What if you had to briefly summarize the questions: What is a Mason? and What is Masonry? If you had to, could you explain this to the profane -- without boring them with detail, yet with enough information to be meaningful?
Here's my stab at this. Feel free to share yours as well.
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What is a Mason?
A Mason is a good man who wants to be a better man. He has bound himself to other masons by promising to follow certain rules, most importantly the Golden Rule, especially when it comes to fellow Masons. A Mason may have any economic status, faith or color.
What is Masonry?
First and foremost, Masonry exists for the spiritual improvement of its members. Masonry uses rituals, allegories and symbols to convey morality to its members. Masonic teachings include the tenets of Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth, and the cardinal virtues of Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence and Justice. Masons believe in equality, democracy and patriotism. Once conveyed, it is up to each Mason to incorporate these teachings into his own life.
Masonry channels a Mason’s desire to give to his community through formal charities, like Shriner’s Hospitals (treating children, http://www.shrinershq.org/ ), 32 Degree Masonic Learning Centers (treating dyslexia http://www.childrenslearningcenters.org/home.html ), and programs like MICHIP (Michigan Child Identification Program http://www.michip.org/).
Masonry also serves as a social outlet for members of the fraternity and their families.
For more about Masons and Masonry, see: http://www.gl-mi.org/masons.htm and http://web.mit.edu/dryfoo/www/Masonry/Essays/
2 comments:
Freemasonry is a sort of Boy Scouts for men.
While that may sound simplistic, consider that both are male-only service fraternities requiring one to pledge his honour to the group with paths for growth and advancement by furthering one's knowledge.
OK, so Freemasonry is much more than that, but for anyone who was in the Boy Scouts, I think you can see a parallel. (Did you know that the founders of Scouting and their associated service organizations were Masons?) Looking back on my life, I saw myself become an Eagle Scout, a Brotherhood member of the Order of the Arrow, an Explorer, a member of the Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity, and now, I'm a Mason.
I see a pattern here....
I am also an Eagle Scout, and can still rattle off... "On my honor..."
and "A scout is..."
It's not a bad comparison at all, although there is less drinking in the Masons, and if a Mason is doing drugs he has a prescription.
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