Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry Part 48

What a mult.i.tude of wonders, indeed, has chemistry unveiled to our eyes!

Think only that if some single law enacted by G.o.d were at once repealed, that of attraction or affinity or cohesion, for example, the whole material world, with its solid granite and adamant, its veins of gold and silver, its trap and porphyry, its huge beds of coal, our own frames and the very ribs and bones of this apparently indestructible earth, would instantaneously dissolve, with all Suns and Stars and Worlds throughout all the Universe of G.o.d, into a thin invisible vapor of infinitely minute particles or atoms, diffused throughout infinite s.p.a.ce; and with them light and heat would disappear; unless the Deity Himself be, as the Ancient Persians thought, the Eternal Light and the Immortal Fire.

The mysteries of the Great Universe of G.o.d! How _can_ we with our limited mental vision expect to grasp and comprehend them! Infinite s.p.a.cE, stretching out from us every way, without limit: infinite TIME, without beginning or end; and WE, HERE, and NOW, in the centre of each!

An infinity of suns, the nearest of which only _diminish_ in size, viewed with the most powerful telescope: each with its retinue of worlds; infinite numbers of such suns, so remote from us that their light would not reach us, journeying during an infinity of time, while the light that _has_ reached us, from some that we _seem_ to see, has been upon its journey for fifty centuries: our world spinning upon its axis, and rushing ever in its circuit round the sun; and it, the sun, and all our system revolving round some great central point; and that, and suns, stars, and worlds evermore flashing onward with incredible rapidity through illimitable s.p.a.ce: and then, in every drop of water that we drink, in every morsel of much of our food, in the air, in the earth, in the sea, incredible mult.i.tudes of living creatures, invisible to the naked eye, of a minuteness beyond belief, yet organized, living, feeding, _perhaps_ with consciousness of ident.i.ty, and memory and instinct.

Such are some of the mysteries of the great Universe of G.o.d. And yet we, whose life and that of the world on which we live form but a point in the centre of infinite Time: we, who nourish animalculae within, and on whom vegetables grow without, would fain learn how G.o.d created this Universe, would understand His Powers, His Attributes, His Emanations, His Mode of Existence and of Action; would fain know the plan according to which all events proceed, that plan profound as G.o.d Himself; would know the laws by which He controls His Universe; would fain _see_ and _talk_ to Him face to face, as man talks to man: and we try not to believe, because we do not _understand_.

He commands us to love one another, to love our neighbor as ourself; and we dispute and wrangle, and hate and slay each other, because we cannot be of one opinion as to the Essence of His Nature, as to His Attributes; whether He became man born of a woman, and was crucified; whether the Holy Ghost is of the _same_ substance with the Father, or only of a _similar_ substance; whether a feeble old man is G.o.d's Vicegerent; whether some are elected from all eternity to be saved, and others to be condemned and punished; whether punishment of the wicked after death is to be eternal; whether this doctrine or the other be heresy or truth;--drenching the world with blood, depopulating realms, and turning fertile lands into deserts; until, for religious war, persecution, and bloodshed, the Earth for many a century has rolled round the Sun, a charnel-house, steaming and reeking with human gore, the blood of brother slain by brother for opinion's sake, that has soaked into and polluted all her veins, and made her a horror to her sisters of the Universe.

And if men were all Masons, and obeyed with all their heart her mild and gentle teachings, that world would be a paradise; while intolerance and persecution make of it a h.e.l.l. For this is the Masonic Creed: BELIEVE, in G.o.d's Infinite Benevolence, Wisdom, and Justice: HOPE, for the final triumph of Good over Evil, and for Perfect Harmony as the final result of all the concords and discords of the Universe: and be CHARITABLE as G.o.d is, toward the unfaith, the errors, the follies, and the faults of men: for all make one great brotherhood.

INSTRUCTION.

_Sen. W. Brother Junior Warden, are you a Prince of Mercy?

_Jun. W. I have seen the Delta and the HOLY NAMES upon it, and am an AMETH like yourself, in the TRIPLE COVENANT, of which we bear the mark.

