Freemasonry is a post-collegiate mostly-all male fraternity dedicated to the social development of the member to form a broader sense of the self and their community.
WB Ben Wallace always knew that there were deeper meanings embedded in Masonry, it just took him awhile to find them. And when he did, there was no stopping him from organizing and promoting esoteric, philosophical Masonry across the entire state of North Carolina.
First, he had to found North Carolina’s first Traditional Observance Lodge, Sophia Lodge.
Next through his TO experience, becoming Master at Wilkerson College Lodge No 760, North Carolina’s Research Lodge, and then Chairman of the North Carolina Grand Lodge Committee on Masonic Education he developed a 3-hour presentation of the Allegory and Symbolism of the Three Degrees. With permission from the Grand Master, he toured North Carolina giving this presentation for three years.
But Ben Wallace was not done with promoting esoteric and philosophical Masonry. He had a burning desire to take it to the next step. And the next step was to morph his Allegory and Symbolism lecture into a full-blown program sanctioned and offered by the Grand Lodge of North Carolina. Thus, was born North Carolina’s Middle Chamber Masonic Education Program.
This program is given quarterly for a full year.
Part One is an Introduction to Masonic Allegories and Symbols, the original Wallace lecture. It became known as “The Hook” because it was given to interested Brethren free of charge to give them an overview of what was coming. After that, any Brother wishing to take the next step had to sign up with the Grand Secretary and pay the sum of $150. That payment included the “Big Five,” 5 books chosen for the course. They are:
Ben Wallace
The Meaning of Masonry by Wilmshurst
Freemasonry Its Hidden Meaning by Steinmetz
The Way of the Craftsman by MacNulty
Contemplative Masonry by Dunning
The Rough and Rugged Road by Hornsby
So, the first quarter is The Hook.
The second quarter is the 1st Degree, The Physical Nature of Man, our interactions with the physical world
The third quarter the 2nd Degree, The Psychical Nature of Man – Psychology and “mind stuff.”
The fourth quarter is the 3rd Degree, The Spiritual Nature of Man, the spiritual aspect of the student.
It takes a whole year to graduate but Wallace says even this is too fast.
We don’t want to give away any more of this great program because the rest of the story is in the video. Don’t miss it!!
In this edition of Symbols and Symbolism, we look at a reading on the Ouroboros, that serpent devouring its tail as a representation of eternity and the passage of time. This symbol, while existing in a mainstream context, is little known outside of most esoteric and occult circles. Its use triggers very specific meanings for those utilizing it as part of their overall allegorical narrative.
This symbol appears principally among the Gnostics and is depicted as a dragon, snake or serpent biting its own tail. In the broadest sense, it is symbolic of time and of the continuity of life. It sometimes bears the caption Hen to pan—’The One, the All’, as in the Codex Marcianus, for instance, of the 2nd century A.D. It has also been explained as the union between the chthonian principle as represented by the serpent and the celestial principle as signified by the bird (a synthesis which can also be applied to the dragon). Ruland contends that this proves that it is a variant of the symbol for Mercury—the duplex god. In some versions of the Ouroboros, the body is half light and half dark, alluding in this way to the successive counterbalancing of opposing principles as illustrated in the Chinese Yang-Yin symbol for instance. Evola asserts that it represents the dissolution of the body, or the universal serpent which (to quote the Gnostic saying) ‘passes through all things’. Poison, the viper and the universal solvent are all symbols of the undifferentiated—of the ‘unchanging law’ which moves through all things, linking them by a common bond. Both the dragon and the bull are symbolic antagonists of the solar hero. The ouroboros biting its own tail is symbolic of self-fecundation, or the primitive idea of a self-sufficient Nature—a Nature, that is, which, à la Nietzsche, continually returns, within a cyclic pattern, to its own beginning. There is a Venetian manuscript on alchemy which depicts the Ouroboros with its body half-black (symbolizing earth and night) and half-white (denoting heaven and light).
To the unassuming public, the Freemasons are a society of likeminded men who come together to donate and raise money for good and charitable causes. But is this really true? Is the government a component of an underground Masonic society whose whole organization is a plot to form a new-world order?
Let’s look at the evidence.
