THE BADGE OF A MASON

by Judge C. Clyde Myers 32 degree

Each and every Mason treasures a white lambskin as a badge to remind him of that purity of life and conduct in which it is necessary for him to live a good and upright life. We wear our emblems and say our Masonic rituals with great éclat, but we too often say them without thought. We do not try to understand what is meant by this or that emblem or pronouncement. We do not worry too much about our privileges and duties as Masons.

It takes a lifetime of thought and study for anyone to know and understand our privileges and duties as Masons and what Masonry means, but I am sure Masonic rights and privileges are not to be interpreted as they were the other day by a litigant in my court.

I was hearing a lawsuit that was quite important to the parties involved. Of course, all lawsuits are important to the parties involved. I finally indicated that my decision would be and actually was against the accused. His attorney later told me what then happened. He said the accused poked his attorney in the back and whispered angrily, “What’s the matter with that damned Judge. I’m a Mason the same as he is, and I’ve been giving him the grand hailing sign of distress for half an hour and he pays no attention to me.”

That accused is like many other Masons. He is looking for something by reason of his Masonry that he is not entitled to in law or conscience. He is looking for an advantage by reason of his Masonry. He has not yet learned that justice is not dependent upon race or religion, or even the fact that he is a Mason.

Masonry exemplifies endless philosophies and truths. Every truth and every lesson is a thing that will make you and me a better citizen and a better man and neighbor, if we but heed. Every truth is a badge to be worn by every Mason. “No man can be a good Mason who does not wear the badges of these teachings.

Masonry teaches that we are our neighbors’ keepers, that we have a duty to make our neighborhood a better place in which to live, and that we are not to shirk this job. Masonry teaches tolerance of race, creed and religion. It teaches love and friendship for all mankind. It teaches respect for government, and admonishes the worship of one God. It teaches love, generosity and every other good quality. It gives us the Bible as a guide, the Square and the Plumb to keep us in the faith, and the Compasses to circumscribe our lives.

All through your Masonic Degrees you have heard about toleration. Albert Pike, one of the great writers and philosophers of Masonry, says we have no right to assume the prerogatives of a God and punish a man for his beliefs. He says that one born of Protestant parents would naturally be a Protestant, one born of Roman Catholic parents, a Catholic, and one born of Jewish parents, a Jew. One born in Constantinople would naturally cry, “Allah is God and Mohammad is his prophet.” That because of these things no one of us should become intolerant of another. Tolerance is one of the badges of a Mason. No one can be a good Mason unless he is truly tolerant of his neighbor’s beliefs and recognizes his neighbor’s right to his beliefs, the same as he claims the right to his own faith.

Masonry wears the badge of religion, though it is not in itself a religion, but Masonry is not all the religion the Mason needs. Masonry leaves the religious faith of the man to the Brahmmn, the Jew, the Mohammedan, the Catholic, the Methodist, or any other sect that soothes the conscience of that individual. Masonry teaches no doctrines except those common to all religions accepting and believing in one God, and no doctrines beyond such belief except those producing the goodness and morality of man, and the living of a true, just and faithful life.

Albert Pike says that Masonry opens “wide its portals; it invites all to enter there and live in peace and harmony, the Protestant, the Catholic, the Jew, the Moslem; every man who will lead a truly virtuous and moral life, love his brethren, administer to the sick and distressed, and believe in one, all-powerful, all-wise, everywhere-present God, Architect, Creator and Preserver of all things.”

He says we must pity the misfortunes of others, be humble, rid ourselves of hatred and revenge, be generous, an enemy to vice, look for wisdom and virtue, respect innocence, be patient and modest, and avoid every irregularity that stains the soul and distempers the body.

Masonry is not a religion, but it gives us the Bible as a guide. Masonry tells us to read and to study and to understand the Bible. Masonry does not require us to accept all of the Biblical tenets, but it does require us to live by the rule of brotherly love, sympathy, tolerance and good deeds as expressed in that verse of Scripture which reads: “Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them.”

Masonry requires of us that we so live that we are on the square with our neighbors, our God and with ourselves, and that the Compasses may circumscribe our lives with a life of good deeds beyond which we are not to pass into the darkness beyond the line made by our Compasses.

Every Mason has heard and sought to understand the word ashlar. An ashlar is a builder’s stone brought from the quarry for the building to be built. A rough ashlar is a rough, unpolished stone as it comes from the quarry. A perfect ashlar is that stone after it has been hewn, squared and polished by the masons into perfect shape to be used in the construction of the building. The building represents life – yours and mine. You and I come into life being rough and imperfect ashlars. The Great Architect soon begins to hew and saw upon us, trying to make or shape and polish us into perfect ashlars. He works upon us through the years to take out of us our imperfections. At last, when our roughness has been smoothed away, our imperfections hewn out and we have thus become perfect ashlars, then is when the Great Builder uses us and gives us our place in this building of life which He is constructing.

In the building of life, you and I are big or little ashlars according to our capacity. We will have much or little capacity according to how we come from the quarry, and then according to our fitness for the building as perfect ashlars. There are large and small ashlars, but there is a place in the building for each. Our responsibility is large or small according to our side and fitness for the building. You and I are required to accomplish our design, whether our capacities are large or small.

If you are designed for a large job, then you must accomplish large things in the service of the Great Architect. But I am not excused because any capacity is small. The temple cannot be built without the large, perfect ashlars, and it cannot be built without the small, perfect ashlars. It takes all sizes and shapes of perfect ashlars to build the temple, and it takes all types and conditions of men to make a world.

The badge of a Mason is that he does all things required of him as a Mason and as a man to promote and to actually live the morals, dogma, citizenship, neighborliness, worship, appreciation, justice, tolerance and the thousand other things required of him as a Mason. If he does all these things, he will have lived that purity of life and to his gaining admission into the Celestial Lodge, the goal of all Masons.