“We’re perpetuating a building, in which every stone is a living man, every arch the grasping of hands. Together, we uphold the whole.”
There are many powerful forces behind Masonry that have helped sustain it through the ages, but perhaps none is more powerful than that of its brotherhood. Aside from our many activities, Masons make Masons. It’s one of the most vital parts of being a Mason, the part that extends the Brotherhood and maintains it.
In making Masons, the Brothers assemble to put on the necessary rituals. There is bonding that occurs when brothers unite for a specific purpose. Not only do they learn the rituals inside and out (which is of itself beneficial), the necessary practices and memorization help bind them together, and come to know each other, in surprising ways. The experience is something like constructing an edifice, or, sometimes, fighting a war. Anyone who has taken part in a ritual will tell you there is something much like stage fright preceding every enactment, which makes the whole thing a little nerve-wracking. When it’s over, one feels a part of something, something that required energy, diligence, self-control, discipline and coordination among many different people. This coeval experience is a powerful agent for strengthening bonds between men. It’s a kind of shared history, with significance common to a group: shared memories, joys and hardship. Shared experience in the common pursuit of a goal.
And, let us not forget, the ritual has a powerful impact on the candidate for whom the whole thing is rendered. He really comes to know his new brothers through their hard work and preparations to receive him. You can learn a lot about a man by watching him play other people. The choices we make define us, and our actions bespeak them.
I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit over the last year or so: It’s amazing the bonds that develop between men who otherwise would likely never meet. Men of different faiths, backgrounds, tax brackets, perspectives; men as different and individual as any in the world; all united by a common cause, a common act, a common purpose. A common understanding.
Of course, it takes time and commitment to prepare and host any degree. It takes planning and coordination. It takes practice and learning. It takes discipline and dedication. Memorization is not easy. And, left to one’s own devices, one must learn to make time for it, turn off the many distractions that surround us in the modern world, and perfunctorily perform a rote task. It can be boring. Even discouraging. But, once performed, it really is its own reward.
One must also travel to a common place where the Brothers can practice. Good degree work takes practice, and practice together. This takes scheduling and preparation, as well as communication among the Brethren. I personally commute quite a ways to my Lodge, Chapter, Council, Commandary, and over 100 miles (one way) to the Consistory. My shortest commute is 17 miles (one way). It may seem banal to travel all this way, and take the necessary time out of already full days, to practice making Masons, but in my opinion it’s a prudent use of time. One is working, for sure, and yet it is pleasant work. It is productive, in that one meets with others and exchanges ideas (imagination is stimulated), there is memorization and history, stage directions, discussion. Philosophy and metaphor, symbol and allegory. Not a time goes by when I don’t catch something new which resonates somewhere within. And it’s for a good cause – to provide the ceremony by which another man will remember his Masonic career, stimulate in him the pursuit of wisdom and an understanding of Divine law. Knowledge, like love, only grows when it is given away. This remarkable property only increases knowledge and filial love between the brethren as they make time for ritual and making Masons.
There is something still more profound, which affects us all in other ways entirely. This last is a little hard to describe, but in my own experience I know Masonry has helped me aspire to be better – better than myself. There are many fine words spoken in ritual and these words, when uttered, must stimulate the subconscious somewhere. The lessons do seep in, and, whether we know it or not, begin to work their subtle magic in our minds’ eye. These memories – or perhaps lessons – stir beneath the surface, and arise at crucial times – as if under their own volition – to remind the Mason of the importance and necessity of being upright, true, sincere, dependable, honest, good and faithful in the performance of his duties to God, to his country (or land), to his family, to his fellow man and Mason.
As for the labor involved in hosting the degrees and making Masons, I can only quote the author of Peter Pan, J.M. Barrie: “There is no such thing as work, so long as you’d rather be nowhere else.”
In the midst of degree-work, one may find oneself in the prop room, in the dressing room, urgently looking for a Brother to fill a sudden vacancy, even transported back in history to a time and place otherwise unknown and, for most, forgotten. But one thing’s for sure, no matter where your Masonic work takes you, right in the thick of it very rarely do you want to be somewhere else.
Coming together to make a Mason, of whatever degree, is always a worthwhile endeavor. Worthwhile for the Fraternity, for each individual, and for the candidate. It should be considered one of the highest honors and duties of the Fraternity.