WHY AM I A FREEMASON? a "Thought for the Month" from The Provincial Grand Orator and Mentor June 2011

Brethren, our new Provincial Grand Master wants us to distribute this issue of The Bristol Standard more widely than has been done before, so that it can be read freely by non-Masons in all walks of life. This is the reason I have used the word "Freemason" in my title rather than the word "Mason" which we traditionally prefer in the Province of Bristol. I haven't lost my Masonic bearings!

Since we hope that a lot of non-Masons will be reading this I thought it would be useful to them, as well as to us, to explore the question: "Why am I a Mason?" Most of my non-Masonic friends and acquaintances know that I am a Mason. Many of them have asked me about Masonry and it became clear to me that a lot of them had considerable misconceptions as to what Freemasonry is all about. Dan Brown's last book, The Lost Symbol, was read by a vast number of people worldwide and is probably the best piece of propaganda we have had for at least the last fifty years - in spite of the fact that he is not a Mason. He has stimulated interest in our fraternity and many of those who have read the book would like to find out at least a little more.

So why is Freemasonry so important to me? Why do I spend so much of my spare time in Masonic pursuits? In attempting to answer these questions I will tell you a good deal both about Freemasonry and also about myself.

We hear a lot about the work/life balance these days - certainly everyone needs a holiday, down-time in which to recharge their batteries. So how should we spend our down-time? How do we recharge those batteries? Some people play sport and I am sure find friends and fellowship with their team-mates. Some watch sport, as supporters, and find fellowship in their chosen "tribe," all wearing the same scarf, the same "team strip." A few go to church, where both fellowship and spiritual nourishment may be found. For me Freemasonry fulfils both of these needs - that for fellowship and that for spiritual nourishment.

Almost everyone has heard something about Freemasonry - perhaps that it is a secret society; perhaps that Freemasons conspire together to promote each others interests at the expense of those who are not Masons; perhaps even, that you cannot get on in life unless you are a Mason. There is absolutely no truth in any of this. I hope that, none of those who know me and the principles and values that I hold dear, could believe that I would belong to such an organisation.

Some may have heard that the Freemasons are guardians of secret knowledge, and perhaps even evidence, that Christ somehow survived the Crucifixion and settled down to raise a family with Mary Magdalene so that his descendents are still alive today. All very exciting stuff - nothing creates interest like a good conspiracy theory - so I am sorry to have to disappoint you and tell you that nothing could be further from the truth.

If you asked a dozen Freemasons to tell you what Freemasonry really is, you would get at least four different answers. The commonest one would probably be: "a peculiar system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols." This is a quote from the Masonic ritual and doesn't really tell anyone much about Masonry at all. Others might tell you that the purpose of Freemasonry is: "to make good men better." Both these two statements are true but neither of them comes close to expressing what Freemasonry means to me.

In a sense Freemasonry is all things to all men. The Lodge can be looked upon as just a club providing fellowship, a night out with the boys, a good meal and a few drinks in congenial company. (Some may hope that the Lodge can be used for business networking; they are almost always bitterly disappointed and rapidly leave.) Freemasonry certainly emphasises morality; regular Lodge attendance reinforces a basic system of ethics by which a man should live his life, in the same way as regularly going to church on Sundays. Masonry is a charitable organisation and many Masons find that the organisation of charitable activities and collections forms the central part of what Masonry means to them. For a few Masonry provides spiritual nourishment and it is here perhaps that the established churches feel competition from Masonry and a few of them have reacted quite aggressively in response to this perceived threat.

For me the question: Why am I a Freemason? after only a moment's consideration, becomes two questions - firstly, why did I become a Freemason? and secondly why am I still a Freemason?

My answer to the first question relates to the fact my father was a Mason but, like most Masons at the time, did not talk in any detail about his Freemasonry - even to his family. When I enquired, he would say that if I thought highly of those who I knew to be Masons I would become interested in joining. I used to retort that I would never consider joining any organisation that would not discuss its very nature with me beforehand! Unfortunately my father died before we had resolved this issue and a year or so later a senior member asked if I would be interested in joining my father's old Lodge. I was curious to know what my father had found to be so valuable and to learn about this other part of his life. So I took up the offer.

So why am I still a Freemason? What have I found of value to myself? Certainly Masonry provides good fellowship. One can yarn with kindred spirits, in much the same way as I certainly did at university. Everyone needs the fellowship of true friends, and I think most of you will find, as you go through life, after school and university, that it becomes increasingly difficult to make close, lasting friends, who you know thoroughly and can trust completely. It is difficult, if not impossible, to forge such relationships in the competitive atmosphere of the cut-and-thrust world of business. It is even a problem within the somewhat less hostile environment I work in. As a Mason, however, I would tell you that when I moved to Bristol to take up my current post, I had only been here a few days when I got a phone call from Freemasons' Hall in Park Street. A couple of weeks later I visited a Bristol Lodge, was made very welcome, and subsequently became a joining member. In effect, after just one phone call, I had gained a new family of more than fifty new friends in a new city hundreds of miles from where I had spent the last eight years.

