One of the joys of being involved in editing a magazine such as Freemasonry Today is the enormous spectrum, the wide breadth of subjects, interests, threads, topics and debate with which we come in contact and which, taken together, make the rich tapestry which is Freemasonry.
    In this issue, we report on education – the annual Festival of the Emulation Lodge of Improvement, scholarships in Massachusetts as well as another programme of masonic education being run by the Province of Berkshire. We report on Prince Hall Masonry, a branch of worldwide Freemasonry based in the United States, with its own fiercely proud tradition. The links of the Hindu faith to Freemasonry are explored, and we are hardly surprised when we find that they contain many universal truths.
    A treasure-trove of masonic artefacts in the masonic museum in Brighton are on display, reminding us of the historic and artistic importance of our ancient Craft, and in another article we delve into the story of an eccentric eighteenth-century English Freemason, apparently a pillar of society but a lovable rogue nonetheless.
    The readers’ letters pages are positively overflowing with a continuing energetic debate concerning Freemasonry and religion. An important masonic scholar in Heidelberg tells us what motivates him in his Freemasonry, and in another article parts of the ritual are explored to highlight what they can teach us.
    And running though all of this is the seemingly unstoppable drive by individual Freemasons, individual lodges and Provinces, to be involved in their local communities, sometimes on a very small scale, simply cementing relationships between individuals, and sometimes on a very large scale indeed, raising public awareness of what Freemasonry is, and what a force for good it can be in the wider world. And at its best, this is Freemasons giving from the heart, in a way that is more powerful than any cheque presentation.
    In our reporting of international events, we are in constant contact with editors of masonic and other magazines around the world, sometimes sharing their experiences in a two-way exchange that enriches the experience for both of us. We should, I suppose, not be surprised to find, that what motivates them is in essence the same as the energy that sustains all Freemasons worldwide, a driving ambition to enhance the beauty of the Craft, to make it more accessible to the public at large, and to show to the world what can be achieved in disseminating the principles of Fremasonry, principles which we may sometimes take for granted, but which are not always evident in society.
    It often seems that the language we use is too archaic for modern society, yet the truths behind them are universal. For example, the four cardinal virtues, denoted by the tassels at the corners of the tracing board, have names that single them out as distinctly anachronistic to some ears – Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence and Justice. Yet taken together, they merely tell us that the conduct we might expect of ourselves as masons is one which enables us to live together in harmony and peace, avoiding excess, displaying courage in adversity, cultivating good judgement and maintaining the bonds of society. Let such things be our watchwords, and in this we will find that the worldwide masonic community will be of one mind with us.
    But of course while we enjoy unity in universal Freemasonry, there is little uniformity, in the sense that our rituals and procedures do vary quite markedly from one jurisdiction to another. To that, we can only say ‘So mote it be’, since there would be nothing more dull than that we should all slavishly have to follow a uniform pattern. Of course we all adhere to the same landmarks, but it is our diversity which enriches us. The motto on the Great Seal of the United States of America, E pluribus unum, sums it all up: One out of many. While this was applied to the notion, revolutionary for the eighteenth century, that a federation of divergent and disparate states could be given a common purpose, we could, and do, equally apply it to Freemasonry today.
    As in any family, divisions arise from time to time, points of procedure and – more rarely – points of principle, but in the end we all have a sublime common goal – no less than the perfection of the temple of humanity, through our own individual moral progress.
    Let’s celebrate it. Let’s make sure we don’t let an opportunity slip by of cementing masonic relationships worldwide, or of uniting in a common endeavour wherever we can. It’s what Freemasonry is for.

Julian Rees

Erratum: In the last issue of Freemasonry Today, in the article Ladies in the Lodge we inadvertently gave the wrong telephone number for the Honourable Fraternity of Ancient Freemasons, which should have read 020 7443 5268. We apologise to them for this oversight.