A NEW DELIGHT
For many years prior to serving as Grand Master of Masons in Georgia in 1938,
Brother John L. Travis was a serious and dedicated Masonic student and lecturer.
In 1914, a series of his lectures, "First Three Steps," was published for the
benefit of the new Mason. These scholarly lectures contain timeless challenges
that are as applicable today as they were then. "A New Delight" has been
adapted from one of those lectures.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Care has been taken not to change this script into more
contemporary language. Rather, the language of the early 1900's has been
preserved for "flavor."
There could be no better advice to men who are taking, as you are, their
first step in Masonry, than that they should take due heed of all that upon
which they enter. You have entered this evening as apprentices into the greatest
school of morality and spiritual knowledge to be found in the world by men who
are as unprepared as you are. Masonry is the school in which you are taught how
scientifically to live your life in accordance with the will of God and how to
regulate your conduct so that every act, word and thought shall be in harmony
with the divine laws. By a cheerful and conscientious compliance with those laws
and with the precepts of Masonry you will reach that point where death will have
no terrors; where, when the call comes, you can, without fear and without
improper regret, "draw the drapery of your couch about you and lie down to
pleasant dreams;" where your ears will be attuned to the harmony of the spheres
and your eyes will see the light which "never was on land or sea." By a cheerful
compliance with the laws and precepts of Masonry you will reach such a point
of development as you cannot believe even to exist in your present condition
and with your present knowledge.
Masonry teaches by signs, symbols and ceremonies. Every word, motion, and
even your very foot-prints since you first appeared at the door of this lodge
room have been full of a profound meaning; and these very words, motions and
steps, together with the symbols which you see displayed about you, have hidden
in them that mighty wisdom which was revealed by the Great Creator to the men
who lived before the flood--the primitive revelation which guided the footsteps
of the ancestors of the patriarchs. When you come to see and to understand the
beautiful and yet simple system of Masonic philosophy you will find a new
happiness and every leaf and stone will contain for you a new delight.
It is impossible for me this evening to give you any explanation of many of
these most important symbols. Therefore, we are compelled to leave for future
study the plumb, the level, the square, the compasses, the Holy Bible, the
pillars, the altar and many other of the symbols of Masonry, and we will confine
ourselves to the Apron, which is perhaps the oldest of all symbols. After the
Fall, as it is called, in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve made for themselves
aprons of leaves, and the girdle and apron have been ever used as symbols of
profound truth. The deepest of these meanings you are not perhaps capable of understanding, as to know all the meanings of the apron would require a most
extended knowledge of ancient religions, ancient philosophies, astronomy,
geometry, history and ethnology, and as you are just come to us from the outer
darkness, to throw upon you too much light would have the effect that too much
light ever has--it would blind you and would be worse than the darkness from
whence you came. However, some of the external meanings of the Apron can be
given to you and may be the means of inducing you to seek for the further and
deeper significations of this wonderful symbol. Pulling up the bib and pulling
down the skirt you see a triangle with the point upward and a square. The square
in this aspect of the Apron symbolizes matter, physical matter, the earth and
the appetites and passions which belong to the physical body. The square in
its various aspects and forms has many other meanings which you will learn when
you are entitled to know them. The equilateral triangle with the point
uppermost, symbolizes God in existence, while the right angle triangle, such as
this is, with the point uppermost, signifies God in action and also the works of
God and as man is considered to be among His greatest works it signifies the
soul of man which is the spark from God. This is sometimes represented by a
flame, the flame representing the triple nature of man, the fire, the light and
the heat, representing the soul, the spirit and the body--three in one--and the
point being upward as a flame, indicates aspiration. To quote from the old
hymn:
"Rivers to the ocean run,
Nor stay in all their course; Fire, ascending, seeks the Sun,
Both speed them to their source. "So the soul that's born of God
Longs to see His heavenly face; Upward tends to His abode,
To rest in His embrace."
In the Apron you thus see the representation of the soul and spirit in the
triangle reaching upward to the highest things and the body, represented by
the square, which hold!i it down to earth.
It is the purpose and object of Masonry to teach you how to conform your life
by the practice of the virtues of morality--honesty, charity, brotherly love,
relief, truth, purity in heart and thought, so that the body may be raised to a
higher rate of vibration, a higher condition, and be made a fit dwelling place
for the Mighty Spirit, the spark from the divine fire which the Great Creator
placed there at your birth. In order that this body may be a fit temple for God,
you must cleanse and purify, removing from it every trace of intentional
wrong-doing and making it clean and sweet and pure and holy, so that the glory
of God may descend upon it and illuminate it, and that you may become a beacon
for the guidance of all those who are seeking light.
You may think that this is an ideal and not capable of practical
demonstration. You may be surprised to learn that the half has not been told you
of the capabilities of the human soul for development, growth and understanding,
and that in the course of one short human life you can reach to heights which in
your present condition you are incapable of conceiving.
