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Article THE NINE GEEAT TETJTHS IN MASONED. ← Page 3 of 3
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Nine Geeat Tetjths In Masoned.
suffering , the distressed , and the destitute . It is to give that which he to whom you give has no right to take or demand . To be charitable is obligatory on us . We are the almoners of God ' s bounties . But the obligation is not so precise and inflexible as the obligation to be just . Charity knows neither rule nor limit . It goes beyond all obligation . Its beauty consists in its liberty . " He that loveth not , knoweth not God ; for God is love . If we love one another , God dwelleth
in us , andHis love is perfected in us . God is love ; and he that dwelleth in love , dwelleth in God , and God in him-, " . To be kindly afFectioned one to another with brotherly love ; to relieve the necessities of the needy , and be generous , liberal , and hospitable ; to return to no man evil for evil ; to rejoice at the good fortune of others , and sympathize with them in their sorrows and reverses ; to live peaceably with all men , and repay injuries with benefits and kindness ; these are the sublime dictates of theMoral Law , taught , from the infancy of the world ,
by Masonry . The Eighth Great Truth in Masonry is this : That the laws which control and regulate the Universe of Gop are those of motion and harmony . We see only the isolated incidents of things , and with our feeble and limited capacity and vision cannot discern their connection , nor the mighty chords that make the apparent discord perfect harmony . Evil is merely apparent , and all is in reality good and perfect . For pain and sorrow ,
persecution and hardships , affliction and destitution , sickness and death , are but the means by which alone the noblest virtues could be developed . Without them , and without sin and error , and wrong and outrage , as 4 here can be no effect without an adequate cause , there could be neither patience under suffering and distress ; nor prudence in difficulty ; nor temperance to avoid excess ; nor courage to meet danger ; nor truth , when to speak th ^ truth is hazardous ; nor love , when it is met with ingratitude ; nor charity foii * the needy and destitute ; nor forbearance and forgiveness of injuries ; nor toleration of erroneous opinions ; nor charitable
judgment and construction of men ' s motives and actions ; nor patriotism , nor heroism , nor honour , nor self-denial , nor generosity . These and most other virtues and excellences would have no existence , and even their names be unknown ; and the poor virtues that still existed , would scarce deserve the name ; for life would be one flat , dead , low level , above which none of the lofty elements of human nature would emerge ; and man would lie lapped in contented indolence and idleness , a mere worthless negative , instead of the brave , strong soldier against the grim legions of Evil and rude Difficulty .
The Ninth Great Truth in Masonry is this : That the Justice , the Wisdom , and the Mercy of God are alike infinite , alike perfect , and yet do not in the least jar or conflict one with the other ; but form a Great Perfect Trinity of Attributes , three and yet one : that , the principle oi merit and demerit being absolute , and every good action deserving to be rewarded , and every bad one to be punished , and God being as just as He is good ; and yet the cases constantly recurring in this world , in which crime and cruelty ,
oppression , tyranny , and injustice are prosperous , happy , fortunate , and self-contented , and rule and reign , arid enjoy all the blessings of God ' s beneficence , while the virtuous and good are unfortunate , miserable , destitute , pining away in dungeons , perishing with cold , and famishing with hunger—slaves of oppression , and instruments and victims ofthe miscreants that govern ; so that this world , if there were no existence beyond it , would be one great theatre of wrong and injustice , proving God wholly disregardful of His own necessary law of merit and demerit ;
-it follows that there must be another life , in which these apparent wrongs shall be repaired : that all the powers of man ' s soul tend to infinity ; and his indomitable instinct of immortality , and the universal hope of another life , testified to by all creeds , all poetry , all traditions , establish its certainty ; for man is not an orphan ; but hath a Father in heaven : and the day must come when Light and Truth , and the Just and Good shall be victorious , and Darkness , Error , Wrong , and Evil be annihilated , and known no more forever : that the universe is one great Harmony , in which , according to the faith of all nations , deep-rooted in all hearts in the primi-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Nine Geeat Tetjths In Masoned.
