THE MASONIC RITUAL

    There are many articles written on masonic philosophy but have you
really thought where the majority of this can be found?  We so often expect the well versed Brother to interpret for us the meaning of current ritual and add his knowledge of ancient rituals.  Are we failing in our duty as responsible masons by not listening to every word of well delivered work and wringing the meanings out based on our own interpretation?

    There have been many novels written where the author has been shocked to find the strange interpretation that the "experts" have placed upon what was a simple story.  When the poor author complains, he is told that he really meant what the "experts" said he meant, even if he wasn't aware of it.  How gullible we have become if we believe all this pseudo-scientific rubbish.

    As masons then, we should relay on the brain that we have been given to think about the meanings that can be derived from our ritual.  This does not mean that we should not discuss, question and refine our opinion constantly but it suggests that the value of masonry comes from our meaning of a specific piece of ritual that has made you reconsider a way of acting in your life?  In any of those areas where ritual has had a dramatic affect on you, it has been at the time of a sudden flash of insight into a meaning that has been suddenly interpreted by YOU.  To just be told the philosophy is like feeding people with a food that they do not like.  It will sustain them in life but will not give them the joy of life that comes from the things that are enjoyed.  When you get that insight into ritual you have then done something worthwhile to your life because in most cases you will use the extra information that you now possess.

    The philosophy of masonry that you hear form others is fine, but it
belongs to the interpreter.  Your life, in and out of the Lodge as a mason,
must be based on YOUR philosophy as gained from masonry, church, school, home, friends and plain old "experience" in life.  Now the order of these sources may differ but they all attempt to give a decent, honest, and
upright way of existing in this world of people and things.  You have to
find the right method of interpreting the sometimes conflicting messages and then do the best possible job of being a person that you are proud of, for a Mason is taught that he has the personal responsibility of living the
"Masonic Life."

    This year, why not take a new look at the ritual you hear and get your
own philosophy, or confirm your old philosophy, and be prepared to face the Grand Architect with no-one other than yourself to blame for the way you have lived.

Author unknown; Published in Grand Lodge Bulletin, GRA;
November, 1973.