THE BUILDER FEBRUARY 1918

CORRESPONDENCE CIRCLE BULLETIN -- NO. 15
DEVOTED TO ORGANIZED MASONIC STUDY
EDITED BY BRO. ROBERT I. CLEGG


THE BULLETIN COURSE OF MASONIC STUDY FOR MONTHLY LODGE MEETINGS AND
STUDY CLUBS

FOUNDATION OF THE COURSE

THE Course of Study has for its foundation two sources of Masonic
information: THE BUILDER and Mackey's Encyclopedia. In another
paragraph is explained how the references to former issues of THE
BUILDER and to Mackey's Encyclopedia may be worked up as
supplemental papers to exactly fit into each installment of the
Course with the paper by Brother Clegg.

MAIN OUTLINE

The Course is divided into five principal divisions which are in
turn subdivided, as is shown below:

Division I. Ceremonial Masonry. 
A. The Work of a Lodge. 
B. The Lodge and the Candidate. 
C. First Steps. 
D. Second Steps. 
E. Third Steps.

Division II. Symbolical Masonry. 
A. Clothing. 
B. Working Tools.
C. Furniture. 
D. Architecture. 
E. Geometry. 
F. Signs.
G. Words. 
H. Grips.

Division III. Philosophical Masonry. 
A. Foundations. 
B. Virtues. 
C. Ethics. 
D. Religious Aspect. 
E. The Quest. 
F. Mysticism. 
G. The Secret Doctrine.

Division IV. Legislative Masonry. 
A. The Grand Lodge. 
1. Ancient Constitutions. 
2. Codes of Law. 
3. Grand Lodge Practices. 
4. Relationship to Constituent Lodges. 
5. Official Duties and Prerogatives. 
B. The Constituent Lodge. 
1. Organization.
2. Qualifications of Candidates.
3. Initiation, Passing and Raising.
4. Visitation.
5. Change of Membership.

Division V. Historical Masonry.
A. The Mysteries--Earliest Masonic Light. 
B. Study of Rites--Masonry in the Making. 
C. Contributions to Lodge Characteristics.
D. National Masonry.
E. Parallel Peculiarities in Lodge Study. 
F. Feminine Masonry. 
G. Masonic Alphabets. 
H. Historical Manuscripts of the Craft. 
I. Biographical Masonry.
J. Philological Masonry--Study of Significant Words. 

THE MONTHLY INSTALLMENTS
Each month we are presenting a paper written by Brother Clegg who
is following the foregoing outline. We are now in "First Steps" of
Ceremonial Masonry. There will be twelve monthly papers under this
particular subdivision. At the head of each installment will be
given a number of "Helpful Hints" consisting of questions to be
used by the chairman of the Committee during the study period which
will bring out every point touched upon in the paper.

Whenever possible we shall reprint in the Correspondence Circle
Bulletin articles from other sources which have a direct bearing
upon the particular subject covered by Brother Clegg in his monthly
paper. These articles should be used as supplemental papers in
addition to those prepared by the members from the monthly list of
references. Much valuable material that would otherwise possibly
never come to the attention of many of our members will thus be
presented.

The monthly installments of the Course appearing in the
Correspondence Circle Bulletin should be used one month later than
their appearance. If this is done the Committees will have
opportunity to arrange their programs several weeks in advance of
the meetings and the Brethren who are members of the National
Masonic Research Society will be better enabled to enter into the
discussions after they have read over and studied the installment
in THE BUILDER.

REFERENCES FOR SUPPLEMENTAL PAPERS
Immediately preceding each of Brother Clegg's monthly papers in the
Correspondence Circle Bulletin will be found a list of references
to THE BUILDER and Mackey's Encyclopedia. These references are
pertinent to the paper and will either enlarge upon many of the
points touched upon or bring out new points for reading and
discussion. They should be assigned by the Committee to different
Brethren who may compile papers of their own from the material thus
to be found, or in many instances the articles themselves or
extracts therefrom may be read directly from the originals. The
latter method may be followed when the members may not feel able to
compile original papers, or when the original may be deemed
appropriate without any alterations or additions.

HOW TO ORGANIZE FOR AND CONDUCT THE STUDY MEETINGS

The Lodge should select a "Research Committee" preferably of three
"live" members. The study meetings should be held once a month,
either at a special meeting of the Lodge called for the purpose, or
at a regular meeting at which no business (except the Lodge
routine) should be transacted--all possible time to be given to the
study period.

After the Lodge has been opened and all routine business disposed
of, the Master should turn the Lodge over to the Chairman of the
Research Committee. This Committee should be fully prepared in
advance on the subject for the evening. All members to whom
references for supplemental papers have been assigned should be
prepared with their papers and should also have a comprehensive
grasp of Brother Clegg's paper.

PROGRAM FOR STUDY MEETINGS

1. Reading of the first section of Brother Clegg's paper and the
supplemental papers thereto.

(Suggestion: While these papers are being read the members of the
Lodge should make notes of any points they may wish to discuss or
inquire into when the discussion is opened. Tabs or slips of paper
similar to those used in elections should be distributed among the
members for this purpose at the opening of the study period.)

2. Discussion of the above.

3. The subsequent sections of Brother Clegg's paper and the
supplemental papers should then be taken up, one at a time, and
disposed of in the same manner.

