California Grand Oration 1936 Albert F. Ross Most Worshipful Grand Master and Brethren: With pride I undertake the task allotted to me by our Most Worshipful Grand Master, but with humility I realize that the task is a burden and a responsibility, as well as a pleasure and a privilege. At my installation one year ago I was reminded of my duty in the one short sentence, "It shall be the duty of the Grand Orator, at each annual communication, to deliver an address to the Grand Lodge upon matters appertaining to the craft." Today the Grand Lodge of California convenes for the eighty-seventh time in annual communication, and during all these past years Grand Orators have performed the duty just stated and have delivered addresses upon matters pertaining to the craft. If I may be pardoned for just one personal reference, I thrill with pride to be reminded that my own grandfather sat in this Grand Lodge in 1859, and my father in 1888, both as Masters of the same little pioneer Lodge, Northern Light No. 190, and each listened to an exposition of Masonic history, Masonic symbolism and Masonic ideals. Masonic history is now a few years longer, but the symbolism and the ideals are the same now as then. During the eighty-six years of this Grand Lodge's life, many distinguished and able speakers have filled the post where I now stand. Many of them have confessed their humility and their diffidence in attempting to address such an assemblage. When I recall the names of just a few of the grand orators of the past—Past Grand Masters Hervey, Adams, Burke, Boynton, Fischer, and Gaylord, our present Senior Grand Warden, the distinguished brother who is Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court Judge Waste, and his Associate Justice, Brother Ira Thompson, those eloquent brethren, John L. McNabb, Fletcher A. Cutler, Rufus B. Von KleinSmid, Ezra Decoto, Tully C. Knoles, Leslie Learned, 0. K. Morton, Reynold E. Blight, the late William C.Hassler, and others of an earlier day—I pray that I may accomplish my task in any measure as well as they. Back in 1897, thirty-nine years ago, we find the Grand Orator, Brother Francis Ellsworth Baker, complaining that the subjects and thoughts proper for the occasion had been so often treated by abler minds than his that there was nothing left for a grand orator to say, And, to use the words of Brother Waste in his oration to the Grand Lodge in 1914, "I bring to you today only a simple message from the heart." I speak to you not of the past as a historian. In our Grand Lodge library there are many volumes, and in most of the subordinate Lodges, some, and to these the attention of the craft is directed and their study is recommended. It is urged that all you masters and wardens familiarize yourselves with the background of present-day Masonry, and carry the information to the craft in your various Lodges. The history of Masonic symbolism the works of our ancient brethren who were both operative and speculative, the story of the Roman Collegia and of the Cathedral— builders of the Middle Ages, the evolution of Ancient Craft Masonry as it exists today, all this should be unfolded to the brethren that they may know our institution and glory in its history. The lessons of the past, in Masonry as in all else, teach us how to act in the present From the experiences of our ancestors we may govern our conduct to the best advantage of both our fellow creatures and ourselves. The present is the big time. We must give thought to the past, we should reverence those who have preceded us, we should give memory its hours. Likewise we should sometimes look ahead and plan properly for what is to come. But the time to act is now. The greatest man of a hundred years ago can do nothing now, but each of you are here in the living present. As the poet says:
How can Masonry help us to make the most of the present? How can it do otherwise if we but make our hearts and minds receptive to its teaching ? Early in our Masonic careers we learn that this is an institution having for its foundation the practice of the social and moral virtues. An ardent application and promulgation of the great fundamental principles, and a generous devotion of our time and attention to their realization will add joy to our lives and the lives of those around us, as well as promote success for our endeavors in whatever work we are pursuing. A survey of those Masonic principles is thus something we should attempt at times, not only when, as here, we are in convention assembled but when we are alone with our thoughts. The ritual of our order is filled with beautiful gems and wise and serious truths, but they must be made more than words. We must think them; then we must act them. Masonry as we know it is symbolic. The great Mason and scholar Albert Pike, said:
To get the value of Masonry we must understand this symbolism. One may be able to repeat every line of the Ritual without an error, but if he does not understand the meaning, not just the language but the underlying thought, he does not know his Masonry. I might add, however, that I am a firm believer in letter-perfection in rendering the ritual. The words of the ritual accurately express the symbolism of our emblems, ceremonies and traditions, and to preserve this accuracy no word should be omitted nor changed except by Grand Lodge authority, and then the change will be uniform throughout the jurisdiction. This is no time to discuss what may be a controversial matter before this communication as to the so-called "new system" and the so-called "old system" of lectureship in California, but regardless of what system we use, I take this opportunity to say that we should adopt that which will lead to a letter-perfect and uniform rendition of the