THE BUILDER AUGUST 1925

A Brief Application of the York Rite to Daily Life

BY THE GRAND HIGH PRIEST, Texas

THE Grand Chapter of Texas, R.A.M. alive to the need for a richer
understanding of the magnificent mysteries of the chapter, eager to
put every Royal Arch Mason into a more complete possession of its
wealth of wisdom, has published for distribution among Texas
brethren a little book bearing the above title, here published by
permission of the Grand High Priest. It is a hint of what may be
done by way of bringing home to a man in his own bosom, as
something good to know and to have, the lore and wisdom of Masonry,
than which nothing is more practicable.

MASONRY is the ocean of fraternity, and every Mason should strive
to sail its broad expanse, because its profound solemnity and
matchless beauty can never be appreciated by those who merely wade
in the shallow waters at the shore. The tides of time have rolled
mighty waves upon its bosom, and the storms of centuries have
lashed the billows into foam upon its surface, but beneath there
have remained, undisturbed and immutable, the principles of the
Brotherhood of Man.

No Mason should deny himself the privilege of knowing at least the
salient features of our Fraternity, and we owe it to the ancient
and honorable institution to learn enough of its teachings to grasp
their deeper significance, so that we shall not be gigglers in the
Master's degree nor Shriners in the Royal Arch degree. If the
Masonic bodies of all rites and branches will, during the next five
years, be as diligent and efficient in making Masons as they have
been during the past five in making members, our great Fraternity
will be a tremendous power for good, a power made possible by
numbers and knowledge, but not by numbers alone. A uniform does not
make a soldier and a button does not make a Mason.

When the beginner in Masonry first starts his inquiry into the
principles of the Fraternity, he should be advised of the necessity
for bearing in mind at all times that the Temple, which plays so
important a part in the lodge, is a symbol of the Temple on High,
and that this symbolism also applies to the king and to the master
builder, as well as to all in the Blue Lodge, or Symbolic, degrees.
He should also be advised to disregard the history of Masonry in
the beginning of his studies, since great confusion is certain to
result, and he will waste his time. Unfortunately, our most
scholarly historians are pleased to begin their history of Masonry
at a time when it had already grown great in influence and hoary
with age, having brought down through the centuries the traditions
which have fascinated the Speculative Masons. Such a history of
George Washington would date his birth at the time he was
inaugurated President of the United States.

But the beginner does not need history; the degrees themselves
contain earmarks of antiquity which will be convincing enough for
the beginner. Teach him that the ritualistic work is only an index
to Masonry, merely enabling him to read the symbols. Masonry is a
picture of human life, real life as it was yesterday and as it is
today, of man struggling between the fallacies of the senses and
the infallibility of divinity, going down to the grave without
seeing his life-work bloom in full fruition, then rising to
immortality through the merits of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.

Man's mortal existence is great subject, but Masonry deals with
more than this, for it impregnates a part of each Degree with a
little something which leads the mind of the thinker to something
higher, to greater possibilities. One of the great lessons of the
Fellowcraft's Degree is that a thorough, well-round education
forces the thinker to recognize God; rationalistic in every sense,
laying aside the Bible and teaching only the sciences and arts, yet
leading to that important conclusion, and making this Degree the
predicate for all that follows it in Masonry.

This profound system of thought, this marvelous cycle of symbolism,
the beginning of which the Grand Lodge of Texas interprets in the
York Rite, can be completed only in the York Rite. Unless a Mason
proceeds further in the York Rite, he never sees the divine light
which is promised him; he stumbles through life with a Substitute
Word; he fails to recognize the priceless heritage for which he
should work; he never learns of the greatest part that Masonry has
play in history; he never knows the debt of gratitude which the
world owes to our great Fraternity.

York Rite Masonry is a book of many chapters, each chapter
dependent upon those preceding it; the actual life of man and his
rewards are the golden threads which run through the entire story.
The following lines are written with the hope that they may be
assistance to members of our Fraternity in interpreting the Degrees
to the young Masons, so that they may enter into the real spirit of
the ceremonies, grasping their deeper meaning and enjoying the
splendid lessons which they teach to the thinking Mason.

