
   WHY I BECAME A MASON

   HAROLD E. BURROWS, 32
   Waco, Texas, Scottish Rite Bodies
   810 Toler Court, Longview, Texas 75604


   As a young boy I watched Ma-
sonry educate my dad, making a
better man out of an already good
man.
   Rather than finish high school,
my dad joined the United States
Navy at the age of seventeen and
served in the South Pacific Theatre
during World War II.
   After his service in the Navy,
Dad worked short-term jobs in the
oil fields of East Texas.  By the
time I was born, in the early fif-
ties, Dad had hired on with Halli-
burton Oil Well Cementing Com-
pany as a truck driver and general
laborer.  After several years of
hard work and with his good char-
acter helping him, my dad began
slowly to advance within the com-
pany.  This required more educa-
tion, especially in math.  I remem-
ber my mother helping him with
his multiplication tables and equa-
tions.
   During this time a few men
began to emerge as good friends
with my dad and our family. 
These men were highway patrol-
men, deacons in our church and a
couple of close friends from his
work.  I later knew these men, not
only as trusted family friends, but
Masons as well.  With the leader-
ship of these men, Dad was soon
interested in the Masonic Lodge,
and was Raised a Master Mason in
Liberty Lodge No. 48 in Liberty,
Texas.
  As Dad went through the De-
grees, I watched a sort of pride
and sense of self-worth emerge in
him.  At about this time my moth-
er became an Eastern Star.  I re-
member how much fun it was to
listen to my mom and dad banter
about Masonry and Eastern Star,
each wanting to know the other's
"secrets."  
  I remember when my dad had
my grandmother's gold teeth melt-
ed down to make his Masonic
ring.  That act, more than many
others, made me realize Masonry
must be extremely special, because
Dad spoke with near reverence
about his mother.
  I remember trying to guess the
meaning of the Square, Compass-
es, and the letter "G" on his ring. 
I thought these symbols must have
some magical meaning and power.
  I began to dream of the time I
could join the Masonic Lodge, so I
would know these secrets and
perhaps have some special knowl-
edge.  For you see, no other per-
son had more influence on my life
or more of my respect than my
dad.  I just knew that Masons had
special knowledge, for my dad
would sit and talk with me about
Sam Houston, George Washington,
Davy Crockett, and Jim Bowie. 
My boyhood dreams and a love for
history made these men a little
lower than angels in my mind.
   As I learned of men and history
in school, Dad would say, "You
know that man was a Mason." 
Dad told me the Declaration of
Independence and Constitution of
the United States were written by
a group of men, most of them
Masons.  He told me how Deaf
Smith, who fought at the Battle of
San Jacinto for Texas Indepen-
dence, carried the charter for the
first Texas Lodge in his saddle
bags.  There seemed to be no end
to these wonderful stories.
   Most precious to me are the
hours we would sit and look at
Dad's large Masonic Bible.  As I
looked at the big pictures, Dad
would read to me in his deep
voice of the heroes of the Bible. 
Although he never said, I had an
idea that these men were some-
how connected with Masonry.
   I just had to become a Mason
and be like these men!  Finally
came the time when I petitioned
the Lodge and was accepted.  I
was ecstatic now that I would
know these "secrets" and have the
knowledge of God and life that
made my dad and my heroes so
special to me.  
  As I went through the Degrees,
I remembered things my dad had
told me, such as phrases from
Scriptures "knock and the door
will be opened,"  "it is appointed
unto man once to die," "I am the
resurrection and the life," and
many other verses.
  At last being Raised a Master
Mason and going through Scottish
Rite, I found no earth-shattering
revelations, no special powers. 
Instead, I discovered men I could
trust and men with a common
belief in God, truth, honesty, and
the worth of mankind to God.
  I discovered that, like a mar-
riage, a man and woman are mar-
ried to each other in their hearts
before they ever get to the preach-
er.  Similarly, men are Masons in
their hearts before they fill out a
petition.
  My search for "secrets" was in-
stead replaced with the knowledge
that I had the same beliefs and
love of God and country that my
heroes possessed.  Masonry
showed me no elite way to God. 
It simply supported my already
strong belief in my Creator.  Being
made a Mason just proclaims to
the world what kind of man you
are, and what kind of people you
want to be associated with, both
in the past and in the future.
   I learned that the Masonic
Lodge is a fraternity, and that
fraternities and clubs have some-
thing which identifies their mem-
bers to each other.  These were
the "secrets" that I worried so
much about.
  I may never say or do anything
that is worthy of the Founding
Fathers of this great nation or this
state, but, I can identify any one
of them "in the dark as well as in
the light."  And as my dad told
me, "You will have something in
common with all of them."


I remember when my dad had my grandmother's gold teeth
melted down to make his Masonic ring.  That act, more than
many others, made me realize Masonry must be extremely
special, because Dad spoke with near reverence about his
mother.


I discovered that, like a marriage, a man and woman are
married to each other in their hearts before they ever get to
the preacher.  Similarly, men are Masons in their hearts
before they fill out a petition.