A New World Order
The one world government, also referred to as the New World Order, is a theory that a select few elite people have a globalist agenda and aspire to rule the world as an authoritarian world government. This will replace sovereign nations and states and every country will become one under the same government. Culled in modern times out of Woodrow Wilson’s speech to Congress on January 8, 1918, in his Fourteen Points statement of principles for peace, he called for a League of Nations on the heels of World War I. In his list, point XIV calls for the formation of:
A general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike.
He closes that speech, saying:
An evident principle runs through the whole program I have outlined. It is the principle of justice to all peoples and nationalities, and their right to live on equal terms of liberty and safety with one another, whether they be strong or weak.
Unless this principle be made its foundation no part of the structure of international justice can stand.
George Bush, in 1991, took up the phrase in a speech to Congress, not ironically in reference to making the world safe. In the address, he said:
I come to this House of the people to speak to you and all Americans, certain that we stand at a defining hour. Halfway around the world, we are engaged in a great struggle in the skies and on the seas and sands. We know why we’re there: We are Americans, part of something larger than ourselves. For two centuries, we’ve done the hard work of freedom. And tonight, we lead the world in facing down a threat to decency and humanity.
What is at stake is more than one small country; it is a big idea: a new world order, where diverse nations are drawn together in common cause to achieve the universal aspirations of mankind — peace and security, freedom, and the rule of law. Such is a world worthy of our struggle and worthy of our children’s future. (minute 6:40 in the video below)
He says further on,
We will succeed in the Gulf. And when we do, the world community will have sent an enduring warning to any dictator or despot, present or future, who contemplates outlaw aggression.
The world can, therefore, seize this opportunity to fulfill the long-held promise of a new world order, where brutality will go unrewarded and aggression will meet collective resistance.
Seemingly, this had less to say about world domination and more to insinuate peace, security and prosperity.
So where do the Freemasons come in?
Freemasonry and the New World Order
As one the world’s oldest secular fraternal organizations, the Freemasons have been at the heart or involved in a number of the world’s most pivotal moments. Let’s take the United States for example. The most powerful country in the world and yet on of the newest. George Washington and Benjamin Franklin were both Freemasons, and the influences of this society are seen throughout American state craft and culture.
Take a closer look at the Great Seal of the United States or the one dollar bill, The Great Seal bears the Latin phrase ‘novus ordo seclorum’ on the reverse, as proposed by non-mason Charles Thomson, translating to ‘new order of the ages.’
Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God
Yes, Ben Franklin was on one of the early committees to craft the early seal, but in the end, it was not his seal that was selected. Franklin’s seal, chose the more modest motto of “Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God” Some believe that the final motto selected alludes to the phrase New World Order and is a preamble for “Freemasonry is the Church of Satan masquerading as a fraternal mystical philanthropic order.” and are “fronts for Illuminati (Masonic & Cabalist Jewish) central bankers who started the US as a vehicle to advance their New World Order” pinning the phrase to “Illuminati bankers [who] have been plotting the ‘new order of the ages’ (featured on the US dollar along with the uncapped Masonic pyramid) for thousands of years.”
Was the American government created with the purpose of one day becoming the one world government?
One of the main reasons that the Freemasons have been the subject of the New World Order theory is that they rejected the traditional and orthodox authority because it didn’t fall into line with their idea that all people were equal. Not just this, but Masonic societies around the globe been known to treat all people, regardless of religion, as equals. This belief is often seen as highly un-Christian and, therefore, made masons a focus for people who believe in the one world government.
Secret World Government
But why are the Masons so secretive? What do they have to hide?
In this day and age where men and women are equal, why aren’t women invited to the Lodges all over the globe where these meetings take place? Many people believe that they are hiding something. Because of this secrecy, no one knows what really goes on except those who are involved in them. The Freemasons claim to be a charitable group yet they make no claims on the charities they donate to, and they ask for no official recognition. Why be so secretive?
Perhaps it comes out of another organization that has been linked to the Freemasons, the Illuminati.
Adam Weishaupt
The Illuminati was founded in 1776, which coincidentally is the same year that America became independent. The main focus and beliefs of the Illuminati was a mixture of several different religions, mysticisms and even heavily borrowed the Freemasons ideologies. The main goal — that they spoke about — was to make people happy and people could become happy by becoming good. They want people to reject judgment and prejudices and believe that everyone should out for everyone. Sound familiar?