THE MARK MASTER'S DEGREE

The Mark Master's Degree is a part of the Fellowcraft's and is
founded on the ancient custom of requiring each workman to place
his mark upon his work. It teaches many lessons and is historical
as well as philosophical. It teaches that the world demands
substantial service which should measure up to certain standards,
must pass the squares of certain authorities, and must bear our
mark if we would take credit for it. This is a worldly lesson, yet
there creeps into it the idea that the work of a Greater Artist may
be accepted by most of us, whereas the supposed high authorities
will reject it until it is redeemed by the highest authority. Think
back on the Fellowcraft's Degree and study its prophecy on the work
of this greater artist; if you do not know the Fellowcraft's
Degree, you have no foundation for Masonry.

Although supposed to do so, a Mark Master may not record his mark
in the lodge, but in daily life he has no option; it is recorded
for him. The Book of Mark in the lodges is the Book of Life in the
world; in one, his mark is what he says it is; in the other, it is
what the people say it is; in the Book of Marks on high, it is
probably exactly what he has made it by thoughts, words and
actions. In the commercial world, the value of the trade mark is
well understood. In humanity's clouded vision, where many a scar is
mistaken for a stain, a man's reputation is his mark and it may be
better or worse than he deserves. By his mark, the Mark Master
shall be known and he should record it in the keystone which binds
the arch, the stone which is the work of a greater artist, and it
is surrounded by two circular lines, enclosing a mystic sentence,
which is translated in plain English as follows: "The Master
Builder of God's house reserves this space for me to register my
pledge of faith."

This degree also teaches services and co-operation, and
demonstrates that we can often assist a friend when we actually
feel that we cannot; even the pass grip is a symbol of assistance
and co-operation in getting up the steep places of life with the
valuable qualities of character which go into our spiritual
building. It also touches upon man's selfishness in claiming a
greater reward than his fellow, overestimating the value of his own
efforts and underestimating the other man's, but it shows that
merit stands the test when referred to the wise and impartial
judge.

A Mark Master is taught charity in the true sense of the word;
charitable thinking is often more valuable than money. Common
experience teaches us that men are prone to err and this Degree
emphasizes that forgiveness, after suitable punishment, may enable
a man to come again, regain what he has lost, perfect his life, and
bring up good and square work. which is always acceptable.

THE PAST MASTER'S DEGREE

The Past Master's Degree is strictly a Blue Lodge Degree, and is
frequently conferred upon the Master elect of a lodge in a
convocation of Past Masters, none of whom are members of the
chapter. From time immemorial, it has been the custom that none but
those who had been elected to the East in a lodge, could be exalted
to the Royal Arch Degree; this custom debarred thousands of
deserving Master Masons from the chapter, or Capitular, Degrees. On
this account the Past Master's Degree is conferred in the chapter
and those who receive it become "virtual" Past Masters as
distinguished from actual Past Masters.

After a Mason has heard the obligation and the ancient charges,
rules and regulations, he gets an insight into lodge procedure
which he has never had before; he learns the "whys and wherefores"
of certain practices, such as either opening or closing the lodge
in long form in order to give a part of the trial lecture; he also
learns why Masters frequently make certain requirements that the
written law does not demand. Correctly conferred, the Degree does
much toward really qualifying a candidate to preside over a lodge,
and is a wonderful assistance to one who has had no experience in
presiding or parliamentary practice. Care should be taken to see
that this instruction is given.

It also teaches lessons of a moral and symbolic nature. It
demonstrates that there is a correct method of teaching, which will
drive home a lesson after other methods have failed. School
teachers should understand this principle, although they may not be
Masons. It also teaches obedience to the law, something that a
Master must recognize at all times, and it calls attention to the
necessity for closely following set rules while striving to master
a new vocation, science or art. A beginner in music, medicine or
Masonry must give the strictest attention to certain rules and
formulas if he would become a Master; having become a Master, he
may vary from them, perhaps, but not as a beginner.

