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6th Degree
6TH DEGREE Faith IN Times OF Trouble MASTER OF THE BRAZEN SERPENT
by Charles R. Arnold Jr. , 32°, HGA Valley of Lower Delaware
I took up the challenge I perceived from the optional Scene One within the sixth degree to consider the conditions of our world—specifically during April of this year. Our lives had been dramatically changed in just a few short weeks. I found it even more important to consider our responses to those changes, just as it was important for those wandering in the desert in the sixth degree to consider their response to their changing conditions.
The United States is at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and there is a worldwide economic upheaval caused by social distancing. We can closely identify with the reading of the words, “What happens in any country…may affect the happiness and peace of the entire world.” The COVID-19 virus started in one part of the world and by human to human contact has now touched most parts of the globe. This virus reminds us of just how small and interconnected our world is today. While space, the numbers, and conditions were different for the Israelites traveling for years in the desert than those of our world today, both seem to give a sense that “[w]e are all in this together.”
There are multiple similarities between the conditions of the Israelites and the conditions we find ourselves in today. The following are the comparisons I recognized: the perceived condition of a plague; the isolation from the rest of the world; the questioning of which way to go; the limited resources on hand; the concerns over the supply line for food and other resources; the questioning of authority; the death and suffering all around. The most important comparison I saw was the people coming to the realization that faith in God’s prescribed method for healing is important. It requires faith to obediently follow the prescription for healing—even through science. It does not matter whether the prescription was placing a brazen serpent on a pole or complying with social distancing, looking up reverently, or obediently receiving a doctor’s care to find healing.
From my perspective, both are prescriptions provided by God and conveyed to others through the wisdom God has given to man. This brought into my vision the clear need for the core value of Reverence for God as found in the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite. Without a reverence for God, I believe one lacks a solid foundation from which to measure truth. One could then choose not to follow any suggestion of a prescription that could provide healing and jump on any bandwagon of unproven ideas. Without that foundation, how would anyone choose which idea is right or which would provide healing?
Just as pointed out in optional Scene One, “…people everywhere are restless and discontented.” Today, they are restless and discontented with being quarantined due to the COVID-19 virus. Brothers, friends, and even extended family are unable to socialize. Many are unable to work, and few families have been left untouched from being struck by this disease in some way. There seems to be an appeal to faith by many leaders seeking answers in science to bring help and healing from this overwhelming virus. Many are finding themselves in a position where they must admit that without “the guidance of God’s wisdom, love, and power” they would not be able to find an answer to address this current worldwide pandemic. The words, “we are all in this together” are echoing all around the world, but there is no group better equipped to set the example of being in something together than those who are within the Masonic Brotherhood. The world is counting on us, even if they do not realize it, to set the examples by following, “…the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and of the love of the Lord.”
This “…drama of the human spirit, caught between its own discouragement and fear, and the will and purpose of
Almighty God” is not only found in this sixth degree but I believe is where many around the globe seem to find themselves today. People are faced with difficult choices: being at work and being at home (or even working from home); the economy and safety; paying the bills and having enough money to buy food; remaining in quarantine or risking exposure by going outside.
People are afraid, uncertain, grasping for help from wherever they believe they can get it. Some today are willing to exit their quarantine early to return to the enslavement of their everyday work rather than remaining safe in their current surroundings. This is not unlike those written about in the sixth degree who desired to return to the slavery in Egypt in exchange for peace, for the certainty of their hard work, for food and drink. Many were willing to trust the government of Egypt, as those currently are willing to trust the government of the United States over their faith in God.
The world today is in one of those desert stretches referred to in the sixth degree. People are struggling with just how much they will comply with the requirements of their “new normal” and social distancing. Will they meet for the worship of their God? Where will faith be found today in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic? How does reverence for God answer the question, “What are you looking up at with faith?”
