*****
Today, I led a Masonic service for
a fallen Brother. There were two other Brothers with me. We did not know him,
for he was a Sojourner, Initiated, Passes and Raised elsewhere. To us, though,
that did not matter- he was still our Brother, and we were needed.
Born in 1933, our Brother’s life
and travels had brought him to reside in our area. Somehow his journey had
taken him from his Ohio home, where he was Initiated, Passed and Raised in
1965, to Florida, where he owned a carpet and patio store as well as a
commercial fishing camp, to an area of New York just north of NY City. It was
there that he would find his final resting place, there that he would lay down
his Working Tools, and there that a request would go out for a Masonic funeral
service.
Calls were made, emails were sent. I
first received word just three days ago, as he had only passed the day before
that. Many Brethren were going to be out of town today, others could not
rearrange their schedules on such short notice. I was available, though, and
was glad I was, for I hold the attending of a Masonic service to be one of the
highest and most solemn parts of our Masonic Obligations. I was prepared to
conduct the service alone, if I had to, but I was glad two other Brethren were
able to attend.
There is one emblem, one badge,
that above all others represents what our Fraternity is truly about, one that
the public all too seldom sees, and less often understands- the Lambskin Apron.
In times past, it was worn at the laying of Cornerstones, at dedications of
public buildings, in parades, and at Masonic funeral services. Nowadays, the
latter is the only time most people will ever encounter it, but it is there
that its meaning is most profoundly expressed.
We all mark the making of a Mason
with joy and solemnity. We welcome the new Brother into our Fraternity and pray
he will grow with his coming knowledge of Masonic Light, and that he will
someday become a source of that Light for others. He is given a Lambskin Apron,
told that it is our badge, the very whiteness of it standing for purity of life
and rectitude of conduct. It is his to wear throughout an honorable life, and
to accompany his remains in death.
But why lambskin? In part, because
the lamb has long been associated with innocence and purity. However, it has a
deeper, more sublime meaning. It is, in the very essence of its use, a defining
symbol of our Fraternity, one that welcomes all men who believe in the Supreme
Being and immortality of the soul and bestows upon them the title of Brother. The
donning of a Lambskin Apron binds us all, unites us as Brethren, reminding us
that despite our different backgrounds as men, we share a common Fatherhood. For
it is found in that Greatest Light in Masonry, the Holy Bible,
Know
ye that the Lord he is God; it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Psalm
100:3 KJV
The Lambskin Apron is therefore not
just an emblem of innocence and purity, but of the Fatherhood of God, the Great
Architect of the Universe, and of our bonds as Brethren one of another, in
mutual dependence and support. Its ties are the Mystic Ties of our Fraternity.
So it is now that we are called
upon, for a Brother is in need one last time. He has laid down his Working
Tools, never again to wear his Apron. It is for us to comfort his family when
he cannot, to reaffirm his faith as well as our own, and to bid a final
farewell to our Brother.
After our service, I took a seat in
the back of the funeral home. I wanted to learn a bit more about my Brother, a
man whom I never had met, and never would, but I knew what he believed in and
stood for. I saw and felt some of his Light as I listened to friends and family
speak of their loved one, telling tales of his generosity, his love of NASCAR
racing, and of fishing. They spoke of his good-natured kindness, always ready
to help someone, of his handiness at repairing a child’s broken doll years ago,
of reworking a chipped salad bowl by giving it a scalloped edge so it could be
used again. Most of all, I heard stories of a man who was loved, who loved
others, who enjoyed life. I had a chance, after all, to get to know him a little bit and not just know of him.
I accompanied the family to the
gravesite, where a military service was conducted in honor of his time in the
Navy during the Korean War and we recited the Lord’s Prayer. As I left, I bid
my Brother peace, knowing that I, too, am on a journey, as all Brethren and
Fellows who have donned a Lambskin Apron before me.
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