SAGES, SEERS AND SPOOKS
by
Stewart W. Miner
Brother Miner (PGM, Virginia and present Grand
Secretary of the District of Columbia) has brought us
an interesting analogy between the gathering of useful
information and using it positively within the Fraternity. Formerly with the U.S. Government, Brother
Miner brings an excellent insight into the subject of
both information and Freemasonry.
The collection, analysis, and use of information has been
fundamental to success, personal and institutional, throughout
the course of history. In all generations leaders have recognized
a need for the timely acquisition of essential data, obtained
sometimes openly and sometimes clandestinely, in order to promote
and protect their interests. Never before, however, has this effort been so pronounced as it has been in the past
quarter-century, a period in which men and women everywhere have
sought to benefit from a truly unparalleled informational
revolution. Mankind now realizes, perhaps as never before, that
ignorance is a luxury that no one can afford!
In coping with ignorance, which is really nothing more than the
temporary lack of essential knowledge, most information seeking
institutions rely on special-purpose personnel, differentiated by mission and function into sage, seer, and spook groups.
Sages, by virtue of age, understanding, and experience, are
responsible for shaping policy and establishing goals; seers, occupying a mid-position in the hierarchy, analyze and plan
data-gathering operations; and spooks--the organizations spies or
spokesmen--gather information as directed by competent
authority. Working together, in unity and harmony, these groups
are able to perceive and appreciate fact that might otherwise
remain perpetually obscure.
Some Biblical scholars speculate that it was just such an
organization, operating through and for the Sanhedrin, the great
council or court of the ancient Jews, that was responsible for
the recruitment and use of Judas as a spy. That speculation is
conjectural, of course, because the scriptural accounts are
inconclusive on this score. They do attest, however, to the
intent of Sanhedrin officials to take and kill Jesus (Matthew
26:4) and to the intent of Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, to
betray his leader (Mark 14:10). Whether or not a staff of sages,
seers, and spooks was organized within the Sanhedrin to attain
these ends is of less importance than is the fact that the ends
sought--the acquisition of information essential to the
interruption of Christ's work and influence--was achieved, at
least temporarily, in accordance with plan.
But the collection of information had already become a fact of
life thousands of years before the time of Christ, when the
Israelites, out of necessity, spied on both their enemies and
each other. One of the earliest mentions of such activity
occurs in the book of Genesis (Chapters 42-44), wherein we read
an account of the reception by Joseph of his brothers, who had
come to Egypt to purchase grain. After making their plea for food
to Joseph, whom they failed to recognize, the latter scathingly
reproved them with these words: "Ye are spies; to see the
nakedness of the land ye are come (Genesis 42:9)" Thereupon
Joseph manipulated this charge to elicit information about the
family from which he had long been separated. Alternately and
skillfully playing sage, seer, and spook roles, he then adroitly
obtained the information he sought.
Even more specific are the Biblical accounts of the programs
that Moses and Joshua launched to gain information about the
promised land. We read in Numbers 12 that Moses, responding to
Divine dictate, dispatched leaders of the twelve tribes to spy
out Canaan. Specifically, he instructed his men to see the land
for what it was; to determine whether it be good or bad, fat or
lean; and to sample the crops produced thereon. He further
directed them to assess the people of Canaan; to determine
whether they be few or many, strong or weak; to evaluate their
modes of living; and to appraise the strength and defensibility
of their settlements.
Upon their return to Paran the leaders-turned spies reported
their findings. Canaan was a land that literally flowed with milk
and honey, they all agreed, but ten of the twelve expressed grave
doubt that it could be taken. The Canaanites are big and strong,
they stated, and they live in large and well defended cities. We
are but as grasshoppers to them, they averred, concluding that
it would be foolhardy to go up against such strength. Caleb and
Joshua disagreed, their assessment being that the men of Canaan
had lost the will to defend themselves (Numbers 14:9). In the
ensuing debate the views of the majority, although subsequently
proven erroneous, prevailed, and in consequence the entrance of
the children of Israel into the promised land was unnecessarily
delayed.
What had gone wrong? Hadn't Moses given crystal-clear
directions? Hadn't he selected men of good report? And had not
these men all observed the same things? The answer to each of
these questions is obviously "yes." Why then were the spies
unable to submit a report on which they could all agree? Frankly,
the Scriptures do not specifically address this point, but from
what is written we may assume that only Caleb and Joshua of the
twelve had proven their suitability for the assignment by talking
to enlightened people, asking leading questions, observing
significant phenomena, and arriving at rational conclusions.
