LEVEL, PLUMB AND SQUARE

    How often we hear the phrase, "Meet on the Level, act by the Plumb, and part upon the Square."  How little thought we give to its importance.  How easy it is not to consider the meaning behind it.

    We all know the Plumb, Square and Level are the "Working Tools" of a
Fellowcraft.  The Ritual tells us why each is used by Operative Masons; the
Plumb to try perpendiculars, the Square to square their work, the Level to
prove horizontals.  Speculative Masons use the Plumb to walk uprightly
before God and man; the Square to remind them all men are created equal and have one Almighty Parent.

                                    LEVEL

    Throughout the ages there has been conclusive proof that Masons have met on the Level.     Actually we need look no further back than the present.  The Master obligates a candidate on the Level.  It is not uncommon for the owner of a business to sit in a Lodge of which one of his employees is Master.  A Masonic Lodge is such that no man would, or should, feel any Mason, or any man, is beneath, or above him.  That is one of the many beauties of Masonry! No other Fraternity stresses, practices, or teaches the equality of man as forcefully as does Freemasonry.

                                PLUMB

    A Plumb is one of the most intriguing instruments used by an operative
workman.  It exerts the utmost freedom until it reaches its goal.  Masonry
teaches that same freedom.  It requires no man to be a slave to the Order,
or any man, or any creed.  It allows each Mason to worship his God as he
sees fit; to belong to any Church or organization his conscience will
permit.  he is taught to respect the beliefs of others, ever remembering
that a Mason may be found in every climb, and that Mason may refer to his
God by an entirely different name.  The Landmarks of Masonry must not be
violated, but by no stretch of the imagination do they prohibit freedom -
they proclaim it!

                                SQUARE

    The Square is an exacting instrument and in the hands of a Master
accents Morality.  When we "part upon the Square" we are reminded to keep Morality always with us.  Always walk and act so those we meet and associate with will say, "There is a good man."  A Mason who is true to the lessons of Masonry is certain to be a man loved by his neighbours.  As a Square assists a workman to perform his talks with accuracy, so should its Moral application assist a Mason to live in harmony with his fellowman.

                                LIVE

    The Square, the Level, and the Plumb teaches us to live so that we may
all meet in the Supreme Grand Lodge, where only the inward qualifications of man are important.  Where the "wicked cease from troubling and where the weary shall find rest."


From: The Wisconsin Masonic Journal; Published in
MASONIC BULLETIN; BCR.; April, 1975