrannical. I have witnessed our Temples destroyed by
ruthless barbarism and wars. Yet I labor onward. I have been accused of heresy;
yet I'm a man of God, with God, and for God."
From whence came you...?
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