Without Scruple or Diffidence
Jun 15, 2013 12:47:34 GMT 9.5
Post by stepnwolf on Jun 15, 2013 12:47:34 GMT 9.5
Having struggled with an inflated opinion of my own intellectual attainments, I have been guilty of projecting this weakness onto others, seeing the error in others where there was none. Possibly some of us have never learned the first lesson we received in a Masonic Lodge where we were described as a poor candidate in a state of darkness.
The Craft undertakes the task of removing the darkness, not just by removing the hoodwink on that occasion, but also by guiding our willing steps onto that path less traveled.
Is it possible that in joining the Craft sincere Brn also undertake a course of improvement conducted by hidden Brn who have a special interest in the higher realms in the growth of each Bro? I'd like to think that that some sort of guidance is part of the privileges gained by joining the fraternity.
Along the way there may be tests to gauge our growth, some of which we fail to pass. The grades we earn on these tests are received “without scruple, well knowing they were justly entitled to them, and without diffidence from the great reliance they placed on the integrity of their employers in those days,” as it's said in the FC degree.
Along with scruple we may need some humility so as not to over-estimate our worth. In our masonic career we earn high sounding titles and move into the higher degrees. The test here is not to be taken in by it all. In our rituals the Candidate is often lead into an embarrassing situation because he was led to believe that he is something he is not. Consider the 1° and the request for a donation or the Mark and the request for wages.
I was staying with friends in another city to take the 32°, when I was awakened the next morning with, “Wake up, Sublime Prince.” I enjoyed it, but was also embarrassed by it. At 6am one hardly feels sublime. The moment I felt the tiniest bit sublime, I received a failing grade.
Our masonic training is truly a slippery slope we traverse, if we take it seriously. It demands sacrifice in part and at the same time raises us to unimagined heights. From our work in the quarries, we are privileged to raise a magnificent edifice, eternal in the heavens.
The Craft undertakes the task of removing the darkness, not just by removing the hoodwink on that occasion, but also by guiding our willing steps onto that path less traveled.
Is it possible that in joining the Craft sincere Brn also undertake a course of improvement conducted by hidden Brn who have a special interest in the higher realms in the growth of each Bro? I'd like to think that that some sort of guidance is part of the privileges gained by joining the fraternity.
Along the way there may be tests to gauge our growth, some of which we fail to pass. The grades we earn on these tests are received “without scruple, well knowing they were justly entitled to them, and without diffidence from the great reliance they placed on the integrity of their employers in those days,” as it's said in the FC degree.
Along with scruple we may need some humility so as not to over-estimate our worth. In our masonic career we earn high sounding titles and move into the higher degrees. The test here is not to be taken in by it all. In our rituals the Candidate is often lead into an embarrassing situation because he was led to believe that he is something he is not. Consider the 1° and the request for a donation or the Mark and the request for wages.
I was staying with friends in another city to take the 32°, when I was awakened the next morning with, “Wake up, Sublime Prince.” I enjoyed it, but was also embarrassed by it. At 6am one hardly feels sublime. The moment I felt the tiniest bit sublime, I received a failing grade.
Our masonic training is truly a slippery slope we traverse, if we take it seriously. It demands sacrifice in part and at the same time raises us to unimagined heights. From our work in the quarries, we are privileged to raise a magnificent edifice, eternal in the heavens.
