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Article THIS GRAND EDIFICE. ← Page 2 of 3 Article THIS GRAND EDIFICE. Page 2 of 3 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
This Grand Edifice.
wave of the lake . Through her apartments she pictures ] the courso of human life , from youth to age , indicating the trials ancl triumphs of human life , and impresses the thought of consecration to that Cod , as was the ancient temple .
" Oh ! that Temple of God , from the House of the Past , Shineth down o'er the centuried yeara ; Aud my heart , through the veil of the mysteries vast , The Toice of Kin" Solomon hears ,
Asking me with the sign of a Master , Why my sonl no Temple rears ; With the Throe Great Lights ever shining above , And tho tools of my Craft at
hand—Why I bnild no fabric of prayerful love , With the arch of a lifetime spanned ; And the wings of embracing cherub ? , O'erbrooding its altars grand ? "
But why do you speak in symbols and parables ? asks the objector . What better method outside of Divine revelation ? How much quicker do men grasp ideas through parables and symbols than by argument , and how
much more aptly do they apply the allusions to self than through the direct teaching ? Were not the prophecies of old brought in parabolic language from tho commissioned to the throned monarch ? Did thoy not tremble beneath
the power of the allegory , as they saw the sword of divine justice hanging over their heads ? Did David ever tremble moro ? Did he ever see his sin more powerfully , or repent
in deeper sorrow ? Did he ever see the instability of his life more terribly than when he heard the words of Nathan , " Thou art the man ?"
Allegories were used as tho highest type of conveying thought in the early clays , and as a fit memento of those days we use them in Masonry as iu perfect harmony with the days we commemorate , and by them reach the highest type of moral truth .
In this resume of Masonic lore we have sot before us the
argument of Freemasomy ' s antiquity ; our reverence for her hoary hairs , silvered with the honours and the turmoil of her long and eventful life ; the arguments and historic facts that lead to doubt as to her great age ; the importance ,
beauty and power of her symbols , wherein there stands pre-eminent her bond of brotherly love ; the binding obligations to our mighty God , here are the highest truths of her morality all before us . Then stands the question , which
shall I , as a Mason , make the chief corner-stone of my reverence and love , the head gray with the marks of untold ages , or the grand ancl sublime teachings involved in her ritual ?
Then last but not least , how do we fulfil our obligations taken at Freemasonry ' s altar ? Do we appreciate their force in our daily lives ? Do we realize the fact that in our obligations we were face to face with God ? That as
we go out into the world and forget their power we violate our trust to him , as well as falsify our vow ? That the All-Seeing Eye , whose symbol hangs above our Master's arch , is ever upon us ? That we are the marks and targets
of men who decry our Order , and vilify our lives when we are recreant to our trusts ? That our lives should bo squared by the principles of our symbols , and that all our passions and dealings with men ought to be circumscribed by the teachings of the highest good ?
" You wear the Square , but have yon got That thing the Square denotes ? Is there within your inmost soul
That principle which should control Yonr actions , words and thoughts ? The Square of Virtue—is it there , Oh you that wear the Mason ' s Square ?
" Yon wear the Compass ! Do you keep Within that circle due , That's circumscribed by law divine ? Excluding hatred , envy , sin-Including all that ' s true !
The Moral Compass draws the line , And lets no evil passions in ! " Ah ! brother , a true Mason should be a perfect man . He above all men outside the Christian church should be
as " the city set upon the hill , " or the lamp upon the mantel that giveth light to all . He should be a synonym of goodness as well as of philanthropy . His name should be a pillar of strength , and as he is the helper of the widow
ancl the support of the orphan , he should also be a builder of morals where he lives . Were I to picture an ideal Mason I would rob him of all wrong—destroy all sin from his character ; would purify his mind until its purity would only be equalled by the undriven snow , I would cleanse
This Grand Edifice.
[ his heart to saintly cleanliness . I would adorn him with the highest virtne , clothe him with the purest thought , fill him with tho highest philanthropy , and thus clothi 1 and adorned with the noblest virtues and tho purest i . n-o , I
wonld start him upon a mission of mercy that would entitle him in eternity to reign with the grandest sons of men whose souls had been washed white in tho blood of the
Lamb of God . Yet the Order whoso fundamental teachings would warrant these things is defamed by men because now and then a bad man creeps within her portals , and bows in
unholy mockery at her shrine . But whatever may ba said against her , however great the defamation , sho stands defenceless , like tho smitten maiden , repelling no attack . But unlike her it is not because she has no power of
defence . But holding that power in abeyance , controlled by her mighty will and the teaching of her all powerful truth sho moves on in her grandeur while men may decry as onco they persecuted down to the death . Relying upon
that truth and the Word of God as her great light , sho tries to carry out that will ; lifting the fallen brother to his feet ; reaching her hand to the widowed mother in the hour of her distress ; binding up tho wounds of him who had
fallen among thieves ; touching the sorrow of the orphan and pouring the oil of mercy and love into their afflicted hearts ; casting the mantle of charity over the faults and foibles of man ; extending the baud of fellowship over the chasms of trouble ; extending the arm of brotherhood over
the ocean ' s vast expanse to tho brother of the uncivilized world . She is a pillar of strength , a column of beauty , a fabric of grandeur . Her altar teems with tho elements of mercy . Her symbols are tho synonyms of love . Her olive
branch is that of peace . She shakes hands with misery ancl sorrow and calms the woes of tho afflicted , dispelling the misery by her help , calming tho sorrow by her words of sympathy , and supplying tho wants of tho afflicted .