_Qu_ What is the first Word upon the Delta?

_Ans_ The Ineffable Name of Deity, the true mystery of which is known to the Ameth alone.

_Qu_ What do the three sides of the Delta denote to us?

_Ans_ To us, and to all Masons, the three Great Attributes or Developments of the Essence of the Deity; WISDOM, or the Reflective and Designing Power, in which, when there was naught but G.o.d, the Plan and Idea of the Universe was shaped and formed: FORCE, or the Executing and Creating Power, which instantaneously acting, realized the Type and Idea framed by Wisdom; and the Universe, and all Stars and Worlds, and Light and Life, and Men and Angels and all living creatures WERE; and HARMONY, or the Preserving Power, Order, and Beauty, maintaining the Universe in its State, and const.i.tuting the law of Harmony, Motion, Proportion, and Progression:--WISDOM, which _thought_ the plan; STRENGTH, which _created_: HARMONY, which _upholds_ and _preserves_:--the Masonic Trinity, three Powers and one Essence: the three columns which support the Universe, Physical, Intellectual, and Spiritual, of which every Masonic Lodge is a type and symbol:--while to the Christian Mason, they represent the Three that bear record in Heaven, the FATHER, the WORD, and the HOLY SPIRIT, which three are ONE.

_Qu_ What do the three Greek letters upon the Delta, _? ? S_ [_Iota, Eta_, and _Sigma_] represent?

_Ans_ Three of the Names of the Supreme Deity among the Syrians, Phoenicians, and Hebrews ... IHUH [Hebrew: ???]; _Self-Existence_ ...

AL [Hebrew: ?]: _the Nature-G.o.d, or Soul of the Universe_ ... SHADAI [Hebrew: ??] _Supreme Power_. Also three of the Six Chief Attributes of G.o.d, among the Kabbalists:--WISDOM [IEH], the _Intellect_, ([Greek: ????]) of the Egyptians, the _Word_ ([Greek: ?????]) of the Platonists, and the _Wisdom_ ([Greek: S?f?a]) of the Gnostics: ... MAGNIFICENCE [AL], the Symbol of which was the Lion's Head: ... and VICTORY and GLORY [_Tsabaoth_], which are the two columns JACHIN and BOAZ, that stand in the Portico of the Temple of Masonry. To the Christian Mason they are the first three letters of the name of the Son of G.o.d, Who died upon the cross to redeem mankind.

_Qu_ What is the first of the THREE COVENANTS, of which we bear the mark?

_Ans_ That which G.o.d made with Noah; when He said, "I will not again curse the earth any more for man's sake, neither will I smite any more everything living as I have done. While the Earth remaineth, seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and Winter and Summer, and day and night shall not cease. I will establish My covenant with you, and with your seed after you, and with every living creature. All mankind shall no more be cut off by the waters of a flood, nor shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. This is the token of My covenant: I do set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between Me and the earth: an everlasting covenant between Me and every living creature on the earth."

_Qu_ What is the second of the Three Covenants?

_Ans_ That which G.o.d made with Abraham; when He said, "I am the Absolute Uncreated G.o.d. I will make My covenant between Me and thee, and thou shalt be the Father of Many Nations, and Kings shall come from thy loins. I will establish My covenant between Me and thee, and thy descendants after thee, to the remotest generations, for an everlasting covenant; and I will be thy G.o.d and their G.o.d, and will give thee the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession."

_Qu_ What is the third Covenant?

_Ans_ That which G.o.d made with all men by His prophets; when He said: "I will gather all nations and tongues, and they shall come and see My Glory. I will create new Heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. The Sun shall no more shine by day, nor the Moon by night; but the Lord shall be an everlasting light and splendor. His Spirit and His Word shall remain with men forever.

The heavens shall vanish away like vapor, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die; but my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not end; and there shall be Light among the Gentiles, and salvation unto the ends of the earth. The redeemed of the Lord shall return, and everlasting joy be on their heads, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away."

_Qu_ What is the symbol of the Triple Covenant?

