Inspirational: Kripkean Dogmatism, Confirmation Bias, Straw Man Arguments, and The Garden of the Senses

Brethren:

I'm of a strong mindset that learning new things is a great way to not only better yourself as a man, but also keep yourself healthy.  It's been shown learning about new areas of interest increases neural pathways in the brain, contributes to longevity, and staves Alzheimer's disease.

With that, I want to stray from the normal Masonic discussions and talk about three concepts I've uncovered recently, and how they apply to Freemasonry.

The first is something called Kripkean Dogmatism.  It was a philosophy founded by a guy named Saul Kripke.  Distilled to its plainest form, Kripkean Dogmatism says the mind will hold onto two or three facts about a subject and ignore potentially 97-98 other facts on the same subject to make sure their belief structure (the "Dogma") remains true!

Applying this to our Fraternity, if someone wants to believe that we are an allegedly Satanic Order with connections to aliens because it's something they saw on a History Channel "documentary" then they will continue to believe that despite the ninety-eight facts to the contrary, publicly available to those who choose to engage in a cursory search!

The second concept for discussion this evening is "confirmation bias."  This is a logical principle that says we want to believe what we think true so much that we will seek out people and ideas that believe the same things we do, even if that belief is mistaken or incorrect.  This is especially true in the Internet age, where Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and all sorts of social media allows us to keep ourselves thinking what we WANT to think is true.

Applying again this concept to our Fraternity, if someone wants to believe our Order is anti-Christian, they will do everything in their power to pay attention to those sources that say we are not Christian, because that's what they want to believe.  That person's worldview needs to believe Freemasonry can't be Christian, so they will work to find sources and people to support that view.

Now the "Straw Man Argument."  This is a logical fallacy where people pose an argument, and the responding party takes that argument, turns it into something completely different, proceeds to knock it down, and then declares victory.

Here is the "Straw Man Argument" in action when applied to our Fraternity.  "Freemasonry is a system of morality." "Freemasonry is misogynistic, so it can't be moral, because the Fraternity doesn't admit women."  The average Master Mason would then say "We don't admit women because," and the straw man argument would then be "If Freemasonry isn't misogynistic and amoral, then admit a woman into the Fraternity." You can't win at that point, and must therefore disengage because the person will not be amenable to the discussions that make our Order the bastion of enlightenment through the ages.

Tying all of this together, I leave you with a "therapeutic metaphor" described by Toronto therapist and hypnotist Mike Mandel.  On a trip to France, he and his wife visited a "garden of the senses."  This garden had beautiful flowers to view, wind chimes to hear the wind, berries to taste, plants one could smell, and certain plants like "lamb's ears" with a very kinesthetic (touch based) appeal.

While Mike was in this garden, he heard four French women conversing.  Mike was slightly knowledgeable of French, so he stopped to listen and see if he could understand their conversation.  The more he listened, the more he was proud of his ability to understand French.  It was a proud moment for him!  His linguistic studies were paying off!

It took Mike twenty minutes to finally realize the four women were speaking English with very heavy French accents.

I look forward to writing again for you all.

Warmest Regards,
Bro. Chris Seaton
Junior Warden, Rockford Lodge No. 469

Inspirational

To the Brethren of Rockford Lodge No. 469:

You may remember in my last inspirational piece I spoke of Carl Claudy's Old Tyler Talks.

It is again, late at night when my children and wife are in bed, that I turn to the same.

Our subject this evening is the talk "Atheist and Agnostic," which you may find here.

When confronted with the news that a brother is an atheist, the Old Tyler recommends the preference  of Masonic Charges against the brother who does not believe the same as the Young Brother does.

The charge the Young Brother believes worthy of bringing to the Old Tyler is thus: Brother Smith does not believe in the Divinity of Christ.

