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Article ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. ← Page 2 of 3 Article ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. Page 2 of 3 →
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St. John The Baptist.
And this is ono of the grand things Masonry teaches , that there is forgetfnlness of self . Its gathered purpose is charity in all the length and breadth , the depth and height of its meaning . In ritual and symbol , in voice and emblem , it declares that there is a sacrifice on the altar , burning
and consuming all self-interest and self-love , and leaving only the fragrance of an accepted offering . This is the precious legacy tho solitary prophet of the desert bears to the Order , in tho use of which the Order will be exalted to a more commanding position among men . And the spirit
of man will answer to this superb motive , this self-sacrifice , as the water of the farthest bay answers to the quivering pulse beat of the tide on the broad ocean . For , though the a ^ e has fallen in some measure from true manhood by selfishness and worldliness , it has not yet ceased to venerate
and hold in noble estimate the consecration of self for human good . This is tho one great law that runs through those deeds which bless the world . This is the one great force which has possessed it and mado tho acts of heroes shine with a glory more beautiful than of tho earth . It is
this which has mado their works so grandly real , so marvellously true . And this it is which marks the" long line of heroes who have fought for humanity , and inspired them in the great fields of conflict between truth and error . And they have their reward , not sought for , as
they move in their unconquerable attack . It may be that in this direction and in that the horo drops wounded or dead in the figbt ; but the lines still present thoir full front ; thinning ranks are filled by those behind them , and the conflict ceases not . Hour after hour , day after day ,
the sublime warfare for human good goes forward ; forward in every age ; forward it may bo through fiercer rains of blood and battering hail of bullets ; forward through the
years , until the earth , in her march through the planets , pauses to givo up her heroes and benefactors , her selfsacrificors , ** ' an exceeding great army , " to stand crowned with victory and rejoice in triumph immortal .
Though tho prophet fell iu the discharge of his duty , his life was not a failure . Great thought , commanding effort , work for God , work for man , never fail . The man
may dio before these things reach tho light or broaden out to the widtlf thoy are to touch . Life in its influence is not finished , and tho work given it to do is not ended , though it seems to fa . ll undone from the dead hand of tho worker
Tho spirit that underlies such work is prophetic ; it is caught up and passed on from century to century . It is the staff of gold , the tongues of fire , tho orifltunme to marshal the ranks of mankind forward from work to work until all tho field is won . For thero is a law of progress iu
human thought . There is a law of progress m human endeavour . Thero is somo spiritual bond , some influence unseen as tho wind , but moro powerful than the gale , which passes from mind to mind and from hand to hand until the work in more enduring proportion is brought to victorious conclusion .
No life like that of the prophet ' s is ever a defeat . No endeavour to transform fche old into the new ; to dower the world with a diviner science and a loftier morality ; to olevate society to a higher plane of living ; to givo man a larger scope for the putting forth the spiritual forces of
his being , can pass away until fulfilled . The disciplined army of all his powers , the royalties of his manhood moving for human civilisation and human purity could not fall baffled or conquered . Such efforts represent a thousand others and find not their completion in
themselves . The long line of heroes and martyrs , the spiritual warriors , the host of moral workers , as they wheel from out the past of the world ' s history , declare failure in such things untrue , by the grander energies they have imparted , by the irresistible forces they have given .
Power was born out of their efforts , and higher aspirations . A nobler chivalry than that of lance and sword has kni ghted those who came after them . Strength , valour , resolution , courage , suffering , achievement , were tho necessities of their lives as much as the sweetness and richness of the flower when called forth in answer to tho
summer ram-drops . Out of their deeds have streamed a moral bravery into other minds , and sent forth the workers thafc conquer the world . Battalioned forces met them , bufc could not stay their progress or shatter the
march of their influence ; powerless in their might as tho shotted volleys of the steel-clad shi p to check the majestic sweep of the ocean tides . The sword may have severed the head from the body , the fire may have crisped the outer irame , and the soldiers valiant for truth utterly disappeared .