4. Question Box.

Invite questions from any and all Brethren present. Let them
understand that these meetings are for their particular benefit and
get them into the habit of asking all the questions they may think
of. Every one of the papers read will suggest questions as to facts
and meanings which may not perhaps be actually covered at all in
the paper. If at the time these questions are propounded no one can
answer them, SEND THEM IN TO US. All the reference material we have
will be gone through in an endeavor to supply a satisfactory
answer. In fact we are prepared to make special research when
called upon, and will usually be able to give answers within a day
or two. Please remember, too, that the great Library of the Grand
Lodge of Iowa is only a few miles away, and, by order of the
Trustees of the Grand Lodge, the Grand Secretary places it at our
disposal on any query raised by any member of the Society.

FURTHER INFORMATION

The foregoing information should enable local Committees to conduct
their Lodge study meetings with success. However, we shall welcome
all inquiries and communications from interested Brethren
concerning any phase of the plan that is not entirely clear to
them, and the services of our Study Club Department are at the
command of our members, Lodge and Study Club Committees at all
times.

HELPFUL HINTS TO STUDY CLUB LEADERS

From the following questions the Committee should select, some time
prior to the evening of the study meeting, the particular questions
that they may wish to use at their meeting which will bring out the
points in the following paper which they desire to discuss. Even
were but five minutes devoted to the discussion of each of the
questions given it will be seen that it would be impossible to
discuss all of them in ten or twelve hours. The wide variety of
questions here given will afford individual Committees an
opportunity to arrange their program to suit their own fancies and
also furnish additional material for a second study meeting each
month if desired by the members.

In conducting the study periods the Chairman should endeavor to
hold the discussions closely to the text and not permit the members
to speak too long at one time or to stray onto another subject.
Whenever it becomes evident that the discussion is turning from the
original subject the Chairman should request the speaker to make a
note of the particular point or phase of the matter he wishes to
discuss or inquire into, and bring it up when the Question Box
period is opened.

QUESTIONS ON "PRAYER"

1. What is prayer? Is it an instinct, or an art? Is its successful
use governed by laws? Does prayer violate the laws of Nature ? Is
it a necessary part of the Masonic life ? Why ? How do you think
prayer is answered? For what should we ?ray ? Is audible prayer
necessary ? Have you ever tested prayer by actual experiment ? Is
the cry of an infant a supplication to God? In what sense is the
child "an epitome of theace" ? What is the object of prayer ?

2. What is the candidate's first voluntary act in the Lodge ? Is
what follows a part of the instruction of the Lodge? Does the Lodge
set the example ? How ? How did primitive man pray? With what did
he accompany his prayer? What sacrifice did you make, when you
became a Mason ? Has your service in behalf of Masonry been a
sacrifice ? If not, have you really gotten anything out of Masonry?

3. What is the candidate's part in the act of invocation? Why do
men kneel in prayer? Why do they close their eyes? What is meant by
"an attitude of prayer" ? Are there other attitudes than those
mentioned ? Explain the meaning of the several parts of a
monitorial prayer. What does "Amen" mean ? What does "so mote it
be" mean? A congregation may join in prayer, either mentally or
audibly; what is the effect upon you when you are a part of a
congregation thus engaged?

4. What is Faith? Is it the same as Trust, Confidence ? What part
does faith play in business? in social life? in friendship ? Is
faith approved by reason ? What is meant by "the faith of a Mason"?
Is a prayerless, faithless life "atheism" in practice ? Do savages
pray ? How ? Have we improved the art of prayer as we have improved
other arts ? Can the vote of a Lodge be in fact a prayer? Is it a
manly thing to pray? Do you believe in the old saying "To Labor is
to Pray"? Can you name some great men who used the habit of prayer
? Would you be ashamed to dimit that you used it?

REFERENCES FOR SUPPLEMENTAL PAPERS

The articles by Brother Haywood, Newton and Wagstaff and the
additional selections from other sources in this issue of the
Correspondence Circle Bulletin should afford Study Club leaders an
opportunity to make this installment of the Course one of the most
interesting they have yet had. Use as many of them as possible,
assigning them to your most interested members for reading at your
meeting. Additional references may be found as follows:

Mackey's Encyclopedia:
Prayer, p. 577. 
THE BUILDER:
Vol. I--Prayer in Masonry, p. 186.
Vol. II--A Mason's Prayer, p. 180; The Great Prayer, p. 368. 
Vol. III--What An Entered Apprentice Ought to Know, April C. C. B.,
p. 6.

FIRST STEPS

BY BRO ROBERT I. CLEGG

PART III--PRAYER

"As Masons we are taught that no man should enter upon any great or
important undertaking without first invoking the blessing of
Deity."

PRAYER is the voice of hope strengthened by faith. Prayer is the
expectant utterance of the elect. Prayer is petition purified, and
therefore powerful. Prayer is the appealing speech of subject to
sovereign, of the creature to the Creator.

Aspiration is that ambitious attitude of man that seeks hopefully
unto a happy end of effort. That is prayer in action. That is what
the Bible surely means when speaking of the effectual fervent
speech that availeth much. "The effectual fervent prayer of a
righteous man availeth much," as is said in James, v. 16.

A natural act it truly is to implore the aid and protection of a
power greater than our own in a time of difficulty or danger. The
child clutching at its mother's gown to steady the faltering
footsteps of infancy is but a prophecy and a pattern of maturity.
Perhaps the inarticulate feeble cry of the infant, the earliest
pang of pain or weakness made vocal, is but significant of that
universal seeking for succor by humanity lifting up its voice unto
the heavens, the child being an epitome of the race.

