THE BUILDER DECEMBER 1915

WHAT IS MASONRY?
BRO. GEORGE THORNBURGH EDITOR THE MASONIC TROWEL, ARKANSAS

SPECULATIVE or Symbolic Freemasonry has been appropriately defined
as "a beautiful system of morality, veiled in allegory and
illustrated by symbols." By Symbolic Masonry we mean the
performance of the work of an Operative Mason emblematically. We
take tools of an Operative and use them as symbols to impress
lessons of morality and virtue. For instance, the Operative Mason
wears his apron to protect his clothing. The Speculative Mason is
taught to wear his to remind him of a safe-guard or protection
against the vices and superfluities of life. He should no more
allow his moral character to be stained than the Operative his
clothing. The Operative works according to design laid down for him
by the architect of the building. The Speculative Mason takes the
revealed will of God, the great Architect of heaven and earth, as
his guide, and should endeavor to erect his spiritual building in
conformity thereto. The Operative Mason uses the 24 inch gauge or
measure to lay out his work. Speculative Masons use it to divide
their time, that every moment may be profitably employed. Man is
not placed upon earth to be indolent or inactive. He has a destiny
to fill in the drama of life. The mind of man is so constituted
that it must be employed. Inactivity is not compatible with its
nature, and if not employed for good it will be for evil. Industry
is the command of Masonry. Laziness is rebuked by the lesson of the
bee-hive and the necessity of improving every opportunity is taught
us by the hour glass, which shows how rapidly we are passing away.

Masons are taught to so divide their time as to have a part for the
Worship of God, and the relief of distress; a part for refreshment
and sleep, and a part for the business of life. To worship is the
natural disposition of man; to worship God his highest duty. The
only religious requirement for admission to the Masonic brotherhood
is a belief in God and the immortality of the soul. This is a
cardinal faith, the unity of the Fraternity, and the bond of
fidelity among them. The man who holds that there was no Creating
Spirit, that moved upon the wide empire of night and chaos, and no
voice that said, "Let there be light," is not to be trusted with
the mysteries of Masonry. The law of the land alone prevents such
a one from immorality. He has no monitor within to hold him to a
performance of his vows, or to restrain him from a violation of his
pledges. But that man who believes in God has a rudder and an
anchor. He may wander in darkness temporarily, the allurements of
vice may lead him astray, but his conscience follows him through it
all, and in the darkest gloom an all-seeing eye is upon him and a
star lights him back to the path of rectitude and duty. It is well
that no one can pass the center of an Entered Apprentice Lodge who
does not willingly and fully declare his trust to be in God.

The gavel is an instrument made use of by Operative Masons for
dressing rough stones and preparing them for the builder's use.
Symbolic Masonry uses it to teach the importance and necessity of
divesting the mind and the conscience of the vices of life and of
cultivating the higher and nobler qualities of our being. The rough
corners of vice, intemperance and profanity must be knocked off to
"fit us as living stones for that house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens."

The Operative Mason makes an important use of the plumb, square,
and level. He uses the plumb to keep his work perpendicular, the
level to keep it horizontal, and the square to keep it in form.

Speculative Masons teach impressive lessons by the use of these
tools as emblems. The plumb admonishes .us to walk uprightly. To
walk uprightly before God and man is one of the highest duties of
a Mason, and he who does so will neither be a bigot nor a
persecutor, but will act justly and love mercy.

By the square we are taught to square our actions and our dealings
by the square of virtue and morality. By a faithful adherence to
its moral precepts our actions and doings will be honorable whether
we engage in high or low pursuits.

The level teaches us the great lesson of our natural equality. Man
should not pride himself upon his birth or his worldly wealth. It
is of but little consideration whether we were born high or low, if
we are true to God, to our fellow-men and to ourselves.

The day will come when we must stand in the presence of our Maker
stripped of everything save that which will entitle us to pass the
judgment bar of an omniscent God.

Perhaps the most important symbol used by the Craft is the trowel.
It is used by Operative Masons to spread the cement which unites
the building into one common mass. We use it emblematically to
spread the cement of brotherly love. The Order is composed of every
class and condition in life, the high, the low, the rich, the poor,
from Washington, the leader of the American army, to the private
soldier; from Andrew Jackson, the President of a great republic, to
the humblest citizen; each taking into the Order his individuality,
but all cemented by the Masons' trowel into one spirit. Every
nationality comes, with its peculiar brogue, but all are taught by
Masonry to speak the same language by signs and symbols.
Religionists come to us with their widely differing doctrines, and
are taught by Masonry to worship together one true and living God.

The Masonic trowel cemented the broken elements of a once divided
people in the United States. Scarcely had the last sound of the
deadly conflict of 1861-65 been hushed in the sweet embrace of
peace, than the fraternal voice of Masonry was heard through the
land calling the brothers from the South to join the brothers of
the North, appealing in the tender language of brotherly love for
the Masons of the ice fields of Maine and those of the orange
groves of Florida to greet each other as companions in the General
Grand Chapter Royal Arch Masons. The first reunion of any kind
between the men of the two sections after the conflict was in this
body; California, Maine and Louisiana formed a triangle of peaceful
hands, raised a living arch and whispered the old love in the souls
of these men who had for four dreadful years been engaged in
fratricide. Be it said to the Honor of Masonry that the General
Grand Chapter was never divided, nor did any part of it secede.
While churches, societies, and families were being rent in twain,
and the angry passion of war covered the land as a cloud of
destruction, Masons of the South were hidden from those of the
North but not lost. War could stand between but could not separate
them. The great Masonic heart of the two sections beat in unison,
as was shown upon the battle field, in the hospital and the prison.
And when the angry cloud disappeared and the sunshine of peace
darted its gladdening rays over the continent, the first words of
reconciliation that crossed Mason and Dixon's line were the
resolutions of the General Grand Chapter inviting its
long-separated children to meet around the old family altar. It,
with one voice, and that the voice of a fond mother, said
"Resolved, that all the Grand Chapters which have failed to meet in
consequence of the recent war are declared to be in good standing
in this body, and entitled to continue their relations with it. And
they are most cordially and fraternally invited to unite with us,
without reference to the past differences, and are most sincerely
assured that they shall receive a fraternal, hearty and Royal Arch
welcome."

That was the work of the Masonic trowel, and the fruit of the
teachings of the Fatherhood of God, and the brotherhood of man. And
yet Masonry is not a church. The church and Masonry have their
blessed spheres, and between the two there is no conflict and
should be no prejudice.

Masonry does not usurp the office of the church, and the church--
the Protestant Church--is not jealous of Masonry. Among the best
and most loyal Masons are the thousands of leading ministers of the
gospel who have assumed the vows of Masonry and indorse its tenets.

