GRAND MASTER’S MESSAGE
Grand Master’s Message
The Spirit of the Craft “For what should it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?” [Mark 8:36] t the building of King Solomon’s Temple, so spacious and magnificent, and constructed by so many celebrated artists, there was not heard the sound of axe, hammer, nor any tool of iron. Yet, when the building was completed, its several parts fitted with such exact nicety that it had more the appearance of being the handiwork of the Supreme Architect of the Universe than of human hands. How could it be?
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The building of any temple is a cooperative undertaking by a sacred band of brothers, among whom no contention should exist, but that noble emulation of who can best work or best agree. So it is with the work of our lodges and the Grand Lodge. The construction of our institutions is only possible if we eschew tools of war, backstabbing, backbiting, lies, hostility, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, envy, plots, conspiracies, private piques and quarrels, divisions, and the feeling that everyone is wrong except those in your own little group.
welfare and rejoicing in each other’s prosperity. We celebrate each other’s progress; we do not plot the downfall of such individuals. We accept that we are created by one Almighty Parent to aid, support and protect each other, and not destroy each other. Our Craft, when it succeeds with us, takes us through not only the building of lodges and a Grand Lodge, but in the building of our own inner temples and the unfolding of our divine purpose as Children of God. The same moral and ethical values we employ in building public edifices, facilitate the construction of our inner temples. The journey from darkness to light, from ignorance to knowledge, and from death to immortality, serves to engage us in self-mastery and, in understanding the universe in which we live, to serve as agents of change. We are Masons to the extent that we do God’s work in our society.
As individuals and as a fraternity, what do we stand for, in concrete terms, in our “city-state”, our nation, To counter these negative and in the world? What selfpassions and unite us for less actions are we taking Most Worshipful Brother the work we are called upon to address the ignorance, Kwame Acquaah to do as Masons, we are poverty, hunger, disease, admonished to pay due attention to the principal and the sense of despair and helplessness we see all tenets of our Craft: brotherly love, relief and truth. around us? What have we done lately to improve the To promote our cooperative and fraternal work, we life of one child of God? are taught that truth is a divine attribute and the Before the end, we will have to answer the question: foundation of every virtue. To be good and true is the what has my life meant? How will I be remembered? first lesson we are taught in Masonry. On this theme What good has my life been to others, or to the world, we contemplate, and by its dictates endeavor to or to God? How has my life helped to complete the regulate our conduct; hence while influenced by this world? principle, hypocrisy and deceit are unknown among us; sincerity and plain dealing distinguish us; and “Is anything worth more than your soul?” the heart and tongue join in promoting each other’s [Mark 8:37] ■
The Voice of Freemasonry
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