KNEELING POSTURE

How natural is the ordinary kneeling posture of prayer. He that
prays is himself a symbol of subjection when kneeling in an
attitude of supplication; the unseeing eyes show abstraction--
inward looking-- the folded hands beseech compassion and favor.
Then is the candidate nearer to his God. Then does the Divinity
that shapes our ends approach us the closer, our sightless eyes are
opened to introspection and we are prompted aright in action and
speech.

THE LODGE SETS THE EXAMPLE FOR THE CANDIDATE

There is another prayerful attitude aside from that privacy
suggested by darkness and solitude. There is the prayer of a
number, a congregation interceding for themselves or for others.
Therein comes the unity of similar acts, many performing the same
ceremony simultaneously strengthens in every participant the
sentiment of his neighbors. To stand with bowed heads and attentive
minds while another prays the words that are in the hearts of all
those assembled means community of prayer, a common supplication.

THE LODGE INSTRUCTS AND SUPPLICATES FOR THE CANDIDATE

Consider the Lodge and the candidate solemnly in a sacrificial
spirit offering contritely their aspirations for the good of all.
There is the confident expression of belief in a Supreme Being
whose blessing is sought for both the Lodge and the candidate to
the end that both may, in their humble powers, reflect the glory of
heaven.

THE CANDIDATE'S PART

The candidate is ever an active element in all that is done. For
him, with him, by him,--everything is done in his behalf. Prayer is
at the beginning and the end of all Masonic work. Particularly is
prayer applicable in the first steps of the candidate in our
mysteries. In it he participates. In attitude and in aspiration he
has an active and a typical part. He fills a place peculiarly his
own. Both in posture and in response he meets all requirements or
he fits none. Shut out from the world, the world forgetting, by the
world forgotten, darkness blots away all disturbing factors of
sight. Withdrawn from the world, there are but the reminders of
ritualistic instruction penetrating by other avenues than the eye.

"AMEN--SO MOTE IT BE"

The word "Amen" and the phrase "So Mote It Be" are synonymous
terms. Their use is familiar to all Masons. The word "Amen" is of
Hebrew origin, of which the root meaning is "stability," generally
adopted in Christian worship as a concluding formula for prayers
and hymns. Three distinct biblical usages may be noted. (a) Initial
Amen, referring back to words of another speaker, e. g. I Kings i.
36, "And Benaiah the son of Jehoiaba answered the king, and said,
Amen: the Lord God of my lord the king say so too." (b) Detached
Amen, the complimentary sentence being suppressed, e. g. Neh. v.
13, "Also I shook my lap, and said, so God shake out every man from
his house, and from his labor, that performeth not this promise,
even thus he be shaken out, and emptied. And all the congregation
said, Amen, and praise the Lord. And the people did according to
this promise." Rev. v. 14, "And the four beasts said, Amen. And the
four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for
ever and ever." (c) Final Amen, with no change of speaker, as in
the subscription to the first three divisions of the Psalter and in
the frequent doxologies of the New Testament Epistles. The uses of
amen ("verily") in the gospels form a peculiar class; they are
initial but often lack any backward reference. Jesus used the word
to affirm his own utterances, not those of another person, and this
usage was adopted by the church. The liturgical use of the word in
apostolic times is attested by the passage from I Cor., and Justin
Martyr (A.D. 150) describes the congregation as responding "amen"
to the benediction after the celebration of the Eucharist.

Among certain Gnostic sects Amen became the name of an angel, and
in post-biblical Jewish works exaggerated statements are multiplied
as to the right method and the bliss of pronouncing it. It is still
used in the service of the synagogue, and the Mohammedans not only
add it after reciting the first Sura of the Koran, but also when
writing letters, etc., and repeat it three times, often with the
word Qimtir, as a kind of talisman.

TRUST AND FAITH

The greater the importance and the greater the difficulty of any
undertaking, the more essential it is that an implicit trust in God
shall guide our feet and make sure and steadfast our stumbling
steps. Do we deserve that help? Then let us fear not but go forward
of good courage.

Scepticism is frequent. Cynicism is rife. Among Masons it is not
rare to have the student belittled by the uninformed. Too often an
ideal is shattered by "What is the use?"

Take heart. Beneath the social veneer is sound substance. Rough as
may be the raw diamond, every rightly directed rub of polish adds
to its lustre and swells its flashing rays of light.

True, honesty and sincerity are elbowed out of the newspaper
columns by the record of crime. Be not alarmed. An orgy of
wrongdoing is not rampant. No indeed, the very opposite is true.
Only the uncommon is news. What everybody knows is not news. What
is mentioned in the daily papers is the rare, the novel, the
curious, the quaint. When you see crime portrayed in print, be
assured that evil is not supreme. It should remind us that good men
and women are too common for advertisement.

Abroad in the land is the spirit of Masonry. Business in mighty
bulk is transacted upon the mere pledged word. Appeals for trade
are voiced with the fervor of religious faith. A discussion among
men of business, advertising men, engineers, and others, is usually
found in one avenue or another associated with lofty ideals, a
philosophy of self-sacrifice and personal devotion. Masonry is this
leaven of mankind, a lever of uplift, a light ever leading unto
love.

