STB-86-03
Music by Brother J. L. F. Mendelssohn.
MEN WHO BUILD BRIDGES - NOT WALLS
This Short Talk Bulletin has been adapted from remarks
delivered by R.W. Rev. Richard D. Campbell. Grand
Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of New Youk, at the Sigma
Lodge of Perfection in Schenectady, N.Y.
INTRODUCTION
You have all seen pictures of the famous
"leaning Tower of Pisa." You know it leans
precariously many degrees from the perpendicular. An American tourist, seeing the Tower
for the first time, was not impressed. He
grumbled, "that looks like the work of the
same contractor who built my garage!"
Masons are builders! In fact, a famous
Mason named Joseph Fort Newton wrote a
book about our Craft called The Builders. All
Freemasons know that we trace our traditional
origins to the ancient craftsmen who participated in the building of King Solomon's
Temple. Most also realize that the forerunners
of modern Masonic Lodges were the medieval
lodges of devout craftsmen. Few, however,
may be aware that the cornerstone of the U.S.
Capitol was laid by Masons in 1795. Not brick
masons. Free Masons! The Grand Lodge of
Maryland reportedly sponsored the ceremony.
And, a painting by Stanley Massey Arthurs
shows the Father of our Country, George
Washington, at the ceremony dressed in
Masonic regalia.
Today we like to say we are no longcr
"operative masons." We are "speculative
Masons" -- which means we do not build
physical buildings or other structures. our
building task is symbolic. We build character.
We build good men. We build just and
honorable relationships. We build
brotherhood .
DISCUSSION
1. Let us put it this way - good Masons do
not build walls or fences. Our work is not to
separate or divide people. Our fraternity ought
never to isolate or alienate human beings from
each other.
An interesting fact is that the original
Americans never built fences or walls. Private
ownership of land and property boundarylines were strange notions to Native Americans.
The Europeans brought that concept to these
shores! The Indians never walled out other Indian nations or European settlers from their
land. They were welcoming and open. They
believed in sharing.
Masons do not wall out men because of
creed or physical characteristics. We have never
excluded people on the basis of strict doctrinal
standards. Ours is an inclusive brotherhood
which welcomes Jews, Christians, Moslems,
and persons of other religions. We only ask for
a basic belief in God and a dedication to moral
living. We welcome all men who intend to build
their lives and their relationships according to
the compass of virtue, the plumb line of morality, and the square of ethics.
We disagree strenuously with any church
leader who says a Christian cannot be a Mason
without compromising his beliefs or his
allegiance to Christ - and, therefore, that
Masonry should have a Christological test for
membership. That was the misconception of
the minister who resigned from Masonry and
wrote denunciatory letters to the editor about
our fraternity. That was the mistake of another
minister who wrote a sermon 35 years ago attacking Masonry. Titled "Freemasonry and
Christianity" and now being circulated, this
sermon said in part:
If Masonry asks its initiates to acknowledge
and confess Jesus Christ as Lord and the
true God, then Masonry's God is the true
God. But if Masonry does not require its
members to confess and acknowledge Jesus
Christ as Lord and the true God, then
the God of Masonry is not the true God!
That reminds us of the smug, self-righteous
fellow who spoke condescendingly to someone
who belonged to a different denomination. He
sniffed: "that's alright. We're both just trying
to serve the Lord - you in your way and I in
His! "
That spirit has no place in Masonry! Nor
does the attempt to impose some kind of doctrinal "litmus-test" on members and potential
members. That is building walls between people. Masons do not build walls and fences. We
agree with Robert Frost when he writes,
"Something there is that doesn't love a wall."
The poet takes exception to the man who says
"good fences make good neighbors." So do
we! Like Frost, we ask:
"Why do they make good neighbors! Isn't
it where there are cows? But here there are
no cows. Before I built a wall I'd ask to
know what I was walling in or walling out,
and to whom I was like to give offence."
II. Masons do not build walls. We build
bridges. Bridges connect. Walls divide. Bridges
enhance communication. Walls obstruct communication. Bridges promote friendship. Walls
cause isolation. Webster defines a bridge as:
"any structure -- raised to afford con-
venient passage over river, railroad, ravine
or any other obstacle. ''
Masons build bridges of understanding. We
connect people by brotherhood. We construct
passageways of friendship between persons
who may differ in Church or language or race.
We build tolerance as a conveyance that brings
human beings together. Building bridges of
friendship is at the heart of Masonry. For example, an item appeared March 24, 1985 in the
New York Times. Here is what it said:
"Religious pluralism has long been a hallmark of the Masons, as is seen by the
annual family dedication breakfast this
morning of the Grand Lodge of Free and
Accepled Masons of the State of New York.
About 2,000 members of the fraternal order
and their families will gather at 8 a.m. at
three sites - St. Patrick's Cathedral (Roman
Catholic) at Fifth Avenue and 50th Street;
St. Bartholomew's Church (Episcopal), at
Park Avenue and 50th Street, and the east
55th Street Conservative Synagogue
(Jewish), between First and Second
Avenues. After the services, the Masons will
assemble and parade together to the
Sheraton Centre for breakfast."
That is what we mean by Masonry building
bridges! Someone named E. Larsen has summed it up in a little piece which is appropriately
titled "Building Bridges."
BUILDING BRIDGES
People, like islands, need bridges - a way
to cross over, speak, reach, see, over all that
silent water. It is the only way. Because
people aren't people, not real people, without that bridge; and the only action, the
only REAL action, takes place on the bridge
between people. So if I wait, you wait,
everyone waits; when I don't start, you
don't start. Nobody arrives. No builders, no
bridges. The meaning of the world doesn't
change; it always stays the same - same
hopes, same challenges, same tragedies,
same fears and victories. What does change
is my involvement with it - my awareness,
my understanding, my growth. And growth
is only a deepening of what passes between
you and me - what passes on the bridge.
CONCLUSION
What could be better than to be a builder of
bridges between persons and groups? What
could be a better way to be remembered when
we are gone? Would we not like people to say
of us "He was a builder of bridges"?! Can you
think of a more noble cause? Can you imagine
anything truer to the purposes of Freemasonry?
In his book, "The Builders," Joseph Fort
Newton suggests a challenge with which I
would like to leave you. He tells us the mission
of Masonry is "to form mankind into a great
redemptive brotherhood" (pg. 267). He capsulizes the spirit of Masonry by daring us "to
be friends with all men, however they may differ from us in creed, or conditions; to fill every
human relationship with the spirit of friendship." And, finally, with the words of an old
hymn by John Oxenham:
"Join hands, then,
Brothers of the faith,
What e'er your race may be;
Who serves my Father as a son
Is surely kin to me."
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