The past is right!

Title

The past is right!

Creator

Guillermo, Esteban

Language

English

Source

The Cabletow Volume III (New Series No. 4) April 1961

Year

1961

Subject

Masonry

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

The Past is Right! BRO. ESTEBAN GUILLERMO Memorial Lodge -90 According to the Holy Scriptures, Enoch was a man who did not see death and was not found. This man Enoch passed away without suffering death. Reason: Ilis past was light; his moral and spiritual conduct here on earth were right. Another man, Elijah of the same Old Testament period, "went up. . into heaven.” By what right and privilege did this man get to heaven? After reading the story of his life while here on earth, one finds that he lived an exemplary, clean, unspot ted life. His past being right, the good Lord gave his due reward. A poor man. named Lazarus, dur ing the New Testament period "was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom” when he passed away. What did this poor beggar do that he was carried to the bosom of God when lie left the earth? Did he send gifts to God previous to his departure from the earth? Or, was Lazarus the (Oinpadre of one of the angels who brought him to the bosom of God? Or, was Lazarus related personally to the angels? No, none of these. He was nobody here, materiallv, while living. He just lived a simple ordinary life. Although poor, he lived a righteous life, maintained kind feelings and good-will towards his fcllowmcn, even those who ridicul ed and derided him, he loved them. That kind of a past was right. At the final accounting of his life, God was pleased to give the compensa tion due him. The next man worth mentioning is Stephen, one of the seven deacons chosen by the early Christians to take care of the economic and finan cial affairs of the church and the first Christian martyr. It is said of Stephen that he was “a man lull of faith and of the Holy Ghost", and his selection as one of the seven dea cons was due to his honesty. This cardinal Christian virtue is much needed in the high echelon of our government today. There is much to learn from the early Christians. In their selection of men who led their organization, honesty and lo yalty to Christ were their ma'in considerations. It was not personal favor or relationships that influenced them to choose the men who were en trusted in handling the great affairs of the church. It is believed that even Masons have to take due notice from this election of the early Christian church. We cannot be complacent with our present procedure of elect ing and choosing the officers of the fraternity. While it is true that be fore election, lodges arc reminded to give due observance to the constitu tional rule of electing officers, we have to be vigilant against the forces of evil. Stephen, according to the Scrip tures, "did great wonders and mir 106 THE CABLE TOW April, 1961 acles among the people”. The miracle he did was the conversion of sin ners to righteous living. Besides be ing a financial steward of the early church, Stephen engaged in evan gelistic worth — the drawing of peo ple to the fold of the Christian church. Because of his dynamic preaching and witnessing, there was an enormous multiplication of Chris tian converts in Jersusaleni in spite of the stubborn opposition of the Libertines, the Cyrenians and the Alexandrians and those of Cilicia and Asia. His unabated zeal and courage in preaching and in witnessing for Christ led to his untimely death. It is said that when he passed away ‘‘he fell asleep”. From this and from other Scripture records regarding him, we can conclude that "his past was right". The last man, and many more can be cited belonging to this tribe, whose "past is right”, and worth emulating, is an army officer of the Italian band, named Cornelius, a centurion. He was highly commended by Jesus him self because of his devotion to duty, his adherence to the high principle of moral and spiritual conduct, his charitableness in giving alms to peo ple worth helping. Cornelius, no doubt, practiced and lived up the three high tenets of Masonry — Brotherly I.ove, Relief and Truth. Cornelius was a soldier of the first order. Unlike Hitler and his tribe, he was not arrogant. He did not think of conquering the whole world and put it as his subject. He had in his heart what Jesus Christ said, "for what is a man profited, if lie shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul.” Read ing the life story of Cornelius, one finds that his whole past was right. The past life of a person, particu larly his moral conduct, is very im portant. It is important when one enters Masonry. It is one of the bases tor making appraisal of the moral and spiritual worth of an applicant for membership in this ancient fra ternity. It is the basis for evaluating his loyally. One who vacillates in his moral conduct cannot be loyal io high tenets of Masonry. Hence the fraternity is very careful in ad mitting applicants. Their pasts have to be carefully studied and evaluat ed. There are seemingly good people who tried to enter the Fraternity but were rejet ted because their past moral behaviour were such that they did not merit their entrance or admission into the fellowship. It is important that one’s past moral conduct must be beyond reproach if one desires admission into the Fraternity. This is dilferent from Christianity. Chris tianity seeks the sinners, bring them to its fellowship. Masonry neither seeks nor invites people to become members into its fellowship. And only people whose "past is right” — good people applying of their own volition ate admitted. These good pedple entering the Fraternity be come better citizens of their coun try and God. There was a mistaken idea that one <an enter the fraternity if lie has money. Contrary to this belief Masonry is not a Fraternity of the moneyed and wealthy classes, neither the intellectual nor the professional groups alone. It is not a Fraternity confined to one racial group or to 107 one country alone. It is not a Fra ternity of peoples who have the same religious affiliation. It is a Fraternity of all peoples around the globe, with out racial distinction (for there is only one race — the human race) and without regard to any land ol abode, and without regard to econo mic and financial standing or re ligious affiliation. It is a Fraternity of peoples whose PAST IS RIGHT and who are determined to pursue RIGHTEOUSNESS. live an exem plary moral conduct. This is an im portant requirement that must be met - THE PAST RIGHT. It is in this particular that Masonry is aris tocratic. but very democratic in its dealings with all men. From this - THE PAST IS RIGHT, some good lessons arc de rived: First, it is advantageous for one: who lives a righteous life. This is shown by the Biblical characters cit ed above. Second, there is always a reward for a life that is lived righteously here and now. Third, that Masonry makes a good man a better citizen of his country and his God. Fourth, that it is the will and pleasure of God that we obey His laws. Obeying His laws will make THE PAST RIGHT. When our PAST IS RIGHT at the time we pass to the great beyond, we shall hear Him say. "Well done, thou good and faitldul servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things: enter thou into the joy of thy I.ord.” A A The Big Fishermen This is not about the Apostle Peter of the first century. But, in this twentieth century, Christ's admo nition to Peter and his companions would still be good for the CAFA — to cast their nets on the other side ol their boat. Not al the University ol the Philippines. Perhaps now as in the case of the Apostles of old, the CAFA fishermen would find their nets full of fish, especially the pink and the red. One cannot help being entertained thus far by the propositions and con clusions brought out by the fishing. Communists do not believe in God; Dr. Pascual does not believe in God: Therefore, Dr. Pascual is a commun ist. From the very testimony of Dr. Pascual himself, he is an agnostic; he cannot as yet affirm the existence ol God; neither does he deny the exis tence of God; for he is still searching for proofs that would satisfy him. So, Dr. Pascual doubts the exist ence of God. That is natural lor people, thinking people especially. Many times in our lives, we who be lieve in God. have entertained doubts about His Existence. We recall that even ’Christ, the son of God, cried out: “My God. My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" Or, is Dr. Pascual being pilloried because he wrote many years ago, "Rizal Beyond the Grave", and proved Rizals retraction a pious fraud? It is to the credit of Dr. Pas cual that he has not forced his own doubts about God on any one, least of all his students and even members of his family. He allows them to have their own religious beliefs. In fact, he sends his children to religious (Continued oti page 126) 108 THE CABLE TOW April, 1961

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