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Article ARE YOU A MASTER MASON ? ← Page 5 of 5
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Are You A Master Mason ?
" To be sure I would , but you are not going to charge me with committing that sin , are you ?" " I heard you endeavouring , apparently , to convince your clerical friend who left us some time ago that it would be for his personal interest to become a Mason , or , in other words , you were using your friendly influence to induce him to join the Lodge . " " That does not prevent him from becoming a member , does it ? "
" Suppose you had possessed sufficient influence over him to have induced him to apply for initiation . " " Well , we wdl suppose so . " " When he came to the ante-room of the Lodge , you know , as a ' bright Mason , ' he would be compelled to answer that the course was entered upon uninfluenced by friendsand of his own free willnot for personal advantagebut from a sincere desire
, , , to benefit his feUow-men . How coidd he make that avowal if you had convinced him it would conduce to his social , religious , or personal profit ? Had you succeeded in your design , and had he proved the honest man I take him to be , you would have most effectually hedged up his pathway into the Lodge . " " I never looked at the subject in that light before . " " It is to be hoped that you will look at it in that light oftener in the future . But
there is another standpoint from which you can profitably view it . The laws of Masonry , as well as its usages—the common law of the Craft—prohibit members from prompting their friends to join a Lodge . If a man desires to make application for the degrees , if he proceeds rightly , it will be of his own volition . " " Shall I not ask a friend who I know will make a good Mason to make application . "
" Certainly not ; let him ask you—that is the regular method in all well-governed Lodges . " " Have you any other charge to prefer against me ? The conversation begins to grow interesting . " " I make no charges ; I am only showing what I think constitutes a real Master Masonand it seems that youmeasured by the " square" are found wanting . Perhaps
, , , we are all far short of perfection when brought to the test . A man's theory ought to be better than his practice , else the practice woidd never improve . The Christian religion , as a ride of action , is valuable chiefly because the best of its professors can never become better than it requires them to be . "
" This is a new idea to me . Will not the same remark apply to Masonry ? " " Undoubtedly , or to any other association , if such there be , whose standard of morality is so elevated as to preclude the possibility of members becoming better than its laws require . " Here the coach rattled up to a small country post-office , and , as my old friend was to remain over night and take another route the following clay , the travellers parted ,
apparently with a " friendly brotherly grip , " the one satisfied that he had sown some good seed on strong soil which might possibly bring forth fruit , but which was more likely to be choked by the weeds of pride and ignorance ; the other , cogitating in his own mind the facts he had heard , ancl asking himself the question he had so often heard propounded to others , " Are you a Master Mason ? " Ancl if the truth was known , it is probable that he would have been found doubting his right to give an affirmative
answer . The writer hereof has put this experience of his old friend on record for the benefit of those " bright Masons " who think when they have been regularly initiated , passed , and raised , " that their Masonic character is complete , ancl they have no further duties to perform beyond learning the lectures and charges . Those who discuss Masonry in a stage-coach or railroad car may also get some useful ideas from the perusal of the story , Voice of Masonry .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Are You A Master Mason ?
" To be sure I would , but you are not going to charge me with committing that sin , are you ?" " I heard you endeavouring , apparently , to convince your clerical friend who left us some time ago that it would be for his personal interest to become a Mason , or , in other words , you were using your friendly influence to induce him to join the Lodge . " " That does not prevent him from becoming a member , does it ? "
" Suppose you had possessed sufficient influence over him to have induced him to apply for initiation . " " Well , we wdl suppose so . " " When he came to the ante-room of the Lodge , you know , as a ' bright Mason , ' he would be compelled to answer that the course was entered upon uninfluenced by friendsand of his own free willnot for personal advantagebut from a sincere desire
, , , to benefit his feUow-men . How coidd he make that avowal if you had convinced him it would conduce to his social , religious , or personal profit ? Had you succeeded in your design , and had he proved the honest man I take him to be , you would have most effectually hedged up his pathway into the Lodge . " " I never looked at the subject in that light before . " " It is to be hoped that you will look at it in that light oftener in the future . But
there is another standpoint from which you can profitably view it . The laws of Masonry , as well as its usages—the common law of the Craft—prohibit members from prompting their friends to join a Lodge . If a man desires to make application for the degrees , if he proceeds rightly , it will be of his own volition . " " Shall I not ask a friend who I know will make a good Mason to make application . "
" Certainly not ; let him ask you—that is the regular method in all well-governed Lodges . " " Have you any other charge to prefer against me ? The conversation begins to grow interesting . " " I make no charges ; I am only showing what I think constitutes a real Master Masonand it seems that youmeasured by the " square" are found wanting . Perhaps
, , , we are all far short of perfection when brought to the test . A man's theory ought to be better than his practice , else the practice woidd never improve . The Christian religion , as a ride of action , is valuable chiefly because the best of its professors can never become better than it requires them to be . "
" This is a new idea to me . Will not the same remark apply to Masonry ? " " Undoubtedly , or to any other association , if such there be , whose standard of morality is so elevated as to preclude the possibility of members becoming better than its laws require . " Here the coach rattled up to a small country post-office , and , as my old friend was to remain over night and take another route the following clay , the travellers parted ,
apparently with a " friendly brotherly grip , " the one satisfied that he had sown some good seed on strong soil which might possibly bring forth fruit , but which was more likely to be choked by the weeds of pride and ignorance ; the other , cogitating in his own mind the facts he had heard , ancl asking himself the question he had so often heard propounded to others , " Are you a Master Mason ? " Ancl if the truth was known , it is probable that he would have been found doubting his right to give an affirmative
answer . The writer hereof has put this experience of his old friend on record for the benefit of those " bright Masons " who think when they have been regularly initiated , passed , and raised , " that their Masonic character is complete , ancl they have no further duties to perform beyond learning the lectures and charges . Those who discuss Masonry in a stage-coach or railroad car may also get some useful ideas from the perusal of the story , Voice of Masonry .