The Old Tyler responds with his wisdom:

"Oh! Is that what made you call him an atheist? Many thousand Masons don't believe in the divinity of Christ; some are in this lodge. Jews do not; the Chinese do not; Mohammedans do not, but that doesn't mean they don't believe in God."

The Old Tyler responds further.

"There is a conception of God in several churches in which I don't believe, either I" retorted the Old Tiler. "The God in whom I put my trust is not a vengeful God, swayed by passion or prejudice. The God in whom many good people believe is a terrible God, who gets angry and is revengeful and plans horrible torments for those who do not please Him. Because I don't put my faith in that particular idea of God doesn't mean I don't believe in God. And the people who believe in the Deity as pictured by Calvin and Luther and the Puritans may think my conception of Deity is all wrong, but that doesn't make them call me an atheist."

On reflection, the Old Tyler (as usual) makes a point.  Freemasonry requires we espouse at the beginning a belief in a Supreme Being to whom all men are accountable.  Just because we place certain ideas before others doesn't mean those with whom we sit in lodge don't believe in God.  

I had an occasion to visit the Scottish Rite Grand Temple about a year ago when I was admitted to the United States Supreme Court Bar.  On their floor the altar contains three books: the Holy Bible, the Torah, and the Q'uran.  This is by design of the Scottish Rite and the council of 33 members that comprise it.  

In Tennessee we are required to keep the Holy Bible on our altar as the Book of Law.  That doesn't mean we cannot admit Muslims, Buddhists, Hindis, or Jewish brethren.  It means that we are required to follow certain precepts as set down by Tennessee code.  It is law, and we abide by it.  

That does not in any way mean we discount a man's version of what their religion states.  

And we always leave religion and politics at the lodge door, knowing the divisiveness those subjects will bring.  

Always, brethren, no matter what, remember that each man who comes to the lodge comes as an equal.  Someone who espouses a belief in a Supreme Being to whom all men are accountable.  The nature of that being is of no consequence to us; it is a requirement of the Fraternity.  

Warmest Regards, 

Bro. Chris Seaton 

Junior Warden, Rockford Lodge No. 469

Inspiration

January sees the start of the year with new officers and a new group of men ready to assume the duties of caring for the lodge.

Carl Claudy, around 1921, published a series of talks later called the "Old Tiler's Talks," which would later reach publication in a volume of thirty-one of Claudy's hand-picked selections in a volume for publication.

It is in that respect that I look to the Old Tiler's Talk called "Gift of the Magi." In it, a young brother speaks with incredulity to the grizzled Old Tiler that a "Brother Smith" approached him with the possibility of serving as Junior Steward for the year.  The Tiler called it "natural and reprehensible," and assumed the Young Brother said "yes." Unfortunately, this was not the case.  The Young Brother asked why it was "natural and reprehensible" for Brother Smith to ask the Young Brother to serve as Junior Steward, and why he should have taken the position.

The grizzled Old Tiler sees this as an opportunity to take the Young Brother to the foot of the learning tree.

"It Is natural for men to ask their friends if they want office. It is reprehensible, because Masonry in lodge practice is not supposed to have any politics. An election is supposed to be like a wen, something that just grows without any previous warning or conversation!

The Old Tiler then asks why the Young Brother didn't want to take the position of Junior Steward.  The Young Brother responds quite readily.

Why, Old Tiler, you know well enough why not! I have heard you talk before about the responsibilities of office. An officer has to serve at least seven years before he gets to the East in this lodge. He has to learn degrees and attend meetings and go to all funerals and visit the sick and labor instructing candidates and I don't know what all besides. Why should I run my head into any such noose as that? What does the officer get out of it, anyway? Nothing but fifty dollars' worth of squares and compasses to hang on a blue ribbon on his coat and for the rest of his life have some Master say, 'You are cordially invited to a seat in the East!' Not for me, thank you!"

The Old Tiler then explains the purpose of the office, and explains why the Young Brother wasn't quiet ready to assume the honor of serving at the junior end of the line.

