Message from the Grand Master

Grand Master’s Message

The Spirit of the Craft

“ For what should it profi t a man, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?” [Mark 8:36]

At the building of King Solomon’s Temple, so welfare and rejoicing in each other’s prosperity. We spacious and magnifi cent, and constructed celebrate each other’s progress; we do not plot the by so many celebrated artists, there was not downfall of such individuals. We accept that we are heard the sound of axe, hammer, nor any tool of created by one Almighty Parent to aid, support and iron. Yet, when the building was completed, its sevprotect each other, and not destroy each other. eral parts fi tted 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? 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 The building of any temple purpose as Children of God. is a cooperative undertakThe same moral and ethical ing by a sacred band of values we employ in buildbrothers, among whom no ing public edifi ces, facilitate contention should exist, but the construction of our that noble emulation of who inner temples. The journey can best work or best agree. from darkness to light, from So it is with the work of ignorance to knowledge, our lodges and the Grand and from death to immorLodge. The construction of tality, serves to engage our institutions is only posus in self-mastery and, in sible if we eschew tools of understanding the universe war, backstabbing, backbitin which we live, to serve ing, lies, hostility, jealousy, as agents of change. We are outbursts of anger, selfi sh Masons to the extent that ambition, envy, plots, conwe do God’s work in our spiracies, private piques society. and quarrels, divisions, and the feeling that everyone is wrong except those in your own little group. 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 the work we are called upon to do as Masons, we are Most Worshipful Brother Kwame Acquaah less actions are we taking to address the ignorance, 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 foundation of every virtue. To be good and true is the fi rst lesson we are taught in Masonry. On this theme we contemplate, and by its dictates endeavor to regulate our conduct; hence while infl uenced by this principle, hypocrisy and deceit are unknown among Before the end, we will have to answer the question: what has my life meant? How will I be remembered? What good has my life been to others, or to the world, or to God? How has my life helped to complete the world? 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] ■