Masonry has a central theme which runs entirely through the York
Rite, and the Past Master's Degree usually demonstrates that evil
consequences may develop if we lose sight of a central thought.
Some men possess splendid qualifications and are capable of
excellent work, but they are in the clutches of some particular sin
which prevents them from achieving success. "One thing thou
lacketh," Jesus told the young ruler. The Past Master's Degree,
like all other Degrees in the York Rite, deals with man in his
actual life, and it teaches in a striking manner that a man may be
well qualified in many particulars, and yet meet with failure
because he overlooks or underestimates the importance of some one
feature.

Whereas the Mark Master's Degree teaches that men have an
individual responsibility although working in the masses, the Past
Master's Degree brings out the thought that this responsibility
increases in proportion to the power that is placed in one's hands,
and that the truly great man, while occupying the highest place of
power, bears this responsibility without forgetting for a moment
that he is a brother to the lowliest. Although circumstances may
lift a man to an exalted position, a haughty or arbitrary spirit is
very unbecoming, since other circumstances may work his undoing and
reduce him to the level of those about him.

THE MOST EXCELLENT MASTER'S DEGREE

The Most Excellent Master's Degree is still another picture of man
in actual life, but it is founded on one of the high lights in
history. As it is conferred in Texas, the candidate never gets
anything out of it, because he does not comprehend it; he stands
off to one side and watches the proceeding, but it is meaningless
to him. If he takes time to study it after receiving it, he
discovers that it is a congratulatory degree, a degree of
rejoicing, thanksgiving and praise. The materialist, the strictest
rationalist, can apply every feature of it to his own views, but
into the Mason's mind again creeps that spiritual touch, a symbolic
hint of something finer than clay, something beyond the finite.
When we really understand this Degree we find that it has been
conferred on us many times, and that we have helped confer it on
others long before we received it in the lodge room. When the boy
or girl masters the course in school and receives a diploma, it is
the Most Excellent Master's Degree that is conferred upon them. In
business, society or politics a man may plan his work, follow it to
a successful termination and look back upon it with thanksgiving
and praise to those who have helped him, and receive the Most
Excellent Master's Degree. When a man marries the woman he loves he
receives the degree, and when these two build their first home, how
strikingly they confer it upon themselves; however humble that home
may be, however dim the lights within, a fire churls down from
heaven and illuminates the souls of these two who have set the
capstone and finished the house.

THE ROYAL ARCH DEGREE

The most important Degree in Masonry, regardless of Rite, is called
the Royal Arch, but in reality this name should be applied only to
York Rite Masonry in its entirety, since it alone is the stupendous
Royal Arch, the rainbow of hope set in the heavens, with one end
resting upon Eden and the other on the crumbled ruins of the world.

Into the Royal Arch Degree is compressed more information, more
food for thought, than any other degree, and its sheer greatness is
shown by the variety of views of its votaries, each seeing it from
his own angle, and its seriousness is impressed upon each in
proportion to his natural ability and his knowledge of the Degree.
Serious situations are not always so regarded by onlookers, whose
ignorance of existing conditions prevents their appreciation of the
seriousness; in one of the Great Nazarene's tense moments the
rabble laughed. The Royal Arch Degree is still another picture of
man in actual life--and the rabble still laughs.

One of the lessons of this Degree is that the greatest of rewards
is due to loyal service, especially service which is rendered at a
sacrifice, for that shows the heart of the man; vicarious suffering
is worthy of the noblest rewards. No matter whether one's abilities
be great or small, his service is valuable and his reward should be
in proportion to his zeal and fidelity rather than according to the
high or low plane in which the laborer toils. The reward given in
this Degree should be studied from every angle by every Royal Arch
Mason, and he should strive to master its full meaning; he can get
a very clear and distinct idea of what Masonry really means to him
by attempting to fix a value upon the Recovery; his whole idea of
Masonry is involved in the value he places upon it.