TO LABOR IS TO PRAY

An old Latin motto, "Labore est Orore," says in effect, "Work is
prayer, to labor is to pray." When the ancient craftsmen wrought
their structures into the glorious Gothic pinnacles and spires,
pilasters and columns, and flung the flying buttresses and beams
astride the spacious transepts of gracious cathedrals, the ornate
stone and carved wood expressed their faith, hope and charity, the
sumptuous record of their souls. The enduring wood and stone
perpetuated their prayers.

How far does modern Masonry impress its teaching on the times? Will
we as did our forefathers in Freemasonry carve into the character
of men something of what the craftsmen of old worked into these
buildings that yet remain of grandeur and renown ?

Let us answer these questions in our own hearts. They are worth our
careful study.

Consider, too, that Masonry tells us how we may pray for ourselves
and for others but the prayers of others are not to substitute for
our own. We are to pray for ourselves and for others. Is this your
idea of prayer ?

Have you not met that Mason whose impression of Masonry is not that
of a partnership? His conception of Masonry is that of an
organization that does something for him, not of an organization
that is served by him and by all the other members? Do you not
think that this is the real difference between a member and a
Mason?

Of course you all know that a Mason is more than a mere member,
being vaccinated is certainly more than going through the motions
of an operation. If it does not take, the work is a failure.

MORE BLESSED TO GIVE THAN TO RECEIVE

Thus there are two aspects of Masonry, receiving and contributing,
taking and giving. He who wears the jewelry and carries the card
and diploma receives some reward, but he who wears the instruction
in his heart distributes rewards. Happy is he who does all things
Masonically with discrimination and zeal.

The strength of Masonry is in the unity of its members and in their
acceptance of its duties. When they expect more than they give,
Masonry weakens by that drain upon her substance. When Masons
expect less than they contribute of their service, that surplus
strengthens the common source of energy and all profit by the
sacrifice.

The element of sacrifice is indeed inseparable from prayer. The
Mason may well ponder how aptly in modern days or of old he that
prayed made an offering. The supplication to his God was
accompanied by a gift upon the altar. Many are the instances
recorded in the Bible of just such offerings, too numerous for
enumeration.

Well, what is the sacrifice when a man becomes a Mason? What then
is offered upon the altar of Masonry? Why, nothing less than the
man himself.

God in Fatherhood, man in brotherliness, each thought suggests
service; the sonship of worship unto the Father, the fraternity of
men actuated by the lasting lessons of an antique and unique
schooling. We get by giving. We earn as we truly learn. Our real
fame is as we aim.

When the temptation comes to be impatient because the institution
is not moving as some individual wishes, is not voting as some
person may vote, then reflect that its greatest glory is in the
chastening and refining of the individual character.

Masonry is never a mob. Masonry is always personal. Masons are
never to be herded. Masons are to be heeded.

Prayer to the Mason is most natural, a very plopeact of devotion
and of adoration, a practical act of worship. In it he but follows
the Divine command, "Ask and ye shall receive." There is in it the
very essence of faith, for without faith there is neither purpose
nor direction nor end in prayer.

When a vote is used as is a prayer it is used Masonically. When the
franchise is exercised by freemen in a Masonic fashion it is
employed in the spirit of prayer. Whatever is done Masonically is
prayerful.

* * *

Watch once more, my brethren, the first contact of a candidate with
our Craft, his entrance into Masonry. Apply for yourselves his
lessons of faith. Turn back the pages of your career and see
yourselves again in him as when you first entered the lodge. Renew
with him your pledges, replenish your trust, recall the old thrill
of your Entered Apprenticeship. It shall not be in vain. There is
not in all the affairs of life a solitary foothold for you where
that knowledge will not serve you well. Yes, watch, and pray.

"INVOKING THE BLESSING OF DEITY"
BY BRO. H. L. HAYWOOD, IOWA

(By the kindness of Brother H. L. Haywood, who edits the Library
department of this Journal, we have been privileged to lift from
the pages of his forthcoming book of interpretation of the three
degrees of Ancient Craft Masonry, the following delightful
paragraphs relating to Prayer. They are so truly interpretative of
the subject matter of this month's Bulletin study that we would
feel our issue incomplete without them.)

It is of the highest import that in the ceremony of initiation the
candidate's first act is to kneel at the altar of prayer for this
is nothing other than a symbol of the fact that all right life,
inside and outside of the Lodge, is anchored to the power of
prayer. It is of further significance that in the early Degree he
has another to pray for him while at a later time he must pray for
himself because this is a recognition of prayer as an art to be
learned gradually as all other arts are learned.

Brother J. T. Thorp, the veteran English student, has suggested
that the Apprentice prayer has come to us from the old custom of
beginning each Old Charge with an Invocation; this is a reasonable,
historical inference, but it does not go deep enough. The prayer is
in the Masonic ceremony because it must be in the Masonic life, and
the important point here is not how we came to pray, but why we do
pray; and the reason we do pray is that we can not help it. Man is
a praying creature because of the way he is made, and not all the
arguments of the naturalist or all the sophistries of the skeptic
can cure him of the habit.

Prayer is more "than the aspiration of the soul toward the absolute
and Infinite Intelligence"; it is more than meditation; it is more
than the soul's dialogue with its own higher self; it is more than
soliloquy; prayer is a force and accomplishes work in its own
appropriate realm. When a forester wishes to fell a tree he uses an
axe; when a farmer desires a crop he plows the soil and sows the
grain; the merchant who seeks money applies himself to his trade;
by token of the same universal law of cause and effect the soul
that would get spiritual work done applies the instrument of
prayer.

