letter to the editor

Brotherly love: A ‘cement’ of another kind

Tue, 08/22/2017 - 11:30am

Dear Editor:

I am a Mason and recent events have made me think about love and friendship, the guiding principles of our organization. I try to treat people with basic respect and the love we as Masons espouse.

When I heard of the events in Virginia and then the leaflets in Boothbay, I first thought of my love for others and how impossible it would be for me to condone something like this. Brotherly love is a characteristic that is inherent to us as Masons. When I think of a mason, certain words come to mind: honor, justice, friendship, morality, respect, love, help, consideration (to name a few).

We spread love to our fellow Masons and their families and to our communities. There are some that spread that love in further and further circles. We tout our organization as the best in the world (we give over $3 million dollars a day to charity). We have a special bond to other Masons and their families. It is this love I pull strength from to honor my father and my son by being a just and upright man. The events in Virginia and the flyers in Boothbay go against these basic tenants of a Mason; brotherly love, relief, and truth.

By the exercise of brotherly love we are taught to regard the whole human species as one family, the high and the low, the rich and the poor, who are created by one almighty parent and inhabitants of the same planet, are to aid, support and protect each other. On this principle, masonry unites men of every country, sect and opinion and conciliates true friendship among those that might otherwise have remained at a perpetual distance.

The trowel is the basic tool of a mason to spread the mortar that unites a building into one mass. As Free and accepted Masons, we are taught to make use of it for the more noble and glorious purpose of spreading the cement of Brotherly love and affection.

I hope we all can use our trowels to spread the uniting mortar to all around us and show the world our love and affection and work to remove the insidiousness of hate.

Stuart Smith

Master, Bay View Lodge

Boothbay, Maine

 
 
 

Stuart Smith
Seguin Software