The Illuminati and the Freemasons are closely linked, and their beliefs are very similar, and its founder tried to infiltrate his organization into the contemporary Masonic lodge, but Weishaupt’s dream never say its full manifestation. Despite this fact, this is another reason why many believe that, together, they are one organization working together to bring about the New World Order. Because they want everyone to be treated as equals regardless of status, religion, gender, race or background, people believe that they are looking to create a world in which everyone is the same. What better way to do this other than create a one world government? If one government ruled the entire world then none of those things would matter and people would be truly equal.
American Founding Fathers
One of the other big reasons that people believe that Freemasons are looking create a one world government is because of what happened in the founding of the United States.
In the 1776, the United States of America didn’t exist. It was simply known as Mundus Novus (New World) from a pamphlet written in 1503 by Amerigo Vespucci. The term was in opposition to the notion of an “old world” from which the age of exploration sprang. As the “new world” grew it took shape to include the 13 British colonies — each isolated from the other with degrees of different beliefs, different ideologies and even different religious practice (again, to a degree). They were made up of different races and ethnicities and all held widely differing political and societal beliefs. It was the organization by the Founding Fathers that sought to unify these disperate colonies under one government into a country that, after much bloodshed and heartache, would become known today as the United States. And what do we know about the founding fathers? That they were Freemasons.
It was the work of these founders that many see as the Freemasons unifying America under one government to be spread to the rest of the world. They started out with the United States, which many people dub the “practice country” and now have their sights set on the rest of the world.
The Big Picture
Obviously, none of these plans for world domination are proven fact.
Yes, the founding fathers were Freemasons and yes they did work together to unite the 13 colonies to become the United States. And yes, the Illuminiaiti sought to infiltrate European Masonic lodges to spread their ideology across the globe, but there is no real evidence that they did so because they wanted to rule the world under a “one world-government” despite what Wilson and Bush said in front of Congress to the American people (neither of whom were Freemasons).
The Freemasons are not a secret society, they are simply very traditional — a fact that many people don’t understand. And in that tradition, world domination is the last thing on its mind, unless that domination is in the form of doing good works and promoting civil society.
Ultimately, masons do a lot of good in the world and they do it without expectation of anything in return. There could stand to be a few more people who aren’t in it for the glory and just in it for the good of mankind. And really, if it were to come to light that they were looking to establish a world free of judgement a prejudices, would that really be the worst thing in the world?
RW Frank Jackson was raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason in 1969 at the age of 18. Today he is both the Grand Junior Warden of The Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Texas and the Grand Historian.
Jackson offers many Masons a different perspective on the origins of higher knowledge, scholarship, and philosophical thought. And a different perspective on the development of Freemasonry in the United States.
How many people, whether Masons or not, know the role Egypt, a part of Africa, was to play in the development of knowledge? How many know that Socrates and Aristotle spent time in Egypt? That Plato spent 13 years studying in Egypt and Pythagoras some 21 years?
Much of what we attribute to the knowledge of the Greeks who passed it on to the Romans came originally from Egypt and Africa, some of it transported directly by Aristotle.
The video will cover:
Origins and development of the Pyramids
The Library at Alexandria
Jackson’s personal Mason journey
Early Texas Prince Hall Development
One has to remember that Prince Hall Masonry went through a period of governance by a National Grand Lodge. It also didn’t bloom nationwide until post Civil War. This has made for a much different path of Masonic development from Mainstream Masonry.
Keep all these factors in mind as you watch RW Frank Jackson in the video above. You may find that it will broaden your horizons.
Norris Wright Cuney
Noris Wright Cuney
Born May 12, 1846
Hempstead, Texas, U.S.
Died March 3, 1898 (aged 51)
San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
Resting place Lakeview Cemetery, Galveston, Texas
Residence Galveston, Texas, U.S.
