Am I a Mason

Title

Am I a Mason

Language

English

Source

The Cabletow Volume XXXIX (Issue No. 4) October 1963

Year

1963

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

AM I A MASON? Talk of Vice-Governor Timothy D. Chaokas to the Freemasons of Bontoc, Mountain Province on the Installation of Their Officers J CONSIDER this a rare privilege and opportunity to speak before your brotherhood. But I must say that alter I accepted your kind in vitation thru Past Master Victorino N. Ringor, I started to wonder if 1 fall within the norms of yonr or ganization. I doubted my worthi ness of this honor extended to me as your guest speaker todav. 1’ntil now 1 am still puzzled and 1 <Jo hope that I shall not be a total dis appointment to you in the course of my talk. There is no stage in this magnifi cent hall tendering you unable to see me well delivering this short speech. I assure you, however, that 1 am not sitting giving it. Ladies and Gentlemen. I am here standing before you. Membership in Freemasonry is not solicited as you all know. Men are attracted into it because ol its lofty teachings, ideals and princi ples. I do believe that each one of you joined it not because you have campaigned. but because after some hones! examination of your self you became convinced that sou were h adv to meet the still standards ol the Craft and that you bate- pledge to live up 'o its leachings. Perhaps some ol you joined it to strengthen your Chris tian life and character. Freemasoniv teaches its members to “practice charity and -.'iicvolence. to pi meet chastity, to respect the tics ol blood and friendship, to adopt the principles and revere the ordinances ol religion, to assist the feeble, guide the blind, raise up the downtrodden, shelter the or phan, guard the altar, support the government. inculcate morality, promote learning, love all human October 1963 113 beings, fear God. implore His mer cy and hope for happiness.” I trust that you agree with me that because man is weak, it is human ly not possible that a Craft can put into practice all of these things. To believe in the perfectness, puri ty and saintliness of a man is to believe that there are living saints among us. But while no man is sinless, while man is prone to commit er rors, and while man is quick to see other's mistakes and faults but slow to recognize his, there is plenty of room for his improvement. When he strives for self correction and improvement, he minimizes his weakness and his errors, it is onlv when man recognizes his errors and prayerfully atones for them can he improve. As a public servant, perhaps this is a propitious time for me to. ap peal to each and every one of you and to the Graft as a body to dedi cate some tangible and sincere sup port to our government. I llis ap peal is hinged upon and motivated bv one of the Masonic teachings — that of “support the government.” 1 have no doubt that all know what this means. Afore than ever before, our gov ernment has been in need of honest and upright officials, employees and citizens. The difficulty in at taining this standard has been due to the fact that nianv of us Filipi nos today contribute to the corrup tion of officials. In a corrupt so ciety it is hard to develop honest ollicials. Masonry can be an effective! de terrent against the commission ol abuses and anomalies in the gov ernment. Many of you members ol this Craft are government officials and employees. You can do much to help us stop dishonest practices in this corporate society. You do not need to join physically in the crusade, but by being honest oflic ials and employees yourselves in the performance of your duties anti in dealing with other people you will have complied faithfully and rcligiouslv with some of the lofty ideals and principles of Masonry — those of .supporting the govern ment, inculcating morality, love of man, and fear of God. You can be the staunchest supporters of the government if you entirely divorce yourselves from direct or indirect participation in the commission of anomalies against the state. Those of you who are not in any way connected with the govern ment can equally be strong and effective supporters of it even as private citizens. When you have the opportunity to serve in the wav of undertaking projects and in furnishing supplies and materials for the government thru competi tive bidding, that occasion should be taken as an opportunity to serve and not an occasion to make illegi timate profits thru trickv manipu lations. In lh<- maintenance of peace and order in the community, Masonry can also be a strong instrument. By your demonstration by deeds, of love of man, respect of friendship and lear of God you can contri bine to the tranquility and peace of the locality. By doing so you can be more effective than a peace officer who, instead of being sym bol of love, protection, justice and uprightness, is himself a problem in society. 