If it be said that God is all-knowing and all-powerful and does not
need our praying we reply that there are some things which God will
not do, whether He can or not without the assistance of man.
Working by Himself God produces the wild dog-rose; working with man
He produces an "American Beauty"; working by Himself He produces
the wild wheat, unfruitful and inedible; working with man He
carpets the prairies with heavy-headed grain, enough to feed a
nation; working by Himself He brought forth the first man, half
animal, half human, slinking in his mildewed cave and killing his
prey with his hands, like the wild bear; working in co-operation
with man they Two have brought forth this human world of netted
highways and thrumming cities--literature, art, beauty, the temple,
and the home, the Iliad, the Tempest, the Bible, Homer,
Shakespeare, and Christ. Man co-operates with God in transforming
Nature by the use of his hands; he cooperates with God in
transforming the spirit by the use of prayer. Besides, God has not
shut Himself out of the soul that He has made and prayer itself may
well be His own activity, His Divine hand-clasp with the human
heart.

This is not to justify the use of prayer, there is no need of that;
it is its own justification. After all is said pro and con, the
fact remains that the great souls have been the great prayers. It
is not for us to twist this fact about to suit our theories; it is
for us to adjust our theories to the fact. Prayer widens our
horizons; purifies our motives, disciplines the will, releases us
from the gravitations of the material, sets a new light in the fact
and links us to Heaven in an ineffable fellowship. It is a stairway
let down by God into the inmost chamber-of our heart up and down
which the better angels of our nature pass and re-pass in their
healing ministries.

Upon this earth there is nothing more eloquent than the silence of
a company of men and women bowed in the hush and awe of a House of
Prayer. Through all the groping generations the soul of man has
never ceased to seek a city unseen and eternal. No thoughtful man
but at some time has mused over this great adoring habit of our
humanity, and the marvel of it deepens the longer he ponders it.
That instinct for eternity which draws together the stones of a
stately cathedral, where the shadow of the Infinite is bidden to
linger, tells us more of what man is than all else besides. So far
as we know, man is the only being on our planet that pauses to
pray, and the wonder of his worship is at once a revelation and a
prophecy.

"Man sits here shaping wings to fly; 
His heart forbodes a mystery; 
He names the name of Eternity.

That type of Perfect in his mind 
In Nature he can nowhere find, 
He sows himself on every wind.

He seems to hear a Heavenly Friend, 
And through thick walls to apprehend 
A labor working toward an end."


PRAYER IS TRUST
BY BRO. JOSEPH FORT NEWTON, ENGLAND

The first great element of prayer is aspiration--a hunger for
better being and doing, a looking onward and upward to an ideal
which, seen afar off, is yearned after; a discontent with present
attainments and performances, an inability to rest in things as
they are. When a young man gives up wild or careless habits, begins
to save money, to use his time to good account, brace himself
against the lure to idleness and evil, he is praying, though he
might be abashed if one told him that his wistful reaching forth
toward something higher and better was prayer. Wherever improvement
is being desired and sought--improvement not only in what we have,
but in what we are and do--there is prayer, even though no word is
uttered. A man in his workshop, factory or office, who, from morn
to eve is striving to realize his ideal of honor, efficiency and
service, is praying the livelong day. When an ideal of manhood is
cherished, in the light of which our best is never wholly
satisfactory, and which is evermore urging us to go beyond it,
there is prayer. Such a man, though he kneel not during the day,
goes prayerfully to his bed a better man, and the hum of his honest
industry is the music of a liturgy.

Nor does he pray simply for himself alone. All prayer, by its very
nature, is benevolent and intercessory. When a man is devoted to
the pursuit of knowledge, caring more for it than for any worldly
honor; when he is in search for truth, ready, if need be, to suffer
that he may find it; when he desires to help forward a good cause,
willing to sacrifice for it-- when a man lives thus, he is
exemplifying that love of the best things of which all prayer is
the expression. Who can labor for the good and not begin to throb
with desire for the good of others? What man, not cursed with
hopeless selfishness, can enter the presence of the Eternal
Goodness and ask only in his own behalf? When he closes the door of
his oratory he remembers not simply his own burdens, but the griefs
and woes of others. One who, like Abou Ben Adhem, loves his fellow
man, need not bow his head and clasp his hands, before sleeping, to
save the day from being prayerless, since it has been full of
prayer. Yet no one can enter his oratory before falling into the
mystery of sleep, without learning something for the comfort of his
heart and the health of his soul.

Again, all true prayer has its roots in trust, and he is praying
who dares trust truth, right, and honor, no matter the cost, though
he may not kneel in a temple. Let him bow in the temple, but when
on the day following he obeys the light within him when it points,
maybe, to a lonely road, where he will no longer walk with troops
of friends--that also is prayer. If prayer is trust, he who trusts
the reigning rectitude, trusts conscience, trusts duty, trusts
principle habitually, fearful only of unfaithfulness, and with
tranquil courage pursues his way, is a man of prayer. No matter how
loud he may pray in the temple, if he seeks even a worthy end by
unworthy means, his prayer has no wings. We pray by our desires,
our motives, our tears. and by our acts--praying without ceasing to
the God who is over all, in all, and working through all.


