I would posit that a blank book could constitute a VSL.
Many Masons believe scientific texts are also inspired and enlightened words revealing Sacred principles. For many Masons, Natural Law and Sacred Law are inseparable. The word
Geometry, after all, was for the longest time, well known and generally accepted as a synonym of the word
Masonry.
Masonry definitely has room for conscious and enlightened men of science and for those for whom any thing contemplated can shed light, educate, illustrate and speak "volumes" about the Order and Sacredness of the Universe and Life. A Mason who believes in One Supreme Being may be a Mason who believes in Oneness or wholeness or the Supreme Reality of Indivisibility and Unity of all. One may see the physical world as both container and manifestation of Natural or Sacred Law, echoing Voltaire "
God is an infinite sphere whose center is everywhere, and whose circumference is nowhere,” and Blaise Pascal, “
Nature is an infinite sphere whose center is everywhere, and whose circumference is nowhere.” One may see Nature and Natural Law as a revealed manifestation of God's Law.
Too many Masons only think of the word volume in one sense, however, it's secondary definition may also apply
Vol·ume
[ˈvälyəm, ˈvälˌyo͞om]
NOUN
- a book forming part of a work or series.
- the amount of space that a substance or object occupies, or that is enclosed within a container, especially when great:
"Emptiness" is also a great concept for Buddhist and Taoist Brethren, which does not denote the nullity nor Nihilism that many unstudied in these philosophies or the practices of meditation fear, but an indefinable, unnameable quality to God or Nature, far beyond our ken and limited understanding. It is a position of accepting vulnerability, fallibility, not-knowing and submission in opposition to bull-headedness, vanity, narcissistic, know-it-all bluster that often accompanies those who over-identify with the Ego.
Sa·cred
[ˈsākrəd]
ADJECTIVE
- connected with God (or the gods) or dedicated to a religious purpose and so deserving veneration:
Although I personally think an acorn or a leaf would be a more elegant adornment befitting the altar than a blank book, a blank book would, by it's very composition of paper and glue, still be comprised of manifest laws and the study of it would reveal order and interconnection. And, if the Mason delving into it's mystery were capable of applying the secrets therein to his life to better it and thus benefit all mankind by it's communication, it would be a great and admirable and
laudable undertaking.
I believe that Masonry values education and illumination and life-long learning and betterment of each man specifically, and mankind in general. This great and honorable fraternity could hope for nothing more than to attract the most educated and intelligent men into its brotherhood. The great destiny of mankind is one of Unity and Order, Peace and Tranquility, Fraternity and Harmony, thus it is understood that through education and illumination Man might achieve a state beyond divisive, tribal, discriminatory ideas or sectarian religion and predatory or party politics (considered by many Masons to be ignorant, intolerant and tyrannical darknesses in which any enlightened man would not long dwell), perhaps one day needing neither as guides.
Law
[lô]
NOUN
- (the law)
the system of rules that a particular country or community recognizes as regulating the actions of its members and may enforce by the imposition of penalties:
"they were taken to court for breaking the law" ·
[more]
- a statement of fact, deduced from observation, to the effect that a particular natural or scientific phenomenon always occurs if certain conditions are present:
"the second law of thermodynamics"