The pure spirit shall flow
Back to the burning fountain whence it came,
A portion of the Eternal.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

I was very fortunate this summer to be impressed by two powerful images of spirituality. The first was a picture of the face of the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, Basil Hume, alongside an obituary to this simple, saintly, good man, at peace with and knowing himself, and therefore knowing God, as he approached his death: calm, composed, and with gladness. The second was the unabashed and honest gaze of Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones as they exchanged their wedding vows, with sincerity and determination, oblivious to the circus around them, approaching their life together: calm, composed, and with gladness. Of course, as Freemasons, we claim to know something about approaching life and about approaching death - and about birth for that matter. But it is the overwhelming spirituality of such images that captures and enthrals. You had to be dead from the neck up not to be at one with it.
    A friend (a Freemason) said to me recently, “They say Freemasonry isn’t a religion - you could have fooled me!” What he meant was that he gained as much spirituality from Freemasonry as he did from his religion, or maybe more. I put it to you, that the Craft contains in its ritual more about spirituality than we realise, but we are afraid to admit it. The English are especially good at being afraid of non-concrete things. English men particularly, poor reserved creatures that we are, get very embarrassed when words like ‘love’ are mentioned outside a romantic context. It’s the same with ‘spirituality’. A Brother said to me recently, “Oh, I’m not sure about this spirituality thing. I go to lodge to share the comradeship of my brethren”. I asked him to consider that he had just spoken the word ‘spiritual’ in a different form.
    After the last issue but one of Freemasonry Today there was some concern, in correspondence and on the internet, about the dangers of change. No need, in my view. Why? Why, when change appears to be all around us, should we not be worried? Because we are simply calling forth the elements of spirituality which are already in place but we are failing to recognise them as such. Consider this:

Proceeding onwards, still guiding your progress by the principles of moral truth, you were led in the Second Degree to contemplate the intellectual faculty, and to trace it, from its development, through the paths of heavenly science even to the throne of God Himself.

Even to the throne of God himself. We go through the moral formation we are subject to after birth (Initiation), on to intellectual pursuits and the discovery of knowledge and of self (the Second Degree), and on from there to spiritual perfection. So, spirituality clearly is a part of what we are doing, or at least of what we ought to be doing. Religion? Don’t be scared, I beg you. The Latin word from which ‘religion’ comes is ‘religare’, meaning ‘to bind back’ (hence such words as ‘ligature’), to be with yourself, to discover yourself, to know yourself, and through that to know God. I am glad to see that Grand Lodge supports this view. In their new (appropriately square) booklet entitled Freemasonry - an Approach to Life, Freemasonry is described as ‘teaching moral lessons and self-knowledge’ (my italics). Masonic ceremonies ‘reflect the essential truths... common to many of the world’s great religions’. Think about it.
    I was able to share another wonderful thing that happened recently. I was in the so-called ‘Refreshment Room’ at Freemasons’ Hall in London (a sad welcoming place for visitors from outside London and from overseas) talking with a Brother about the portrait of George Washington which hangs there. A lady approached to listen to what we were saying, and I got into conversation with her. She was on a visit from Germany, her husband was on business, and as he is about to be received into the Craft in Germany. She had come to Freemasons’ Hall to have a look around and acquaint herself with what we do. We had quite a long chat, exchanged cards, and she then left to be shown the Grand Temple by one of the staff at FMH who had offered to show her round. She wrote to me following the visit:

That evening was one of those days in one’s life that one doesn’t forget. I had the great good fortune to stand, quite alone, in the middle of the Grand Temple, and it was as though I was standing at the centre of my own being - a very special feeling. The following day, as I joined the official tour through Freemasons’ Hall, this atmosphere had completely disappeared, but I had already experienced the unforgettable the evening before . . .

Of course, without knowing it, she had just answered the question in the Third Degree; she was at the centre, knew herself at that moment, and was at peace. Let’s get to know ourselves, so that we can better know others, and if we work at it, to know God.
    jrees@aol.com