Known for Leader of the Texas Republican Party, First Grand Master Prince Hall Masons Of Texas http://www.mwphglotx.org
Almost 6 months ago, on the day of the August, 2017, solar eclipse, I launched a project to publish the third book in the Symbolic Lodge series, The Master Mason. And, (almost) to the date of the January, 2018, lunar eclipse, that book went out to its backers and is available now to the public.
The Master Mason, our third step in becoming a Freemason, is out now.
The blurb for the book reads:
The Master Mason: The Reason of Being – A Treatise on the Third Degree of Freemasonry
Third, in the journey of the Symbolic Lodge, The Master Mason is a formal exploration of the symbolism and allegory at work in the third degree of Freemasonry. Through that lens, this work seeks to find the hidden esoteric connections and their connections with the centuries-old ritual that crowns the process of becoming a Freemason. As with its predecessors, The Apprentice and Fellow of the Craft, this work seeks to find parallel with its esoteric siblings, the Golden Dawn, Thelema, numerology, tarot, the Kabbalah and other arcane and occult traditions.
The Master Mason is a work that strives to understand the process of becoming a Freemason.
As many traditions hold the keys to achieve a degree of perfection, within the Masonic tradition we are shown this path through the becoming of a master. Truly, this degree opens as a mystery, and concludes on another, illuminating a path towards perfection and purpose.
You can find the book online at Amazon and other select sellers. Plus, if you’re a collector, there are a small number of special offers of The Master Mason available for a limited time including signed editions, very limited edition prints, and a collector coin — all of which you can find here.
This article is one in a series exploring some of the ‘iconic’ notions of Masonic conspiracy theories.
As a Mason, there’s nothing better than a plausible conspiracy theory. However, one that makes even less sense now than it did a few centuries ago. This conspiracy says that the Earth is flat as a pancake and, for the really dark and mysterious, that it’s been one of the many attempts made by Freemasons to stifle intellectual progress and ignore scientific proof that says otherwise. So, with this in mind, let’s explore the conspiracy that says the Freemasons are behind Flat Earth Theory.
The Flying Pancake
Freemasons cooked this one up some time ago. The argument is that, since the Earth is flat, the place we call home is in fact the shape of an average pancake. If you were to fling that pancake across a room, you would be closely replicating the orbit of the Flat Earth which would account for tidal action and all kinds of weird tilting activity on the planet.
A flying flat earth pancake would certainly help to explain why rain and snow sometimes comes down sideways as opposed to straight down.
Thanks to the wonderful minds of the wizards of Freemasonry (or is that magicians?), they claim that there is a reason why all of the water in the oceans don’t suddenly fall off the edge of the Flat Earth pancake. That’s because the edge of that pancake is encrusted with ice. The ice is so thick. In fact, that nothing can pass through it and slip off the edges. In other words, the Earth is more or less similar to a raised crust pizza. Just like the thick crust of a pizza keeps your toppings from slopping elsewhere, the crusty ice edge contains all the things on the planet.
The Solar System
By the way, wouldn’t you think that if the Flat Earth Pancake/Rising Crust Pizza was spinning through the air that it would eventually smack into another flat planet going the other direction? Well, the Freemasons have thought of an answer for that. Simply, there is no solar system.
We are the only pancake/pizza planet floating, or spinning, through the universe. In fact, we really aren’t spinning, rather we are, more or less, hovering around a section of space that is just big enough for our flat planet to exist in.
Did Hieronymus Bosch know know something about the Flat Earth when he painted The Garden of Earthly Delights tryptic exterior?
Hollywood Science Fiction Is Fake
Spoiler Alert! Movies produced in Hollywood that hint at anything related to life outside of the tiny atmosphere our flat pancake/rising crust Earth is hovering inside is straight up bunk. We know this because Freemasons created the sci-fi genre to entertain the masses and to make us all feel insignificant in a ginormous universe that does not exist outside of the imagination of Hollywood. The same goes for the small screen, too. Star Trek is a fine example. Why was it that each ‘foreign’ land that the Enterprise explored had gravity, people who resembled humans — most of whom could speak and understand English and oddly enough looked like an Earth landscape? Simple. Because none of it is real.
NASA is in On It
It really doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see through this one (pun intended). All the work put into creating the fake solar system and the equally fake landings on the Moon and other space exploration is part of the façade.
