How Do We Know When Our Strategic Mission Is Complete?, by Bro. Ronald D. Martin

There once were grand temples that resonated with life. The thousand seat auditoriums would be filled with enlightened brothers listening to traveling orators who spoke from the inner chamber of their souls and presented laudably lofty speeches. Every brother in the room was seated on the edge of his chair, attentively listening to each word spoken. Each brother's heart and mind was enriched by Masonic philosophy, and an ever so descriptive picture of how Masonry can change the world.

Many of those buildings now resonate only from their own death rattle. The thousand seat auditoriums are now empty. There are no more traveling orators making laudably lofty speeches. Brothers seated in a room on the edge of their chairs, is now probably a good sign they are ready to leave. The once discerning hearts and minds of those who were being enriched by listening are now seeking the answer to the question, what has been lost?

There is something to be said about seeking for that which was lost. This is the life long quest of a true Master Mason. As Scottish Rite Masons and Master’s of the Royal Secret, we are presented with knowledge, that when applied correctly will become the wisdom of equilibrium in all our endeavors and understanding. If we seek to find the answer to the question, what has been lost, we may also find the answer to, “where have all the Masons gone?”

Human ignorance lives in the darkness of Wrong Thought, Wrong Desire, and Wrong Action. Some might say, “tell me that isn’t so,” and “what does that have to do with our fraternity?”

As brother Manly P. Hall stated, “a Mason is a builder of the temple of character. He is the architect of the temple of character. He is the architect of a sublime mystery; the gleaming, glowing temple of his own soul.” He realized that he best serves God when he joins with the Great Architect in building more noble structures in the universe below.

Why haven’t we been building all those noble structures that were once honed from so many rough ashlars? Are the quarries in which we look no longer marked by Brotherly Love, Truth, Relief, and Charity? Are the rough ashlars we accept as the underpinnings of our grand structure no longer on that personal journey in search of that which was lost?

Illustrious Henry Clausen, Past Sovereign Grand Commander, once stated, “We seek to instill into the hearts of our members a love of knowledge and thereby inflame their souls with a passion for mental and spiritual growth. They then may devote themselves to a search for the truth that should dominate their lives. The marks of a true Scottish Rite Mason are not glib phrases, nor ready answers, or shining jewelry, but an insatiable curiosity, a love of learning, and a desire to know and to find the radiant truth.”

Do not all great men learn from the words of other great men; is that not the building plan of the Great Architect of the Universe? The Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry is the repository for that knowledge; it is the College of Freemasonic thought, and education. This Masonic organization, being the greatest that there is, has the grand responsibility of conveying this wisdom to mankind; so that it will be endowed, to shine the light, the whole world over, for time immemorial.

Have we been living up to our responsibility?

Emerson once said, “There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better or worse. It is the harder because you will always find those who think they know what your duty is better than you know it. It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd, keeps with perfect sweetness, the independence of solitude.”

Have we let the rest of the world redefine our duty for us? Are we living after the world’s opinion instead of our own? In our current solitude have we convinced ourselves all is fine? When is the last time we stood in the midst of the crowd, and unwaveringly knew exactly who and what we are?

Masonic education brings about human enlightenment, and the enlightened live in the light of Right Thought, Right Desire, and Right Action. So how will we know when our Strategic Mission is Complete?

I would suggest; we will know our mission is complete when, every candidate that enters through the West gate has an insatiable curiosity for knowledge and the truth. When the quarries in which we work are marked by Brotherly Love, Truth, Relief and Charity. When each of us has honestly embarked on that personal journey to find that which was lost.

When each of us has achieved the wisdom of equilibrium and is applying it in all our endeavors and understanding. When each of us has realized that we best serve God when we join with the Great Architect in building more noble structures in the universe below. When each of us learn one from the other.

When each of us in the midst of the crowd, keeps with perfect sweetness, the independence of solitude. When each of us lives in the light of Right Thought, Right Desire, and Right Action.

When our temples can once again be called grand, and each one resonates with life. When the seats are filled with enlightened brothers, listening to traveling orators who speak from the inner chamber of their soul and present laudably lofty speeches about Masonic philosophy, and poetically convey how the teachings of Freemasonry can change the world.

Then and only then, can we say, as Scottish Rite Masons, that Our Strategic Mission has been Accomplished!