GMHicks
Contents
DONALD GARDNER HICKS, JR.
Deputy Grand Master, 1987
Grand Master, 2002-2004
TERM
NOTES
SPEECHES
ST. JOHN'S DAY, LEOMINSTER, JUNE 2004
From Proceedings, Page 2004-94:
“Masonry: Faith, Hope and Charity” Good Morning: It is a great pleasure and honor to be present this morning in my home church to present the message at this morning’s worship service. It is also somewhat terrifying, as I contemplate the responsibility to present a message of interest to all members of the congregation here assembled. As I prepared today’s message I gained a greater respect and appreciation for all clergy who must prepare a message each and every week. As I began to contemplate what I might bring as a message this morning I stopped by the Samuel Crocker Lawrence Library, located in the Grand Lodge Building in Boston. Cynthia Alcorn, our librarian, is always helpful when looking for reference material regarding all aspects of Masonic research. I informed her of my need for material to review to prepare a message to be given on St. John’s Sunday at my church. She smiled and said, “ I’m just now reviewing a book of St. John’s Day Addresses, given between 1784 and 1870.” I, of course, asked to take the book as a source of material for my message. I will be quoting occasionally from this and other Masonic texts that will be familiar to the Masons present. Let me begin by explaining why Freemasons often worship together on a Sunday in June. The brethren present today know the familiar words that “lodges in ancient times were dedicated to King Solomon” and “in modern times to Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist”. A more detailed explanation of the reason for the reference to King Solomon and the Holy Saints John in our ceremonies may be found in a message delivered June 24, 1836 by Charles W. Moore, Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts on the occasion of the Centennial Anniversary of St. John’s Lodge Number One of Portsmouth, N.H. I quote Brother Moore in part, that “in ancient times regular meetings of Masonic Lodges were dedicated to the renowned Jewish monarch Solomon and after the beginning of the Christian Church it is conjectured the Christian Masons sought a Patron from among those of their own faith, to whom they might dedicate their lodges. They found one in St. John the Baptist, who to them was a burning and shining Light. Lodges were also dedicated to St. John the Evangelist: and it has been usual for Masons to assemble on the 27th of December, or June 24th in honor of the nativity of one or the other of these exemplars of religion, virtue and truth.” In Massachusetts Masonry we install our Grand Lodge Officers on December 27th in honor of Saint John the Evangelist and while not required, 94 ABSTRACT OF PROCEEDINGS lodges are encouraged to worship together on the Sunday nearest June 24th each year to honor Saint John the Baptist. Brother John H. VanGorden, in his book “Biblical Characters in Freemasonry” provides a brief biography of St. John the Baptist. He reminds us about John the Baptist, his work and the remarkable events surrounding his birth and his life. An angel appeared before Zachariah in the Temple and informed him that his elderly and barren wife, Elizabeth, would have a son who would “…be great in the sight of the Lord.” Zachariah questioned the prediction of the angel, pointing out that he and his wife were old. The angel told Zachariah that, because he did not believe, he would be a mute until all the predicted events had transpired. When Zachariah left the Temple he could not speak and remained mute until after the birth of John. As predicted by the angel, Elizabeth conceived and in the sixth month of her pregnancy, the angel appeared to the Virgin Mary, Elizabeth’s cousin, and informed Mary that Jesus would be born to her. Mary went to Elizabeth and when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in Elizabeth’s womb for joy. Despite the relationship between Elizabeth and Mary, John appears not to have met Jesus or to have realized that Jesus was the One whose coming he was foretelling, until Jesus came to him to be baptized. For a number of centuries, prior to the birth of John the Baptist, there was a religious barrenness in Israel and John, instead of becoming a priest like his father, went into the wilderness to prepare for his ministry. When John emerged from the wilderness as quoted in Psalm 100 “he made a joyful noise unto the Lord” and began proclaiming the coming of the Messiah. He preached that this would be preceded by a judgment of Israel and issued a call for repentance. Baptism became the symbol of repentance; hence John became known as the Baptist. A religious revival resulted from John’s efforts and when Jesus came to the Jordan to be baptized, John recognized him as the Son of God. Following the baptism of Jesus many of John’s followers became disciples of Jesus. John continued baptizing and preaching repentance. John’s ministry symbolizes holiness and righteousness, with the vision to determine what constitutes these virtues in God’s design. Now having given the reason for this particular day for Masons to worship together, I will change direction to provide a brief explanation of some of the teachings of the Masonic Fraternity. The references to the Holy Saints John, John the Baptist and John the Evangelist, might lead one to conclude that Masonry is Christian. That assumption would be entirely false. The prerequisites for membership in the Masonic Fraternity is that a man must be an adult, which in Massachusetts is at least eighteen years of age, and believe in a Supreme Being. Therefore, THE GRAND LODGE OF MASSACHUSETTS 95 monotheism is the sole dogma of Freemasonry. It is true that many American Masons are Christian and it might even be safe to say that the majority of American Masons are Christian; however Masonry is a worldwide fraternity of men, most of whom are not Christian. Men who practice the major monotheist religions — Judaism, Islam