THE DIGNITY OF PRAYER
MY BRO. DENMAN S..WAGSTAFF, P. M., CALIFORNIA

The great secret forcing along a final and complete consciousness
of one's worthiness when asking for anything, either from The Great
Architect or from just a common "Fellow-Craft" along the road, is
the knowledge in advance, of having earned the favor. Hence we have
the right and privilege to ask for that something which we are
convinced belongs to us.

The knowledge of worthiness is the backbone of the request. In most
every instance a request coming from such a source is granted. Thus
we may say that the request and the answer go hand in hand. The
giving and receiving are correlative. The effort means its
accomplishment.

These jewels should be among the contents of the cornerstone of our
individual "Temples," which if guided in their building, planned in
their inception by the absolute worthiness of the reason for
building, lead to the final raising of an edifice wherein there
shall be no false gods, false oaths, unfilled obligations nor
anything which doth not belong within a "Temple." We may then pray
with a dignity born of Truth.

How many do pray just through the habit of asking for everything in
sight. How many are disappointed, when after meeting with sudden,
almost selfinflicted misfortune, prayer brings nothing. Prayer is
indeed nothing, if robbed of its dignity. It can not be heard. The
real preparation necessary to receive the object asked for is
absent. There has been no effort to fill the cornerstone of Life
with the records of Truth. We are out of our class. No previous
performance. There is no record of our having even tried to merit
an answer to our prayer, hence it is simply a wheedling, simpering,
despairing cry without dignity and devoid of Truth.

What should constitute previous performance? It takes but little
absolutely new to start. The obligation of the First Degree points
the "Apprentice" way: "Be true to yourself." The Second Degree: "Be
faithful to your friends and thus in a greater degree to yourself."
The Third Degree: "Be to all men a brother. Be quick to lend a
helping hand to all mankind--to all men, no matter of what faith or
creed." Be sure to note that all men are equal in the sight of the
Creator. Think always before entering upon an engagement. Let
cleanliness of heart and tongue go hand in hand with every act.
Look well ahead on the trail before you trust your feet upon it.
You may, in a darkening moment, tread upon a brother fallen by the
wayside. He should be placed upon his feet again. Then you may pray
for more assistance, with all the "dignity" consistent effort
commands. Your prayers will be answered in your good deed just
crowned with accomplishment, even before your eyes. So shall we
merit an endless Life, wherein Truth prevails.

PRAYER

(Literature contains many explanations of prayer--explanations
which because of their liberal viewpoint might easily have been
made by Masons well versed in the lore of the Craft. Time and again
we have said in these pages that Masonry is not a religion, but
that it is religion. It is not a cult, but its philosophy is the
embodiment of all that is fundamental in religion, and therefore
found underlying all cults and creeds. To the student who has
grasped this conception of Masonry, the following quotations will
bring a quiet satisfaction and an illuminating viewpoint of the
true concepts of the Fraternity, as embodied in the teachings of
its degrees.)

THE POWER OF PRAYER

Who will pray must know and understand that prayer is an earnest
and familiar talking with God, to whom we declare our miseries,
whose help we implore and desire in our adversities, and whom we
laud and praise for our benefits received; so that prayer contains
the exposition of our detours (troubles, sorrows), the desire of
God's defense, and the praising of His magnificent name, as the
Psalms of David clearly teach.

The consideration in whose presence we stand, to whom we speak, and
what we desire, should excite us to the greatest reverence in doing
this; standing in the presence of the omnipotent Creator of Heaven
and earth, and of all that is therein; whom a thousand thousand
angels assist and serve, giving obedience to His eternal majesty;
and speaking unto Him who knoweth the secrets of our hearts, before
whom dissimulation and lies are always odious and hateful; asking
those things which may be most to His glory, and the comfort of our
conscience. But we should attend diligently that such things as may
offend His godly presence may be removed to the uttermost of our
power. And first, that worldly cares and fleshy cogitations, such
as draw us from our God, be expelled from us, that we may fully,
without interruption, call upon God. But how difficult and hard
this one thing is to perform in prayer, none know better than such
as, in their prayers, are not content to remain within the bands of
their own vanity, but are, as it were, enrapt, and do intend to a
purity allowed of God; asking not such things as the foolish reason
of man desires, but that which may be acceptable in God's presence.
John Knox.

WHAT PRAYER ACCOMPLISHES

Prayer is a soliloquy; but being a soliloquy expressing need, and
being furthermore, like sacrifice, a desperate expedient which men
fly to in their impotence, it looks for an effect; to cry aloud, to
make vows, to contrast eloquently the given with the ideal
situation, is certainly as likely a way of bringing about a change
for the better as it would be to chastise one's self severely, or
to destroy what one loves best, or to perform acts altogether
trivial and arbitrary. Prayer also is magic, and as such it is
expected to do work. The answer looked for, or one which may be
accepted instead, very often ensues; and it is then that mythology
begins to enter in and seeks to explain by what machinery of divine
passions and purposes that answering effect was produced.

* * * * The mythology that pretends to justify prayer by giving it
a material efficacy misunderstands prayer completely and makes it
ridiculous, for it turns away from the heart, which prayer
expresses pathetically, to a fabulous cosmos where aspirations have
been turned into things and have thereby stifled their own voices.

