February 2016

Brethren All,

All Masons are taught of Wisdom, Strength and Beauty; the words “For there should be Wisdom to contrive, Strength to support and Beauty to adorn” are older than our Rituals. King Solomon esteemed wisdom greatly.  In fact he cherished wisdom so much that in Proverbs he says:  “Incline thine ear unto wisdom and apply thy heart to understanding.  Happy is the man that findeth wisdom and the man that getteth understanding.  For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver and the gain thereof than fine gold.  For wisdom is better than rubies and all things that may be desired are not to be compared to it!”

Brethren the world is in great need and demand of wisdom and tolerance. The story of mankind must go forward into an age where reason returns to the faithful breast of all men and the way of the learned is once again the lay of the land. We are in great danger of becoming useless drones which contribute nothing to ourselves or the advancement of mankind. For knowledge comes from study; Wisdom from experience. However we have let our minds become dull and have let our consciousness fade to the discourse of barbarous forces. For knowledge may be the possession of the criminal, the wastrel, the “irreligious libertine” and the atheist.  Wisdom comes only to the wise, and the wise are ever good.

The great lessons of our Institution should be taken to heart by every Mason as a symbol of the real need of a brother to become wise with the goodness of Masonry, skilled in the arts of brotherhood, learned in the way to the hearts of his brethren.  If he knew not, and asked “how may I gain Masonic Wisdom,” let him find the answer in the ritual, important though it is; let him find it in the form and ceremony, beautiful as they are, and in themselves strong with the strength of repetition and age – let him also look to the Five Points of Fellowship, for there is the key to the real wisdom of the brotherhood of man. Always remember the strength by which he establishes his kingdom is not a strength of iron but a strength of will; his pillars support not a wall to keep out the cowans and eavesdroppers, but a character, proof against the intrusion of barbarous forces.

S & F,

Angelo Aponte

Worshipful Master