Her beauties are nob to be seen as the tinselled ornaments of gaudy art , nor as the rosy hues of tho evening clouds , but as practical exemplification of godly lives . Indeed , there seems to be no place or position occupied by man
where she may not have a lesson of practical importance . Even from the entering step of the novice , clear through all her successive work to her hi ghest degree , thero are lessons fraught with sacred beauty . Now in poverty ,
without the means of provision for immediate necessity , the candidate is tanght faith in God ancl His ability to provide for man in the hour of distress . That when earthly means have failed and he may be cast off by his fellow man , God
will take him up . That we are to make a daily progress in the laws of our mental and spiritual being , and develop the sacred revelations existing between' God and man . That we are to hold up the revealed will of the Almighty as the
guide and lamp to our footsteps as we pass the journey of human life . That as we here enter the steps of life , uncouth ancl unpolished as the rough ashlar from the quarry , which by the hands of the workman becomes a smooth and
polished stone in the temple , so we , by the preparation of truth , are to become polished stones in the living temple . That we are not to be swayed from gur noble purpose by
tho plausible theories of sophistry , but to be guided by the grand power of truth that rises above all the finest arguments of theory .
We mingle in the busy crowd of men , who ought to be made better by our teaching and practice of . the virtues taught at our altar . We ought to elevate the standard of moral purity ancl let our light shine as bright in the moral world as the sun does in the physical .
We are to cling to this mystic bond of brotherhood , wherein is taught that apostolic thought of brotherl y love in all its sacred purity , and remember that we are not alone in this tie ; but all along Freemasonry ' s history it has been
the bond of men of great genius in the world of literature ancl art ; of the great and heroic defenders of their country ' s right ; of the pure arrayed in sacerdotal robes ; of princes in their realms , and sceptred kings upon their thrones .
That it has brought the general and the soldier , the priest and . the layman , the king ancl tho subject , all upon the same level , where they meet around one common altar and upon the square .
It teaches , again , the high principles of God , that in the highest realm of truth thero are no distinctions amonomen ; that there is an equality of value in the real man
that even God does not ignore ; that office , position , occupation and knowledge among men are no grounds for distinction as placing or ^ e above another , but that we are to
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
This Grand Edifice.
wave of the lake . Through her apartments she pictures ] the courso of human life , from youth to age , indicating the trials ancl triumphs of human life , and impresses the thought of consecration to that Cod , as was the ancient temple .
" Oh ! that Temple of God , from the House of the Past , Shineth down o'er the centuried yeara ; Aud my heart , through the veil of the mysteries vast , The Toice of Kin" Solomon hears ,
Asking me with the sign of a Master , Why my sonl no Temple rears ; With the Throe Great Lights ever shining above , And tho tools of my Craft at
hand—Why I bnild no fabric of prayerful love , With the arch of a lifetime spanned ; And the wings of embracing cherub ? , O'erbrooding its altars grand ? "
But why do you speak in symbols and parables ? asks the objector . What better method outside of Divine revelation ? How much quicker do men grasp ideas through parables and symbols than by argument , and how
much more aptly do they apply the allusions to self than through the direct teaching ? Were not the prophecies of old brought in parabolic language from tho commissioned to the throned monarch ? Did thoy not tremble beneath
the power of the allegory , as they saw the sword of divine justice hanging over their heads ? Did David ever tremble moro ? Did he ever see his sin more powerfully , or repent
in deeper sorrow ? Did he ever see the instability of his life more terribly than when he heard the words of Nathan , " Thou art the man ?"
Allegories were used as tho highest type of conveying thought in the early clays , and as a fit memento of those days we use them in Masonry as iu perfect harmony with the days we commemorate , and by them reach the highest type of moral truth .
In this resume of Masonic lore we have sot before us the
argument of Freemasomy ' s antiquity ; our reverence for her hoary hairs , silvered with the honours and the turmoil of her long and eventful life ; the arguments and historic facts that lead to doubt as to her great age ; the importance ,
beauty and power of her symbols , wherein there stands pre-eminent her bond of brotherly love ; the binding obligations to our mighty God , here are the highest truths of her morality all before us . Then stands the question , which
shall I , as a Mason , make the chief corner-stone of my reverence and love , the head gray with the marks of untold ages , or the grand ancl sublime teachings involved in her ritual ?
Then last but not least , how do we fulfil our obligations taken at Freemasonry ' s altar ? Do we appreciate their force in our daily lives ? Do we realize the fact that in our obligations we were face to face with God ? That as
we go out into the world and forget their power we violate our trust to him , as well as falsify our vow ? That the All-Seeing Eye , whose symbol hangs above our Master's arch , is ever upon us ? That we are the marks and targets
of men who decry our Order , and vilify our lives when we are recreant to our trusts ? That our lives should bo squared by the principles of our symbols , and that all our passions and dealings with men ought to be circumscribed by the teachings of the highest good ?