Masonry is a scientific school. It does not depend upon theory, but every
single point of its instruction has been tested by the experience of millions of
men in all ages of the world. Not a single man ever lived in accordance with the
Masonic tenets that did not get accurately, scientifically and impartially the
absolute compensation for every single good act of his life. And there can be
no safe, sane or permanent spiritual growth except on the lines laid down by
Masonry. Because the teachings of Masonry are founded on the eternal truth.
Masonry has known for hundreds of years that the thoughts of the heart make
us what we are, and that it is possible for man to control those thoughts, to
keep out the bad and call in the good and by controlling those thoughts we can
control every act of our lives and be no longer mere derelicts tossed about and
blown hither and yon by every passing wind, but we can move forward grandly,
steadily and irresistibly toward that goal of happiness which can be reached
only as the result and reward of honest effort.
There is another meaning of the Apron. The square is used to symbolize the
receiving faculties, and the triangle the giving powers. ln this Apron you can
see your life history in that heretofore you have received far more than you
have given. Masonry has long ago discovered that happiness consists in giving
not less than we receive. Heretofore you have received more benefits than you
have conferred, but by this symbol you are told that you cannot keep this up.
You must confer at least as much as you receive. Emerson says in his wonderful
essay on Compensation: "Benefit i~ the end of nature. But for every benefit
which you receive, a tax is levied. He is great who confers the most
benefits--to receive favors and render none. In the order of nature we cannot
render benefits to those from whom we receive them, or only seldom. But the
benefit we receive must be rendered again, line for line, deed for deed, cent
for cent, to somebody."
Heretofore Masonry has had no concern with your conduct. It has had no
obligation to you, and you have had none to it. You are now accepted into
membership in the oldest society or association in the world, and from the moment of your reception here, every member of that society throughout the world
owes you obligations of vast importance. Your reception here may be truly said
to be the greatest benefit which has ever been conferred upon you in your
whole life. Do not forget that from this moment you owe Masonry a most sacred
duty. This Apron, which is presented to you freely by the lodge to be your own
property, and which we trust you will preserve and cherish until it shall be
laid at last about you when your body shall be placed in the grave-this Apron,
for the first time tied about your waist tonight, is the emblem of purity and
innocence. Not the innocence of the infant who cannot think evil, nor, if he
could, can he carry it into effect, but the innocence of the strong man, that
innocence which is better expressed by the word "harmlessness;" the innocence of him who knows wrong and can do it, yet chooses the right because it is
right.
This Apron you may remove when you leave the lodge room, but symbolically it
will ever be tied about you, and to your dying day you can never remove the
obligation which this garment symbolizes. If you disgrace it by dishonesty,
stain it by impurity or by any of those things which are immoral, you will be
inexpressibly base, for you will violate your own most sacred promise and
also--and now since you know it, it will be a deliberate violation--one of the
fundamental laws of nature of God.
You are thinking that some Masons do not live as they should, and that if
they do not live right, you, too, can be excused for failure to perform your
duties and discharge your obligations. Yes, my Brother, some men do fail to do
right, and this is found not only among Masons, but among other classes as well.
But do you think it any excuse for the murderer that other men have committed
murder, or to the thief that other men steal, or to the deserter that others
have basely left their duty in the face of danger? No, my friend, you are now to
try to live by higher rules; not to be as good or better than others, but to be
better than yourself.
Purify your heart, therefore, my Brother. And remember that purity of heart
is a condition to happiness and spiritual growth. For when the great day of
judgment shall come, if you have to offer to the Most High for a temple a
dwelling place, only a mind full of lust and filthy imaginings and a body de
based by impurity and evil practices, what will be your condition? If, instead
of a fit dwelling place, you can offer to the King of all the earth and sky but
a pig wallow, will you not in that day call upon the mountains and the rocks to
fall upon you and hide you from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne?
But if you can truly say on that day, "Dear Lord, here is myself, as a living
temple, swept and garnished by labors for others, purified both within and
without by love, charity, and truth, plumbed by the plumb of justice and right,
level with the level of brotherly love and humility, and square with the square
of virtue," then indeed will the Divine Spirit enter into your heart and dwell
there and give you peace.
Therefore, guard thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues
of life and death.
HOW TO USE THIS SHORT TALK
There are several ways in which this Short Talk can be used effectively in
Lodge .
It can be read! However, this is the least preferable way.
It can be memorized and recited as a lecture. If this is done, it would be
wise to preface it with an explanation that it is in the phraseology of the
early 1900's.
It can be used as a tool in providing Entered Apprentices with added instruction for them to "study at your leisure." Possibly it could be used to stimulate
their interest and provide them with added material for discussion.
Probably the greatest use will be for this Short Talk Bulletin to be used as
the basis for other talks by Masonic Speakers. It contains a variety of thoughts
which can be elaborated and built upon.
Masonic Study Groups will find it a useful tool in generating discussions and
exchanging thoughts.
However it is used, it will serve the Craft in providing "more light" and
more insight into the application of Masonic teachings into our daily lives.
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