But what did I discover when I became a Mason and first entered a Lodge? I wouldn't want to spoil that experience for any of you who are thinking of joining but I think it is common knowledge that Freemasonry, in the main, is a male-only organisation (although there are Masonic organisations for women). It uses the symbolism of builders' tools to teach its lessons in a series of ritual ceremonies or plays; it takes a man as a rough stone from the quarry and aims to make of him a perfect polished cube, fit for his place in the building of a spiritual temple; it is a traditional organisation with a hierarchical structure. It does, however, require a belief in a Supreme Being. By this I mean a Creator God who created the universe including you and me. This does not, however, necessarily imply a personal God who is interested in me as an individual or "every hair on my head." Masonry is truly tolerant of all the established religions. After all, if the universe does have a Creator, there can only be One. It is therefore the same Being that we are all relating to, by whatever name we call Him and within whatever doctrinal system we worship Him.

The tolerance of other systems that Masonry promotes is one of its most important characteristics and gives it a unique perspective on the modern world, which, as we all know, is fragmented into separate religions, cultures and nations. All such separations result in conflict and human suffering. Freemasonry provides a forum whereby men can meet on a level above all these differences. In such a way men, who might otherwise never have met, can come together and discuss the greater questions of life in spite of any religious, cultural or occupational differences that might otherwise tend to separate them.

So we have already found that Masonry teaches morality and tolerance but is that all? For me - certainly not; Masonry teaches me about the nature of myself. So what are these greater questions of life that Masonry might help us with?

To begin with, after I had joined the Lodge, I sat on the sidelines and observed the ceremonies. As I listened and watched, I realised that the Masonic ritual was speaking to me at a very deep level that, to start with at least, I didn't really understand. It then became my task to listen more carefully and to try to understand what it was that Masonry was saying to me that seemed on the one hand to be so important but on the other hand so difficult to grasp. Not everyone joining a Lodge will have this experience but as Christ said after telling the "Parable of the Sower:" "Who hath ears to hear, let him hear." Masonry speaks particularly to the man who feels a sense of incompleteness, that something is missing in his being, a hunger for something that is lost. Some of you may feel that I am now just expressing my own personal inadequacy in the face of the challenges of the life I have chosen. A glance at the "Mind, Body and Spirit" section of any large bookshop will show you that such concerns are of considerable importance to many. This section is usually about the same size as the section on cooking, for instance, and is perhaps trying to fulfil a need as essential as that for food. The "Mind, Body and Spirit" section, however, is usually divided into shelves on: the Search for The Philosophers Stone, or the Holy Grail; Druids; Witchcraft; contemplation of Crystals and Mystic Runes; the study of Kundalini and the Chakras; the Alpha Course; and so on. In amongst all of this, the jewel of Freemasonry is hiding - a little shelf, holding a few helpful works on the subject but at least partly filled with the works of our persecutors.

Freemasonry hints that a man can be made whole; and it provides clues as to where and how to look for what is lost. It is a Gnostic system in that this missing thing cannot be described; he cannot be told what it is any more than you can tell a blind man what the colour green looks like, or communicate to a deaf man what it means to hear Tchaikovsky's first piano concerto. Each Mason must find it for himself, within himself, and experience it in order to realise it and make it truly a part of himself.

A Mason is thus taught to look beyond the surface of his life, beyond the veil of material things, both within the Lodge and also in the outside world. W.L. Wilmshurst, one of the great Masonic teachers of the 1920s, was convinced that: 'the purpose of all initiation was, and still is, to educate the mind in penetrating the outward shell of all phenomena.' In this way every story, every legend, becomes a parable - all relating an aspect of the eternal, fundamental truth underlying all things. So it is that Masonry helps a man wrestle with the great questions in life: Who am I? What am I doing here? Is this material universe all that there is? Is there anything after this life? Surely everyone has asked themselves such questions, even if only in those moments of deepest sadness and despair.

So Masonry is a way of life. Finding the answers to his questions through Freemasonry is a spiritual journey, which can transform a man and his approach to the whole of his life. It does not require him to renounce any of his current beliefs or to contravene any moral law. A Mason's journey is not a solitary one; he does not have to search for the answers to his questions alone. In Masonry there are travelling companions to provide fellowship and support. But I have already talked about the fellowship to be found in Freemasonry.

I would end by saying that many men who have not yet joined us might find Masonry very valuable and indeed it might contribute a new and different perspective to their lives. Many, however, will not be eligible to join - those who have no belief in a higher authority than a human hierarchy for instance. Some would not fit in at all, would be unhappy, and would soon leave. A few would disturb the harmony of the Lodge and be counter-productive. We need true and solid stones from which to build our spiritual temple. We, therefore, choose our rough stones carefully from the quarry of the outside world. For me being a Freemason is a huge privilege. Masonry is one of the greatest forces for good I have encountered in the whole of my life and it is very important to me. So I would not try to market the Craft, to sell it, to those who would not value or appreciate it. I would not want to risk damaging it by encouraging the admission of potentially destructive forces. I have, in fact, proposed very few new members into the Order in the twenty-six and a half years I have been a part of it.

So if any of you non-Masons feel that anything in this article strikes a chord in you and that you would like to join us, come down and convince us firstly that you would benefit from Freemasonry and secondly that Freemasonry would benefit from your membership.