"The lodge looks upon the election to the junior end of the line as a signal honor. In all probability, the man elected Junior Steward this year will be the Master seven years hence. At least he can be, if he has ability and love for Masonry and sticks to his job. So the lodge feels that in saying to a brother 'you may be a Master in seven years; at least, we will trust you to try, as we will try you in trust,' it is paying him the greatest compliment outside of an actual election to the East which it can pay. As betrothal is to marriage, so is election to the foot of the line to the Mastership.

 ''To be Master of a lodge is a position of responsibility. It means work. It means effort. It means trials. It means difficulty. But it also means much in education, in assurance on one's feet, in knowledge of character and strength of will and wit. Being Master brings great rewards, of which your 'fifty dollars' worth of gold' is but the symbol, not the substance.

"But we all make mistakes, and Brother Smith and I both made one. When he asked me about you, I said you had good stuff in you. So he spoke to you, but you don't want to bring it out for the lodge. That's your business. It was our error. So we will take the better man.''

''Why . . . Why didn't you take the better man in the first place?'' asked the New Brother.

"Oh, we didn't know he was the better man until you told us so. You had concealed it from us. We thought you had Master's quality in you. Willingness to serve, love of your fellows, desire to be something in Masonry for what it will do for you and what you can do for others; these make a Master's quality. But we were mistaken." 

I bold those two statements because I didn't really quite understand what I was getting into when I assumed the office of Senior Steward last year.  I didn't understand the "education" I received in learning how to prepare a table for a group of men.  I only grudgingly understood the good-natured ribbing that I got was a preparation for that which I would endure one day in other stations.

There's something to be said for at least a year's worth of education in the Masonic School of Hard Knocks.

Every man who serves in the line at Rockford, from the Worshipful Master on down to the Junior Steward knows when we were approached with the gift of being offered a position in the line, it was an honor.  It was the lodge recognizing we had a Master's qualities.  All of us are appreciative of that gift bestowed upon us by the lodge, and while we may at the lower levels not fully understand everything required of us, we are all committed to the lodge and furthering its tradition of being a place "Where Masons Meet, Work Well Together, And Have Fun."

Yours,
Bro. Chris Seaton
Junior Warden

Old Tyler Talks: BOOK UPON THE ALTAR ((Highly suggested))

"I heard the most curious tale," began the New Brother seating himself beside the Old Tiler during refreshment.

"Shoot!" commanded the Old Tiler.

"Friend of mine belongs to a midwest lodge. Seems they elected a chap to become a member but when he took the degree he stopped the work to ask for the Koran in place of the Bible on the Altar. Said he wanted to the holy book of his faith, and the bible wasn't it!"

"Yes, go on," prompted the Old Tiler. "What did they do?"

"The officers held a pow-wow and the Master finally decided that as the ritual demanded the 'Holy Bible, Square and Compasses' as furniture for the lodge, the applicant was wrong and that he'd have to use the Bible or not take his degree. And the funny part was that the initiate was satisfied and took his degree with the Bible on the Altar. I'm glad they have him, and not this lodge."

"Why?"

"Why, a chap who backs down that way can't have very much courage; I'd have had more respect for him if he'd insisted and if he couldn't have his way, refused to go on with the degree."

"All wrong, brother, all wrong!" commented the Old Tiler. "The Mohammedan initiate wasn't concerned about himself but about the lodge. He showed a high degree of Masonic principle in asking for his own holy book, and a great consideration for the lodge. This man isn't a Christian. He doesn't believe in Christ. He believes in Allah, and Mohammed his prophet. The Bible, to you a holy book, is to him no more than the Koran is to you. You wouldn't regard an obligation taken on a dictionary or a cook book or a Koran as binding, in the same degree that you would one taken on the Bible.

"That's the way this chap felt. He wanted to take his obligation so that it would bind his conscience. The Master would not let him, because he slavishly followed the words of the ritual instead of the spirit of Masonry.

