A
LIBRARY OF AGES
Masonry
may be described as a library of the ages. In the portrayal of the three degrees
representing the stages of life, Masonry does not place a cover over this or
that book and forbid one to read. Every volume is
available. Masonry is the March of Man, and the library of the ages must
reveal all- the good and the bad, the failures and disappointments, the
virility of vice and the victory of virtue! Masonry has come into being as
the practical means of showing man his own mature, his own being, and his
relationship to all men.
Faith is the product of experience, not of logic. All the genuine religious
teachings in the history of man are but the written record of his own
experiences, and nothing is convincing except those personal events between
the individual and God. There is theology, which is interesting, there are
various ceremonies which create an atmosphere of sacredness; there are
buildings of priceless beauty which lend dignity to the meaning of
religion. All are part of the library of ages. But Masonry, learning from
the centuries of experience, teaches that man himself must look upon the
composite picture. He must observe and decide.
Masonry then is a record of life wherein man may see and read the error of
evil and the truth of good. From an honest presentation of the perpetual
struggle between these forces the Mason comes to know a God, but his God.
back to top
|