114 The Cabletaw Al this juncture. I would like to icinind you that in many places ol the world today, great strides in science, industries anti business have been achieved because of capable and responsible leaders developed through I'reeinasonry. It is said that these leaders developed dynamic person alities because they have been and are still guided by the tenets ol freemasonry. They succeeded be cause they are constant to the teach ings of Masonry that a leader must possess socially-accepted code of morals and ethics, a balanced education, harmonious personal re lations, and the mastery of speak ing sincerely and convincingly be lore- others. Through Masonry, they have learned that a good leader does away with jungle tactics, but must be a man of good will toward his associates, must be honest and sincere in his approach to problems that confront him, moderate in all things, yet fearless in the face of adversity, diplomatic and tolerant, lair in making decisions, not ego centric but aware of his limitations, and humbles himself in seeking Divine guidance. How much suc cess can our government officials and employees attain, and how much moie beautilul our live and democratic government would be il you and I, and all others, put into practice the leachings ol Christian ity, Fleemasomy and all other simi lar fraternal organizations in our daily lile. Perhaps it is ambitious, day dreaming and wishlul thinking lor anyone of you to endeavor to ecpial the achievements of Freemasons of their lands insofar as material atcomplihments are concerned. But certainly, the accomplishment of even lesser things could be achieved by anyone ol you even bv merely remembering that you are a Mason steadfast in the tenets of Christian ity, and adamant to the lofty ideals, principles and teachings of Free masonry whenever you are con fronted by evil temptations. When ever you arc enraged recall that you are a Mason. Whenever you think you have been wronged re cite “love man" instead of taking the law' into your hands. In order to be able io do this your actua tions and thoughts should be tem pered by your being a Mason. The hardest thing to do is to strictly and religiously follow the teachings of Christianity. Your con science will bear me out that you have faltered in your efforts to abide by the teachings of Freema sonry. This is true to every Chris tian and perhaps true to every Ma son, and e\ery member of a frater nal organization with similar aims and purposes lor that matter. But again, I say dial if we are constant and sieadlast in seeking Divine guidance w<- can minimize our wrongs and trulv recognize our faults. My friends. I hate spoken to you with all candour and frankness as a friend. I am not a member ol your Craft, but I must admit that 1 have read with keen interest some of the leachings and publica tions ol Freemasonry, and this spell my liankncss to all ol you. My very limited knowledge of the ideals, prim iples and teachings of Freemasonrv has contributed scry much to my norm of conduct as a public servant and as a private ci tizen. October 1963 115 Iii parting, may I ask each one of you to ask your good self this question: AM I A TRUE MASON, OR AM I JUST RIDING ON THE GOOD NAME OF I-IEEM ASON RY? I should think that this is a good question to ask our selves whenever any face of temp tation glitters before us anytime, anywhere. A A A Bulusan Lodge No. 38 Establishes Own Cemetery According to a report received by the Grand Lodge from WB Lorenzo N. Talatala, Worshipful Master of Bulusan Lodge No. 38, the brethren of the Valley of Sorsogon are now assured of a final resting place, just in case. . ., with the establishment of a brand new Masonic Cemetery at the capital town of Sorsogon, just over the concrete fence and alongside with the present Roman Catholic Cemetery. The cemetery site consisting of 3,296 square meters was donated to the Lodge by WB and Mrs. Estanislao Gabarda of Bulusan Lodge No. 38. WB Gabarda has been twice Past Master of Bulusan Lodge and also a 32° Scottish Rite Mason. During the 1963 Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge last April, WB Gabarda was the recipient of a Certificate of Merit from the MW William H. Quasha, PGM, for outstanding and meritorious masonic service during the 1962 Masonic Year. To WB and Mrs. Gabarda, the brethren of Bulusan Lodge No. 38 and all the sojourners in this Valley will be eternally grateful. Negotiations for the establishment of this Masonic Cemetery was started on January 18, 1960 under the untiring and energetic leadership of WB Gabarda. Requirements after requirements which were asked of the Lodge on installment basis by proper authorities caused the much-delayed realiza tion of the project. With the arrival in Sorsogon, however, of WB Lorenzo N. Talatala, present Master of the Lodge, the efforts of WB Gabarda was greatly reinforced. The combined efforts of the two of them with the full support of all the brethren of the Lodge was amply rewarded on June 5, 1963 with the final approval of our long cherished hope — a Masonic Cemetery which we can call our very own. January 18, 1960 to June 5, 1963 — many would have been discouraged and would have dropped their tools down in disgust! Muy terrible . .. hombre! 116 The Cabletow

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