"Masonry does not limit an applicant to his choice of a name for a Supreme Being. I can believe in Allah, or Buddha, or Confucius, or Mithra, or Christ, or Siva, or Brahma, or Jehovah, and be a good Mason. If I believe in a Great Architect that is all Masonry demands; my brethren do not care what I name him."

"Then you think this chap isn't really obligated? I must write my friend and warn him-"

"Softly, softly! Any man with enough reverence for Masonry, in advance of knowledge of it, to want his own holy book on which to take an obligation would feel himself morally obligated to keep his word, whether there was his, another's or no holy book at all, on the Altar. An oath is not really binding because of the book beneath you hand. It is the spirit with which you assume an obligation which makes it binding. The book is but a symbol that you make your promise in the presence of the God you revere. The cement of brotherly love which we spread is not material- the working tools of a Master Mason are not used upon stone but upon human hearts. Your brother did his best to conform to the spirit of our usages in asking for the book he had been taught to revere. Failing in that through no fault of his own, doubtless he took his obligation with a sincere belief in its sacredness. Legally he would not be considered to commit perjury if he asked for his own book and was forced to use another."     "What's the law got to do with it?"

"Just nothing at all, which is the point I make. In England and America, Canada and South America, Australia, and part of the Continent, the bible is universally used. In Scottish Rite bodies you will find many holy books; but let me ask you this; when our ancient brethren met on hills and in valleys, long before Christ, did they use the New Testament on their Altars? Of course not; there was none. You can say that they used the Old Testament and I can say they used the Talmud and someone else can say they used none at all, and all of us are right as the other. But they used a reverence for sacred things."

"If you write you friend, you might tell him that the ritual which permits a man to name his God as he pleases, but demands that a book which reveres one particular God be used, is faulty. The ritual of Masonry is faulty; it was made by man. But the spirit of Masonry is divine; it comes from men's hearts. If obligation and books and names of the Deity are matters of the spirit, every condition is satisfied. If I were Master and an applicant demanded any one or any six books on which to lay his hand while he pledges himself to us, I'd get them if they were to be had, and I'd tell my lodge what a reverent Masonic spirit was in the man who asked."

"Seems to me you believe in a lot of funny things; how many gods do you believe in?"

"There is but one," was the Old Tilers answer, "Call Him what you will. Let me repeat a little bit of verse for you:

At the Muezzin's call for prayer
The kneeling faithful thronged the square;
Amid a monastery's weeds,
An old Franciscan told his beads,
While on Pushkara's lofty height
A dark priest chanted Brahma's might,
While to the synagogue there came
A Jew, to praise Jehovah's Name.
The One Great God looked down and smiled
And counted each His loving child;
For Turk and Brahmin, monk and Jew
Has reached Him through the gods they knew.

"If we reach Him in Masonry, it makes little difference by what sacred name we arrive," finished the Old Tiler, reverently."

"You reached me, anyhow," said the New Brother, shaking hands as if he meant it.

Old Tiler Talks: IN MEN'S HEARTS

"Where is the most beautiful Masonic temple in the world?" asked the New Brother of the Old Tiler.

"Wouldn't the answer depend on one's conception of beauty? retorted the Old Tiler. "I might think, and you another, while an architect or an artist might choose still another."

"Well, which one do you choose?" persisted the New Brother.

"I don't!" answered the Old Tiler. "The House of the Temple in Washington is impressive; Detroit has a wonderful temple; Philadelphia's temple is massive and beautiful, the Albert Pike memorial in Little Rock is considered fine. I cannot choose."

"You think it is one of these?"

"No, I am simply trying to oblige," laughed the Old Tiler. "I know three temples which impressed me more than any of these."

"I asked because I am taking a winter vacation. I'd like to see the wonderful temples Masonry has erected. Tell me where your three are located!"

