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Article MASONIC DIDACTICS; ← Page 2 of 2
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Masonic Didactics;
No . XXVIII . —CIRCUMSTANCE AND PIETY . Ntce ^ sitas plus p isse quam pietas solet . —SKNEC * . If piety fail to draw us to our devotions , the application of coercion will most assuredly not succeed . Worship is founded on a pure voluntary principle , and any thing like compulsion is destructive to its origin and growth . The soul that is incapable of feeling the vast debt of
gratitude owing to the Omnipotent , for His unbounded favours and beneficence , cannot be prompted to attend his sanctuary by civil ortlinances . The true pietist offers up his praises and thanksgivings for the numberless gifts and benefactions bestowed upon him by an Almighty Providence , from motives of love and reverence . If such principles do not actuate the worshipper , no compulsion can produce an acceptable devotion . Necessity may make us at times swerve from the riid rule of
g piety ; but , like tbe strong bow when relaxed , we shall re turn to our former straightness . Necessity has not the inward force of piety over the soul . For what other persuasion can be requisite to induce the well-regulated understanding to frequent the temple of its Creator , than the conviction of reason , that it is one of the first duties of the creature which ought never to be omitted , except in cases of the greatest emergency ? On the contrary , the obdurate and insensible heart is dead to any
conviction of pious affection ; and although its possessor may , from circumstances , be forced to make an outward show of piety , the Deity would rather see no worship than such hypocrisy . True piety must spring from a principle of love and sincerity . For an illustration of what has been observed , let us regard the pious life of King David , who , in the midst of all the splendours of royalty , exhibited the most amiable simplicity of worship , regarding the Lord as his Shepherd , requiring , like many other devout characters in history , no necessitaa to make him love the ' Divine laws and statutes .
" Pius fovet Dominus , et piis omnia ccdunt in omnia . " Circumstance may temporarily change the current of man ' s piety ; but its sincerity will ultimately , like the pole to the magnet , draw him back to his duty . Earnest devotion is a principle that never dies . Adversity may chill it , —accidents of life may smother it partially . But tbe calm hour of death , or tlie serene ebbfngs of old age , will revive its dormant powers , and add fervour to its apparently long decaying embers . Circumstance may prevail for a time ; but that piety which springs from the heart , will eventually , at some period of life , assert its benignant and regenerating supremacy .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Didactics;
No . XXVIII . —CIRCUMSTANCE AND PIETY . Ntce ^ sitas plus p isse quam pietas solet . —SKNEC * . If piety fail to draw us to our devotions , the application of coercion will most assuredly not succeed . Worship is founded on a pure voluntary principle , and any thing like compulsion is destructive to its origin and growth . The soul that is incapable of feeling the vast debt of
gratitude owing to the Omnipotent , for His unbounded favours and beneficence , cannot be prompted to attend his sanctuary by civil ortlinances . The true pietist offers up his praises and thanksgivings for the numberless gifts and benefactions bestowed upon him by an Almighty Providence , from motives of love and reverence . If such principles do not actuate the worshipper , no compulsion can produce an acceptable devotion . Necessity may make us at times swerve from the riid rule of
g piety ; but , like tbe strong bow when relaxed , we shall re turn to our former straightness . Necessity has not the inward force of piety over the soul . For what other persuasion can be requisite to induce the well-regulated understanding to frequent the temple of its Creator , than the conviction of reason , that it is one of the first duties of the creature which ought never to be omitted , except in cases of the greatest emergency ? On the contrary , the obdurate and insensible heart is dead to any
conviction of pious affection ; and although its possessor may , from circumstances , be forced to make an outward show of piety , the Deity would rather see no worship than such hypocrisy . True piety must spring from a principle of love and sincerity . For an illustration of what has been observed , let us regard the pious life of King David , who , in the midst of all the splendours of royalty , exhibited the most amiable simplicity of worship , regarding the Lord as his Shepherd , requiring , like many other devout characters in history , no necessitaa to make him love the ' Divine laws and statutes .
" Pius fovet Dominus , et piis omnia ccdunt in omnia . " Circumstance may temporarily change the current of man ' s piety ; but its sincerity will ultimately , like the pole to the magnet , draw him back to his duty . Earnest devotion is a principle that never dies . Adversity may chill it , —accidents of life may smother it partially . But tbe calm hour of death , or tlie serene ebbfngs of old age , will revive its dormant powers , and add fervour to its apparently long decaying embers . Circumstance may prevail for a time ; but that piety which springs from the heart , will eventually , at some period of life , assert its benignant and regenerating supremacy .