I used to do quite a lot of travelling by air and, of course, funny things were sometimes bound to occur. One particular flight was going to a not very well-known country - let’s just call it Ruritania for now - and as we flew the passengers were each given one of those ‘landing cards’ to fill in with such details as, where are you coming from, and where are you going to, and why. Now, every country has a different set of questions to ask: one will require your father’s occupation, another wants to know your mother’s maiden name, or how long you have lived in your present abode, and so on.
    This particular card asked, ‘What is your address in Ruritania?’ followed by, ‘What is your address abroad?’ I was working on this when an Englishman across the aisle leant over and said, ‘Look here, how am I expected to answer this? I haven’t got an address abroad; I live in England!’
    Compare this with another story: a school inspector walks into a classroom at a British school. ‘First,’ he says, ‘I want you to put your hand up if you have any friends living in Britain.’ Most of the children raise their hands immediately.
    ‘Now,’ says the inspector after they have lowered their hands again, ‘I would like you to put your hand up if you have any friends living in Europe.’
    Nothing happens for a moment, and then one or two hands slowly lift.
    ‘But why didn’t you all put your hands up?’ says the inspector, ‘Had you forgotten that Britain is part of Europe, so all your British friends are European friends too?’
    Most of us have probably forgotten this uncomfortable fact as well. If we are planning a visit to France or Germany, or Italy or Spain, we talk of ‘going on the Continent,’ for even after all this time the European Union has not earned the affection of every British heart and many would not be sorry to be separated from the rest of this continent by more than just the North Sea.
    However, even a continent has limitations and Freemasonry reminds us that each one of us is ‘a citizen of the World,’ or, as it says on the Royal Arch Jewel, civis mundi; and it is as a citizen of this world that we are bidden to be exemplary in the discharge of our civil duties. It is the peace and good order of society in general that we are to promote, not just the peace and good order of Britain, or of Europe, or of the Northern Hemisphere. ‘No man is an island,’ said John Donne and, in fact, no island is really an island either, because we are all part of the same world.
    But as there are no universal laws which all can cheerfully obey, we must always respect the laws and customs of whatever state or kingdom that we happen to be in at the time. Much damage is done to international relationships by hooligans crossing borders and creating havoc in the mistaken belief they are no longer in civilised society and can therefore behave as badly as they like.
    Having said all that, let us not forget that as there are two sides to every question, so there are two responsibilities laid on every human being, his citizenship of the world and his sacred and indissoluble attachment towards that country whence he derived his birth and infant nurture. These two responsibilities are not incompatible; they are more like the two sides of the same coin, and the one could not properly exist without the other. In the same way each initiate becomes part, not only of Freemasonry Universal, but also of a lodge, his Mother Lodge.
    I am aware that there are people of other nations among the readers of Freemasonry Today but let me say one thing to the English in particular - being an Englishman myself - our attachment to our native land is described as being ‘indissoluble’ and I once came across a very good illustration of this. As Scotland has its thistle and Ireland its shamrock, so England has its rose, and this rose, properly speaking, is the wild rose of the hedgerow; it is not a huge flower like some of the cultivated varieties but its most distinctive feature is in its thorns.
    They are not aggressive thorns, they don’t stick out like spikes. They are certainly sharp, but if you look closely you will see that each one is curved so that it actually points backwards. The result is that you can push your hand into a rose bush with hardly a scratch to show for it, but try to pull your hand out again and see what happens: every thorn catches on your skin or the material of your sleeve and holds tight. You will be lucky to get away without further damage.
    One’s native land is like that: it will welcome you back and hold you; but that attachment is indissoluble indeed. Try to get away and that’s when the pain begins; home-sickness will draw and hold you.
    Nature has implanted this attachment in your breast. Similarly the Craft has implanted in your breast an attachment to your Mother Lodge.
    Cultivate, therefore, your masonry and citizenship of the world by embracing all mankind in your care and protection, but at the same time never forget the magnetic attachment to your Motherland and Mother Lodge, for such attachment is not only indissoluble but sacred.