YOU HERE

TO DO?

Builders And Wreckers

I watched them tearing a building down, a gang of men in a busy town. With a ho, heave, ho and a lusty yell they swung a beam and a side wall fell. I asked the foreman, “Are these men skilled? Like the men you’d hire if you had to build?” He laughed as he replied, “No, indeed just common labor is all I need. I can easily wreck in a day or two what builders have taken years to do.” I asked myself as I went away which of these roles have I tried to play? Am I a builder who works with care, measuring life by rule and square? Or am I a wrecker who walks the town Content with the labor of tearing down?

As Masons, we have of our own free will and accord, chosen to associate ourselves with one another. There was something about either the craft or a craftsman that sparked our interest in joining this brotherhood. Each of us made the decision to ask for a petition, seek admission, and knock on the door of the lodge to receive the rites, light and benefits of this ancient and honorable institution. Subjecting ourselves to the investigation by the lodge, paying fees, and going through the rituals of the three degrees should have impressed upon one, the seriousness of the nature of our work. More importantly, the very fact that a person whom you pronounced that you wanted to call a brother, was kind enough to place his name on your petition, and in so doing said to his Brothers that you were worth the time and effort to join us in our labors. The act of providing one with a petition is the highest compliment a Mason can give to the uninitiated, and it is the first step in the journey of brotherhood.

I wish to draw from the 1st Degree for this lecture. A part of the strict trial and due examination, we are asked two very important questions. Of which the second states“what come you here to do?” Again, I wish to propose this question to each of you this evening. What come you here to do? For in answering that question honestly, and without any hesitation, mental reservation, or secret evasion, we will be able to imagine not only the length of your cable tower, but the depth and breadth of your character among men and Masons.

My Brothers, the work we do here is not only important, it is sacred in many respects. The work I speak of is not about paying bills, purchasing tickets, or buying patron ads. The work of self-improvement, the work of building a community, and the work of building the truest sense of Brotherhood are tasks that one must have the heart and mind engaged in his labor. What come you here to do? Was it to satisfy a curiosity? Was it to be able to wear a ring, a hat or boast to those that may listen, that you are now somebody? These ephemeral emotions will not sustain you for the labors ahead. They will at best, become conflicting notions of disappointment if what you sought was for display, and not for dedication.

What come you here to do? Was it to provide comfort to the dispossessed, to help aid and assist a worthy Brother, his widow or orphans? Moreover, was it to learn to subdue your passions and improve yourself in Masonry? Subduing one’s passions is the most difficult thing a man can do in life. It is no wonder why that question is presented to us at the beginning of the initiation. The other most difficult thing for a man is to improve himself. We all have flaws. There are many of us that still have rough edges and need the attention from the common gavel. In order for us to become that smooth ashlar we must employ all the tools that Freemasonry has to offer. Let us remember that the cable tow has two ends. And if by our actions we knowingly or unknowingly clip away at our end, we will soon find that in times of strife there is no longer a lifeline for us to pull on to escape the difficulties of life, and we drown in a sea of troubles.

The easiest part of Masonry is the 1st and 2nd meeting of the month for most of us. It is on these days that we are reminded of our obligation, and the journey that was commenced by knocking on the door. However, what do you do the other days of the week? How do we inculcate the moral lessons of our ritual? How do we employ the working tools of our profession so that we are building up the right men? If during your daily walk through life, you do not pick up one working tool, you have missed the entire mission of Freemasonry. You, in effect, have become a cowan, a person who attempts to pass himself off as a Freemason without having experienced the rituals or going through the degrees.

So my Brothers, how do we answer this question? We endeavor to be Brothers outside the lodge room. We pick up the phone, don’t text or email. We get off our high horse and remember that as Masons we meet on the level, act by the plumb and part on the square. We answer Caine’s question to G-d, “Am I my brother’s keeper,” with a definitive yes. We become the best ideals we read about, pray about, and imitate. We humble ourselves and cast aside the false bravado of the lone wolf, and give note to what John Donne wrote: “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main…any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.”

When we realize that we all are traveling to that undiscovered country from which no traveler returns, then we may begin to see the finite nature of human life, and the infinite power of Brotherly love, relief and truth. I offer this lecture not so much for its educational benefit, but for its cognitive dissection. As we survey the state of Prince Hall Masonry, we can ill afford to try and build the temple with weak timber, or place craftsmen in positions for which they are ill-suited for the simple appearance of pomp and circumstance. We must look beyond the walls of our lodge rooms to identify the needs of our community, and challenge structural wrongs, and use what influence we still have to mold social policy that will lift our community from a dead level. Applying our tools to society is the true work of the master mason. So let us re-conduct our thoughts back to our introduction into Freemasonry, and ask ourselves, what come you here to do?■