Protecting The Word

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Bro. Aaron Gardner

Just the other day, my cousin and I were having a conversation over FaceTime. He was raised to Master Mason in the same lodge I received my degrees. While FaceTiming, he showed me something that was disturbing. 

Now, we all have our lambskin’s and I hope that we all protect them with plenty of care. I know exactly where mine is, rolled up in a tube waiting for me to pass onto the Celestial Lodge above. I hope you know where your’s is and you keep safe from harm. However, have you ever thought about what you do with your ritual? 

I am sure we have some ritual books that have seen better days, simply because we are busy with the Craft and we are constantly flipping from page to page. However, after you are done with your ritual what do you do with it? The disturbing image my cousin showed me was a book torn to pieces by a hungry dog. I guess you can say she was “seeking light”. Shouldn’t we take better care of our ritual books? 

My ritual is on my desk sitting next to some very old copies of Albert Mackey’s Encyclopedia, which I received from another cousin. I still actively look through my ritual and study, but I protect that book as if it could actually save my life. Probably because it has the words in that ritual which are more than words, they are remnants of a spirit that lives within every Freemason. They make me want to take the Rough Ashlar that the physical world has made me, and turn me into a better piece of work and art for the Spiritual world. The words that are written are solely that, just written words. The true word is in my heart, but I will still protect the physical word as a reminder to myself of how to pronounce it. 

How do you protect your light?

~AG

Bro. Aaron Gardner was raised as a Master Mason in his hometown lodge of Flushing, Michigan. He has served in active duty with the United States Army for the last seven years in which he has become well traveled around the world. He is currently stationed in Lawton, Oklahoma where he is a member of Triangle Lodge #548. When Bro. Gardner is not defending the nation, he takes great pride in writing articles for his blog Celestial Brotherhood, writing his fiction novel and researching all he can involving the Craft.