The best gifts
In the V.S.L. there occurs the injunction "Covet earnestly the best gifts."
It is a noble counsel and is, for Freemasons especially, emphasized during
one of our most beloved ceremonies, the annual Installation of Officers.
You know the scene. The Wor. Master-elect stands before the altar and the
Installing Master has recited to him the qualifications essential in one who
is about to take on the responsibility of governing a Lodge. "He ought to
be exemplary of conduct, easy in address, but steady and firm in principle;
able and willing to undertake the management of the work, and well-skilled
in the Constitutions of the Grand Lodge, and in the Antient Charges,
Regulations and Landmarks."And then, these profound requirements uttered, he stresses them by asking, "Can you my Brother, conscientiously undertake...?"
Now, since the candidate can be presumed to be aware of his own limitations
yet has to make the response, "I can," as set forth in our Book of the Forms
and Ceremonies, it is well for us to ponder the meaning of the demands made
upon him-and ourselves.
For think of it. Here is a Brother, a truth loving Mason, who, when asked if
he can conscientiously take on the duties of Wor. Master in strict regard to
the possession of the veritable catalogue of virtues required for that
office-the enjoyment of some of which (easy in address, for instance) would
require years of application and effort, to say nothing of quite uncommon
natural inclination, is calmly expected to respond, "I can."
We may imagine that he would wish to say something like this:-"Far be it
from me to lay claim to these qualifications, but with humble sincerity and
the aid of the Great Architect I will do my best."
It is an impressive moment. And its meaning is conveyed with the force of a
striking revelation. For, aware of the fact that very few of our Brethren
possess the qualifications in any complete degree, we realize that we are
not expected to-literally. Freemasonry is the soul of reasonableness. It
makes no impossible demands. We are positive that the recital of what are
termed the essential qualifications by the Installing Master is simply the
holding up of an ideal, a prompting that we should, in the words of St.
Paul, covet the best gifts, should strive to attain higher levels of
achievement and usefulness, so that we might be the better enabled to serve our order and humanity thereby.
This, surely, is the lesson of this particular phase of the Installation of
Officers ceremony. It is a challenge to us to develop our best gifts and
apply them. For while all of us cannot stand before the altar to utter the
response of Wor. Master-elect, we are all privileged to make the occasion
one of resolution and hope, thus rendering ourselves worthy of honour, that
we in turn may honour the Craft.
By Bro. L.J. Humphrey
Nanaimo No. 110, BCY
Published in Masonic Bulletin, BCY, January 1945
In the V.S.L. there occurs the injunction "Covet earnestly the best gifts."
It is a noble counsel and is, for Freemasons especially, emphasized during
one of our most beloved ceremonies, the annual Installation of Officers.
You know the scene. The Wor. Master-elect stands before the altar and the
Installing Master has recited to him the qualifications essential in one who
is about to take on the responsibility of governing a Lodge. "He ought to
be exemplary of conduct, easy in address, but steady and firm in principle;
able and willing to undertake the management of the work, and well-skilled
in the Constitutions of the Grand Lodge, and in the Antient Charges,
Regulations and Landmarks."And then, these profound requirements uttered, he stresses them by asking, "Can you my Brother, conscientiously undertake...?"
Now, since the candidate can be presumed to be aware of his own limitations
yet has to make the response, "I can," as set forth in our Book of the Forms
and Ceremonies, it is well for us to ponder the meaning of the demands made
upon him-and ourselves.
For think of it. Here is a Brother, a truth loving Mason, who, when asked if
he can conscientiously take on the duties of Wor. Master in strict regard to
the possession of the veritable catalogue of virtues required for that
office-the enjoyment of some of which (easy in address, for instance) would
require years of application and effort, to say nothing of quite uncommon
natural inclination, is calmly expected to respond, "I can."
We may imagine that he would wish to say something like this:-"Far be it
from me to lay claim to these qualifications, but with humble sincerity and
the aid of the Great Architect I will do my best."
It is an impressive moment. And its meaning is conveyed with the force of a
striking revelation. For, aware of the fact that very few of our Brethren
possess the qualifications in any complete degree, we realize that we are
not expected to-literally. Freemasonry is the soul of reasonableness. It
makes no impossible demands. We are positive that the recital of what are
termed the essential qualifications by the Installing Master is simply the
holding up of an ideal, a prompting that we should, in the words of St.
Paul, covet the best gifts, should strive to attain higher levels of
achievement and usefulness, so that we might be the better enabled to serve our order and humanity thereby.
This, surely, is the lesson of this particular phase of the Installation of
Officers ceremony. It is a challenge to us to develop our best gifts and
apply them. For while all of us cannot stand before the altar to utter the
response of Wor. Master-elect, we are all privileged to make the occasion
one of resolution and hope, thus rendering ourselves worthy of honour, that
we in turn may honour the Craft.
By Bro. L.J. Humphrey
Nanaimo No. 110, BCY
Published in Masonic Bulletin, BCY, January 1945