Adapted by
V.W. Bro, Norman McEvoy from a paper presented by Bro. Reynold E. Blight Executive
Director, Committee on Masonic Education, California
From New
Jersey Editor “Masonic Mason” Published by The Masonic Service Association of
USA Vol. II January 1927. No. 7
Masonic education is the most talked of
subject in Masonry. There is scarcely a Grand Jurisdiction in which it is not a
moot topic. Nearly every Masonic periodical carries articles concerning it –
some in favour of the innovation and others in utter condemnation. The very
vehemence with which the subject is being discussed is proof that it is
pertinent and important.
Critics
are quite outspoken, one writer going so far as to declare unequivocally:
“The
elaborate and expensive mechanism devised by Grand Lodges for the furtherance
of Masonic education is largely wasted effort.”
Another
writer in a western magazine asserts: “The plain truth is that the average
Mason does not want so-called Masonic education, and I believe, does not need it.”
The
whole trouble seems to lies in the lack of a clear understanding of what
Masonic education really is; what is its purpose, and what are its objectives
and ideals, what is its spirit?
The
intent of this article is to present a definition of Masonic education as one
worker sees it, that others may elaborate, improve, and, clarify it, if it is
fundamentally correct.
In
order that the air may be cleared of misconceptions, let us state what it is
not.
Masonic
education is not repeating exhortations to morality. A writer already referred
to says:
“Your
average Mason is sick to death of being preached at.”
The good brother is correct.
Solemn
admonitions to be good and kind, generous and forgiving, honest and truthful,
while valuable in their place, do not constitute Masonic education. Those sombre
reminders of our duties grow wearisome when repeated again & again. These
reiterations of copybook maxims leave us cold. Commonplace and monotonous, they
irk us with their drabness.
Masonic
education does not provide opportunity for boring oratory. Too frequently the
Master feels he has done his duty to his lodge when he has arranged for an
address by a popular speaker.
Often
the speaker is an earnest brother, with a glib tongue and a reputation – a
spinner o phrases and a dealer in glittering generalities; his speech is well
described by Hamlet’s sad plaint: “Words, words, words!” The brethren may be
entertained by the verbal presentations, and be much impressed with the
orator’s command of the English tongue, but the addition to their Masonic
knowledge is nil. The average orator is long on language and minus accurate
information. In time the brethren see through the camouflage and realize that
behind the verbal fireworks there is a painful paucity of ideas.
Fifteen
minutes of simple talk by a brother, who in clear language gives the result of
careful research, is worth a dozen orations in which verbosity and flowery
rhetoric disguise poverty of thought.
Masonic
education does not necessarily consist in explorations into the realms of the
mystical and the occult. That there is an esoteric (hidden) meaning to
Freemasonry no intelligent Mason will deny, and that this field of research
offers rich promise is also apparent.
Enshrined
in Masonic ritual is a profound teaching that lures the student who is drawn
toward philosophical speculation, but such studies are necessarily restricted
to brethren who by training and inclination are qualified to carry on such
inquiry for sharing with the brethren and giving them the task and privilege of
searching out these deeper truths and interpreting them for the benefit of
their fellows, in a “language understood of the people.”
It is
a mistake to assume that the generality of the Fraternity will be interested in
this particular branch of Masonic research, or that they are remiss in their
masonic duty if they take no interest in it.
They
simply will have none of it. And as a matter of fact, they believe that the
general subject of Masonic Education is only incidentally related to
esotericism.
At
the same time it is proper to say that it is a mistake on the part of brethren
who ridicule and decry esoteric Masonry, and pour contempt upon the work of
such men as Ward, Waite, Oliver (to name only English writers), and others, who
have revealed to us some of the rich treasures of the masonic world.
For
those who are able to appreciate their work they have rendered a splendid service.
Masonic
Education is not a bombastic glorification of the Fraternity. While it is
eminently proper that the brethren should be informed concerning the greatness
and glory of the Craft, its ancient and honourable history, its notable
achievements, and the splendid names that add luster to its story, yet modesty
and restraint are more in keeping with its character than ostentation and
self-praise.
Care must be taken to protect the order from
the “go-getters” spirit of that time that with student ballyhoo would play up
the Craft like a circus or a political campaign. There is no need to “sell”
masonry, either to our members or to the world at large. Freemasonry is not a
breakfast food or a quack medicine that is need sensational slogans or
screaming type to impress its virtues or its teachings upon its votaries.
