A creed is a rod
And a crown is of night
But this thing is God
To be man with thy might
To grow straight in the strength of thy spirit
And live out thy life as the light.

Algernon Charles Swinburne, 1837-1909

A candidate came to be interviewed by the lodge committee recently, a man who was already well-known to many of the lodge members. One of the questions he was asked was ‘Do you believe in a Supreme Being?’ There followed a long and expectant silence, at the end of which the candidate said: ‘It depends on what you mean by believe’.
    In my view, he was right to hesitate. The question might have been taken to mean ‘do you believe there is a Supreme Being who orders all our lives and without whom we would be powerless?’ I know a lot of people for whom the statement implicit in that question is not tenable. To that question, for example, the candidate might have answered ‘No. But I do have a concept of a Supreme Being, which does not match that at all.’
    For an organisation which is not a religion, we certainly talk a great deal about the Deity. Do we believe in a Creator-Spirit ‘from whom all blessings flow’? If so, what is His nature? Is it perhaps our own nature? How is He manifest? Do we accept, as many religions do, that God is manifest first and foremost in us individually? Do we say, with St Paul, ‘not I, but God in me’? This statement is certainly true for many Christians, and for many Freemasons. We are going very close here to that region where, as Freemasons, we are supposed not to trespass, namely religion. This candidate was in effect saying: ‘By which religious definition do you ask me whether I believe? I must ask you first to let me define the nature of my belief’.
    In the event, a fudge was invented which satisfied the candidate and the committee and he duly used the words the committee wanted to hear – I believe in a Supreme Being. After he got home that evening, he emailed a friend who had been on the committee and told him: ‘As usual, I thought of the answer too late. I should have said "I know He exists!"’ (and if the committee had put the question ‘do you believe that a Supreme Being exists?’ there would have been no problem).
    There you have it. I know He exists. This candidate is a man who thinks deeply, who is already a Freemason in his heart. When he says ‘I know He exists’ he is expressing the nature, the essence of self-knowledge, since divinity can serve us nothing unless we own it, take it to ourselves and be with it, ascending, if only for a moment, ‘to those blessed mansions whence all goodness emanates’.
    Proceeding out of that is our whole approach to the Deity, and our sometimes perfunctory addresses to Him in our masonic ritual. Take for instance that part of the closing of the lodge which is supposed to be a prayer. ‘Brethren, before we close the lodge, let us with all reverence and humility express our gratitude to the Great Architect of the Universe for favours already received. May he continue to preserve the Order by cementing and adorning it with every moral and social virtue.’ With the greatest respect, it is not a prayer. It may be an exhortation to the brethren (to whom after all the words are addressed) to go away and say such a prayer. That prayer might then be rendered in the following words, with eyes closed, head bowed and the sign of reverence:

Almighty Architect, we give thanks to You in reverence and humility for the favours You bestow on us. We beseech You to preserve our Order by cementing and adorning it with every moral, social and spiritual virtue

So, while we do refer frequently to the Deity, and since divinity is a central part of ourselves, we ought to take care that we do so purposefully, meditatively, with a sense of wonder. Will you allow me another bit of paraphrasing?

Divine Creator, may we always remember that wherever we are, and whatever we do, You are with us, and Your all-seeing eye observes us. May we continue to act according to the principles of masonry, and may we always give You praise, with fervency and zeal.

Let me know what you think. And let us come closer to a realisation of the divinity we talk about, and to allow it to take its right place in our lives and in our being. And let this be celebrated in our rituals.
    jrees@aol.com