Brotherly Love
I believe we are alive to learn, to grow both mentally and spiritually, to understand and to pursue happiness. We all try to understand life, we try to answer why we are born, why we are here, what is our purpose. We all learn as we grow older, sometimes we become wise, sometimes not so wise. But we all grow with the experiences we accumulate and ultimately, we all want to be happy and have meaning in this journey.
While reading a book about upbringing children, the following line stood out:
Even if you conduct yourself as best as you could, but do it alone in isolation, it doesn’t have any merit since only relationships can define your significance and your worth.
When you are part of a like-minded group with similar values, it is much easier to behave naturally and just be yourself, helping you to build those relationships which will in turn help you to become a better person. That is one of the pillars of Freemasonry we call Brotherly Love.
I recently stumbled upon an article about Carl Claudy, a famous Freemason, having a conversation with a Mason who had recently joined his lodge. Carl said:
“Masonry, my young friend, is an opportunity. It gives a man, a chance to do and to be, among the world of men, something he otherwise could not attain. No man kneels at the altar of Masonry and rises again the same man. At the altar, something is taken from him never to return—his feelings of living for himself alone. Be he ever so selfish, ever so self-centered, ever so much an individualist, at the altar he leaves behind him some of the dross of his purely profane make-up.”
A powerful message indeed.
Relief
Relief is another tenet of our fraternity. It is compassion to each other. It is being there when needed. It is giving. It is about making the environment we live in slightly better, one step at a time. Relief is not limited to our brethren but is extended to the entire Mankind. Isn’t this the continuation of brotherly love? When you see your fellow men or your brother hurting or in distress, wouldn’t you feel that you need to do something for him?
I want to leave you with two quotes from Buddha about Relief:
“Give, even if you only have a little.”
“Teach this triple truth to all: A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity.”
Truth
Another principal tenet of our fraternity is Truth. We as Freemasons define “truth” as a divine attribute and the foundation of every virtue. Grand Lodge of Massachusetts indicates that Freemasonry is about the nature of truth. Let’s explore this a bit further. Wilmhurst says the following in his speech for the consecration of a research lodge:
The purpose of the new lodge falls within the three great foundation principles of the Masonic Order, Brotherhood, Relief and Truth. Until now the energies of the Craft have been directed to the two former, to the neglect of the third.
We have reached a time in the historical development of Masonic Order when the pressure of existence and the conditions of social, intellectual and religious life are forcing thoughtful minds to a more intensive search of Truth than ever before. By Truth, I do not mean the personal virtue of truthfulness, nor ever the section truths of sciences, philosophies or churches, but rather larger Truth which lies behind everything. It has always been the maxim of the Initiate to penetrate to the truth of oneself and to solve the riddle of existence.
What a remark! This overlaps with my pursuit of understanding life. I believe that there are two components to the reason of existence. First, gaining wisdom through our life journey by welcoming and being aware of all our experiences. Second, simply, happiness. To me, Truth overlaps with wisdom. And brotherly love and relief overlap with happiness.
Among brothers, I have been lucky to have some enticing conversations that had propelled my understanding about wisdom and Truth. I, however, think that we can still do better to encourage more such discussions, which would provide a better understanding of life, of the Craft and would result in a better connection of oneself to Freemasonry. My challenge to every Mason in this room is to share their knowledge, their wisdom. Help the brother next to you, as Charity doesn’t always mean Relief.
We join the Craft for different reasons: esoteric, social, community, history, charity, ritual, etc… We are one of the most diverse groups of people and I can’t express how refreshing it is. Especially in these divisive times: when one person’s color, religion or political view seem so important that we forget that we are all fellow men; brothers and sisters in this journey we call life. We as Freemasons, don’t define our relationships with each other based on differences, but we do so on our commonalities, on the level. It allows us to be a little larger and a little better.
Wor. Ozge Yavuz
Master, Charity Lodge