The historical sides of this Degree should appeal to every
candidate, whether he is able to follow its symbolism and
philosophy or not, and he is invested with secrets, or traditions,
of which he may be justly proud, since he finds a heritage worthy
of any man, learning that he is the successor of men who did more
than any other in preserving the very foundation stone on which our
civilization rests, on which our nation must stand or fall, on
which Masonry is founded and must stand throughout the ages.

In the life of every man there is a Babylonish captivity, but it is
only the good man who hears the news of his release and hastens to
offer his services in a noble and glorious undertaking without the
hope of fee or reward; in the life of every man there is a long and
weary journey on which he passes the ruins of other lives, the
blighted hopes and shattered ambitions which stand out like
stupendous rows of columns and obelisks, and from which he should
derive a serious lesson; but the good Mason is justified in
believing that he can pass the rough and dangerous places in that
straight and narrow path, refreshing himself in an occasional
oasis, finding time and opportunity to render thanks for his
protection and deliverance, and finally reach the goal where, by
the signet of eternal truth, he may pass the thin veil which hangs
between the finite and the infinite.

The greatness of the Royal Arch Degree cannot be written nor can it
all be told even behind tiled doors; perhaps its whole story can
never be told; it touches not only those in the lodge room, city,
state or nation, not only the world today, but it reaches back into
the dim, distant past and likewise projects itself into the future
until the universe shall be dissolved and time shall be no more.

THE COUNCIL DEGREES

With the possible exception of Ohio, the Grand Council, Royal and
Select Masters of Texas is the largest Council Jurisdiction in the
world. It controls three Degrees, but only two have ever been
taught by the Committee on Work; these are the Royal Master's and
the Select Master's.

After a Royal Arch Mason has devoted himself to thought on the
Chapter Degrees, especially the last one, numerous questions
present themselves to his mind, and he is unable to answer them;
during the period in which he is pondering over these problems and
trying so hard to solve them, he is "ripening" for the Council
Degrees, for they explain the perplexing points of the Royal Arch
Degree.

The Royal Master's Degree depicts a scene which took place before
the events of the Master's Degree occurred, and the great artist of
the Master Mason's Degree is the moving spirit of the Royal
Master's Degree. On this account, the candidate wonders why the
Council Degrees are conferred subsequent to the Chapter Degrees,
but a little knowledge of the entire system will convince him that
Texas confers the Council Degrees at the right place. If Masons
were unwise enough to demand chronological sequence, the Council
Degrees would necessarily be conferred before the Master Mason's
Degree.

The Royal Master's Degree is a little gem and is perhaps the only
Degree which makes the candidate wish they would turn right around
and confer it on him again. It is in this Degree that the master
builder delivers a discourse which is one of the most impressive
and beautiful parts in all the ritualistic work of Masonry.

One passes the "circle of perfection" in the Select Master's
Degree, which is one of great importance and relates a tradition
that is always remembered by the candidates. When the important
part of the Degree is reached the candidate is given a seat and the
team proceeds to do the work. A person must see and hear it several
times in order to grasp its full significance, but when it is
understood the Select Master is in position to look back over the
entire system of Ancient Craft Masonry and view the perfect whole.

THE COMMANDERY OF KNIGHTS TEMPLAR

There are no Degrees in the Commandery; they are called "Orders"
and there are three of them, namely, the Order of the Red Cross,
the Order of Malta, and the Order of the Temple. It is a useless
waste of time to attempt to trace a lineal kinship between them and
the knightly orders of the Crusades, but this could be done
perhaps, if the Masonic historian were as credulous of medieval and
modern history as he is of all things pertaining to King Tut.
However, this is wholly unnecessary, because the Orders speak for
themselves, and the Order of the Temple is the very capsheaf of
Masonry.