"One temple that to me is great in beauty is in a town of about 2,000 people in the Middle West. The lodge room is over a country store. The floor is bare of carpet. The chairs are plain wood. The heating plant is one large stove; it is the Junior Deacons' business to feed it during the meetings. The walls are stained, the lamps are kerosene, there is no organ or piano and the ribbons in the lodge jewels are frayed. Not very up-to-date, the members of this lodge.

"But this lodge made a boy of twenty-two a Master Mason just before he went to France in the first world war. After Soissons he lay all night on the field with a shattered leg and an arm so badly mangled that later they cut it off. While he lay there he heard familiar words from the familiar burial service of a Mason; 'this evergreen, which once marked the temporary resting place of the illustrious dead is an emblem of our faith in the immortality of the soul.'

"The wounded boy called for help. Came crawling to him was a man slightly wounded, who had said the service over the remains of a comrade. At the risk of his life he hauled the wounded boy to safety. That wounded boy came back to this little country lodge to tell his brethren of what Masonry means in men's hearts when they carry it into the battlefield. As I listened the plain board walls fell away, the deal floor became tessellated marble, the low stained ceiling became a vaulted archway and the Great Architect Himself entered the East Gate.

"Another beautiful temple I only heard of. Civil engineers were building a railroad in the Andes. One of their laborers, a Mason, had fever and had to be sent home. This party of five sat out under the trees and the stars and talked on the square. Each of them gave a month's salary to the sick laborer. He had a wife and two babies in Denver, the wife trying to live in spite of the dread disease Denver's high altitude cures. Our ancient brethren met under the stars, where their 'covering was no less than the clouded canopy or starry-decked heaven.' But none of these ever held a more beautiful lodge than those five young men, filled with Masonic charity, giving each more than he could afford for a day laborer in hard luck, because he was a Mason.

"My third most beautiful temple was made of many little tents. There were children in them; children large and small, and there was no distinction between them of race, creed, color. All a child had to be was poor to have two weeks in the open. Nor was this a lodge charity; it was the work of a Masonic club, and run by individual contributions. As I looked I heard the organ peal as I have never heard it in many temples of stone.

"As a teacher said, 'for where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.' Where three, five, seven or more Master Masons gather in the name of Masonry, there is the temple. It is right and wise that we build great temples of stone and carving; which give testimony to all the world that here men gather in brotherhood. Masonic structures play a great part and we could spare them ill. But the greatest Masonic temples are builded in men's hearts.

"If you would visit beautiful temples in your travels. seek less for mighty building and more for a house not made with hands. 'Masonry builds her temples in the hearts of men' and in men's hearts shall you seek for, and find, those most beautiful."

The Old Tiler ceased and looked off into space as if he saw a vision. The New Brother looked at the Old Tiler.

"I do not need to travel far to see one of the most beautiful temples," he said.

Old Tiler Talks: ATHEIST AND AGNOSTIC

I have had a shock!" announced the New Brother, sitting beside the Old Tiler.

"Shall I send for a doctor?" asked the Old Tiler.

"No, a minister," countered the New Brother. "I just met Smithkins in the lodge. He's a member and I never knew it."

"If you like Smithkins, that must have been a pleasant shock," answered the Old Tiler.

"Oh, I like him all right. But it was unpleasant to find him a member of the lodge. Smithkins is an atheist! He can't be a real Mason."

"Oh! So Smithkins is an atheist. Was he an atheist when he signed his application?"

"Of course he was! He's always been one!"

"Then your course is clear. You should prefer charges against him for un-Masonic conduct and perjury, and have him thrown out of the fraternity."

"But-but why should I do it? Smithkins never did me any harm!"

"Oh, yes, he did! If an atheist lied to gain admittance to the Masonic fraternity, he injured Masonry and injured all Masons, and you are a Mason. So he injured you."

"But, why must I do it? You do it I You know so much more about such things than I do!" answered the New Brother.