_Ans_ The Triple Triangle.

_Qu_ Of what else is it the symbol to us?

_Ans_ Of the Trinity of Attributes of the Deity; and of the triple essence of Man, the Principle of Life, the Intellectual Power, and the Soul or Immortal Emanation from the Deity.

_Qu_ What is the first great Truth of the Sacred Mysteries?

_Ans_ No man hath seen G.o.d at any time. He is One, Eternal, All-Powerful, All-Wise, Infinitely Just, Merciful, Benevolent, and Compa.s.sionate, Creator and Preserver of all things, the Source of Light and Life, coextensive with Time and s.p.a.ce; Who thought, and with the Thought created the Universe and all living things, and the souls of men: THAT IS:--the PERMANENT; while everything beside is a perpetual genesis.

_Qu_ What is the second great Truth of the Sacred Mysteries?

_Ans_ The Soul of Man is Immortal; not the result of organization, nor an aggregate of modes of action of matter, nor a succession of phenomena and perceptions; but an EXISTENCE, one and identical, a living spirit, a spark of the Great Central Light, that hath entered into and dwells in the body; to be separated therefrom at death, and return to G.o.d who gave it: that doth not disperse nor vanish at death, like breath or a smoke, nor can be annihilated; but still exists and possesses activity and intelligence, even as it existed in G.o.d, before it was enveloped in the body.

_Qu_ What is the third great Truth in Masonry?

_Ans_ The impulse which directs to right conduct, and deters from crime, is not only older than the ages of nations and cities, but coeval with that Divine Being Who sees and rules both Heaven and earth. Nor did Tarquin less violate that Eternal Law, though in his reign there might have been no written law at Rome against such violence; for the principle that impels us to right conduct, and warns us against guilt, springs out of the nature of things. It did not begin to be law when it was first _written_, nor was it _originated_; but it is coeval with the Divine Intelligence itself. The consequence of virtue is not to be made the end thereof: and laudable performances must have deeper roots, motives and instigations, to give them the stamp of virtues.

_Qu_ What is the fourth great Truth in Masonry?

_Ans_ The moral truths are as absolute as the metaphysical truths. Even the Deity cannot make it that there should be effects without a cause, or phenomena without substance. As little could He make it to be sinful and evil to respect our pledged word, to love truth, to moderate our pa.s.sions. The principles of Morality are axioms, like the principles of Geometry. The moral laws are the necessary relations that flow from the nature of things, and they are not created by, but have existed eternally in G.o.d. Their continued existence does not depend upon the exercise of His WILL. Truth and Justice are of His ESSENCE. Not because we are feeble and G.o.d omnipotent, is it our duty to obey His law. We may be forced, but are not under obligation, to obey the stronger. G.o.d is the principle of Morality, but not by His mere will, which, abstracted from all other of His attributes, would be neither just nor unjust. Good is the expression of His will, in so far as that will is itself the expression of eternal, absolute, uncreated justice, which is _in_ G.o.d, which His will did not create; but which it executes and promulgates, as _our_ will proclaims and promulgates and executes the idea of the good which is in us. He has given us the law of Truth and Justice; but He has not arbitrarily inst.i.tuted that law. Justice is inherent in His will, because it is contained in His intelligence and wisdom, in His very nature and most intimate essence.

_Qu_ What is the fifth great Truth in Masonry?

_Ans_ There is an essential distinction between Good and Evil, what is just and what is unjust; and to this distinction is attached, for every intelligent and free creature, the absolute obligation of conforming to what is good and just. Man is an intelligent and free being,--free, because he is conscious that it is his duty, and because it is _made_ his duty, to obey the dictates of truth and justice, and therefore he must necessarily have the power of doing so, which involves the power of _not_ doing so;--capable of comprehending the distinction between good and evil, justice and injustice, and the obligation which accompanies it, and of naturally adhering to that obligation, independently of any contract or positive law; capable also of resisting the temptations which urge him toward evil and injustice, and of complying with the sacred law of eternal justice.