The situation would not be improved if we surrendered that mystical
optimism, and maintained that prayer might really attract
superhuman forces to our aid by giving them a signal without which
they would not have been able to reach us. If experience lent
itself to such a theory there would be nothing in it more
impossible than in ordinary telepathy; prayer would then be an art
like conversation, and the exact personages and interests would be
discoverable to which we might appeal. A celestial diplomacy might
then be established not very unlike primitive religions. Religion
would have reverted to industry and science, to which the grosser
spirits that take refuge under it have always wished to assimilate
it.

* * * * What successful religion really should pass into is
contemplation, ideality, poetry, in the sense in which poetry
includes all imaginative moral life. That this is what religion
looks to is very clear in prayer and in the efficacy which prayer
consistently can have. In rational prayer the soul may be said to
accomplish three things important to its welfare; it withdraws
within itself and defines its good, it accommodates itself to
destiny, and it grows like the ideal which it conceives.

If prayer springs from need it will naturally dwell on what would
satisfy that necessity; sometimes, indeed, it does nothing else but
articulate and eulogize what is most wanted and prized. This object
will often be particular, and so it should be, since Socrates'
prayer "for the best" would be perfunctory and vapid indeed in a
man whose life had not been spent, like Socrates', in defining what
the best was.
--Geo. Santayana--"Reason in Religion."

PUTTING THE MIND IN A RECEPTIVE CONDITION

"Prayer is the highest form of co-operative action required on the
part of man. Prayer is the mode of effort that is adapted to the
nature of the spiritual good that is sought by it, as labor and
study are modes of effort that are adapted to the inferior goods we
seek. Labor and study are practical modes of asking for what we
seek by them; a way of putting our minds into a receptive
condition. So with prayer."
--C. T. Porter, in "Mechanics and Faith."

PRAYER AND A DIVINE PLAN

There can be no difficulty in reconciling prayer with the theory of
a divine plan when it is remembered that the Author of the plan
instructs us to pray, and therefore his plan must include our
prayers. But they must be right prayers and in a right spirit. They
must never be demands. He who has the most of the spirit of prayer
will be least disposed to press his own wishes. Having laid his
petitions before the all-wise and all-loving Father, he will rest
peacefully in the one desire that embraces and absorbs all others--
"Not my will, but thine, be done."

They must be trustful prayers. If we ask for guidance in the
difficult ways of our daily life we must believe that he is so
guiding us, however dark the pathway may seem to us. There was
profound philosophy in the remark of a child in connection with the
sad fate of President Garfield. The following conversation between
two little girls was overheard:

"I am sure President Garfield will get well, because people are
praying for him all over the world."

"I don't feel sure of it." "What! Don't you believe that God
answers prayers?"

"Oh, yes! I know that God answers prayers. He always answers
prayers, but sometimes He answers yes, and sometimes He answers
no."

One of the scriptural injunctions to prayer which we feel it hard
to take literally is that it shall be continual. "Pray without
ceasing." Since we can not spend all our time upon our knees or in
what we regard as the special religious exercise of prayer, we
dismiss this plain direction as hyperbolical. But it is not. It is
a clear instruction that we are to have a spirit of prayer in all
that we do. There is no act of our lives so trifling that it does
not come within the scope of God's plan. The spirit of prayer will
therefore lead us to "pray without ceasing," that God's will may be
done in the smallest particulars of our lives. The desire to do his
will is a prayer. It does not need expression in words every
moment, nor even "the upward lifting of an eye." The desire to act
for God and not for self is a practical expression of the petition
"Thy will be done" in every act that is thus consecrated.
--Theo. F. Seward.

TRUE PRAYER

"That prayer which does not succeed in moderating our wish, in
changing the passionate desire into still submission, the anxious,
tumultuous expectation into silent surrender, is no true prayer,
and proves that we have not the spirit of true prayer. That life is
most holy in which there is the least of petition and desire, and
most of waiting upon God; that in which petition most often passes
into thanksgiving. Pray till prayer makes you forget your own wish,
and leave it or merge it in God's will. The divine wisdom has given
us prayer not as a means whereby to obtain the good things of
earth, but as a means whereby we learn to do without them: not as
a means whereby we escape evil, but as a means whereby we become
strong to meet it."
--F. W. Robertson.

A FAMOUS PRAYER WITH A MASONIC SIGNIFICANCE

(A mechanical device known as a "prayer-wheel" is used by the
Buddhists of Tibet and Central Asia. It is generally formed of a
pasteboard cylinder, wrapped in long paper bands inscribed with
repetitions of the prayer "Om mani pad me hum." The efficacy of the
devotion is reckoned by the number of revolutions made by the
wheel.)

"Om mani pad me hum!" has become the "prayer" par excellence of
Tibetan Buddhists: "the sum and substance of all the sentences of
all the Buddhas concentrated in one word." With a Sanskrit origin
and meaning somewhat obscure, this jumble of six syllables is
repeated by deified lamas, despotic princes, vicious priests, and
humble laymen from the mountains of India to the plains of China.
In the Tibetan-English Dictionary of the learned Jaschke under the
syllable "Om" we have the following explanation: "Om" a mystical
interjection .... the symbol of the Hindu triad inasmuch as it
consists of three sounds A. U. M., or Vishnu, Shiva, and Brahma
respectively. This interjection frequently occurs in the prayers of
the Northern Buddhists of Tibet, and especially in the famous
six-syllable prayer "Om mani pad me hum," the literal meaning of
which is: "O thou jewel in the Lotus hum." The person addressed in
these words is not Buddha but Spyan Ras Gzigs, and by some he is
thought to be the author of them. The Tibetans themselves are
ignorant of the proper sense of the six syllables, if sense at all
there be in them.... The simple and popular but also the flattest
of these explanations is derived from the purely extrinsic
circumstance that the Sanskrit words of the prayer consist of six
syllables . . . (which), when pronounced by a pious Buddhist,
convey a blessing upon one of the six classes of beings; (gods,
demi-gods, men, animals, hungry giants, and inmates of Hell).