and Christianity, together with other monotheist men are welcomed in a Masonic Lodge. It is important to note that while we often pray in our ceremonies, no specific theology is promoted. In fact no discussion of religious or political beliefs are permitted during the lodge meetings. Within the Lodge we refer to God as the “Supreme Architect of the Universe” and as prayers are offered, each member thinks of God in the custom of his religious belief. In most lodges in Massachusetts the “Volume of the Sacred Law” which is placed on the altar in the center of the lodge is the Bible. However, I hasten to point out that every man who becomes a Mason is given the opportunity to take his Masonic obligations on the “Volume of the Sacred Law” that is representative of his religious belief. Okay, you might be now asking, what is Freemasonry? Freemasonry is dedicated to the Brotherhood of Man and our singular purpose is to make good men better, not better than someone else, but better within themselves. Every Mason is taught that the tenets of Masonry are Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth. They are more easily understood if we explain them as: Masonry teaches that each person has an obligation to make a difference for good. It teaches kindness in the home, honesty in business, courtesy in society, fairness in work, concern for the unfortunate and respect for one another. We know from a study of history that operative stonemasons built the public buildings, temples and cathedrals of the European renaissance during the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It is from these operative stonemason guilds and societies that Modern Freemasonry has evolved. The study of this evolution is a subject much too involved to discuss at this time. Permit me the latitude to simply say, we have borrowed symbolism of the operative art of the stonemason to teach lessons to improve the moral character of our members. Our degrees in Masonry are Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft and Master Mason, names taken from the operative stonemasons. Once a man becomes a Master Mason he has achieved the highest degree in Masonry. There are other segments of Masonry such as the Scottish Rite that add lessons using numbers for the degrees, such as 32nd and 33rd Degree Mason and Knight Templar of the York Rite Masons, but these so called “higher degrees” only add further explanation to the basic teachings of Masonry. 96 ABSTRACT OF PROCEEDINGS Allow me to share one of the lessons we teach a candidate during the ceremony of the Entered Apprentice or first degree. The next time you have an opportunity to visit a Masonic Lodge building, find the Lodge Room and look for two stones. They may be square or oblong. One stone will have rough sides and edges; the other stone will be smooth with square edges. We call these stones the Rough Ashler and the Perfect Ashler. We explain to the candidate that the Rough Ashler is a stone taken from the quarry, in its rude and natural state. The Perfect Ashler is a stone made ready by the hands of the workmen according to the plan laid down by the Master on the Trestle-Board. The stone is then ready to become a part of a building: square, level and plumb. The lesson we teach is that the Rough Ashler represents ourselves rude and imperfect by nature, but that the Perfect Ashler is that state of perfection at which we hope to obtain, by a virtuous education, our own endeavors and the blessing of God, by following the plan laid down by the Supreme Architect of the Universe by studying the “Volume of the Sacred Law”, which is our spiritual, moral and Masonic Trestle-Board. So that when our time comes to be welcomed into the Celestial Lodge above, we may become the living stone in that spiritual building, that house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. This lesson is only two brief paragraphs in our ceremonies, yet it symbolizes the goal of Masonry to make a good man better, erecting his spiritual building within his heart, preparing for the life eternal. The tenets of Masonry are Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth. By Brotherly Love we are taught to be tolerant and respect our brother’s religious and political belief, to regard all people as one family created by one Almighty Parent, who share this tiny planet and that we should aid, support and protect each other. By Brotherly Love Masonry unites men of every country, sect, and opinion and true friendship results among men who might otherwise have remained at a perpetual distance. As a personal aside, I will share with you that because of Masonry, I now have a friend and brother whom I had the pleasure to install as Master of his lodge. This brother is a Muslim and he took his obligation on his “Volume of the Sacred Law”, the Koran, borrowed from the Grand Lodge of Iran (in exile). My brother has helped me to better understand Islam and that the teachings of both our faiths are not in conflict with the teachings of Masonry. Masons are taught to offer relief to those less fortunate, (caring for our brothers in our Masonic Home, aiding children with dyslexia, our Shrine Orthopedic and Burns Hospitals, Eye research and many Masonic Charities), sympathize with their misfortunes and support them during times of trouble. THE GRAND LODGE OF MASSACHUSETTS 97 We are also taught that Truth is a divine attribute and to be good and true is the first lesson we teach. We attempt to live our lives by the principle of truth, be sincere, and rejoice in promoting each other’s welfare and prosperity. In sum the lessons that Masonry teaches is Faith in God, (in whatever manner we choose to worship our God), Hope in the immortality of the Soul, (life beyond the grave), and Charity toward all Mankind (expressed as love toward our fellowmen). We believe these lessons support in every way the basic beliefs of all monotheistic religions and only enhance a brother’s understanding of “The Supreme Architect of the Universe”. AMEN.
