Masonic paper on Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth

Worshipful Master, Brothers, Brethren all;

In the Masonic Fraternity, the candidate for the mysteries of Freemasonry is impressed with the fact that the great principles of the Order are Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth

Tonight I would like to present a paper regarding Brotherly Love and the Craft.  As we have seen lately our membership continues to grow in our Lodge as we all mature we speak of the many masonic tenants and concepts, but do we always fully understand them.  How do we explain them to the new brother or Brethren as these take upon the journey from Entered Apprentice to Master Mason.

As we all can attest to, Brotherly Love is professed amongst Masons more than any other Masonic value, but it may be the least understood despite its common usage. I choose this topic as it relates to all of us in our daily lives, and more especially it bonds all of together within our Masonic Conduct.  Many us believe that a warm smile and kind words that are accompanied by a pat on the back is “Brotherly Love in action”.  That is how we understand it and that is usually the extent our daily application of Brother Love on a day-to-day basis. 

This action or generosity, although admirable, is only a small portion of the philosophy and actually inter-mixes the concepts of Brotherly Love and Masonic Charity.  My hope in this lecture; I will provide us all some insight into the concepts and thoughts that guide all our Masonic lives.  Getting a handle on Brotherly Love and Charity as separate philosophical ideas is important to all of us, as you will see.

As a newly initiated Entered Apprentice, we learn the three Principle Tenets of Freemasonry;

• Ø Brotherly Love

• Ø Relief

• Ø Truth

What is Brotherly Love, and how do we express it in and out of Lodge?  How do we explain this broad concept to  a newly initiated Mason’s, our family and friends outside of Lodge?   I would say that many of us could communicate the concepts of “Relief and Truth” as it relates to masonic conduct.  Brotherly Love is broader in scope than simple definition; as Masonry is a progressive moral science, as Entered Apprentice we do not yet fully understand its meaning.  Its definition becomes whole for us after the fact of completion of the Master Mason’s degree and time spent with the senior brothers in Lodge.  As explained by Webb and Mackey, two eminent Masonic scholars, Brotherly love is founded on the fraternal meanings of the five points of Fellowship.  Each point’s explanation, taken as a whole, constitutes the philosophical structure for Brotherly Love.  The resulting philosophy is uniquely Masonic, intrinsic to the Five Points not Fellowship, and for the benefit of Brother Masons, but it can be and is often applied to the outside word.  Our internal philosophy of Brotherly Love is reinforced by this positive external application, by its exercise and extension to others, but its primary object is to cement a stronger Brotherhood within Masonry.

In Summary in the Entered Apprentice lecture we can all learn how to better apply the following:

“By the exercise of Brotherly Love, we are taught to regard the whole human species as one family; the high and low, the rich or poor; who, as being created by one Almighty parent, and the inhabitants of the same planet, are to aid, support, and protect each other.  On this basis, Masonry unities men of every country, sect, and opinion who might otherwise have remained at a defined distance.”

I believe that Brother Love is philosophic and obligatory mortar that cements Masons throughout the world together, and by exercising our philosophy of Brotherly Love among ourselves, we become the representative and facilitators’ for mutual and understanding, fidelity, and the support possible among all men, just as it is, among all Mason’s.   That is Brotherly love.

Worshipful Master thank-you for this great honor to present this paper to you and our Lodge.

Regards,

_______________________________

Brother Nicholas Laine

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