THE BUILDER OCTOBER 1916

THE SUBLIME ACHIEVEMENT
BY BRO. HENRY BANKS, P.G.M., GEORGIA

IN all times, in all climes, and among all nations, wherever the banner of
Masonry has been unfurled she has had her enemies. Though her pathway down the
ages has been strewn with the most fragrant flowers of Brotherly Love, Relief,
and Truth, though the lives of the best and purest among the Sons of Men have
been magnificent monuments to the grandeur of her mission, yet her enemies
have not failed to decry her merits, nor ceased their efforts to destroy her
usefulness. While the Masons of this glorious century--this century of soul
liberty--have the freedom to erect her Temples and worship about her altars,
the spirit of enmity still exists, and adverse criticisms of her methods are
freely offered by those who are ignorant of her mission, or blind to the rich
fruitage of her labours.

When we consider the antiquity of Masonry, the dangers through which she has
so safely passed, the persecutions of bigotry, superstition, and fanaticism
she has so successfully met and repelled, and behold her today with the glory
of her centuries clustering about her brow, and the years of labour resting so
lightly upon her unbowed form, standing upright and stately with all the
vigour of her early youth, her feet as elastic to run errands of mercy--knees
as supple to bend in prayer for a Brother's need--breast as faithful to
receive and keep a Brother's whispered words-- hands as ready and strong to
support a falling Brother, and lips ever whispering words of cheer and comfort
to the ear of distress--we stand with unshod feet and uncovered head at her
mystic portals and fain would lay the laurel wreath of well-earned fame upon
her pure white brow.

The flight of time has not dulled her ardour nor made sluggish the blood that
richly courses through her veins. The finger of the ages has been powerless to
mark the years of passage upon her beautiful face. Her form unbent by the
burdens she has borne; her eyes undimmed, catch the sign of trouble, and her
ears are quick to hear the plaintive cry of distress, while old Father Time,
with all his perseverance, has not yet accomplished the task of unweaving the
meshes of her hair, or weaving one silver thread among its golden tresses.
Although her pathway down the ages has been marked by magnificent monuments of
glorious achievement and gems of precious truth sparkle about her feet, yet
she has not been, and is not now, free from detraction. The mystery and
secrecy that hedge her in and veil her beauties from the prying eyes of the
world is no barrier to the performance of her mission.

She came into the world at the cry of distress, uttered in man's need. No
blare of trumpets or flaunting banners heralded her coming, but secretly and
silently, as the dews distilled upon Hermon, she came from the loving heart of
God to take her place as one of His mighty factors in the building up of the
waste places in His moral kingdom, and to bless man by the beneficent power of
her secret, silent influence. Masonry with her beautiful ritual, impressive
ceremonies, and the glory of centuries clustering about her brow, stripped of
her moral character, would lose her greatest charm, her most precious jewel.
For Morality is her foundation, Truth and Virtue her pillars, and Brotherly
Love the high priest that ministers at her altars. To be good men and true is
the first and most important lesson taught within her sacred walls. Every step
of the candidate, from his preparation to the last solemn scene, as he passes
through her beautiful ceremonies and is inducted into her mysteries, leads
along a pathway strewn with fragrant flowers of truth, while diamonds of
virtue sparkle about her feet, illuminating the mind with moral light,
flooding the heart with a celestial glow of divine principles, inspiring the
soul and leading up to a higher plane of holy, upright living. The trowels in
our hands are rusty from lack of use, for the cement of brotherly love has not
always been - spread with generous hand. The hours of relief have been so
destitute of service that we have well-nigh lost he gauge's use, while from
lack of labour our arms have become too weak to wield the gavel in preparing
the rough ashlars for the Great Builder's use. Wrong and error stalk among us,
and ofttimes unseemly tread our chequered floor.

The mission of Masonry in the world is to fight the wrong and defend the
right. Is she needed? Is her mission ended? Coming in answer to man's need for
moral help, she has come to stay. Until there are no wrongs to right, no sin
to fight, no distress to help, no woes to heal, no lessons of purity and
righteousness to teach; when, by the practice of our secret art, the original
design shall be restored to the trestle board, and man is faithfully working
it out, then, and not till then, will her mystery be revealed and her mission
be complete.

The power of faith threw its mysterious shield of protection about the forms
of the Hebrew children as they walked unscathed amid the roaring flames of the
seven-times-heated furnace. It parted the waters of the Red Sea for the
passage of the Children of Israel. It was a cloud by day and a pillar of fire
by night as they wandered for forty years. Its mysterious healing power was
felt by them as they looked upon the brazen serpent uplifted in the
wilderness. Its mystic power is felt as it flows in rhythmic measure through
the songs of the sweet singer of Israel, and, like a thread of gold, it will
be woven in the robes of righteousness we shall wear around the throne of God.
As with such mystery God has clothed His wondrous works in nature and in
grace, and through them showered blessings upon the world, so shall Masonry,
His servant, continue her blessed work among the erring sons of man.

The prayer of every Mason's heart should be that all men were Masons, and all
Masons true. Then white winged peace would hover over all lands, nations would
learn war no more. Swords would be beaten into plough-shares and spears into
pruning-hooks, brotherly love would prevail and every moral and social virtue
would cement us. If we so pray let us so live; and, renewing our allegiance to
the grand principles of Masonry, study more earnestly her great light, making
it the only rule of our faith and practice, and the man of our council, and so
move among our Brothers and the world that they, seeing the beauty of Masonic
holiness as it shines in our words and deeds, may be constrained to exalt
Masonry to the high and honoured place she so richly deserves. Thus we will
speed the glad time when the sublime principles of Masonry will cover the
earth as the waters cover the deep, and the glorious sway of her power shall
girdle the globe with kindness, love, and truth.

THE LAMB-SKIN APRON

Light and white are its leathern folds,
And a priceless lesson its texture holds. 
Symbol it is, as the years increase,
Of the paths that lead through the fields of Peace.

Type it is of the higher sphere, 
Where the deeds of the body, ended here, 
Shall one by one the by-way be 
To pass the gates of Eternity.

Emblem it is of a life intense, 
Held aloof from the world of sense; 
Of the upright walk and the lofty mind, 
Far from the dross of Earth inclined.

Sign it is that he who wears 
Its sweep unsullied, about him bears 
That which should be to mind and heart, 
A set reminder of his art.

So may it ever bring to thee 
The high resolves of Purity. 
Its spotless field of shining white, 
Serve to guide thy steps aright;

Thy daily life, in scope and plan, 
Be that of a strong and upright man, 
And signal shall the honor be, 
Unto those who wear it worthily.

Receive it thus to symbolize 
Its drift, in the life that before thee lies. 
Badge as it is of a great degree, 
Be it chart and compass unto thee.
--Fay Hempstead.

KEEPING THE PEACE

Our duty is not only to keep the peace, but to make a peace that is worth
keeping. For the kind of peace that the world needs cannot be had for the
asking. It comes high, but it is worth the price.

--Samuel M. Crothers.