"Oh, thank you!" smiled the Old Tiler. "But I know nothing about Smithkins being an atheist. I never met an atheist. I don't know what one looks like. And if Smithkins is an atheist, then an atheist looks and acts just like a theist. Where are his horns and his tail?"

"Oh, don't make fun! This is serious! How can we allow an atheist to continue in membership of our lodge?"

"I don't think we can!" comforted the Old Tiler. "But how can you prove Smithkins to be an atheist? He must have signed his statement that he believed in God when he joined the lodge. Atheism is a matter of belief or non-belief; it isn't a thing you can prove if he chooses to deny it."

"I have heard him say he doesn't believe in the divinity Christ!"

"Oh! Is that what made you call him an atheist? Many thousand Masons don't believe in the divinity of Christ; some are in this lodge. Jews do not; the Chinese do not; Mohammedans do not, but that doesn't mean they don't believe in God."

"But I have heard him say he doesn't believe in the God of the church."

"There is a conception of God in several churches in which I don't believe, either!" retorted the Old Tiler.

 "The God in whom I put my trust is not a vengeful God, swayed by passion or prejudice. The God in whom many good people believe is a terrible God, who gets angry and is revengeful and plans horrible torments for those who do not please Him. Because I don't put my faith in that particular idea of God doesn't mean I don't believe in God. And the people who believe in the Deity as pictured by Calvin and Luther and the Puritans may think my conception of Deity is all wrong, but that doesn't make them call me an atheist.

"The atheist is a curiosity. The very fact that a man says, 'I don't believe in God,' shows that he does. Where does he get his conception of the God he denies? The only real atheist is the man who never heard of God."

"Maybe Smithkins isn't an atheist, but he is an agnostic. He doesn't know what he believes!" defended the New Mason.

"That is different!" smiled the Old Tiler. "The agnostic isn't satisfied with the God of Moses, or the God of Calvin, or the God of Luther, or the God of the Jews, or the God of Jesus Christ. He defines his own God, made according to a formula which suits his particular ego. Let his child be desperately ill or he be in danger of drowning, and you'll hear him. Yes, and the 'atheist,' too! . . . cry to God for help. Luckily for poor impotent humanity the Supreme Architect is a merciful God who hears the cries of His children in distress whether they are simple men you know and like, or strange-minded men like Smithkins."

"Then you don't think Smithkins is a menace to the lodge because he is an . . . because he believes . . . differently from you and me?"

"I do not!" smiled the Old Tiler. "I know Smithkins pretty well. He doesn't lie so he must have some belief, or he wouldn't be a Mason. It doesn't concern us, or the lodge, or Masonry, what his belief is, so it is sincere. It takes all sorts of people to make a world, and if we all thought alike . . ."

"Why, then," interrupted the New Brother, "there would be no use for Old Tilers and their talks to the ignorant!"

"That would be terrible, wouldn't it?" agreed the Old Tiler, as he rose to answer knocks from within.

Old Tiler Talks: KINDS OF MASONS

Brethren,
If you did not attend the district meeting, here is a story that was told and I would like to relay.