"Om mani pad me hum" seems to be written on everything, and
repeated by everyone everywhere. It is muttered by bands of lamas
at the picturesque religious ceremonies, accompanied by ringing
bells, clanging cymbals, blaring trumpets, booming drums, and
wailing flutes. It is droned with feverish haste and weird monotony
by individuals for the benefit of families in health, sickness,
death; and it is muttered and garbled by countless laymen on wild
steppes, dangerous passes, gloomy forests and busy markets, without
intermission from early dawn till late at night. For instance, the
traveller may meet an unkempt nomad or unwashed woman. The lips are
moving rapidly and a droning sound seems to be proceeding from the
depths of the stomach. You greet them and the droning momentarily
ceases. Out goes a long tongue and it would seem that death from
asphyxiation was imminent, but you are soon relieved to hear your
salutation returned and the strange noise continued as if nothing
had happened. With the Tibetan, not to pray is the exception. Old
and young, at work and at play, it would seem as if men and women
were not born to mourn but to mutter the everlasting mani. But
"praying" is not necessarily associated with morality. The godless
lama, the murdering brigand, the abandoned woman, and the sordid
Chinaman all pray with a fervency scarcely equalled by the
blameless saint of Christendom. And the traveller soon finds that
when the devotions are interrupted it is generally to curse the
patient animal, or indulge in obscene banter with the female
drivers. * * *

For many years the writer imagined this strange prayer had no rival
among Tibetan peoples, but found later that this was not so. The
Ponpo or Black Lamas contemptuously reject "Om mani pad me hum," so
dear to the hearts of the Yellow and Red cults, and would die
rather than repeat it, turn it, or cause it to be turned. But they
have a peculiar form of their own which is resolved from left to
right with as much ingenuity and assiduity as the others bestow on
the "Om mani pad me hum." Jaschke transcribes the phrase as "Man
tri mu tri sa le dzu," while Des Godins, a great authority on
Eastern Tibet, gives "Ma tchri mou me sa le gou." The writer who
has lived among the Bon in Badi-Bawang would tentatively suggest
"Om ma dri mu ye sa le dug." He has never heard them repeating "Om
mani pad me hum" backwards, although the drums, cylinders, and
boxes are most religiously reversed by all good Bons when in the
act of praying. It is sad, but still interesting, to remember that
two important schools have found these meaningless phrases an
opportunity for bitter disagreement and often an excuse for cruel
persecution. Some decades ago the Yellow and Black Lama differences
were the cause of a savage civil war.

On two occasions the writer had the ritual of the lamas at his
disposal. One evening he and a companion arrived at Chelo in Kong
U after a sensationally dangerous journey up to the right bank of
the T'ong River. The lamas in the district were very friendly and
belonged to the Bon cult. The Abbot who was an alleged "living
Buddha" and head of the Bonpo fraternity in Chagla (?) invited us
to see him. His small cell was bare and refreshingly clean. A
plain, unornamented looking-glass on the table, a pan of glowing
embers in a corner, and battered tea service close at hand, were
the first signs of comfort to meet our gaze. Further in was a small
enclosure bountifully supplied with rugs and skins, but so small
that sleep could only be taken in the sitting posture required of
the disciples of Gautama. The Buddha received us tremblingly but
with much dignity. His face was ascetic, pleasing, and
well-proportioned, and as he sat almost silent, cross-legged, bolt
upright, and posing as a god, one could recognize something of that
grace and culture which sometimes (rare indeed) characterises the
better-class lamas. As we went out he accompanied us and knelt as
we bade adieu. Later on our present of soap and perfumes was
refused on the score of poverty, but on the assurance being made
that we expected no return present the soap was accepted. He sent
word that he would pray for us: "it was all he could do." That
night the boom of drums, the clang of cymbals, and hurried
muttering of charms indicated that the good man was spending a
night in prayer, and we had every reason to believe it was on our
account. The next experience was in the independent kingdom of
Somo. My companion was stricken down suddenly with a mysterious
complaint. A deputation of lamas, who may have been the authors of
the raging fever and excruciating pains, offered to exercise the
"malignant spirit" which was the cause of the malady. Their
services were refused, but later the inn-keeper and the lamas both
believed some such ceremony was necessary and the day following was
chosen as a suitable time to oust the "spirit." Fortunately, with
much difficulty, my sick companion was carried out of Somo and
their jurisdiction before the time decided on for what was intended
to be his burial service.

I have no proof of its antiquity, but the Chinese version is common
enough on stone tablets and temple doorways in China proper. I have
seen it at Weichow and Siutu, and even so far afield as T'aissing
in Kiangsu. But there is nothing like it on the T'ang Chao tablets
in the Nim valley. It may be seen in an ancient Sanskrit form,
however, on a small lamasery in Chengtu. 
--J. Huston Edgar, in The Chinese Recorder.


Duty does not consist in suffering everything, but in suffering
everything for duty. Sometimes, indeed, it is our duty not to
suffer.--Vinet.
