Monday, June 18, 2012

The Twenty-Four Inch Gauge (Guest Blog) 12/20/07




I asked a friend to write a "guest blog" for me. This is one of a series on the Working Tools. I will be asking for other "volunteers" so if you want to be featured as a guest blogger pick your tool and write it up. Sorry - The Common Gavel is already taken.

Hurry, hurry! Get up! It’s 5:00 AM, time to rush to the mall, search in vain for a non-existent open parking place, elbow your way aggressively through a teeming mass of unwashed humanity, fight to the front of the aisle to grab that last Nintendo Wii before someone less deserving earns the opportunity to put it under THEIR Christmas Tree (Whoops, I mean holiday bush, sorry about that sectarian reference.), and then age (mature) in an interminably long line, only to increase the balance on your already overextended credit card.

The holiday season is in full rush. In fact, as I write this, it is only a couple days before the arrival of the Jolly Bearded Old Elf, clad in red and white garments (probably made in China), smoking (gasp, gasp, can JEL allow this) his pipe, driving a team of overworked arctic animals through overly warm environments, over a full 24 hour shift (What would PETA say?), and although meaning well, contributing to the conversion of a solemn, insightful, family and religious event into an excuse for blatant commercialism, thereby encouraging destitution, bankruptcy, and moral turpitude. Perhaps it’s just as well to call it “The Winter Holiday”. After all, it is within a few days of the shortest day of the year. Reality is that most folks view the season as a time of stress and work, not an opportunity for relaxation and reflection.

Is that they way we also look at Freemasonry?

Are we so busy attending meetings, joining new organizations, working on more committees, reading more books, planning more events, and being an “active” Mason that we have forgotten the true meaning of the fraternity?

Of course, the true meaning of the fraternity, the “secret” if you will, is individual, unknown, and possibly unknowable. It is what we traveled “from West to East” in pursuit of. It is what we traveled an extremely perilous journey to obtain, only to meet with a temporary setback. It is the purpose of our continual study to actually come closer and closer to learning that secret.

Yet, we have hints of what that secret may be, and what it may contain. We are told that the purpose of the fraternity is to make good men into better men, not better than other men, but better than they would otherwise have been. The implication is that we should become better husbands, better fathers, better employees, better citizens, better followers of God. Obviously, we cannot do that by ignoring our wives, our children, our employers, our country, or our God in an excess of zeal for the Fraternity.

In the first degree, we are taught to use the 24-inch gauge as an allegorical tool for dividing our time. A portion is reserved for the service of God and deserving brethren, a portion is reserved for our employment, and a portion is reserved for refreshment and sleep. Prior to taking our first obligation, we are assured that it will not conflict with our duty to God, our country, our neighbors, or ourselves.

We are taught that harmony is the strength and support of all societies, and we are urged “as speculative Masons, to endeavor to erect our spiritual building agreeably to the rules and design laid down by the Supreme Architect of the Universe in the Book of Life, which is our spiritual trestle-board.” We are taught to subdue our passions, and to circumscribe and keep our behavior within due bounds.

We are taught to revere and apply the four Cardinal Virtues: Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence, and Justice. Temperance provides a due restraint upon our affections and passions. This virtue teaches us to avoid excess. Fortitude provides a steady purpose of mind, which is said to be distant from rashness. Prudence teaches us to regulate our lives and actions agreeably to the dictates of reason, and is a habit which helps determine both our present and future happiness. This virtue should be the peculiar characteristic of every Mason. And Justice provides a standard of rightness, which enables us to render all persons their just due.

These are the true lessons of Freemasonry. We should study them; we should apply them; we should strive to improve ourselves in so doing. But let us apply them, not just to our lives, but also to our Freemasonry. Let us not go forth blindly, pursuing one activity after another, while ignoring the truly important things in our lives. The Fraternity is intended to IMPROVE our lives, not to BE our lives. It provides a WAY OF LIFE, but is not itself a LIFE. We need to all remember these things.

So, go ahead, buy that last Wii. Play Guitar Hero until your fingers cramp up. But remember, the Holiday Season is a time for reflection, a time for relaxation, and a time to honor God. And so is Freemasonry. Have a Happy Holiday.

by M.W. Donald E. Mosier,
Grand Master of Masons in Iowa

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