At the Heart of Freemasonry By Sir Knight John R. Dinkel
T
he art and application of Freema- but in the words of Johann Wolfgang sonry is clearly set out as a mis- von Goethe,1 “Knowing is not enough; sion statement which all Masons we must apply. Willing is not enough; we have heard many times in their travels - must do.” Freemasonry exhorts us to act “We take good men and make them bet- with benevolence in thought, word, and ter.” Toward that end, we are entrusted deed, understanding what needs to be with tools and lectures, beginning with done, and then acting, even if we must the geometric degrees of the Blue Lodge act alone. and continuing with those of the York The Master Mason degree combines and Scottish rites, which are meant as the two preceding degrees and their landmarks and signposts on our jour- teachings, with all the tools we have ney toward personal improvement, ul- been given previously, while adding the timately benefiting us, our families, and virtues of brotherly love and affection. the world. With the aid of our intelligence and conIn the Entered Apprentice degree, we science we now turn the focus of our enare taught to use our time wisely for the ergies toward leadership. Freemasonry benefit of our relationships with God, expects its adherents to become more our employments, and our fellowman. than just followers - we are to be leaders A little thought on our part takes this in our homes, our places of employment, concept a step further by increasing our and our nation. We are thereby called to awareness of these three areas of life. a life of service and sacrifice for our famWe are asked to relocate our focus from ilies and to serve others as our abilities our own desires toward those things and means allow us. that are less transitory and more lasting, Becoming a better man also requires from a focus on self to one that takes in us to have an awareness of our transitothe rest of mankind. ry nature and mortality. Memento Mori,2 In the Fellowcraft degree, we are in- this concept of the shortness of life is troduced to the concepts of building and also part of the Master Mason’s degree, architecture as well as to those areas of but this is closely interwoven with the study that improve the intellectual mind, virtues of integrity and devotion; devoi.e. the seven liberal arts and sciences tion to others in a life of integrity is the of grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, goal to which we aspire and toward geometry, music, and astronomy. These which we travel every day. Our journey concepts once again turn our minds and is never completed, our final goal never intellect from self-absorption to self- fully realized, for we are always a work in lessness, from the tyranny of one’s own progress as we “travel upon the level of wants to the knowledge of the world and time, toward an undiscovered country the needs of others, pointing us toward from whose bourn no traveler returns.” 3 the virtues of charity and brotherly love, There are many more lessons taught knight templar
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