Around the altar of the lodge the Gentile and Jew, the Hindu and
Mohammedan, can fraternize in the Brotherhood of Man, acknowledging
their dependence on the Most High and enjoying the blessed
communion of "brethren who dwell together in unity." In the chapter
and council the Jew and Gentile enjoy a closer relationship, since
their philosophy and their theology have stood the test of time,
and there is a harmony which must be experienced to be understood.
But only the Christian can conscientiously pass the portals of the
Commandery, because two of these Orders are founded on the deeds
and customs of the knights of old, who were devout Christians, and
since 1760 only Royal Arch Masons who were Christians have been
eligible to knighthood

CHRISTIAN FREEMASONRY

The Order of the Temple is veritably the Christian's paradise for
reflection, for here he can interpret Masonry conformably to his
religious belief. Jesus Christ has no place in the lodge, chapter
or council, and the Mason who tries to place Him there is a supreme
egotist. If God, in His wisdom, saw fit to withhold the Christ from
the world for four thousand years, it is not becoming in any Mason
to deviate from the Divine Plan or attempt to improve upon it by
forcing Jesus into Masonry until Masonry is prepared to receive
Him. The lodge, chapter and council deal historically with events
under the Mosaic dispensation, and not until the Mason has reached
the Commandery is he symbolically entitled to the Christ. As men of
old looked forward with longing eyes to the time when the Star
should appear in the East, so should every earnest Christian Mason
look forward to his entrance into the Commandery where he is
entitled to a realization of his fondest hopes.

The Knight of the Order of the Temple, or Knights Templar, can look
back upon the whole plan of Masonry with a clearer view; it seems
to be a more vitalized and a more sacred system than ever before.
He recalls the marvelous parallel of the Old Testament and the
Fellowcraft's Degree, both a thousand years old when Jesus was
born, the Old Book prophesying that there would come One upon the
earth through whom all men must enter the Kingdom of Heaven, and
the Fellowcraft's Degree telling us of a man, half Jew and half
Gentile, a master builder, whose blood represented alike God's
Chosen People and the Gentiles, who constructed the two large
brazen pillars that were set up at the entrance porch and between
which all men must pass into King Solomon's Temple, which was the
symbol on earth of the heavenly temple. If the Christian's mind
should be perplexed as to whom this man typifies, all doubt
disappears when this master builder, this paragon of fidelity and
integrity, falls without sin or blame and is borne almost in the
direction of Calvary, and is raised from the tomb by him who
symbolizes on earth the Great King on His heavenly throne.

When the devout Christian, who is likewise a zealous Mason and
Knight Templar, looks back upon Masonry in a contemplative mood, he
seems to see the footprints of the Creator in every avenue; the
Divine hand seems to have fashioned each setting; he beholds each
scene illuminated by a new light; each Degree has a new and deeper
meaning. The Christian Mason closes his York Rite career with the
Order of the Temple, a ceremony so solemn, so beautiful and
impressive, so tender in allusion, so sublime in thought, that he
never forgets it, never regrets, but enjoys it more and more as he
advances in learning and experience; then, after a few years of
earnest thought and patient study, he must guard against
over-zealousness, or his reflections will bring him perilously near
the conclusion that Masonry is a divine science.

CHAPTER STUDY CLUBS

For the past few years such a tremendous amount of Degree work has
been required of the chapters that there has been but little, if
any, time for most of the active workers to devote themselves to a
study of the philosophy and symbolism of the Degrees. This has
proven unfortunate, and it is high time that we get back to study.
We should not only know what the Degrees mean, but we should teach
the newly-made Companions.

We now have a vast army of recruits who have never been trained. In
military circles such, as an army, would be considered valuable
only because of its possibilities; it requires months of hard
training to qualify a recruit as a soldier, and it also requires
hard training to make real Masons out of young and untrained
members.

There is hardly a chapter which would not profit very much by
organizing a Study Club for the purpose of sounding Capitular
Masonry to a profound depth, and High Priests will also find it
advantageous to have a talk by some well-posted Companion each time
the Royal Arch Degree is conferred. Every intelligent candidate
will appreciate any effort which is made to give him more light on
the work he has just taken and help him to understand its true
significance.