Freemasonry is a temple to be entered
reverently, a worship to be rendered sincerely, a philosophy to be taught with
simplicity and dignity.
We may go further and startle good brethren by
declaring that Masonic education is not merely a study of history. Joseph E.
Morcombe, the well-known Masonic editor tells us:
The
essential facts of Masonic history – a narrow and comparatively barren field –
with the symbolism and jurisprudence of the Craft, require no great effort to
cover or understand. The requisite knowledge, except for the special student,
can be gathered into small compass, and is to be easily retained in memory.”
The
purpose of masonic education is to make Masonry such a vivid, vital force in
the life of the individual Mason that it becomes an integral part of his very
being.
To
learn how this may be accomplished it is necessary to ask and answer two
questions –
What is Freemasonry and what is education?
The
best definition of Freemasonry I know is that formulated by Dr. Joseph Fort
Newton. He said: “Masonry is a philosophy of life the depth, breadth,
sanity and nobility of which is not matched elsewhere; and not only a
philosophy but a way of living, a method of building character, found nowhere
else.”
“Freemasonry
is the subjugation of the human that is in man by the divine; the conquest of
the appetites and passions; a continual effort, struggle and warfare of the
spiritual against the material and sensual. That victory, when it has been
achieved and secured, and the conqueror may rest upon his shield and wear the
well-earned laurels, is the true Holy Empire.” [Morals and Dogma, p 854]
And
the climax of the definition is reached in the avowal of Dr. Newton: “Here
lies the great secret of Masonry – that it makes the man aware of the divinity
within him.” [The Builder, p 293]
This,
then, is the sublime purpose of Masonic education – the revelation of the
divinity in each man, the flooding of the soul with light, the release of those
spiritual powers that enable a man to triumph over temptation, sin and folly;
the evolution of character,
and the development of those qualities of the soul that flower naturally into
generosity, righteousness and moral force.
The noble objective of Masonic education lies
close to the purpose of education as defined by the greatest educators. Says
Herbart: “The main business of education is the ethical revelation of the
universe.”
Ruskin
catches the same thought: “Education is leading human souls to the best by
making the best out of them.”
This
conception of Masonic education greatly complicates the whole subject. It is no
longer possible formally to outline courses of study covering certain topics,
the formulation of precise questions to which there may be submitted precise
answers. The discussions that are raised many not be settled by appeals to
alleged authorities. The results of Masonic study cannot be tested by sets of
examination questions such as might be submitted in geography or chemistry.
There
is nothing formal or mechanical about it. The distinction is clearly set forth
by Dr. E. C. Moore, the noted educator when he says:
“Mechanical education
is easy, but it accomplished only that which should not be accomplished. Real
education is hard, for it is a spiritual ministration. The temptation of
substitute mere physical manipulation of living interest, spiritual insight,
and comprehension ripening into action is the sin which besets us.”
We
commend to the interested Mason the ritual, the symbolism, the history and the
philosophy of the Order. He studies the ritual that he may discover the clew,
the Ariadne thread that leads unerringly through the labyrinth of human
ignorance, delusion and passion.
He
scrutinizes the symbols, knowing, as Albert Pike said, that, “symbolism is
the soul of Masonry”; the glowing figures, tropes and allegories that hide
yet ever reveal the subtle truths by which men live.
The
secret of Freemasonry is disclosed to the ardent and persevering student, the
seeker after truth, and he who possesses that secret, attains immortality.
He
explores the misty origins of our Masonic ceremonial, not for vain purpose of
proving the venerable antiquity of the Craft, but that he may feel the
heart-throb of aspiring humanity, from the slopes of the Himalayas and the
valley of the Nile to the teeming thoroughfares of a modern city.
Humanity is
one! Human brotherhood is not a rosewater sentiment, it is a palpitating fact
compounded of sympathy, understanding, a sense of a common weakness and
strength and an all-embracing love.
So we
might go on and read a true significance into every subject generally
classified under Masonic education.
Could
there be a better summing up of the purpose, the objectives, the spirit of
Masonic education?
All to
the end that a man cast off the rags of triviality, flippancy and
self-indulgence, and clothed in the royal raiment of virtue, manliness and
self-respect, know himself as a son of the Most High, living a life of conquest
and service in a world that is the dwelling place of Deity.
