Grand Master's message

Title

Language

English

Year

1967

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

SINCERITY OF PURPOSE In my Message last month I stated that: "The first responsibility of a Mason is to make sure that he is a responsible Mason." I was most pleased to have several Brothers show their personal interest by asking how they could make sure they were responsible Masons. My answer was that although there are many details constituting the whole, briefly these details may be summarized into a single principle: Sincerity of Purpose. Men as individuals are motivated to act in anticipation of reward and recognition. But when men of their own free will and accord assume the obligations of Freemasosry, they become individual Brothers in the vast Fraternity of Brothers dedicated to the enhancement of our Craft and the maintenance of our ancient tenets. By their Masonic obligation they voluntarily renounce the natural concept of individual reward and recognition for their individual Masonic acts and undertake to perform their respective duties in accordance with our basic principle "of who best can work and best agree." Because of the competitive aspect of life, it is natural for men to seek office and aspire to a position of power and influence in business, in the community, and in politics. It is a modern carry-over of the pre-civilization tribal principle of "survival of the fittest." The very nature of Freemasonry, however, makes it unnatural for a Brother to seek office and aspire to a position of power and influence in Freemasonry. There must be no competition among Masons. The principle of "survival of the fittest" is foreign to our Craft. There must be only brotherly love and harmony. The success of the individual Mason is dependent upon the success of Masonry. The individual Mason must subordinate his personal image to the image of Masonry. The individual Mason must apply the compasses to his personal passions and desires so that his acts will project a personal image to the world that will enhance the image of Masonry. Unfortunately Masons are human beings and suffer from the same human frailties as you and I. It is, therefore, natural from time to time that our weaker Brothers may tend to fall by the side of the way. It is then that those who may be made of stronger stuff are called upon to attend their fallen Brothers. We must not condemn summarily those who have fallen because Turn to pogo 11 APRIL, 1967

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