" You wear the Square , but have yon got That thing the Square denotes ? Is there within your inmost soul
That principle which should control Yonr actions , words and thoughts ? The Square of Virtue—is it there , Oh you that wear the Mason ' s Square ?
" Yon wear the Compass ! Do you keep Within that circle due , That's circumscribed by law divine ? Excluding hatred , envy , sin-Including all that ' s true !
The Moral Compass draws the line , And lets no evil passions in ! " Ah ! brother , a true Mason should be a perfect man . He above all men outside the Christian church should be
as " the city set upon the hill , " or the lamp upon the mantel that giveth light to all . He should be a synonym of goodness as well as of philanthropy . His name should be a pillar of strength , and as he is the helper of the widow
ancl the support of the orphan , he should also be a builder of morals where he lives . Were I to picture an ideal Mason I would rob him of all wrong—destroy all sin from his character ; would purify his mind until its purity would only be equalled by the undriven snow , I would cleanse
This Grand Edifice.
[ his heart to saintly cleanliness . I would adorn him with the highest virtne , clothe him with the purest thought , fill him with tho highest philanthropy , and thus clothi 1 and adorned with the noblest virtues and tho purest i . n-o , I
wonld start him upon a mission of mercy that would entitle him in eternity to reign with the grandest sons of men whose souls had been washed white in tho blood of the
Lamb of God . Yet the Order whoso fundamental teachings would warrant these things is defamed by men because now and then a bad man creeps within her portals , and bows in
unholy mockery at her shrine . But whatever may ba said against her , however great the defamation , sho stands defenceless , like tho smitten maiden , repelling no attack . But unlike her it is not because she has no power of
defence . But holding that power in abeyance , controlled by her mighty will and the teaching of her all powerful truth sho moves on in her grandeur while men may decry as onco they persecuted down to the death . Relying upon
that truth and the Word of God as her great light , sho tries to carry out that will ; lifting the fallen brother to his feet ; reaching her hand to the widowed mother in the hour of her distress ; binding up tho wounds of him who had
fallen among thieves ; touching the sorrow of the orphan and pouring the oil of mercy and love into their afflicted hearts ; casting the mantle of charity over the faults and foibles of man ; extending the baud of fellowship over the chasms of trouble ; extending the arm of brotherhood over
the ocean ' s vast expanse to tho brother of the uncivilized world . She is a pillar of strength , a column of beauty , a fabric of grandeur . Her altar teems with tho elements of mercy . Her symbols are tho synonyms of love . Her olive
branch is that of peace . She shakes hands with misery ancl sorrow and calms the woes of tho afflicted , dispelling the misery by her help , calming tho sorrow by her words of sympathy , and supplying tho wants of tho afflicted .
Her beauties are nob to be seen as the tinselled ornaments of gaudy art , nor as the rosy hues of tho evening clouds , but as practical exemplification of godly lives . Indeed , there seems to be no place or position occupied by man
where she may not have a lesson of practical importance . Even from the entering step of the novice , clear through all her successive work to her hi ghest degree , thero are lessons fraught with sacred beauty . Now in poverty ,
without the means of provision for immediate necessity , the candidate is tanght faith in God ancl His ability to provide for man in the hour of distress . That when earthly means have failed and he may be cast off by his fellow man , God
will take him up . That we are to make a daily progress in the laws of our mental and spiritual being , and develop the sacred revelations existing between' God and man . That we are to hold up the revealed will of the Almighty as the
guide and lamp to our footsteps as we pass the journey of human life . That as we here enter the steps of life , uncouth ancl unpolished as the rough ashlar from the quarry , which by the hands of the workman becomes a smooth and
polished stone in the temple , so we , by the preparation of truth , are to become polished stones in the living temple . That we are not to be swayed from gur noble purpose by
tho plausible theories of sophistry , but to be guided by the grand power of truth that rises above all the finest arguments of theory .
We mingle in the busy crowd of men , who ought to be made better by our teaching and practice of . the virtues taught at our altar . We ought to elevate the standard of moral purity ancl let our light shine as bright in the moral world as the sun does in the physical .
We are to cling to this mystic bond of brotherhood , wherein is taught that apostolic thought of brotherl y love in all its sacred purity , and remember that we are not alone in this tie ; but all along Freemasonry ' s history it has been
the bond of men of great genius in the world of literature ancl art ; of the great and heroic defenders of their country ' s right ; of the pure arrayed in sacerdotal robes ; of princes in their realms , and sceptred kings upon their thrones .
That it has brought the general and the soldier , the priest and . the layman , the king ancl tho subject , all upon the same level , where they meet around one common altar and upon the square .
It teaches , again , the high principles of God , that in the highest realm of truth thero are no distinctions amonomen ; that there is an equality of value in the real man
that even God does not ignore ; that office , position , occupation and knowledge among men are no grounds for distinction as placing or ^ e above another , but that we are to