Worshipful Master and Brethren all;
Thank you for your fraternal invitation, and I gratefully acknowledge the honor to communicate with you at this: “Lodge of Instruction”
At this time, I would like to preface our work with some remarks of general interest.
Every Masonic communication is a day of happiness when carefully prepared and conducted, but only so far as we individually make it so. We are taught to live and promulgate the teachings of Freemasonry in a universal sense, as a science in the original meaning of the word "accumulated knowledge systematized for the purpose of discovering general truths".
To a Mason those truths are the laws of moral and ethical behavior. These are summed up in the principal and most valuable tenets of the Fraternity. Freemasonry is progressive only as the individual Mason applies his knowledge of moral and spiritual principles to his own life and to his community, only as his character becomes "more effective by successive stages". Freemasonry does not classify and codify knowledge of morality and ethics in textbooks, which only scholarly minds would find challenging. Paraphrasing our Past Land Grand Master, Right Worshipful Brother H. Dale Walker:
"Our daily life is our playground as Masons? Freemasonry has epitomized the science or the "Know How" of a purposeful moral life in the image of the builders' art. And especially our "Working Tools" and implements are a vivid symbol of a universal moral principle. And they are this graphic simplification of the "science" of right living, which has always been one of the chief attractions to the men who call themselves Masons. Therefore we must learn from our personal experience, just how to strike our blows to suit the material we are working on. We have to adjust the force of our stroke, the angle of our blows and the number of them for the different kinds of ashlars.
Thus Freemasonry shall have no more important goal than to mold and inspire each individual who knocks on its door. "Of his own free will and accord!"
My Brethren! - You did not honor Freemasonry when you where admitted into the Temple for the first time. Masonry honored you and you are indebted to the Fraternity for this honor, “it can never be repaid in full.”
The will to work, act and part outlines a principle which is especially applicable to the endeavors of a Freemason. Responsibility is the obligation one is accountable for and the fulfillment of which we must squarely accept. To respect and honor this educational process is to be mature, to implement and fulfill it, is to be a true Mason, and for each Brother to do more than his share is to be noble - Brothers - "to these duties you are bound by the most sacred ties"
When I decided to name this presentation; "Work and Receive Master's Wages" it is presented with the sincere hope that it will accomplish something, at least achieve its primary purpose: the stimulation of a new increased interest in Masonic education, to establish values and to perceive a deeper meaning of some facets of our Masonic philosophy; ever bearing in mind, on the volume of our Masonic life these bright words are written, from which on every side blazes an ineffable splendor: duty and work, truth and faith, relief and charity.
Thoughts are the parents of deeds. We are generally careful about our actions and sometimes too careless about our thoughts. How to live is a problem each of us must solve: shortly, let your moral life be right and all will be well! How? Man cannot work without tools. In material or operative building as well as in moral or speculative building, one of the most important tools is the square. The instrument called the Square in operative building has its counterpart in moral building, the faculty called the Conscience. As the Square is applied by the operative to his work, so are we to apply our conscience to our work of life building. In this sense we remain Apprentices throughout our whole life. In the Lodge we are directed for Light to what are called "The Three Great Lights and the Three Lesser Lights": they are briefly, Revelation and Creation. Through these, every Brother receives the light to guide him in his work as a Mason and builder of the Temple. Through them the Eternal Spirit communicates with the spirit of man. Creation is a loving nurse to the mind of man. At every turn it invites his latent faculties into action.
We remain first of all Apprentices when we clothe ourselves with the badge of a Mason, a symbol of innocence and purity; for innocence is a shield to virtue, and purity disarms temptation. With our Gauge we measure our time to the respective duties of life, giving to each it's due time and attention. Our Gavel enables us to reduce the irregularities of pride, passion and prejudice within our heart, so that we may become like unto a perfect Ashlar. We are always Apprentices and taught to serve, working freely to the great plan of the Divine Architect, burning with the fervency that overcomes all difficulties, and zealously producing from the seeds of Truth imparted to us in every Degree, fruitful works of Charity, Brotherly Love and Truth.
