THE NEW AGE--ARTICLE--March 1990--ARTBROWN.MAR

                           An Inner Power

                REV. HIRAM LIVELY BROWN, D.D., 32
             98B Granada Calle, Granbury, Texas  76048


     One of the beautiful experiences of my life's work has been
the opportunity as a Christian minister to have a close
relationship with Jewish people.  Thus I always consider it a high
honor to be a part of the Scottish Rite's Maundy Thursday service
since it incorporates the Mystic Banquet and the Feast of the
Passover.  The Passover commemorates the freedom from bondage of
people enslaved because of persecution, hatred and intolerance. 
     Passover with its emphasis on freedom has a message to all
tyrants: "Let my people go!"  This covenant meal, with its ritual
roast lamb, bitter herbs and unleavened bread, commemorates the
exodus from Egypt.  Moses warned the Pharaoh to let his people go. 
The Pharaoh refused and then endured nine plagues that devastated
the land.  Then came the tenth with the Angel of the Lord striking
down the first-born of every Egyptian family, including that of the
Pharaoh, but passing over the homes of the children of Moses.  
     They had placed the lamb's blood on the doorposts and the
lintels of their homes as a token of their fidelity to Jehovah. 
Pharaoh gave orders for the Hebrews to leave--immediately.  They
did, pausing only long enough to eat hurriedly the hasty ritual
meal they had prepared.
     For the Christian, Jesus took this same Passover supper,
gathering his disciples in an upper room in Jerusalem, and taught
them his life was to be a sacrifice and his death a redemption. 
Through this action, all mankind could see the depth of God's love. 
Out of this would come a communion with God under a new covenant
that would affect man's relationship with God and each other.  
     As he broke the bread and passed the cup he said, "Do this in
remembrance of me."  His followers through the ages have sought to
follow his instructions.  Their marching orders were and are:  "A
new commandment I give unto you that you love one another."  The
Judaic-Christian heritage traces its roots back to the same soil.
     Add to the Feast of Passover as celebrated by the Jewish
people and, through Jesus, by Christians, the Parsee festival of
Jamshedji Nauroz with its emphasis on the annual rebirth of life
as spring sets in.  Commemorating all three great events, Scottish
Rite Masons gather on Maundy Thursday in a common bond of support
and respect for each other and for all other good men of whatever
religious creed.  This one Masonic ceremony commemorates the
dignity of the human spirit and the divine origin of all men.  It
brings into clear focus spiritual rebirth, freedom and fraternity.
     Here in America we have a great patriotic song "My Country
'Tis of Thee."  Every verse of this melody speaks of freedom. 
Stanza one salutes this "sweet land of liberty."  Stanza two
celebrates our "land of the noble free."  Stanza three says "let
music swell the breeze and ring from all the trees, sweet freedom's
song."  And stanza four declares "our Father's God to Thee--author
of liberty--to thee we sing."  In its verses, "My Country 'Tis of
Thee" epitomizes the fact that from across the world men and women
from every land have gathered to form a new Nation that has as its
central principles individual freedom and the right to worship God
under the dictates of our own conscience.  Is it any wonder that
Freemasonry has thrived in this environment?  
     On Maundy Thursday, Masons assemble as Christians, Jews and
members of the other great religions of the world in a service
dedicated to freedom and the right to worship God.  As Freemasons
we operate under the motto "The Brotherhood of Man under the
Fatherhood of God."  As Scottish Rite Freemasons we gather together
on Maundy Thursday throughout the world to reaffirm our faith in
the universal fraternity of all mankind.  In this ceremony, like
nature in spring, we shed the burdensome winter of selfish
materialism and spiritual decay.  
     We seek to take this "new commandment" that "you love one
another" and put it into practice wherever we go.  Thus, through
our actions, the inner power of Freemasonry, as commemorated in
the feast of Maundy Thursday, is made manifest in practical works. 
Behind every clinic, hospital, home or other philanthropic effort
of our Craft is love, that inner power that builds through
Freemasonry for all humankind a better, wiser and happier world.
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Maundy Thursday commemorates the dignity and the divine origin of
all men.  It brings into clear focus spiritual rebirth, freedom and
fraternity.

Behind every clinic, hospital, home or other philanthropic effort
of our Craft is love, that inner power that builds through
Freemasonry for all humankind a better, wiser and happier world.

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