I have looked up these words in a dictionary and I have found the following meanings:
Equal: Having
the same capacity, quantity, effect, measure, or value as another
Regularity: Conforming to a fixed
procedure, principle or discipline.
We also find these words impressed upon our minds in the explanation of the Great Light in Masonry shortly after being obligated in the Entered Apprentice Degree. The Worshipful Master explains to us the meaning of the three lesser lights as follows; " The three lesser lights are the Sun, Moon and Master of the Lodge and as the Sun rules the day and the Moon governs the night so should the Worshipful Master with equal regularity rule and Govern the Lodge".
Since Freemasonry is best explained as a beautiful system of morality expressed by symbols and veiled in allegory we must search for ourselves the lesson that can be best gained from the term equal regularity. I have always tried to adapt lessons taught within the Degrees of Masonry into my own personal life. Many of them are extremely difficult. The question "What came you here to do?" is a good example to which we respond, " To learn to subdue my passions and improve myself in Masonry". This in itself has to be the hardest trial in Masonry and I struggle with this every day. Yet, because of the Light that I have received in Masonry I try to restrain myself from overreacting and letting my passions get the best of me. But as hard as I try I fail because I am human yet to my consolation every day I fail a little less.
In the Old Testament of the King James Bible we find in Genesis chapter 1 verses 16 through 18 the following, " And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth. And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from darkness: and God saw that it was good". Symbolically we can look at the Sun and the Moon as the active and passive forces in nature, which must be in balance in order for nature to exist. We can also observe them as emblems of the Spiritual and the Physical worlds. The Square and Compasses can also interpreted in this manner, as well as the Seal of Solomon with its intertwined white and black triangles showing the connection between God and Man or the Spiritual World and that of Matter. Even the lambskin apron can be interpreted as an emblem of the relationship between the spiritual and the physical world. The triangular flap representing the Spiritual world is separated from the square apron representing the material world because the flap is turned up "to prevent daubing with un-tempered mortar" which we can interpret as to prevent your spiritual being from being soiled by the sins of the material world. As you progress through the three degrees which, represent the three components of man, the physical, mental and the spiritual, as well as youth, manhood and old age. We find that as man matures and finds his balance with the components that make up his being the triangular flap becomes one with the square apron exemplifying the lesson of co-existence on two planes on being.
Then how do we then adapt the instruction " As the Sun rules the day and the Moon governs the night so should the Worshipful Master with equal regularity rule and govern the Lodge". I interpret it as follows, If we take the lesson and reduce it from the term lodge [plural] to ourselves [singular] be not each of us the Worshipful Masters of our bodies, which can be considered our Temple. That Temple that houses that eternal spirit of which will survive the grave and which never dies.
With this in mind we must consider that as Masters of our own bodies we must rule with equal regularity over our involvement within the Material as well as the Spiritual worlds in which we move. How do we as Men rule and govern over our physical presence as well as our spiritual being? This question is rather difficult to answer and I believe, as no two humans are alike so the answer to this question will not be for any two persons the same. Therefore the term equal regularity can be viewed as a personal quest to find the balance in your life that will promote equal regularity and therefore harmony within yourselves. What more beautiful goal can any human have than to be at peace with himself, his family and his fellow man?
In the New Testament a Prophet was asked a question in order to trick him and prove him an enemy of the government. "And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor. And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither accepest thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly. Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or no? But he perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, Why temp ye me? Shew me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it? They answered and said Caesar's. And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's. And they could not take hold of his words before the people: and they marveled at his answer, and held their peace".
Therefore, give unto the material world that which belongs to the material world and give unto the spiritual world that which belongs to God. In the hopes of achieving equal regularity, and therefore be better enabled to help your fellow man and contribute to the relief of distressed worthy Master Mason their widows and orphans. The Volume of Sacred Law which you always find on the Altars of Freemasonry speaks of Faith, (representing the mental) Hope, (representing the physical) and Charity, (representing the spiritual). The greatest of these is Charity (the spiritual being of man), for Faith (the mental outlook of man) may be lost in sight, Hope (the physical or material plane we live in) often ends in fruition or completion but Charity or our spiritual self will transcend death. For it is nothing less than the love of God operating in the hearts of men which will endure beyond the grave and into the boundless realms of eternity.
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