ritual, and no false economy should be considered. We can do without banquets and social-times if need be, but we owe a duty, not only to our Masonic predecessors, but to our Masonic posterity, that to the latter may be "transmitted unimpaired the most excellent tenets of our institution." But, to repeat, to get the values from the various symbols we must understand them. Each symbol, each emblem, each allegory has a lesson for us which will help us in meeting the needs and grasping the opportunities of the "living present," From the blindfold before initiation by which we are made more sightless than the new-born babe to the acacia which symbolizes immortality after the body has matured, and aged, and died, every single emblem and teaching has an important place. In the New Testament is told how Jesus of Nazareth was asked, "Master, what is the great commandment in the law," and his answer, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." There was the Sermon on the Mount of the New Testament, there were the Ten Commandments given to Moses, the Psalms of David, the Proverbs of Solomon, and the preachments of the many prophets; yet of these four short sentences was truly said, "On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." So in Masonry, can we with reverence paraphrase the words of Jesus and say of certain emblems, "On these hang all the Masonic tenets and principles ?" I think we can. The Three Great Lights of Masonry cover the whole field The purity of the lambskin apron, the innocence of the lamb, the friendship and brotherly love of the two right hands joined, the rough ashlar made perfect by a proper use of the common gavel, the five orders of architecture, the globes which give us knowledge of the world we live in and of the universe through which that world and even its mother sun fly as but specks of dust, the trowel by which friendship is cemented and made enduring, the geometrical problem of Euclid which exemplifies science, and the beehive which exemplifies industry, all these deserve careful consideration and appreciation, but all are comprehended within the lessons taught by the Great Lights. "The Holy Bible is given to us as the rule and guide of our faith, the square to square our actions and the compass to circumscribe our desires and keep our passions within due bounds toward all mankind." The meanings of the square and compass are many. To walk and act upon the square is a familiar phrase of popular significance. Among the sacred symbols of the ancient Egyptians the square was found. The same is true of China long before the Christian era. Shakespeare uses the phrase, "I have not kept my square" in a play where one is confessing his shortcomings. Many of you no doubt have heard of the old square found in the foundations of a bridge in Ireland, dated 1517, and inscribed with these words:
The square is at once the jewel of the Master and the working tool of the Fellowcraft. The square and compass together are often given this significance: the square represents the worldly side of man, as the earth in ancient times was supposed to be flat and oblong, while the compass represents the heavenly side, the curves which the compass makes possible being found in the star-decked dome of heaven. This explanation should make plain to the brethren the reason for the change in position of the square and compass in the three degrees, from the point where the worldly nature overlies the heavenly to that where the heavenly achieves supremacy over the worldly. “The most important tenets of Free Masonry,” we are told, "are contained within the points of the extended compass. They are Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth." These tenets are early brought to the attention of the Entered Apprentice and should never be forgotten. It is Brotherly Love that should actuate us when we go on foot and out of our way to assist a brother, when we stretch forth a helping hand, and when we whisper good counsel in his ear. We are linked together by an indissoluble chain, and, although it may be a duty to relieve the distressed, it should be a spontaneous result of sincere affection for our troubled brethren, their widows and orphans. Truth, as explained to the Entered Apprentice, is sincerity, honesty of expression and plain-dealing among men. The higher idea is that of Divine Truth, a knowledge of God. Allegorically we search for that which is lost, but this allegory points out that mankind must forever keep up the search for Divine Truth, for only when that Truth permeates all humanity will perfection among men and women be approached. The compass also teaches us to circumscribe our desires, and as the square governs our conduct with our fellow-men, the compass points out the duty of self-control, that our divine minds and spirits should have the ascendancy over our animal natures and instincts. The Holy Bible is not only one of the Great Lights; it is the Great Light. The square and compasses are only emblems and tools when used by themselves; it is only when upon the open Bibles that they become great lights also. No Lodge can be opened without the presence of the Bible. In fact, we define a Lodge as "a certain number of brethren assembled with a Holy Bible, square and compass, and a charter or dispensation." We use the English Bible, but it is only a symbol of the book of Truth. Mohammedan Masons may use the Koran, Jews, the Old Testament only, and that book should be used which to the Masons using it most fully represents Divine Truth. Masonry is said to unite men of every sect and opinion, and in doing this it leaves each one to interpret the Bible in his own way. A Mason of one sect or religious denomination may believe in certain practices and base them on