If the Earth is like a pancake, why do we see pictures and video of other planets that don’t look like our flat one? That’s because the top astronauts and scientific officials at NASA are all deeply involved in Freemasonry. Their goal is to keep us thinking that there is more out there and, by giving us round looking objects to gaze at with wonder, we grow to appreciate our flat pancake we call home just a bit more. Don’t even get me started on the fake Space Shuttle.
The word ‘flat’ has a secret meaning to Freemasons.
It’s sort of a secret code word, you know, part of the ever-growing list of secrets that include special handshakes, phrases, riddles, symbols and games used to identify one Freemason from another. F.L.A.T. stands for “Freemasons Live Above the Rest of You.” Admittedly, Freemasons are supposed to be brilliant but Mensa intelligence may not be part of that package. Otherwise the statement would really read F.L.A.T.R.O.Y.
One place where Freemasonry has gained its best foothold is in the education system. With a particular focus on Earth Sciences, have you ever wondered why maps of the world are flat? That’s not because it makes them easier to draw on. It’s because Masonic teachers in your educational past were slowly planting the seeds of doubt into your young and impressionable minds. Sure, there were globes present in the classroom, but that was just to satisfy the non-believers. Take a look at any published atlas, road map or tourist street map — They’re all flat.
Sure, if you can ever figure out how to fold them back up you may sense why flat maps work so well in keeping the theory alive.
The Flat Earth – Theory or Reality?
Well, there you have it. The flying pancake/rising crust pizza of a planet of ours could very well be flat. We’re just not all that interested in racing off to the ice edge to find out for sure. So, we’ll just accept the things we have learned and dream about the possibility that Freemasonry has screwed it up from the start in an attempt to dumb us down and take over the world. The entire flat world. We can’t really explain sideways snow or rain nor can we say for sure whether there are other planets as flat or round as we’ve seen pictures because we really only have pictures and video to go by. CGI may have been invented by Freemasons in order to solidify the Flat Earth Theory. We’d like to think of our planet as a round marble spinning around other, brighter space marbles but the pizza analogy keeps grabbing our attention. Especially the rising crust part. Maybe Freemasons cooked that up idea to distract us with a tasty food example to keep us off their trail.
Are Freemasons behind The Flat Earth Theory?
To say there is a Flat Earth Theory to begin with is an absurd enough notion. To suggest the Freemasons are behind the Flat Earth takes things down that conspiratorial rabbit hole of suspended belief in reality. The earth isn’t flat. Freemasonry isn’t hiding that it is. Freemasons celebrate the round globe atop one of its pillars when entering the masonic lodge (something the ancient world did, too) and utilize the compass (or dividers) as one of its key symbols. If you think the earth is flat, you probably need to get off the internet and spend some time in a text book.
The wages of a Master Mason and the lesson of the Third Degree is – IMMORTALITY!
If you have ever taken the time to contemplate on the meaning within the Craft, the culmination of the Masonic journey, what the way of life we call Masonry is, well its end is IMMORTALITY.
And when we get to the other side what are we going to see and hear and feel and taste and touch? Who knows. But we can dream, can’t we?
Yes, we can dream. And may your dream lead you to ONENESS with the Grand Architect of the Universe. May peace and harmony prevail and every moral and social virtue cement us as ONE with the Creator!
Brother Mike McCabe, a six-time Past Master, passed away on March 13, 2018
You might remember the articles published here on Freemason Information about the Struggles of Mike McCabe with the Grand Lodge of New Jersey and his subsequent expulsion.
McCabe’s longtime friend Rich Baxter had this to say:
Mike McCabe passed away today on March 13, 2018, he was one of my best friends for over 30 years. In our early friendship he took me up to the Grand Lodge in North Jersey for a ceremony – he wanted me to consider joining the Masonic Lodge. I never did join but I always knew that Mike was of the highest standard that a Mason could be, he lived and breathed the Masonic traditions and embraced them. When he saw wrong with this lodge that had shady dealings going on, he reported it. That’s the way Mike was, an honorable man who had character beyond belief. He held himself to a high standard and expected that of others in the Masonic Brotherhood. To be thrown out of the Masonic Lodge was something I never expected that other Masons could get away with. They may have done this to him but I believe the bad karma will eventually come back on them- the cowardice and malice they showed Mike is yet an example that evil and corruption exists in the least expected places. No, the Lodge never voted Mike McCabe back in, but he will always be a good standing Mason and person in my eyes and in the eyes of many who knew him. God bless, Mike, Rest in Peace, my brother.
