STB-80-05
". . . BY PRECEPT and EXAMPLE"
by Frederick H. Lauder
This Short Talk Bulletin was written by Brother
Frederick H. Lauder, a zealous and active member of
Monmouth Lodge No. 37, Monmouth, Illinois, who
was raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason in
January, 1919. He has practiced law in Monmouth
since 1922, except when on duty in the Navy during
World War 11. We thank him for this perceptive view
of the Craft.
In the South Atlantic, it is said that many
miles up the Amazon River in a small clearing
there is a Cadillac Sedan. There are no roads in
the vicinity; there is only a shelter over it; and
there it stands on the shore. About once a week,
the tribal chief and two or three of his wives
come over and sit in it for a couple of hours.
The engine is not started. Not a wheel moves,
but there it has stood for about thirty years.
Someone once told the chief that he should
have one and showed him a picture in a brochure. Through a missionary, the story goes, he
corresponded with the General Motors representative in Receif. They sent the shiny new
Cadillac up the river on a barge, unloaded it on
the bank and there it has stood ever since. A
wonderful piece of machinery and metal body,
but absolutely useless, and has been for thirty
years, because no one does or can use it except
the chief and his wives.
Pretty stupid, you say, and you are right!
Before you go too far in condemning the chief,
however, let me tell you another. The story is
told that at about the turn of the century, when
English noblemen were rich and before taxation
became so bad, a nobleman sailed his seagoing
yacht into dry dock near Southhampton to have
its bottom scraped. According to the yarn, the
nobleman lived aboard during the process and
when it was completed, he decided to stay
awhile longer. In fact, the ship stayed there in
the graving dock for over twenty years. There it
was, a ship valued at over ~ 50,000 occupying a
drydock for which the nobleman paid thou-
sands of pounds per year for occupancy. It had
a crew aboard, officers and men. It was fully
equipped to go to sea, but it never did until the
nobleman died and his executors took over.
Here was a beautiful yacht, a crew and capacity
to carry its owner and friends to every port in
the world, but it never moved. In fact, it never
even floated. How can there be such waste, you
ask? Here was an educated English nobleman,
tying up for years what could have been
enjoyed by him and many of his friends. We
can excuse the chief with his Cadillac, but an
educated, intelligent man! It defies explanation!
One more example, if you please. On one of
the Thousand Islands where Lake Ontario nar-
rows into the St. Lawrence River, there is a
castle, built by a wealthy American, where he
and his wife expected to live the remaining
years of their lives. He built it for her, and the
location is so beautiful that it defies description. The castle is built of stone and has literally
every convenience that was known fifty years
ago. Unfortunately, the wife died before they
could move in and the surviving husband never
did. He loved his wife dearly and could not
think of occupying the castle without her. The
castle has never been occupied. There it stands
on this exquisitely beautiful island in the St.
Lawrence, gradually falling victim to the
passage of time.
How utterly tragic, you say, and rightly so.
We can excuse the chief, possibly, but what can
we say for the English nobleman or the wealthy
American? It is unbelievable that so much of
value can be wasted when it could mean so
much to the individuals and many more of their
friends. Before we go too far in condemning
them, let us go to the looking glass and look at
ourselves.
Our Masonic teachings, its philosophy, its
literature can be lumped together, and how can
we ignore them? Great philosophers have given
us wonderful ideas and visions of the Eternal.
Writers have preserved their thoughts in literature, pamphlets and books, which would be of
inestimable value if we would take the time to
read them and reflect upon them. Grand
Lodges publish pamphlets galore and the
Masonic Service Association can give us countless subjects to study. What do we do with
them? If we pick them up, we put them in our
pockets but never read them. We may take
them home and lay them on the library table or
leave them in the pockets until we send the suit
to the cleaner, who dumps them in the rubbish
bin. Why cannot we see that we have treasures
like the chief's Cadillac, the Nobleman's yacht
or the castle on the St. Lawrence, which, while
beautiful, could be much more beautiful if
used?
