Freemasonry is first and foremost an active pursuit. It is both creative and expressive; we are the builders, the artists, the engineers, the doers that represent the quest of the creative, freethinking, mind of mankind.
Our Masonic pursuits are simple…we labor to turn sheep into wolves.
You see…sheep have an easy life, far easier than the wolf. The flock of sheep is given food, shelter, water and protection from its enemies by the shepherd. The sheep eat food they did not grow, live behind fences they did not build, and are protected while they graze, play and nap.
What the sheep doesn’t understand is that the comforts afforded them by the shepherd come at the very high cost of enslavement. They are bred not to be strong in body and mind but rather for their flesh and wool. The sheep become so in need of the shepherd’s protection and care that they no longer even require real shackles to enslave them. These sheep live a life of leisurely servitude that eventually ends at the whim of the shepherd.
Wolves have no masters. Yes, it must hunt for its own food, find its own shelter, and learn to protect itself; yet the wolf is free to roam wherever it wishes. It doesn’t require the shepherd to open a corral gate in order to do so. Yes, the sheep are always fed but they can only fill their bellies with the food of the shepherds choosing. The wolf on the other hand must find its own food, seek out and pursue its desires and labor diligently for their acquisition.
We as Freemasons must always seek to choose effort over leisure, purpose over indifference and critical freethinking over mindless acceptance.
The masses tend to yearn for their freedom but most often choose to rely on others to provide for their comfort and peace of mind. At dusk the sheep are herded back into their prison, fed at the hand of the shepherd and fall asleep believing they are deserving of all they receive even though they did nothing to receive it.
The wolf may often lack the comforts of a sheep’s life. There may be days when hunger pangs ache and gnaw at its belly, where the elements nip and bite at its flesh, but the wolf understand and treasures his freedom and never even in the worst of times desires to be a sheep…because the wolf knows that the fattest, slowest and most content sheep is likely his next meal.
The lesson we learn in freemasonry teaches us how to build within ourselves a temple that is fit for the habitation of God and to understand that our creator has given us the tools in mind, body and spirit to create abundance, not at the whim of a master, but rather from the strength of our freedom, creativity of our mind, and endeavor of our spirit.
Know my brothers that our Masonic labors are more necessary today than ever and that our pursuits are altruistic and benevolent and that the rewards for such effort, even if the droning hordes might tell us otherwise, will result in something more precious than any treasure on earth…our own freedom.
Larry Roberts 32° KCCH, Portland Valley Executive Director/Treasurer. Member of Modesto Lodge 206, Esoterika Lodge 227 and Research Lodge 198.