Mike McCabe
McCabe was expelled from the Grand Lodge of New Jersey on very minor infractions that did not live up to the severity of unmasonic conduct. He also wrote an expose of his Grand Lodge for pulling the charter of his Lodge, Trimble Lodge, after a vote did not go the way the Grand Master wanted. McCabe claimed that the Grand Lodge confiscated the well-endowed funds of Trimble Lodge to bolster its own shortcomings.
McCabe sought a new trial and/or reinstatement claiming the Grand Lodge did not follow its own Constitution, By-Laws and rules and regulations. He never received one, but he never lost his faith in the Craft which he served so well. His many accomplishments in Freemasonry will live on forever and his legacy as a Freemason will shine brightly as a path to emulate.
” I would like to leave you with this thought: The tide recedes, but leaves behind bright seashells, on the sand. The sun goes down, but gentle warmth still lingers on the land. The music stops, and yet — it echoes on in sweet refrains. For every joy that passes, something beautiful remains.” (quoted from here).
Is it dying? How many candidates have you raised in the last year? Have you analyzed what you are doing wrong and what you are doing right?
How is your retention? Do you raise Brothers that never come back? Or are they gone after about three months?
Are you raising Masons that shouldn’t be there just because you hastily gave them a petition? Are you raising Masons who are applying before they are ready to accept what it means to be a Mason? Are you raising Masons that do not fit into the peace and harmony of your Lodge? Do you have a really good Investigating-Petitioning process that screens out those that won’t fit and those who will quit?
Do you have a good mentoring system, not only for those who are going through the degrees but Master Masons in their first year and beyond if needed?
Brother Rhit Moore
Meet Brother Rhit Moore who suffered through three meltdowns of his Lodge before he got wise. Brother Moore will explain to you what he and other committed members of his Lodge implemented the fourth time around to create a successful Lodge. He will explain how his Lodge raises 20 to 40 new Master Masons every year who stay.
Brother Moore doesn’t have a magic wand. He learned what needed to be done the hard way. But he and other members of Fort Worth Lodge learned from their mistakes and kept on trying. Now they have a system that works for them and Fort Worth Lodge is in a new renaissance.
Perhaps you remember from previous articles Sister R. Lucille Samuel, Grand Princess Captain of the Lone Star Grand Guild, Heroines of the Templars Crusade of Texas, PHA Texas. Well, Sister Samuel has moved on to found the Margaret A. McDow Grand Court, Ladies Of The Circle Of Perfection, Texas PHA. In her new position, she serves as Royal Grand Perfect Matron.
As The 1st Royal Grand Perfect Matron, she is responsible for chartering 7 LOCOP Courts in the cities of El Paso, San Antonio, Ft Worth, Houston, Dallas, Killeen, and Austin.
I have been republishing Sister Samuel’s annual Allocutions for a while now. She always has such insight into leadership.
This time Sister Samuel told her Order that Leaders have a Vision and so should we all. They don’t just see, they have a plan. They have a map. They have a goal.
Don’t get lost. Don’t get off track. The road ahead may be rocky and full of pitfalls sometimes so know who and what you can depend on to implement your vision.
Never look back. Keep your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road.
“Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” ~ Carl Jung
“A leader has the vision and conviction that a dream can be achieved. He inspires the power and energy to get it done.” ~ Ralph Lauren
“When you have a vision, you make believers out of dreamers.” ~ Frederic L. Milliken
”Where there is no vision the people perish.” ~ Proverbs 29:18
In the long run men hit only what they aim at. ~ Henry David Thoreau
June 17, 2017 Left – RM Crystal W. Brown, Royal Grand Perfect Matron of Tennessee presents to L. Lucille Samuel – Right-the charter for Margaret A. McDow Court
June 17, 2017 Left – RM Crystal W. Brown, Royal Grand Perfect Matron of Tennessee presents to L. Lucille Samuel – Right-the charter for Margaret A. McDow Court
The Charter
SPARE WHEEL OR STEERING WHEEL!
