APRON LECTURE
Presented
by Gordon Sumner
Bremerton Lodge #117
30 September 10, 2005
The apron,
the badge of a Mason, is a Square and its four right angles teach us that
Purity, Truth, Sincerity and Honesty are the foundations of morality. Its four
equal sides remind us to practice the four cardinal virtues, Temperance in word
and deed, Fortitude as noble purpose, Prudence in wisely ruling and Justice to
the noblest and greatest alike. The flap teaches us to relieve a distressed
brother and to be kind and friendly in dealing with our fellowman. The two
strings are symbols of love and faith, which bind mankind into a brotherhood
which cannot broken.
The apron
is bestowed by command of the Right Worshipful Master and it may be that, in the
coming years, a laurel wreath of victory may rest upon your brow, jewels hang
from your breast fit to grace the diadem of an Eastern potentate. Nay more than
this, your feet may tread round after round of the ladder that leads to fame,
and even the purple of the Fraternity may rest upon you, but never again from
mortal hands, never again, until your enfranchised soul shall have pasted
through those pearly gates, shall such an honour, so distinguished, so
emblematic of purity and perfection, be bestowed upon you as this Apron.
Let it be
to you a never ending argument for nobler deeds, higher thoughts, greater
achievements and, when your weary feet have reached the end of life's toilsome
journey, and from your nerveless grasp shall fall the working tools of life, may
the record of your life be as pure and spotless as this fair emblem, which has
been placed within your hands tonight. It is yours to wear through an honourable
life and if you disgrace it, that disgrace will be augmented by the
consciousness that in this Lodge you have been taught the true principles of
Virtue and Morality. It is yours to wear so long as your spirit shall animate
your body, and when your disembodied soul shall have winged its flight to that
house not made with hands, and when amid the tears and sorrows of surviving
friends and relatives your- body shall be lowered by the loving hand of
sympathizing Brother Masons into that narrow hole prepared for all the living.
It will be yours, should you so elect, to be placed with evergreen upon the
coffin that shall contain your lifeless remains and with those buried beneath
the silent sod of the valley.
Brother
may you so wear this Masonic emblem that no act of yours will ever stain its
spotless purity or bring reproach upon this ancient and honorable institution,
which has survived the birth and death of Kings, the rise and fall of Nations
and the mutations of Empires.
In
conclusion brother, let me admonish you so to live, that when the final summons
comes for you, to stand before that Great White Throne, may it be your portion
to hear from the Supreme judge, these welcome words, "Well done thou good and
faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord".
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