As Apprentices we are not satisfied with faith and belief only. As we mature in Masonry we seek the light of knowledge, education and experience. Then we pass on the degree of Craftsman, and passing onward, the Craftsman is raised to the Lodge of the Master. But we still remain Apprentices, particularly when we are to square our actions in accordance with the dictates of our Conscience; when we apply the Level of humility to our heart and build on the everlasting rock of Truth, and constantly test our life work by the Plumb Line of uprightness. Let us gratefully acknowledge we are permanently apprenticed. And let us never neglect nor defer to adorn ourselves with an attentive Ear, a silent Tongue and with a faithful Breast.
My Brothers, I now ask you three serious questions:
1. What will you get out of Freemasonry?
2. What induced you to become a Master Mason?
3. What are a Brother's Wages?
What will you get Out Of Freemasonry?
A thought provoking question of this type can only be answered in a personal way. Every worthwhile endeavor we put our hands to, should remind us, that we will get from it as much as we give to it. If masonry only knows something other men do not know, then we have it. If it is a ring, a tie tack or a lapel pin, then we have it. If it is more than this, we can have it, but we must seek it. We must give of ourselves. "You will get out of Masonry in direct proportion to what you put into Masonry". I have heard it a thousand times and have probably repeated it a like number of times.
Is it true? - Have you received as you have given to Masonry? As for me, I have received a thousand fold more in friendship, in learning and in my faith than I have contributed. However, both are incalculable, so I will say I was lucky. I could test the truth of the saying in many places.
When I was raised, the first effect of Masonry on me was to give me a social outlet other than that of the Government or the Army. I had fellowship with people who welcomed me as a Brother. They invited me to work with them. They welcomed me to their organization and gave me a place in the organization. I soon learned more and became a part of the ritual team. I was receiving in a much greater proportion than I could give.
I discovered that Masonry transcends language barriers, where the saying "to travel in foreign countries, to work and receive", was a reality; where former wartime enemies became closer than friends, they were and are Brothers.
As a soldier, at a post with only few military personnel, I found the fellowship at the local Lodges as heart warming and hospitable as any I had experienced. They also found work for my temporarily idle Masonic hands and I again found the Brotherly affection I had known in Masonry.
Here I have been elected to serve my Brothers. From local work we have become part of the Grand Lodge and through it received membership in the United Grand Lodges of Germany. I made many close personal friends across this country and even across the world. In the years of privileged service I have been honored by being permitted to obligate hundreds of Brothers. They have included mechanics, house painters, a major, merchants, clergymen, doctors, teachers, members of the armed forces and men from many other occupations. All these men have two things in common: they are men and they are Masons. All of this began because I was told what I could get out of Masonry. Here in the Lodge I found the beginning of Masonic wisdom and knowledge and I believe it is my duty to pass it on to others.
Since my portion is great, I owe a great deal. It is like all love: the more we give away, the more we receive. My Brothers: What do we get out of Freemasonry? The Brotherhood of men under the Fatherhood of God. It is available to all who do as I have done. We must all try to give in direct proportion to what we receive.
What Induced You To Become A Master Mason?
This is a question we often hear asked, and often hear answered. But, I fear, it has become routine. We may hear the question and answer with our ears but not with our minds. Let us stop and ponder for a moment on each part of this- answer, for each part has its own significance for us. "That I might obtain the Master's Word" . . . Thousands of pages have been written and thousands of hours filled with speeches on the ancient and modern mysteries of the Master's Word. Some of the Secrets are reserved for the Lodge room; others are at your command through the Grand Lodge Library or other reading, research and discussion. My purpose is to concentrate on other parts of the answer, parts which demand more immediate action.