That man is not governed by a resistless Fate or inexorable Destiny; but is free to choose between the evil and the good: that Justice and Right, the Good and Beautiful, are of the essence of the Divinity, like His Infinitude; and therefore they are laws to man: that we are conscious of our freedom to act, as we are conscious of our ident.i.ty, and the continuance and connectedness of our existence; and have the same evidence of one as of the other; and if we can put _one_ in doubt, we have no certainty of _either_, and everything is unreal: that we can deny our free will and free agency, only upon the ground that they are in the nature of things impossible; which would be to deny the Omnipotence of G.o.d.

_Qu_ What is the sixth great Truth of Masonry?

_Ans_ The necessity of practising the moral truths, is _obligation_.

The moral truths, necessary in the eye of reason, are obligatory on the will. The moral obligation, like the moral truth that is its foundation, is _absolute_. As the necessary truths are not more or less necessary, so the obligation is not more or less obligatory. There are degrees of importance among different obligations; but none in the obligation itself. We are not _nearly_ obliged, _almost_ obliged. We are _wholly_ so, or not at all. If there be any place of refuge to which we can escape from the obligation, it ceases to exist. If the obligation is absolute, it is immutable and universal. For if that of to-day may not be that of to-morrow, if what is obligatory on _me_ may not be obligatory on _you_, the obligation would differ from itself, and be variable and contingent. This fact is the principle of all morality.

That every act contrary to right and justice, deserves to be repressed by force, and punished when committed, equally in the absence of any law or contract: that man naturally recognizes the distinction between the merit and demerit of actions, as he does that between justice and injustice, honesty and dishonesty; and feels, without being taught, and in the absence of law or contract, that it is wrong for vice to be rewarded or go unpunished, and for virtue to be punished or left unrewarded: and that, the Deity being infinitely just and good, it must follow as a necessary and inflexible law that punishment shall be the result of Sin, its inevitable and natural effect and corollary, and not a mere arbitrary vengeance.

_Qu_ What is the seventh great Truth in Masonry?

_Ans_ The immutable law of G.o.d requires, that besides respecting the absolute rights of others, and being merely just, we should do good, be charitable, and obey the dictates of the generous and n.o.ble sentiments of the soul. Charity is a law, because our conscience is not satisfied nor at ease if we have not relieved the suffering, the distressed, and the dest.i.tute. It is to _give_ that which he to whom you give has no right to _take_ or _demand_. To be charitable is obligatory on us. We are the Almoners of G.o.d's bounties. But the obligation is not so precise and inflexible as the obligation to be _just_. Charity knows neither rule nor limit. It goes beyond all obligation. Its beauty consists in its liberty. "He that loveth not, knoweth not G.o.d; FOR G.o.d IS LOVE. If we love one another, G.o.d dwelleth in us, and His love is perfected in us. G.o.d is love; and he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in G.o.d, and G.o.d in him." To be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; to relieve the necessities of the needy, and be generous, liberal, and hospitable; to return to no man evil for evil; to rejoice at the good fortune of others, and sympathize with them in their sorrows and reverses; to live peaceably with all men, and repay injuries with benefits and kindness; these are the sublime dictates of the Moral Law, taught from the infancy of the world, by Masonry.

_Qu_ What is the eighth great Truth in Masonry?

_Ans_ That the laws which control and regulate the Universe of G.o.d, are those of motion and harmony. We see only the isolated incidents of things, and with our feeble and limited capacity and vision cannot discern their connection, nor the mighty chords that make the apparent discord perfect harmony. Evil is merely apparent, and all is in reality good and perfect. For pain and sorrow, persecution and hardships, affliction and dest.i.tution, sickness and death are but the means, by which alone the n.o.blest virtues could be developed. Without them, and without sin and error, and wrong and outrage, as there can be no effect without an adequate cause, there could be neither patience under suffering and distress; nor prudence in difficulty; nor temperance to avoid excess; nor courage to meet danger; nor truth, when to speak the truth is hazardous; nor love, when it is met with ingrat.i.tude; nor charity for the needy and dest.i.tute; nor forbearance and forgiveness of injuries; nor toleration of erroneous opinions; nor charitable judgment and construction of men's motives and actions; nor patriotism, nor heroism, nor honor, nor self-denial, nor generosity. These and most other virtues and excellencies would have no existence, and even their names be unknown; and the poor virtues that still existed, would scarce deserve the name; for life would be one flat, dead, low level, above which none of the lofty elements of human nature would emerge; and man would lie lapped in contented indolence and idleness, a mere worthless negative, instead of the brave, strong soldier against the grim legions of Evil and rude Difficulty.