"I am almost through!" The New Brother displayed a sheaf of cards to the Old Tiler. "Soon I will have joined them all and become every kind of Mason there is."
"What do you know about the kinds of Masons there are?" asked the Old Tiler, interested. "You have not been a Master Mason long enough to gain all that knowledge!"
"That's not hard to gain, with all the brethren poking petitions at you. There are Scottish Rite Masons and York Rite Masons and Templar Masons and Chapter Masons and council Masons and..."
"Oh!" the syllable said much. The Old Tiler added, "I didn't understand. I thought you couldn't have learned yet."
"Learned what? Are there some more kinds of Masons?"
"Indeed, yes! answered the Old Tiler. "A great many kinds. But seven you haven't mentioned stand out more prominently than others."
"Do tell me! I thought I had joined most of them..."
"You don't join these. You become one, or are made one, or grow into one of them. For instance, there is the King Solomon Mason. He thinks that everything that Solomon did as a Mason is right and everything he didn't do is wrong. To him Masonry was conceived, born and grew up in the shadow of King Solomon, and every word of the legend is literally true, much like the man who refuses to believe the earth is round, because a verse in the Bible refers to the 'four corners of the earth!' The King Solomon Mason lives his Masonry according to his light; perhaps it's not his fault it is so dim.
"To the ritual Mason the importance of Masonry is the form of its words. A good Mason in his belief is one who can repeat a lecture from end to end without a slip. A man may do battle, murder, or cause sudden death, commit arson or run away with a neighbor's wife; if he knows his ritual letter perfect, it 'was all a mistake!' The man who doesn't know his ritual letter perfect is not, in this man's eyes, a good Mason; not though he give to charity with both hands and carry love for his fellowman in both head and heart.
"The practical Mason looks at life from a utilitarian standpoint. He prefers electricity to candles for Lesser Lights because they are simpler and prefers candles to electricity because they are cheaper. He thinks a choir impractical because it produces nothing permanent, and would rather spend the money for printed matter or a new carpet. He is at his best when raising money for a new temple and at his worst when asked to express himself upon the spirit of Masonry. His hand is in his pocket for charity, but never for entertainment. He is usually on the finance committee, and recommends a budget in which rent and heat and light are bigger than relief.
"The heart Mason is the opposite. He is full of impractical schemes. He wants to start a new temple which will never be built. He talks much of the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, but is absent when the hat is passed and the committee on funds needs a few workers to go out and gather in. The heart Mason is the lodge sob-sister; he usually seconds any motion to spend any amount of money for flowers or to send a brother away for his health, and always makes a little tear-filled speech about the fatherless loved ones, even if the dear departed died a bachelor.
The business Mason belongs because he thinks it helps his job. He usually sits next to the solid businessman in lodge and likes to tell people what he does. If he is a Past Master, he never comes to lodge on time, so that he can get a special welcome at the Altar. His favorite speech is about the man who tried to advertise his business in lodge and how evil this was; in the speech he always mentions his own business. He wears an extra large sized pin and prints squares and compasses on his letterheads.
"We dominate another kind by the expressive term of belly Mason. He is most faithful in attendance at lodges where there may be a feed. He will cheerfully spend twenty cents carfare and a long evening to get a fifteen-cent sandwich. If there is to be a sit-down meal he will sit up all night to be on time. If the affair is in another lodge and needs tickets he will take time off from his job to hunt a brother who has a ticket and doesn't want it. He usually manages to cross the lodge room while the cigars are passed so he can dig into the box twice. If the crowd is small, he is the last man to get a smoke, so he can take all that are left. If the crowd is large, he is among the first, to make sure he doesn't get left.
"And then there is the regular Mason- the fellow who does his best with the time and brains he has. He is the great bulk of the fraternity. He pays the dues and fills the chairs and does the work. He is seldom a fine ritualist, but he is usually an earnest one. He is not very practical, and would spend more than we have if it wasn't that he is too sentimental to permit the charity fund to be robbed. He passes the sandwiches and coffee, and if there is any left he gets his; but he doesn't care so long as the evening is a success. He isn't a student, but something in the heart of Masonry has reached deep into his heart, and so he comes to lodge and does his best. He is not learned, but he is not stupid. He is not hidebound, and yet he is conservative. He loves his lodge, but not so much he cannot see her faults. He is most of us."
"And what class of Mason am I?" asked the New Brother, uneasily looking at his sheaf of cards.
"You have cards enough to be considered a Mason for almost any reason," answered the Old Tiler. "But I'll take your word for it. What kind of Mason are you?"
"I don't know for sure, but I know what kind I am never going to be!" answered the New Brother, putting his many cards away.