St. John The Baptist.
But , as in a splendid siege of modern battle , the soldiers iu the moral combat only fell that others might march over their dead bodies to victory . The head of the prophet of righteousness was bronght to Herod Antipaa on a charger , but the brow , sculptured into
whiter marble , was not the dome of deserted thought , but a fount of inspiration for all time . Tho palo cold lips wore not , are not dumb , but speak of rig hteousness and purity all along the centuries of the world ' s lifoand action . And the Mason , working only with tho trowel and tho
hammer , catches a newer inspiration and possesses a superlative force from that patron of Freemasonry . His work may seem to fail , the trowel may bo wielded with feebler hand , the hammer may fall with fainter blow ? , but
yet , working for some deed of good for the brother , may strike a blow as John struck purity into tho conscience of man , that will sound through tho Order aa tho voico of tho prophet which rang through the wilderness and is heard to-day in the hearts of men .
Connected as John was with tho most stupendous event in tho spiritual history of mankind , tho forerunner of the Truth that changed tho inner life of man , it is au inspiring fact that ho is ono of the educators in the Order of Masonry . For , while Masonry is not tho religion that
came from above , while it is not the chnrch of the living God , while it is human in its origin , and seeks only the exaltation that comes from religion , yet in its lower degrea and at a humbler distance , it is striving after a moral and even the spiritual brotherhood of which Saint John was tho herald .
The kingdom he proclaimed was more magnificent in its conception and its supremo dominion than mind itself could conceive . Faint gleams of its glory fell npon the vision of the statelier spirits of the ages . Saintly poets , prophets , seers , saw on the horizon the tokens of its coming ,
but to them it was an ideal held among the splendid gifts of the future . Other ideals were human , aud only the aspirations of the man for national advancement . Greece , glorious in her chiselled work , and throwing ideals of art , literature and beauty over tbe world of human spirits ;
Rome , conquering peoples unci fusing them by law and power into one colossal empire ; Franco , nnder the imperial tread of a marvellous soldier and statesman , building a kingdom of nations , illustrious and martial iu its proportions ; Britain , sending out her energies , her
commerce , her industries , her language , to all lands and tho islands of the sea ; America , with her empire of Stales , iter broad harvest fields for tho growth of intelligence anl manhood , of larger personal freedom and a more imtjostio civilisation , pre .-ont no such grandeur of conception , no
such kingdom or commonwealth , tis that tho prophet heralded ; which takes man in all his relations and binds him in laws not human , but diviuo , and makes him the citizen of a kingdom which is life immortal , and enlarges every right " into tho glorious liberty of the sons of God . "
The past is the heritage of Masonry . Back of it aro ranged centuries of growth in morality and law , splendid philosophies of mind and nature , and those powers and influences which educate and strengthen mankind . In fche past St . John laboured , and in Masonry or for ifc ho loft
the great truths which lie at the basis of its structure and make it strong . The moral earnestness , the sincerity of principle , tho august heroism , tho unyielding faith , the chivalry of sacrifice , which set round his life and magnified ifc , live and move in the Order and appeal to all its
members , in whatever dignity they may have reached or whatever position they may have attained . The principles it holds sacred , the truths it cherishes are to verify and colour thoir life and character as tho molten hath colours tho metals dipped into it , and makes them tho shining
silver or tho yellow gold . The deeds of goodness or of grandeur left in it aro to bo as inspirations in the long struggle with evil and lead to victory over wrong ; in tho consecration to duty as integral parts of a moral Order ; in the more active sympathy with men ; in tho exalted
knighthood of fellowship ; in the labours for tho spread of a society which recognises man as man in the great world of humanity ; in the struggle to usher in tho dawn of peace for which Masonry , as tho living expression of peace , must contribute its work , until fche poet ' s words are prophecy fulfilled :
" When the war-drums throb no longer and the battle-flags are furled , In the parliament of man , the federation of the world . "
Wherever Masonry has gone , like John the Baptist , it
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
St. John The Baptist.