The rest, unfortunately, falling far short of these standards,
were rendered incapable of distinguishing between the ephemeral
and the significant. In consequence the mission was a failure.
This failure, coupled with an additional 40-year sojourn of the
Israelites in the wilderness, set the stage for a later and
successful attempt to spy out Canaan, this time under the
direction of Joshua, the son of Nun, and Moses' minister. In
response to Divine instruction to take his people across the
Jordan, Joshua sent two men to spy secretly, saying to them:
"Go view the land, even Jericho (Joshua 2:1)" They went and we
are informed that there they lodged in the house of Rahab, a
harlot, who protected them. Moreover, Rahab told them all they
needed to know, i.e., that although the land was well fortified
and the defense forces strong, both could be taken because the
people of Canaan were afraid.
On their return the two spies, who remain nameless to this day,
reported to Joshua in these words: "Truly the Lord hath delivered
into our hands all the land; for even all the inhabitants of the
country do faint because of us (Joshua 2:24)." The accuracy of
their assessment is attested by the subsequent seige and
destruction of Jericho. Joshua's spies, it seems, unlike those of
Moses, were successful because they talked to informed people,
asked the right questions, and reported their findings
discreetly, thereby enabling Joshua to formulate his nation's
plans without being burdened by the encumbrance of uninformed
public opinion.
It is out of such humble beginnings, initiated in the antiquity
of time, that the informational systems of the world developed,
age by age and clime by clime, always in accord with and promoted by a constantly advancing technology. Hence today
enlightened leaders in every major sector of life, national or
international, political, economic, social, or spiritual, focus
due attention on the acquisition and use of information that is
absolutely essential to institutional health and growth. Like
their Biblical predecessors, they recognize that personal and
institutional wellbeing, in a world that is growing
competitively more complex, demands state-of-the-art knowledge.
They also recognize that the attainment of this knowledge still
depends on the timely initiation of coordinated efforts, in
which adequate complements of personnel, by whatever
designation or title, are assigned policy setting, planning and
analysis, or operational duties. This is the price of success,
and it is as applicable to Freemasonry as it is to any other
institution.
The Masonic effort, however, stands in contrast to those of
most other organizations, largely because of its customs,
traditions, and sense of propriety. Therefore its focus of
attention tends to be internal rather than external, private
rather than public. This is unfortunate, for Masons, somewhat
like Moses and his people so long ago, now stand in a figurative
wilderness, in need of information on which to base a plan that
will afford entrance into a fraternal promised land. That
information, if it exists at all, is most likely to be found
outside and not inside the Craft. That fact notwithstanding,
Masons, holding high the banner of achievements past, all too
often opt for introversion, a policy which suggests that in the
future fewer and fewer Masons may spend more and more time
together. The likelihood of that eventuality now seems
particularly strong in view of the current propensity of the
Craft to restrict its information effort to the accumulation of
essential housekeeping data, centering attention on such issues
as membership trends, investments, and cash flow at all levels
of administration.
Masonry's resources, human and material, are of unquestioned
consequence, of course, and they should be afforded the
consideration that is their due. On that point everyone is or
should be agreed. But everyone should also be agreed that
internal records alone, regardless of their thoroughness and
accuracy, do not supply the kind of information that is necessary
for the solution of a basic and fundamental issue--how to
convince the uninitiated of the virtues of the Masonic Order.
Those outside the Craft know little of us, and we, in turn,
know far too little of them; perhaps we both stand guilty of
trying to enjoy the luxury of ignorance.
At any rate it now seems time for those of us who are truly
concerned about the future of the Craft to expand the horizons of
our interests. There are Masonic promised lands awaiting
development in every community, and it is high time that we make
appropriate approaches to them. As we do we should be mindful
that we have a responsibility, even as we strive to preserve the
past, which we do very well, to cope with the present and to
prepare, as well as we can, for an uncertain future.
It is therefore incumbent upon us to make a concerted effort to
develop that special set of mind which is so essential to
scouting out and winning over the unknown. Let us therefore move
ahead, encouraged and sustained by that passage of Scripture in
which we read that "it is to the glory of God to conceal a thing:
but to the honor of kings to search out a matter (Proverbs
25:2)." My brethren, as each of us has the potential to wear a
crown of the Craft, it is my prayer that we will strive to be
deserving of it!
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