What Is Freemasonry?

What Is Freemasonry?

Many people have asked me what is Freemasonry? What is the big deal? How do I become a Freemason?

Most Freemasons have a difficult time with this type of question. Freemasonry is a complex subject and certainly deserves more than a simple sentence or two, so most Freemasons tend to be tongue tied over what to say. they have difficulty expressing the depth of their feelings in a way that makes sense to the person asking the question.

Over the years I have come across hundred of articles and writings that express the essence of freemasonry. The two I offer below best describe what Freemasonry is and what it means to a Freemason.

The Ideal Freemason:

If you see a man who quietly and modestly moves in the sphere of his life: who, without blemish, fulfils his duty as a man, a subject, a husband and a father; who is pious without hypocrisy, benevolent without ostentation, and aids his fellowman without self-interest; whose heart beats warm for friendship, and who will be resolute in the hour of danger;

The man who is free from superstition and free from infidelity; who in nature sees the finger of the Eternal Master; who feels and adores the higher destination of man: to whom faith, hope and charity are not mere words without any meaning: to whom property, nay, even life, is not too dear for the protection of innocence and virtue, and for the defence of truth;

The man who towards himself is a severe judge, but who is tolerant with the debilities of his neighbour; who endeavours to oppose errors without arrogance, and to promote intelligence without impatience;

The man who never proclaims what he has done, can do, or will do, but where need is will lay hold with dispassionate courage, circumspect resolution, indefatigable exertion and a rare power of mind, and who will not cease until he has accomplished his work, and who then, without pretension, will retire into the multitude because he did the good act, not for himself, but for the cause of good!

If you meet such a man, you will see the personification of brotherly love, relief and truth; and you will have found the ideal of a Freemason.

( abridged )