And this is ono of the grand things Masonry teaches , that there is forgetfnlness of self . Its gathered purpose is charity in all the length and breadth , the depth and height of its meaning . In ritual and symbol , in voice and emblem , it declares that there is a sacrifice on the altar , burning
and consuming all self-interest and self-love , and leaving only the fragrance of an accepted offering . This is the precious legacy tho solitary prophet of the desert bears to the Order , in tho use of which the Order will be exalted to a more commanding position among men . And the spirit
of man will answer to this superb motive , this self-sacrifice , as the water of the farthest bay answers to the quivering pulse beat of the tide on the broad ocean . For , though the a ^ e has fallen in some measure from true manhood by selfishness and worldliness , it has not yet ceased to venerate
and hold in noble estimate the consecration of self for human good . This is tho one great law that runs through those deeds which bless the world . This is the one great force which has possessed it and mado tho acts of heroes shine with a glory more beautiful than of tho earth . It is
this which has mado their works so grandly real , so marvellously true . And this it is which marks the" long line of heroes who have fought for humanity , and inspired them in the great fields of conflict between truth and error . And they have their reward , not sought for , as
they move in their unconquerable attack . It may be that in this direction and in that the horo drops wounded or dead in the figbt ; but the lines still present thoir full front ; thinning ranks are filled by those behind them , and the conflict ceases not . Hour after hour , day after day ,
the sublime warfare for human good goes forward ; forward in every age ; forward it may bo through fiercer rains of blood and battering hail of bullets ; forward through the
years , until the earth , in her march through the planets , pauses to givo up her heroes and benefactors , her selfsacrificors , ** ' an exceeding great army , " to stand crowned with victory and rejoice in triumph immortal .
Though tho prophet fell iu the discharge of his duty , his life was not a failure . Great thought , commanding effort , work for God , work for man , never fail . The man
may dio before these things reach tho light or broaden out to the widtlf thoy are to touch . Life in its influence is not finished , and tho work given it to do is not ended , though it seems to fa . ll undone from the dead hand of tho worker
Tho spirit that underlies such work is prophetic ; it is caught up and passed on from century to century . It is the staff of gold , the tongues of fire , tho orifltunme to marshal the ranks of mankind forward from work to work until all tho field is won . For thero is a law of progress iu
human thought . There is a law of progress m human endeavour . Thero is somo spiritual bond , some influence unseen as tho wind , but moro powerful than the gale , which passes from mind to mind and from hand to hand until the work in more enduring proportion is brought to victorious conclusion .
No life like that of the prophet ' s is ever a defeat . No endeavour to transform fche old into the new ; to dower the world with a diviner science and a loftier morality ; to olevate society to a higher plane of living ; to givo man a larger scope for the putting forth the spiritual forces of
his being , can pass away until fulfilled . The disciplined army of all his powers , the royalties of his manhood moving for human civilisation and human purity could not fall baffled or conquered . Such efforts represent a thousand others and find not their completion in
themselves . The long line of heroes and martyrs , the spiritual warriors , the host of moral workers , as they wheel from out the past of the world ' s history , declare failure in such things untrue , by the grander energies they have imparted , by the irresistible forces they have given .
Power was born out of their efforts , and higher aspirations . A nobler chivalry than that of lance and sword has kni ghted those who came after them . Strength , valour , resolution , courage , suffering , achievement , were tho necessities of their lives as much as the sweetness and richness of the flower when called forth in answer to tho
summer ram-drops . Out of their deeds have streamed a moral bravery into other minds , and sent forth the workers thafc conquer the world . Battalioned forces met them , bufc could not stay their progress or shatter the
march of their influence ; powerless in their might as tho shotted volleys of the steel-clad shi p to check the majestic sweep of the ocean tides . The sword may have severed the head from the body , the fire may have crisped the outer irame , and the soldiers valiant for truth utterly disappeared .