We attend communications of our lodges
where officers pour out their hearts trying to
show us that Masonry is beautiful, but is more
beautiful when put to use. It is said of the
Chinese that when you are trying to convince
them of something, they listen intently, smile
politely, applaud dutifully, and do nothing.
If it were not true, it would not hurt so
badly. We are not alone, however. Isaiah first
commented on this characteristic when he said,
"Hear ye indeed but understand not; and see ye
indeed, but perceive not." (IS. 6:9) This was
repeated by Jesus when he said, "By hearing ye
shall hear and shall not understand; and seeing
ye shall see, and shall not perceive." (Matt. 12:
12-14)
In the Islamic traditions (Hadith) it is written, "The Prophet prayed, '0, my Lord, do not
let the sun set on any day during which I did not
increase in knowledge'."
Our trouble appears to be that we gladly
and willingly take in candidates who are eventually raised to the Sublime Degree of Master
Mason, but do not work on the Master Masons
now on our rolls, to make better Masons out of
them. In the inside cover of the pamphlet to be
given to Master Masons in Illinois when they
are raised is the following Foreword:
"Very few who are raised to the Sublime
Degree of Master Mason, realize at the
time the full implications of the ceremony.
Yet it is vitally important that the deeper
meanings of this degree be understood of
one who is to become a Master Mason in
fact as well as in name."
You have heard the expression "In one ear
and out the other." Regrettably, that is how
some of our ageless principles and ideals affect
some of our Master Masons. Why? If each of
us appoints himself a committee of one to
remind our Brothers of the wording of some of
our obligations, some of the fine ideals we have
pledged ourselves to observe, we may be able to
influence our Brothers to understand some of
the things they have heard repeatedly in our
lodge halls during our initiations and to see and
perceive the value of some of our high aspirations.
As my lodge has many farmers on its rolls,
perhaps this illustration will make the point
clearer.
What would you think of a farmer who paid
$80,000.00 for a self-propelled combine and
kept it in the shed year after year, never using it
on his farm? Would you not think him a
lunatic? Yet we spend hours learning our ritual
and attending communications, but do not use
what we have learned as it ought to be used.
Are we to be classed with the jungle chief, the
rich Nobleman who never took his ship to sea,
and the rich man who built his castle but never
lived in it?
Lodge officers cannot use force to make
members read Masonic literature, nor would it
be appropriate to offer monetary rewards to
influence them to do so. If your word is good,
please remember your pledge "to improve
myself in Masonry" and convert your solemn
agreement into action.
Most Worshipful Brother Dwight L. Smith
(PGM, Ind.), in a recent issue of The Indiana
Freemason, summed it up this way:
"The person who yearns to be a bit above
the average can climb several rungs on the
ladder of excellence--first, by refusing to
, be content with mediocrity, then by lifting
his standards to the highest possible level
of attainment and working unceasingly to
O measure up to those standards.
"It all adds up to the fact that the purpose
of Freemasonry is and always has been to
take a good man--just one at a time--
and try by our teachings to make a better
man out of him.
"The real, lasting purpose of Freemasonry
is to persuade men, through the lessons in
our Work, to enter upon the pursuit of
excellence. Sadly enough, that isn't in
fashion these days. The popular course to
pursue is to slide downward into
mediocrity--and in some areas, the more
mediocre, the better.
"Excellence in what form? In just about
every form you can think of--in morals,
in manners, in speech, in dress, in the
quality of our leadership, in the attitude of
our Brethren toward the Ancient Craft
Lodge, the basic unit of all Freemasonry!
"What better way for American Freemasonry to play its role in the latter years
of the 20th Century than to quietly,
firmly, insistently call for excellence on the
part of every man who petitions our lodges
and who remains a member of our gentle
Craft?
"What greater service would we render
than to nail the standard of excellence to
the mast and keep it there!"
The challenge for each of us is contained in
the Charge:
"You are now bound by duty, honor, and
gratitude to be faithful to your trust, to
support the dignity of your character on
every occasion, and to enforce, by precept
and example, obedience to the tenets of the
Fraternity. "
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