The Ideal Temple



by Bro. F.W. McRae, Mount Moriah Lodge, No. 102
Published in Masonic Bulletin, BCY, Sept. 1940

King Solomon's Temple has an outstanding place in our ritual. There is
another temple appropriately called "The Ideal Temple."
The Ideal Temple is that wherein the Divine Spirit dwells, and like King
Solomon's Temple it is dedicated and consecrated to the Most High in every
Freemason who has been truly initiated into the True Light. It is not of
stone or timber but is of a more substantial substance. It is the human
soul and is immortal. This is the Temple which freemasonry asks us to build and
improve.

"the Lodge Only Is, That the Temple May Be."

The ceremonies and tools of the Craft are but the symbols and tools for
the building of the Ideal Temple. Some members may seldom think of the
significance of these solemn ceremonies, but there is a rapidly increasing
number of Freemasons who have the conception of the Ideal Temple as the
chief end of all Masonic endeavor. This Temple too is the symbol of the Peace and Unity in human society attainable by the repression of the brute or lower nature in man and the
expression of the Divine Nature.

The Need for the Ideal Temple

In human society the natural desire for the comforts and degree of
independence which wealth affords has been developed into a fierce
feverish passion, a cruel insensate passion for riches and for the power which
wealth confers, a passion land delusion which blinds us to all that is true and
beautiful in life, which dethrones Good and sets up an Idol of God.
That as we all know is the deadly peril of our world today. In the
V.T.S.L. we have drawn for us two pictures; One, the nation that forgets God, the
other, that nation exalted by righteousness. We think and take pride in our
wealth and natural resources, and productive powers, and lose our moral
and spiritual perspective. Not by such means may the Ideal Temple be built.
That Temple can only be built by co-operation, expressed in all the
relationships of life. Whilst the perfect spiritual structure cannot be perfected within
earthly matter, nevertheless we have it on the authority of the Great Master
of men Himself, that the Kingdom of God is within us. It is that point within the circle from which no Freemason can err.


Finally, The Building of the Ideal Temple


To be strong and stable our Ideal Temple must have a deep and true
foundation. The higher it is the deeper the foundation must be. The
foundation of our Temple must be laid on the rock of Faith-faith in a
power greater than our own and able to ensure the ultimate triumph of Truth and
Righteousness. On Faith, all that is noble and heroic in human history has been based,
and while our faith is not a visible part of our building, on it rest the strength and beauty of the Temple. No matter what one achieves there is no thought, word or deed that is not
registered on that imperishable tablet of Heaven and built into the eternal walls of the Temple.


In building our Temple we must work to a plan, and in doing this the Almighty Force that makes for Righteousness will work with you. Every Spirit builds itself a house, and beyond its house a world. It is true that as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. Finally, I believe this Ideal Temple is our immortal soul and as we strive for existence in this world we must improve that Temple. Let us never forget that we are allied to a Divine Force that will always
carry us onward and upward. We have a right to be hopeful, and hope is the first requisite of courage.
Thrice in our Masonic journey we asked for light and received it, and our Masonic teaching discloses that Light within us, and it is entirely our privilege and opportunity to exemplify that Light, and Life for mankind,and fit that Spiritual Temple for its immortal station in that house not made with hands, Eternal in the Heavens.

Ron Bushby, PM
Mt.St. Paul Lodge 109
Kamloops, BC