St. John The Baptist.
But , as in a splendid siege of modern battle , the soldiers iu the moral combat only fell that others might march over their dead bodies to victory . The head of the prophet of righteousness was bronght to Herod Antipaa on a charger , but the brow , sculptured into
whiter marble , was not the dome of deserted thought , but a fount of inspiration for all time . Tho palo cold lips wore not , are not dumb , but speak of rig hteousness and purity all along the centuries of the world ' s lifoand action . And the Mason , working only with tho trowel and tho
hammer , catches a newer inspiration and possesses a superlative force from that patron of Freemasonry . His work may seem to fail , the trowel may bo wielded with feebler hand , the hammer may fall with fainter blow ? , but
yet , working for some deed of good for the brother , may strike a blow as John struck purity into tho conscience of man , that will sound through tho Order aa tho voico of tho prophet which rang through the wilderness and is heard to-day in the hearts of men .
Connected as John was with tho most stupendous event in tho spiritual history of mankind , tho forerunner of the Truth that changed tho inner life of man , it is au inspiring fact that ho is ono of the educators in the Order of Masonry . For , while Masonry is not tho religion that
came from above , while it is not the chnrch of the living God , while it is human in its origin , and seeks only the exaltation that comes from religion , yet in its lower degrea and at a humbler distance , it is striving after a moral and even the spiritual brotherhood of which Saint John was tho herald .
The kingdom he proclaimed was more magnificent in its conception and its supremo dominion than mind itself could conceive . Faint gleams of its glory fell npon the vision of the statelier spirits of the ages . Saintly poets , prophets , seers , saw on the horizon the tokens of its coming ,
but to them it was an ideal held among the splendid gifts of the future . Other ideals were human , aud only the aspirations of the man for national advancement . Greece , glorious in her chiselled work , and throwing ideals of art , literature and beauty over tbe world of human spirits ;
Rome , conquering peoples unci fusing them by law and power into one colossal empire ; Franco , nnder the imperial tread of a marvellous soldier and statesman , building a kingdom of nations , illustrious and martial iu its proportions ; Britain , sending out her energies , her
commerce , her industries , her language , to all lands and tho islands of the sea ; America , with her empire of Stales , iter broad harvest fields for tho growth of intelligence anl manhood , of larger personal freedom and a more imtjostio civilisation , pre .-ont no such grandeur of conception , no
such kingdom or commonwealth , tis that tho prophet heralded ; which takes man in all his relations and binds him in laws not human , but diviuo , and makes him the citizen of a kingdom which is life immortal , and enlarges every right " into tho glorious liberty of the sons of God . "
The past is the heritage of Masonry . Back of it aro ranged centuries of growth in morality and law , splendid philosophies of mind and nature , and those powers and influences which educate and strengthen mankind . In fche past St . John laboured , and in Masonry or for ifc ho loft
the great truths which lie at the basis of its structure and make it strong . The moral earnestness , the sincerity of principle , tho august heroism , tho unyielding faith , the chivalry of sacrifice , which set round his life and magnified ifc , live and move in the Order and appeal to all its
members , in whatever dignity they may have reached or whatever position they may have attained . The principles it holds sacred , the truths it cherishes are to verify and colour thoir life and character as tho molten hath colours tho metals dipped into it , and makes them tho shining
silver or tho yellow gold . The deeds of goodness or of grandeur left in it aro to bo as inspirations in the long struggle with evil and lead to victory over wrong ; in tho consecration to duty as integral parts of a moral Order ; in the more active sympathy with men ; in tho exalted
knighthood of fellowship ; in the labours for tho spread of a society which recognises man as man in the great world of humanity ; in the struggle to usher in tho dawn of peace for which Masonry , as tho living expression of peace , must contribute its work , until fche poet ' s words are prophecy fulfilled :
" When the war-drums throb no longer and the battle-flags are furled , In the parliament of man , the federation of the world . "
Wherever Masonry has gone , like John the Baptist , it