“Travel in foreign countries, work and receive Master's wages,” and be thereby better enabled to support myself and family . . . These are restrictive, if not somewhat selfish motives. But looking at it from the positive side, we discover that the words travel in foreign countries tell us that the Master Mason of the Middle Ages was one of the first of common men to be concerned with the world at large, more than any comparable group. Unlike others, the Master Mason traveled to wherever the cathedrals and castles were being built.
The great cathedrals he built were the highest aspiration of the civilization of which he was so important a part. His reward was not alone in wages but also in the glory of the great structure which he built. We Masons have long known that we are involved in the whole world and that the eyes of the world are upon us.
To digress for a moment from the philosophical, let me remind you that this "travel" is a real thing today. I urge you to travel and to visit the Craft as you do. How much better our relations will be if more Masons exchange visits. How much better it will be if sojourning Masons will take advantage of their travel to affiliate locally.
Our Grand Lodge permits dual membership, unlike many other Grand Lodges that try to hang onto their members. The building of King Solomon's Temple was an international effort. That Temple was the expression of the faith of the entire nation of Israel and the cooperation of her neighbors. Certainly in today's world "no man is an island'. We as Masons are committed to the general welfare in so many ways and have so much to offer.
"And contribute to the relief of distressed worthy Master Masons, their widows and orphans". These last words define, in rather limited form, our duty and privilege of charity. We strongly believe in mutual aid. In past years, on the farm or in simple village life, mutual aid was a real thing. You clearly knew who deserved help and what they needed. But today, the simple human needs may be hidden under a haystack of forms and questionnaires or buried in computer programs. No longer do many of us raise our own food or any part of what we eat. We cannot help ourselves, much less help others or share with them. We are all locked into a vast and impersonal system. One of the great challenges to Freemasonry is for us to tear down that vague curtain of impersonality which threatens all of us. Freemasonry is most emphatically a man-to-man relationship. Our organization is one of the world's most democratic and most flexible. Our officers change every year. Nobody can build up a dynasty or an extended vested interest in a job or title.
Those friendly handshakes, that eloquent title “Brother”, are indelible trademarks of our Craft. Our Lodges and Grand Lodges are merely pipelines or mechanisms through which we channel this brotherly love and focus it on the needy. There are other and ample evidences of our charities to our selves. Our charities to others are equally important and far more significant to the world at large.
A man's value to the world is in direct proportion to the unselfish service he renders. In the heart of every true Mason there is something, call it instinct, principle or what you may that does not permit him to be so well satisfied with those things he does for others. That is why all members of the Craft now living, or those who shall live, and shall owe a debt of gratitude to those who devote their lives to the teachings of Masonry.
When we talk about speculative or Free Masonry, we are automatically faced with a third challenging question:
What Are A Profiler's Wages?
What do we hear about ourselves when we sit on the sidelines or elsewhere in a Lodge Room? Are we not continually being told to keep busy? We are Craftsmen, which is another name for working men. A set of tools and an apron are handed to us and the opening ceremonies are one long reminder to us, of our duties and functions. The Worshipful Master is there to see that we get work and keep at work and make no trouble about it.
He draws designs for what we are to do on his Trestle board. But are not the majority of the speeches delivered from the East and directed at us? And do not they nearly always exhort us to be busier than ever, or else expatiate on our duties?
Recently I fell to thinking about this, one night, after Lodge, and after I reached home about midnight. While meditating, the clock struck Low Twelve; and Low Twelve you know is not the time when we pick out the cheer fullest subjects to think about. Now, I shall not deny that for a little while I fell into a mood to croak at things, such as wondering what a Brother gets out of the evenings he spends away from home doing Lodge work. It came across my mind that as a matter of fact the great and cheerful subject of wages occupies about as much space in the Temple as the serious subject of the work we have to do. I also thought that we are Free Masons and that if ever the spirit seizes us after listening to orders, instructions and speeches from the East, we can get up in the side lines and talk back at the East on the subject of wages. Please do not misunderstand me: I made up my mind to think about the wages of a Master Mason, and that is a very cheerful subject, and payday is a real holiday.
