education night
At the last stated meeting, on February 15, we had a slight change of plans from what had been posted. Instead of rehearsing degreework, we were joined by RWB John Whitehouse, our DDGM, who presented a lengthy, informative, and thoroughly enjoyable program on “Why Are We Masons?” In the course of the discussion, RWB Whitehouse touched on everything from the very basic answers to “What came you here to do?"; to the best ways to explain to non-Masons that Masonry is not a religion; to the misty origins of Masonry, which can be traced, via documentation and anicent manuscripts, to at least 950 AD. One of the manuscripts RWB Whitehouse read from was the Regius Manuscript, which can be read in full via a link from the “More Light” section of this website.
RWB Whitehouse also spent some time considering “one-day Masons,” pointing out that the practice is not a recent innovation. In fact, Brother Webb—an 18th-century Mason who was responsible for writing much of our ritual work—himself received both his EA and FC degrees on the same day, and followed just three days later with his MM! RWB Whitehouse made the point that, as long as a candidate is well investigated, it matters little how long it takes him to become a Master Mason. After all, Masonry itself does not make men good, it makes good men better.