suffering , the distressed , and the destitute . It is to give that which he to whom you give has no right to take or demand . To be charitable is obligatory on us . We are the almoners of God ' s bounties . But the obligation is not so precise and inflexible as the obligation to be just . Charity knows neither rule nor limit . It goes beyond all obligation . Its beauty consists in its liberty . " He that loveth not , knoweth not God ; for God is love . If we love one another , God dwelleth
in us , andHis love is perfected in us . God is love ; and he that dwelleth in love , dwelleth in God , and God in him-, " . To be kindly afFectioned one to another with brotherly love ; to relieve the necessities of the needy , and be generous , liberal , and hospitable ; to return to no man evil for evil ; to rejoice at the good fortune of others , and sympathize with them in their sorrows and reverses ; to live peaceably with all men , and repay injuries with benefits and kindness ; these are the sublime dictates of theMoral Law , taught , from the infancy of the world ,
by Masonry . The Eighth Great Truth in Masonry is this : That the laws which control and regulate the Universe of Gop are those of motion and harmony . We see only the isolated incidents of things , and with our feeble and limited capacity and vision cannot discern their connection , nor the mighty chords that make the apparent discord perfect harmony . Evil is merely apparent , and all is in reality good and perfect . For pain and sorrow ,
persecution and hardships , affliction and destitution , sickness and death , are but the means by which alone the noblest virtues could be developed . Without them , and without sin and error , and wrong and outrage , as 4 here can be no effect without an adequate cause , there could be neither patience under suffering and distress ; nor prudence in difficulty ; nor temperance to avoid excess ; nor courage to meet danger ; nor truth , when to speak th ^ truth is hazardous ; nor love , when it is met with ingratitude ; nor charity foii * the needy and destitute ; nor forbearance and forgiveness of injuries ; nor toleration of erroneous opinions ; nor charitable
judgment and construction of men ' s motives and actions ; nor patriotism , nor heroism , nor honour , nor self-denial , nor generosity . These and most other virtues and excellences would have no existence , and even their names be unknown ; and the poor virtues that still existed , would scarce deserve the name ; for life would be one flat , dead , low level , above which none of the lofty elements of human nature would emerge ; and man would lie lapped in contented indolence and idleness , a mere worthless negative , instead of the brave , strong soldier against the grim legions of Evil and rude Difficulty .
The Ninth Great Truth in Masonry is this : That the Justice , the Wisdom , and the Mercy of God are alike infinite , alike perfect , and yet do not in the least jar or conflict one with the other ; but form a Great Perfect Trinity of Attributes , three and yet one : that , the principle oi merit and demerit being absolute , and every good action deserving to be rewarded , and every bad one to be punished , and God being as just as He is good ; and yet the cases constantly recurring in this world , in which crime and cruelty ,
oppression , tyranny , and injustice are prosperous , happy , fortunate , and self-contented , and rule and reign , arid enjoy all the blessings of God ' s beneficence , while the virtuous and good are unfortunate , miserable , destitute , pining away in dungeons , perishing with cold , and famishing with hunger—slaves of oppression , and instruments and victims ofthe miscreants that govern ; so that this world , if there were no existence beyond it , would be one great theatre of wrong and injustice , proving God wholly disregardful of His own necessary law of merit and demerit ;
-it follows that there must be another life , in which these apparent wrongs shall be repaired : that all the powers of man ' s soul tend to infinity ; and his indomitable instinct of immortality , and the universal hope of another life , testified to by all creeds , all poetry , all traditions , establish its certainty ; for man is not an orphan ; but hath a Father in heaven : and the day must come when Light and Truth , and the Just and Good shall be victorious , and Darkness , Error , Wrong , and Evil be annihilated , and known no more forever : that the universe is one great Harmony , in which , according to the faith of all nations , deep-rooted in all hearts in the primi-