“I think I know what you’re going to ask next….” said The Old Webmaster. He’d opened the subject and now he needed to provide guidance. The young man sat silently staring in his direction. I’ve blurted out far too much at this point, he thought.
“Our Webmaster has those credentials – and more.” It was like an electric shock had gone through his body as the young man turned towards the bright light in the area outside the small room in which he sat. The Master of the Lodge had returned and was standing there. He’d been trying to absorb so many ideas and concepts that he hadn’t even noticed. The Old Webmaster seemed nonplussed. How did the man get there without attracting any attention?
“I didn’t think it was any of my….” the young man’s voice drifted off. The Webmaster had just spent time talking about others’ lack of credentials so surely….
“Our Webmaster is just finishing up his term as the Master of our state’s Research Lodge, in fact.” the Master continued proudly. “And there are a bunch of other things he’s done too.”
“I doubt that titles and recognitions would mean much to our friend here, Worshipful.” the Old Webmaster interrupted gently, “At least, though, the validation comes from a reputable source.” The smile in The Old Webmaster’s voice was broad. The chair squeaked as he leaned towards the young man. “Many Masons don’t feel the need to flaunt their achievements or abilities, either within or without the Craft. However, suffice it to say that there are LOTS of ill-conceived ideas floating around out there, especially on the web. So many of the more bizarre ones could quickly be put to rest if only readers were more discerning. There are also those who like to use Freemasonry’s trappings in order to further their own agenda – and the web is far better than the town square to do that.”
“I don’t understand why people would come up with things that weren’t true….” Wasn’t Freemasonry just an old organization? The young man felt as if he were in a rip tide of information. Surely there had to be one, single place where he could just look this stuff up and find the answers. Why was this so difficult?
The Old Webmaster’s voice restored the peace and calm the young man had felt before despite his angst about ‘getting it right’. “As the Master will explain as you tour our building, Freemasonry is rich with symbolism. A symbol is something which REPRESENTS something else. Some symbols are commonly accepted within our society – a red eight-sided sign meaning “Stop”, for example – because there’s written clarification as to their meaning. That type of sign wouldn’t have meant a thing a hundred years ago, however, and might not mean the same thing to people in some other parts of the world. In Freemasonry, our ritual provides SOME explanations for some objects while others are open to conjecture by the viewer.”
“So things can mean essentially anything that I want them to mean?” Now the young man was even more confused than he’d been before. “If everyone is able to put their own interpretation on things….”
“Although I haven’t heard all of your conversation with our Webmaster…” The Master’s voice was calmly authoritative. “… I can tell you that I have had many concerns myself about what’s ‘true’, what’s ‘right’, and what I’ve just made up in my own head. And once my mind’s made up….” He chuckled broadly as he continued. The Master seems like a pretty decent fellow, the young man decided. In fact, they didn’t seem to be that far separated in age. “I’ve had conversations in this very room about the validity of what I’d assumed. Our Webmaster pointed me in two directions. First, he encouraged me to learn the various pieces of ritual that we do in our lodge. Through this, I could see what our Grand Lodge had said certain things meant. Just like with that STOP sign, we’re certainly free to think it’s a ‘GO’ sign - but we do so at our own peril.”
“That makes sense.” said the young man. “I could decide that it means turn around and go back or anything I wanted – but nobody else would agree. I’d probably get arrested as well.” he said, hoping a bit of levity might help.
“Our Webmaster encouraged me to become active in our Research Lodge and pointed out a number of books I should be reading. There’s a lot of material out there about why a certain thing came to be in our ritual – but far too often, it’s overlooked in favor of the flash and the preconception of some individual’s ‘interpretation’. While it’s arguable that everyone’s entitled to believe whatever they want, if you start telling us that the pillars in the lodge room represent Adam and Eve….” The Master’s voice trailed off. He’d made the point.
“So should I be joining a Research Lodge first? Before I do anything else? Then I’d get to know about these things before I heard the ritual.” He paused – then added: “And I wouldn’t make a fool out of myself either.” To the young man, it seemed quite logical to be expected to learn about the organization before he joined. To prepare….
“You need to be a Mason before you can join a Research Lodge,” said The Old Webmaster “but we’ll make sure that happens in due time. Meanwhile, there are lots of good books out there to keep you busy. What you need to know for now, though, is that you’re not the first person to be confused by the plethora of information and misinformation around you.”
Despite the many thoughts swirling in his head – There! Just like that darn disk drive that just ‘wound down’ – he felt strangely and completely reassured. The young man realized instinctively that he was among friends who, he hoped, would soon call him “Brother” while both the Master and The Old Webmaster were – each in their own way – savoring this young man’s eagerness.
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