biblical reading, while to another the interpretation has a different effect. So long as both believe in one true and living God, ail-powerful and ever-present, they can meet harmoniously as Masons and brothers before the Holy Bible as a symbol of God's truth. We who use the English Bible can do so with the knowledge that, aside from its symbolical use, it is one of the greatest books ever given to mankind. Whether as literature, philosophy or theology, it should be read more by Masons than I think it is. When we install the Chaplain of our Lodges he is told, "That Holy Book . . . forever sheds its benignant rays upon every lawful assemblage of Free and Accepted Masons," and then he is enjoined, “Teach us from its life-giving precepts.” And were we taught from it we would find our Masonry repeated therein again and again. Although there seems to have been no strict insistence upon it in recent years in this jurisdiction, I understand that in the three degrees the Bible should be opened to the 83rd Psalm, the seventh Chapter of Amos and the twelfth chapter of Ecclesiastes respectively. The last, in particular, will be familiar to all Master Masons. Dr. Albert Mackey gives the passages to which the English Masons open their Bible in the three degrees, and these I use merely as examples of what the Bible can mean to any Mason who will read it. First from fourth Ruth, seventh verse:
Secondly from Judges 12, sixth verse:
And thirdly from I Kings, seventh chapter, 13th and 14th verses:
From this wonderful book, then, it is earnestly urged that all Masons should frequently read that it may be even more than the great light that it is. And to live the fullest Masonic lives in this living present, keep the Great Lights of Masonry ever before your eyes, the Bible, emblematic of the wisdom of King Solomon, the square, emblematic of the strength and power of King Hiram, and the compass, emblematic of the skill of the master architect and chief builder who was brought out of Tyre. Thus all the lessons of Masonry passed down to us from the days of our first three most excellent Grand Masters will be kept in mind and produce beneficial results. Lastly, my brethren, we should always remember that when all else fails, divine assistance is vouchsafed us through the medium of prayer We say or listen to certain prayers in our ritual; we should think and feel them also. That prayer is something not to be looked at lightly has been proved to me many times in spite of the tendency among us moderns to get away from the religious sincerity of our fathers. One particular instance I have in mind is that of a comrade of the World War days in active army service over-seas. This soldier was an adept horseman, a fine artilleryman, and a splendid specimen of strength and manhood, who could and would hold his own in any righteous fight. Some of the others of the battery found that he could use his fists to advantage when he would. Yet every night just before taps was blown, as he was about to lie down for the night, perhaps with just his shirt-collar opened and otherwise fully dressed (as the necessities of war sometimes required, he would kneel down beside his bunk, if there were a bunk, or beside his roll of blankets if we were sleeping on the ground, and silently pray to his Creator. Not another man of the 150 in the battery did likewise, but there was not a man who did not respect his comrade who was brave enough to say his prayers. Another instance related to that same World War, but which is not personal, has always appealed to me as a fine example, and I have mentioned it many times when speaking to audiences of school children, as some in this assemblage well know. That is the story of Marshal Foch at the signing of the Armistice on that dark and misty 5 A. M. of November 11, 1918. The Germans had asked for terms three days earlier and strict conditions for a cessation of hostilities had been offered, but no definite agreement made that hostilities would in fact cease. All was in the hands of Ferdinand Foch, as Generalissimo of the Allied Armies. No man in history ever had had so much real power over the lives of millions of people. The German envoys had come to accept the terms and sign the armistice. They had located Marshal Foch in an old railroad car on a siding not many miles behind the lines where the guns were still booming heavily. They announced to the marshal their readiness to sign the document which had been prepared. Then Marshal Ferdinand Foch, holding within the pen fingers of his right hand the decision whether the war should cease in a few hours, or continue perhaps until spring when a more decisive victory could be gained and a more crushing defeat inflicted on the Central Powers, calmly rose and walking to the far end of the car quietly knelt and asked for divine guidance. Rising in a moment or two, he came back, in his dignified military manner, to the table on which lay the armistice agreement, signed it and announced to his staff, "The guns cease firing at 11 A. M. today." As the Mohammedan faces Mecca and prays no matter how far out in the desert he may be, as the prophet Daniel faced Jerusalem and prayed three times a day despite Belshazzar's decree, so may we, as men and Masons, appropriately open our hearts to the soothing influence of prayer. Among our prayers is one not used as such. I refer to some of the verses of that solemn hymn which is heard as the twelve fellowcrafts go their way to the hillside where the acacia tree buds and blooms at the head of a lonely grave And in the words of those verses may I express my prayer for all of us here today, and for the 130,000 Master Masons throughout California and Hawaii whom we represent:
I add, and conclude, "Amen. So Mote it be." |