_Qu_ What is the ninth great Truth in Masonry?

_Ans_ The great leading doctrine of this Degree;--that the JUSTICE, the WISDOM, and the MERCY of G.o.d are alike infinite, alike perfect, and yet do not in the least jar nor conflict one with the other; but form a Great Perfect Trinity of Attributes, three and yet one: that, the principle of merit and demerit being absolute, and every good action deserving to be rewarded, and every bad one to be punished, and G.o.d being as just as He is good; and yet the cases constantly recurring in this world, in which crime and cruelty, oppression, tyranny, and injustice are prosperous, happy, fortunate, and self-contented, and rule and reign, and enjoy all the blessings of G.o.d's beneficence, while the virtuous and good are unfortunate, miserable, dest.i.tute, pining away in dungeons, perishing with cold, and famishing with hunger, slaves of oppression, and instruments and victims of the miscreants that govern; so that this world, if there were no existence beyond it, would be one great theatre of wrong and injustice, proving G.o.d wholly disregardful of His own necessary law of merit and demerit;--it follows that there must be another life in which these apparent wrongs shall be repaired; That all the powers of man's soul tend to infinity; and his indomitable instinct of immortality, and the universal hope of another life, testified by all creeds, all poetry, all traditions, establish its certainty; for man is not an orphan; but hath a Father near at hand: and the day must come when Light and Truth, and the Just and Good shall be victorious, and Darkness, Error, Wrong, and Evil be annihilated, and known no more forever: That the Universe is one great Harmony, in which, according to the faith of all nations, deep-rooted in all hearts in the primitive ages, Light will ultimately prevail over Darkness, and the Good Principle over the Evil: and the myriad souls that have emanated from the Divinity, purified and enn.o.bled by the struggle here below, will again return to perfect bliss in the bosom of G.o.d to offend against Whose laws will then be no longer possible.

_Qu_ What, then, is the one great lesson taught to us, as Masons, in this Degree?

_Ans_ That to that state and realm of Light and Truth and Perfection, which is absolutely certain, all the good men on earth are tending; and if there is a law from whose operation none are exempt, which inevitably conveys their bodies to darkness and to dust, there is another not less certain nor less powerful, which conducts their spirits to that state of Happiness and Splendor and Perfection, the bosom of their Father and their G.o.d. The wheels of Nature are not made to roll backward.

Everything presses on to Eternity. From the birth of Time an impetuous current has set in, which bears all the sons of men toward that interminable ocean. Meanwhile, Heaven is attracting to itself whatever is congenial to its nature, is enriching itself by the spoils of the Earth, and collecting within its capacious bosom whatever is pure, permanent, and divine, leaving nothing for the last fire to consume but the gross matter that creates concupiscence; while everything fit for that good fortune shall be gathered and selected from the ruins of the world, to adorn that Eternal City.

Let every Mason then obey the voice that calls him thither. Let us seek the things that are above, and be not content with a world that must shortly perish, and which we must speedily quit, while we neglect to prepare for that in which we are invited to dwell forever. While everything within us and around us reminds us of the approach of death, and concurs to teach us that this is not our rest, let us hasten our preparations for another world, and earnestly implore that help and strength from our Father, which alone can put an end to that fatal war which our desires have too long waged with our destiny. When these move in the same direction, and that which G.o.d's will renders unavoidable shall become our choice, all things will be ours; life will be divested of its vanity, and death disarmed of its terrors.