You may reply to me, the work we do in the Lodge is real work, but they do not give us any real corn, oil or wine; and this almost sounds as if no man could question it. Wages are that which the Craftsmen own in the things they make and no Lodge has a moral right to expect its members to work for it unless it pays them their wages if any be due. What are the wages of a Master Mason? Let us forget about the language of symbolism and emblems, because the wages we receive are in every full and actual sense, completely real. I shall not recite the complete list of wages paid, but remind you of only a few of them.
First: the honor and satisfaction of being a full member in an ancient, honorable, worldwide Fraternity.
Second: as a regular Lodge worker you have learned by heart and therefore have in your permanent possession the Ritual, which is worth a very high price, because of the language, the wisdom, the beauty in it.
Third: where two Masons meet, though they have never seen each other before, are at once friends and Brothers, because they have traveled the same road and received the same Light in Masonry, which you have.
Fourth: you find in the Lodge itself, a large group among whom you find associates, companions or close friends, with whom you are united into one sacred band or Society of Friends and Brothers.
Fifth: whatever your Lodge and Freemasonry accomplishes, a part of it is your own; because Masons compose a Lodge and you are a part of it.
Sixth: you have a social security of another kind from that offered by any government but of as high a value if you are unfortunate, relief will come; and if you pass on, your descendants will not be forgotten.
Seventh: we have the enjoyment of many social and regular communications. Therefore when the Master sends us out to work in the morning, or in the beginning of the Masonic year, let us reply that we will go, if at night we receive wages of this kind.
Worshipful Master and Brethren all! All who are satisfied with the answers given are invited to embark upon our Masonic ship, the greatest and best, and the most solid trawler!
For one thing Masons have developed a case of mental allergy to the words greatest, best, most. There are no books or formulae to explain or describe the "wonder" of our Masonic message and no one makes his journey alone. Therefore, we must conclude that in seeking the greatest, best and most, we see much humor and gentleness in the littleness of many greatest, best and most things, and feel much happiness and fraternal understanding in discovering the beauty and importance of small things. Our Masonic ship is a very special kind of ship, a treasure ship, it's wealth is measured in a unique collection of tenets, virtues, symbols and tools, a testimonial to a very special group of passengers, linked together by their cable-tow and a mystic tie. The crew of this Masonic ship has been carefully investigated prior to being hired by a unanimous secret ballot. They are the backbone of this ship, and without disparaging or belittling the brave captains, if only the worshipful and illustrious captains get all the credit for the glories of the journey, this would unjustly and seriously disparage all the others, navigators and wardens, crewmen and deacons and stewards, deckhands and craftsmen whose names are carefully recorded in the log books and passenger lists. They are artists, the builders, the poets and thinkers, the promoters and servants who have always been happy to "sign on and in" for any part of the journey for a low pay, high esteem kind of fringe benefit. Not all took part in every trip. Some have signed in only occasionally. Others have chosen to remain in the background. Each in his time, and his way has contributed his share of greatness to the full measure of our treasure and to our mutual enrichment and enhancement.
On the bridge, preparing to sail into the next decade, we recall the words of some of our famous Right Worshipful Commanders: "Brotherly Love" by Right Worshipful Brothers H. Dale Walker and Louie Conine: "More Light from Masonry" by Right Worshipful Brother Gordon Greenwood; "A Stronger Jurisdiction Through Knowledgeable Brothers" by Right Worshipful Brother Burton L. Clyde: "Let Us Think, Speak, and Act Masonically by Right Worshipful Brother Gunther Gall: "Solidarity" by Right Worshipful Brother Burton L. Clyde. All aboard, Brothers! You cannot win tomorrow's game with the points you made yesterday. And the Bell of Hope, Faith, and Love, tolls loud and clear, we are called from Refreshment to Labor!
/s/ Hugo Thomas
Hugo Thomas Deputy Grand Master
American Canadian Grand Lodge