Part 14 (1/2)
II
Recalling the ees, it need hardly be added that Masonry is in no sense a political party, still less a society organized for social agitation Indeed, because Masonry stands apart from partisan feud and particular plans of social refor, the ambitious, and the impatient Her critics on this side are of two kinds There are those who hold that the hu that human nature has no moral aptitude, and can be saved only by subma Then there are those who look for salvation solely in political action and social agitation, who live in the delusion thatvotes, and to who to offer because in its ranks it permits no politics, ht Masonry fro with the sharpest weapons, while those who hold the second view regard it with conte[168]
Neither adversary understands Masonry and its cult of the creative love for hu which, the best laid plans of social seers ”gang aft aglee” Let us look at things as they are That we er and thirst after a social life that is true and pure, just and ree; but they are blind who do not see that the way is long and the process slow What is it that so tragically delays the march of man toward the better and wiser social order whereof our prophets dreaone before, is full of schemes of every kind for the reform and betterment of mankind Why do they not succeed? Some fail, perhaps, because they are imprudent and ill-considered, in that they expect too much of human nature and do not take into account the stubborn facts of life But why does not the wisest and noblest plan do more than half what its advocates hope and pray and labor so heroically to bring about? Because there are not enough h of spirit, and noble enough of nature to ureat-spirited social justice but this--that reed, injustice, ressiveness of authority, and above all jealousy--these are the real obstacles that thwart the nobler social aspiration of humanity There are too her than any one else, without regard to others, all for his own selfish glory Ibsen has shown us how _The Pillars of Society_, resting on rotten foundations, ca the innocent in their wreck Long ago it was said that ”through wisdo it is established; and by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with pleasant and precious riches”[169] Tihteousness, justice, purity, character, faith in God and love of man, else it will fall when the floods descend and the winds beat upon it What we need to make our social dreamas, not less liberty, but better men, cleaner minded, rity; ht, honor the truth, worshi+p purity, and prize liberty--uprightthe virtue and stability of the social order
Therefore, when Masonry, instead of identifying itself with particular sche involved in endless tur y and influence to _ennobling the souls of h enterprises By as much as she succeeds, every noble cause succeeds; by asfails! By itshi his faith, refining his ideals, enlarging his sy white path--Masonry best serves society and the state[170] While it is not a reformatory, it is a center of moral and spiritual power, and its power is used, not only to protect theand orphan, but also, and still more i enerous to all their fellowlabor; who can describe its worth in a world of feud, of bitterness, of sorrow!
No one needs to be told that we are on the eve, if not in therevolution of social and industrial life It shakes England today It makes France tremble tomorrow It alares, and better hos, to know and love each other; for the questions in dispute can never be settled in an air of hostility If they are ever settled at all, and settled right, it nition and respect, such as Masonry seeks to create and make prevail Whether it be a conflict of nations, or a clash of class with class, appeal ence and the nity of s ether aselse, at an altar where they can talk and not fight, discuss and not dispute, and each may learn the point of view of his fellow Other hope there is none save in this spirit of friendshi+p and fairness, of democracy and the fellowshi+p of man withthose brave, large reconstructions, those profitable abnegations and brotherly feats of generosity that will yet turn hulad, beautiful, and triumphant cooperation all round this sunlit world
Surely the way of Masonry is wise Instead of beco only one more factor in a world of factional feud, it seeks to remove all hostility which ious differences It helps to heal the haughtiness of the rich and the envy of the poor, and tends to establish peace on earth by allaying all fanaticise, race, creed, and even color, while striving to make the wisdom of the past available for the culture of men in faith and purity Not a party, not a sect, not a cult, it is a great order of men selected, initiated, sworn, and trained to ainst the ancient enes eternal ithout vengeance, without violence, but by softening the hearts ofa better spirit Apparitions of a day, here for an hour and tonorance compared with the warfare which this venerable Order has been waging against thee after we have fallen into dust!
III
Masonry, as it is much more than a political party or a social cult, is also more than a church--unless we use the word church as Ruskin used it when he said: ”There is a true church wherever one hand meets another helpfully, the only holy or mother church that ever was or ever shall be!” It is true that Masonry is not _a_ religion, but it is Religion, a worshi+p in which all good men may unite, that each may share the faith of all Often it has been objected that so there a religious home Even so, but thatdefaotry and distracted by sectarian feud, and which has too often mas a test of its fellowshi+p[171] Naturally ed froious, but because they were required to believe what it was impossible for therity of soul, they have turned away from the last place from which a man should ever turn away No part of the ministry of Masonry is more beautiful and wise than its appeal, not for tolerance, but for fraternity; not for uniformity, but for unity of spirit a Masonry, let us thank God for one altar where no ht and becolomeration What a witness to the worth of an Order that it brings together reater than all sects, deeper than all doctrines--the glory and the hope of iously preserved so theious faith Holding aloof froht all of the a principle broader than any of them--the sanctity of the soul and the duty of every ard with charity, what is sacred to his fellows It is like the crypts underneath the old cathedrals--a place wheredeeper and truer, older and newer than they have hitherto known, s, they find theing down into that quiet crypt his own pearl of great price--
/[4,66]
The Hindu his innate disbelief in this world, and his unhesitating belief in another world; the Buddhist his perception of an eternal law, his subentleness, his pity; the Moha, through good and evil days, to the one God who loveth righteousness, and whose name is ”I AM;” the Christian, that which is better than all, if those who doubt it would try it--our love of God, call Him what you will, , our love of the dead, our living and undying love Who knows but that the crypt of the past e, Masonry belongs to all ages; of no one religion, it finds great truths in all religions Indeed, it holds that truth which is coions, and is the basis of each; that faith which underlies all sects and over-arches all creeds, like the sky above and the river bed below the flow of matically to settle those questions or solve those dark e
Beyond the facts of faith it does not go With the subtleties of speculation concerning those truths, and the unworldly envies growing out of thein, and Masonry was noteach ht and fashi+on his own system of ultimate truth
All its emphasis rests upon two extremely simple and profound principles--love of God and love of es it has been, and is today, aminds, and a prophecy of the final union of all reverent and devout souls
Tima and declared it to be the eternal truth Another an to hate each other with an unholy hatred, each seeking to ima upon the other--and that is an epitoainst those old sectarians who substituted intolerance for charity, persecution for friendshi+p, and did not love God because they hated their neighbors, Masonry otry to shaolden voice A vast change of heart is now taking place in the religious world, by reason of an exchange of thought and courtesy, and a closer personal touch, and the various sects, so long estranged, are learning to unite upon the things most worth while and the least open to debate That is to say, they aretoward the Masonic position, and when they arrive Masonry itness a scene which she has prophesied for ages
At last, in the not distant future, the old feuds of the sects will cootten in the discovery that the just, the brave, the true-hearted are everywhere of one religion, and that when theare taken off they know and love one another Our little dogmas will have their day and cease to be, lost in the vision of a truth so great that all men are one in their littleness; one also in their assurance of the divinity of the soul and ”the kindness of the veiled Father of men” Then men of every name will ask, when they meet:
/P Not what is your creed?
But what is your need?
P/
High above all dogotries that blind, all bitterness that beclouds, will be written the siion--the Fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of olden rule, and the hope of a life everlasting!
FOOTNOTES:
[163] _Symbolism of Freemasonry_, by Dr Mackey
[164] _History and Philosophy of Masonry_, by ACL Arnold, chap xvi
To say of any man--of Socrates, for exarity, that he was a Mason, is in a sense true, but it isNevertheless, if a h he ree