In whom do you put your trust?
18 August 23
The title of this article is part of a question asked of every initiate and would be familiar to every Freemason in this jurisdiction
Surprisingly, after 50 years of membership, and having witnessed over 300 initiations, this writer cannot recall having ever heard even one candidate being able to answer the question without requiring a prompt.
Surely this is one question that requires a truthful answer from the heart, and, if this is so, why is a prompt necessary? If a candidate cannot answer the question unassisted, should we continue the ceremony? A ‘coloured’ (his description) South African brother once told me that in his mother lodge no candidate would be allowed to proceed unless he could answer this question unaided.
The GAOTU is central to our craft. The VSL is opened at the beginning of every meeting. It remains open and many references are made to it during every meeting. The astute Freemason quickly learns that this book is central to the teachings of the Craft. A deep, and thorough, search of our Rituals will quickly convince us of this fact. If we truly seek to become better men, through the Craft’s teachings, there is no better book to study than the VSL. We are taught from the WTs the advantages of ‘knowledge and discipline’, and that knowledge must be ‘grounded on accuracy’. We are also taught to ‘regulate our lives by the unerring and unalterable law of God’s Word’ and to ‘discipline our conduct’ so that we might be acceptable to God.
Searching even deeper we find that this book contains ‘a straight and undeviating line of conduct is clearly and unmistakably laid down for our pursuit. Our WM is also instructed that the VSL is given ‘as a rule and guide to his faith’.
We have all been recommended to make ‘the most serious study and contemplation’ of this book and charged to ‘ever regard it as the unerring standard of Truth and Justice, and to regulate your conduct by the divine precepts it contains’. There are many more references which can be found if we but search for them.
Given that this is Sacred Law which we are all meant to follow, one could rightly expect that all Freemasons be completely familiar with its contents and be living an exemplary life which, by our very lives, would attract men in great numbers.
Surely, if we were all living our lives as true Freemasons, then people every- where would be asking us ‘what it is that makes us so very different from other men, what is our secret for life?’
Sadly, this is not happening!
As a result, numbers are continuing to fall, and we are forced to consider, very seriously, whether there is along and continuing future for the Craft. We must ensure, as individual masons, and as a Craft, that we are not among the last few generations of members.
To be able to guarantee future generations of men to be able to benefit from our teachings it requires every member of the Craft to stand up and be counted as a Freemason and not simply as a member of the organisation. We owe it to ourselves, and to future generations, to set such an example in our living that we stand out from the crowd as being visibly different.
We need to take Sacred Law as being Sacred Law and make it an integral part of our lives. When we truly begin living as Freemasons are taught, and are meant to live, can we hope to see the Craft which we love so dearly have the resurgence which we all desire.
To be able to do this effectively the teachings of the Craft, as written in the VSL, need to become second nature to us. When we do this the world will begin to stand up and take notice of us.
The question ‘in whom do you put your trust’ will then become evident to all with whom we come in contact.
From the Grand Chaplain By RW Bro Robert Searle, which appeared in the June 2018 Freemason.