Page 24 - Nov Dec 2022 MFMW.indd

WHY MASONRY LIVES
WHY MASONRY LIVES

Norm McEvoy, PGM, British Columbia & Yukon
November 6, 2021

Permanency and vitality are not ‘˜‡”‡–•ǡ •‘ ‹‡–‹‡•ǡ †‘ –”‹‡•ǡ nature of things, and began to be law,
necessarily characteristics of the good. and isms, have come and gone, and ‘– ™Š‡ ‹– ™ƒ• Ƥ”•– ™”‹––‡ǡ „—– ™Š‡
Bad institutions have survived the Freemasonry has survived them, still it originated.
wreck of empires, while the shores of with ess and a youthful vigor, as of
Time are blackened with the ruins of yet in the budding manhood of its “ Right and wrong are as eternal as the
what were once esteemed benevolent existence. Deity.”
and philanthropic enterprises.
This wonderful vitality is the natural They are not created existences,
Why, then, has Freemasonry outlived result of the moral and national but the moral quality of created
almost every other organization principles which form the underlying existences, and Freemasonry is the
contemporaneous with its beginning? „ƒ•‡ ‘ˆ ‹–• ƒ‰‹Ƥ ‡– •—’‡”•–”— –—”‡Ǥ great interpreter of this law, for upon
its immutable and universal basis, she
To those who have never crossed the Freemasonry is founded upon the has chosen to lay her cornerstone.
threshold of the Freemasons’ Temple, moral law, not upon a morality with a
and who, therefore, are unacquainted local habitation and a name, but upon † •Š‡ ‡š‡”–• Š‡” ‹ƪ—‡ ‡ „›
with its principles, and the method principles everywhere self evident- example rather than by talk.
by which they are taught, this must, the natural formulas and responses
indeed, seem a mystery. of human nature – so that among all It is a maxim statement that deeds
good men of whatever nationality or speak louder than words.
They observe that the Order does clime, of whatever political or religious
not go out into the highways and ‘’‹‹‘ǡ ‹– ƒ› ‰”‘™ ƒ† ƪ‘—”‹•Šǡ ƒ The force of example is not open to the
byways of life to gather in converts & beautiful plant in the garden of the charge of hypocrisy.
swell its numbers; that its members human soul. Words may be false, but deeds speak
do not proclaim its principles from the truth.
the housetops, however zealous and This moral law, written in the hearts
enthusiastic they may be; that it rarely of men, upon which our institution is ‘‘† †‡‡†• ‡‡† ‘ ‘–Š‡” ’”ƒ‹•‡
seeks aid outside the mystic circle of its founded, is even more permanent than than the acts themselves. It has been
own members; that it looks not for the human nature itself. said that no good act should remain
praise or applause of men, but relies unpublished to the world. But it has
upon its record of good deeds quietly History teaches us that gradually, also been said that every good deed has
and without fanfare. through the ages, human nature has for itself a golden tongue, a language
progressed, through the savage, sweeter and more forcible than the
Freemasonry seeks not the “boast the barbarous and civilized up to the silvery speech of a gifted orator.
of heraldry or the pomp of power” enlightened state.
–‘ ‰ƒ–Š‡” –Š‡ ƪ‡‡–‹‰ ˆƒ › ƒ† Whether mankind be depraved or
attract the eye of the multitude. Yet, But the moral law, which is changeless not!!!!
today, Freemasonry is a strong living as eternity itself, is the same for the
body & moral power exercising an wild bushman of Australia as for the Freemasonry recognizes enough of
‹ƪ—‡ ‡ ˆ‘” ‰‘‘† ‘˜‡” –Š‡ ™Š‘Ž‡ learned Professor. Not that these men a natural goodness in the human
world, wherever there are intelligent understand it the same way, but that ruins upon which to build a noble
minds to comprehend its beautiful does not change the law. The moral superstructure.
principles. In view of its organization law is immutable & unchangeable in Š‡ Ƥ†• –Š‹• ”‡ƒ–ǡ –Š‹• ‰‡” ‘ˆ
and mode of growth, that it should be human nature. immortality, in the human heart’s
so widespread and progressive, almost – ‹• ‘– ƒ ‘†‹Ƥ‡† Žƒ™ǡ „—– –Š‘•‡ longing for a higher and a nobler
surpasses human comprehension. natural impulses which direct virtuous existence, leaving the speculative
conduct. question of depravity to the
Freemasonry, pursuing the even philosophers.
manner of its way, exists the same Of this law, Cicero said: “It was not
today as it did nearly two centuries only older than nations and cities, but Freemasonry recognizes the fact that:
ago, in all its essential principles. It co-existent with that Divine Being,
has witnessed the rise, decay and who sees and rules both Heaven and Š‡”‡ ‹• ƒ —•‡‡ „ƒ––Ž‡Ƥ‡Ž† ‹ ‡˜‡”›
fall of other institutions, professedly Earth.” human breast, where two opposing
‘”‹‰‹ƒ–‡† ˆ‘” –Š‡ „‡‡Ƥ– ‘ˆ ‡ǡ forces meet, but where they seldom
without a single shock to itself. For the principle or law which impels rest.
to right conduct, springs out of the

0RQWDQD )UHHPDVRQ 3DJH 1RY 'HF 9ROXPH 1R