Margaret A. Macdow Grand Court
by
R. Lucille Samuel
Royal Grand Perfect Matron
Psalms 37:5 – Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
Have you ever been driving along and all of a sudden your tire goes flat? Hopefully you were able to pull over on the side of the road in a safe manner without any accidents or injuries. So either you call for Roadside Assistance or if you are mechanically inclined you change your tire with the spare in your trunk or under your vehicle. Of course you expect the tire to be full of air and ready for use. You depend on it.
Many times in life we depend on someone or something like that spare tire. The problem often times is that you only use that spare wheel when you are in trouble or need assistance. Do you ever check that wheel to ensure it is ready or serviced? Do you even know where that spare wheel is located? How many of us depend on prayer when you need a spare? You never pray or pick up the Bible until you need help. I am not saying that any of us are perfect and we should live in church. Church is not where prayer is it is in your heart. Such as friendship. Some of us claim to be our brother and sister’s keeper. How often do you converse with them? How often do you pick up the phone or send a message just to check on them. Not just when they are sick or in need but just to say hello. But when you need that spare wheel you expect them to jump when you call. Have you ever wondered why the windshield of a car is so large and the rear view mirror is so small? Our past is not as important as our future so you should focus on looking forward and not behind you.
You have to remember although that spare tire is not used often it is needed. Value your close friends and treat them with kindness because all things in life are temporary. Just because your life is going well remember you will have speed bumps along the way. Friendships can end like the blowout of a tire. Remember God determines who walks into your life. It’s up to you to let them stay or walk away.
The steering wheel directs our path in life. It is our navigation and allows us to avoid danger in our paths. You need both hands at all times. If you remove your hands you lose control. Sometimes temptations along the way grab our attention and we tend to swerve on the road. We must stay focused to reach our destinations. Many of us rely on the GPS System to direct us. We trust this system to get us where we need to be. Sometimes you may be in an area where the GPS system does not work and your signal is lost. If you are unfamiliar with the area you are lost.
Don’t allow this to happen to you in the Masonic Organization. I was once told the only thing worse that than losing your eye sight is your vision. We can become complacent and lose all sight of what is important. If you run into a wall don’t give up figure out how to climb it, go through it or work around it. As a leader you must keep both hands on the steering wheel and navigate the Order. When you lose your vision it is time for a new Driver. You will never have passengers if you can’t control the wheel.
The task of a leader is to get your people from where they are to where they have not been.
In closing I ask that we all remember “The easiest thing to be in the world is YOU. The most difficult thing to be is what other people want you to be. Don’t allow them to put you in that position
This symbol appears principally among the Gnostics and is depicted as a dragon, snake or serpent biting its own tail. In the broadest sense, it is symbolic of time and of the continuity of life. It sometimes bears the caption Hen to pan—’The One, the All’, as in the Codex Marcianus, for instance, of the 2nd century A.D. It has also been explained as the union between the chthonian principle as represented by the serpent and the celestial principle as signified by the bird (a synthesis which can also be applied to the dragon). Ruland contends that this proves that it is a variant of the symbol for Mercury—the duplex god. In some versions of the Ouroboros, the body is half light and half dark, alluding in this way to the successive counterbalancing of opposing principles as illustrated in the Chinese Yang-Yin symbol for instance. Evola asserts that it represents the dissolution of the body, or the universal serpent which (to quote the Gnostic saying) ‘passes through all things’. Poison, the viper and the universal solvent are all symbols of the undifferentiated—of the ‘unchanging law’ which moves through all things, linking them by a common bond. Both the dragon and the bull are symbolic antagonists of the solar hero. The ouroboros biting its own tail is symbolic of self-fecundation, or the primitive idea of a self-sufficient Nature—a Nature, that is, which, à la Nietzsche, continually returns, within a cyclic pattern, to its own beginning. There is a Venetian manuscript on alchemy which depicts the Ouroboros with its body half-black (symbolizing earth and night) and half-white (denoting heaven and light).
The wages of a Master Mason and the lesson of the Third Degree is – IMMORTALITY!
