‘Let the Light of Heroism blaze’

    

The latest Collectanea, the annual book of transactions of the Grand College of Rites, admits us to the Cerneau Scottish Rite circa 1807 to “see” degrees 19 through 29.

In the 20th, titled “Grand Master ad Vitam, or Venerable Grand Master,” the candidate illumines the Nine Great Lights of Masonry, the fourth of which inevitably comes to mind upon the human calamity unfolding at Kabul, Afghanistan. Excerpted:

Let the Great Light of Heroism shine in our Lodge. That noble heroism, inspired by which, men die at obscure posts of duty, when none are their witnesses save God. Let there be light.

The Light shines. Let us applaud, my brethren.

My brother, say after me: “So may the Light of Heroism shine in me!”

And then the fifth and sixth:

Let the Great Light of Honor shine in our Lodge. That true Honor, incapable of baseness, treachery, or deceit; that never breaks its word to man or woman; and fears the act far more than the disgrace that follows it. Let there be light….

So may the Light of Honor shine in me.

Let the Great Light of Patriotism shine in our Lodge. Patriotism, willing to sacrifice itself for the common good, even when neither thanks nor honor follow it; that ask not whether what the country’s weal requires will or will not be popular; but does the right without regard to consequences. Let there be light!

So may the Light of Patriotism shine in me.

Of course, all Masonic tenets urgently come to mind as the world descends hourly into deeper darkness, but this piece of ritual really leapt off the top of my head.

     

‘Freedom is a light’

    

Facing Independence Hall is George Washington, standing in one of only five public squares

planned in William Penn’s 1682 survey of Philadelphia.

“Freedom is a Light for which many men have died in darkness” is the main inscription
on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington Square Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Today I’m just repeating a previous Memorial Day post, but with a different angle.

In everyday life, I think most people forget the meaning of patriotism, allowing that unifying virtue to be blended with what really is jingoism, or at best a “me too” moment, free of commitment or sacrifice.

As is often the case, the rituals of Scottish Rite Masonry help me make sense of such concepts. The Master of the Symbolic Lodge Degree (20º) in the A&ASR Southern Jurisdiction puts it succinctly:

“Patriotism, willing to sacrifice itself for the common good, even when neither thanks nor honor follow it; that asks not whether that which the country requires will or will not be popular, but does the right without regard to consequences. Let there be Light!”

As you know, this national holiday began as Decoration Day, the occasion to adorn the graves of the fallen of the U.S. Civil War. Decoration Day was established by General Order No. 11, issued by Gen. John Logan on May 5, 1868, who vowed: “If other eyes grow dull, other hands slack, and other hearts cold in the solemn trust, ours shall keep it well as long as the light and warmth of life remain to us.”

Again it is Scottish Rite that says it all. From the Chapter of Rose Croix: “So may the Light that never fails, the Love that never forgets, and the Life that never ends, illumine our world.”

SMIB.