One of the sets of Masonic Working Tools used by the Holy City Lodge No. 4 in Jerusalem Israel.
Masonic Working Tools:
In each of the Degrees of Freemasonry, certain implements of the Operative Art are consecrated to the Speculative Science, and adopted to teach as symbols lessons of morality. With these the Speculative Freemason is taught to erect his spiritual Temple, as his Operative predecessors with the same implements so constructed their material Temples. Thus they are known as Working Tools of the Degree. They vary but very slightly in the various Rites, but the same symbolism is preserved. The principal Working-Tools of the Operative Art that have been adopted as symbols in the Speculative Science, confined, however, to Ancient Craft Masonry, and not used in the higher Degrees, are the Twenty-four-inch Gage, Common Gavel, Square, Level, Plumb, Skirret, Compasses, Pencil, Trowel, Mallet, Pickax, Crow, and Shovel.
The following poem, written by Mary Brooks Picken, entitled, "Thimblefuls of Friendliness" was written in 1924, and, perhaps says it, best.
"Thimblefuls of Friendliness"
"Isn't it strange that Princes and Kings
And clowns that caper in sawdust rings,
And just plain folks like you and me,
Are builders for Eternity?
To each is given a bag of tools,
A shapeless mass and a book of rules,
And each must make ere life is flown,
A stumbling block, or a stepping stone.
So,...it's up to you. What will YOU decide to build with YOUR working tools?
On the Level:
The Level is a tool used in construction.
Just about every Mason hears the phrase ―On the Level
when they attend their Lodge meeting. It is one of most basic ideas put forth in Freemasonry.
At it‘s core on the level indicates that an object is the same distance from a common surface no matter where you measure from.
This is critical in construction to make sure that a house or structure
will stand. That the floors do not slope and things will not roll or slide across the floor. Generally in construction when something is level, it has more to do with the ground
on which it stands and gravity as a whole.
In Freemasonry a level not only refers to things that are of equal distance from a common surface, it refers to many other things.
The first thing it refers to is what the phrase most commonly translates to outside of the fraternity. When someone is ―on the level‖ they are honest, they deal with someone fairly. This also can have another allusion most commonly held with one of the Cardinal Virtues of Freemasonry: Justice. The balance scale, that is a common symbol to indicate Justice, has a level as it‘s core element.
With both sides being equal, a balance scale will be level across indicating that both sides are equal.
The second thing, is that it is a reminder that we are all equal in the eyes of death,
often referred to in Masonry as the ―Great Leveler.‖ It means that death comes for us all, no matter what station we have attained in life, no matter what we attained as status
in the fraternity, we will all look upon the face of death. It is a reminder for all of us
that we are no different from the person walking beside us on the street or standing
next to us in our lodge room.
Third and most importantly, it is a reminder to Freemasons that, no matter what we do inside the fraternity, no matter what position we hold or have held, we have
a responsibility to our brothers and to the world to treat each others as equals.
No one person is more important than another in the fraternity, even when someone
briefly achieves the position of Most Worshipful Grand Master, the highest position
and leader in any Grand Jurisdiction.
All must be held to the same standards and all must be treated as equals.
It is for all these reasons that most Lodges will end their meeting
with everyone standing on the same surface. It symbolizes that we are all standing together equally and no one, no matter their position, is exempted from standing shoulder
to shoulder with their Brethren.
One of the best examples of on the level comes from an Installation Ceremony. Bob McBride. MSPub / DDGM / Peterborough District‟s Electronic Beacon / 2020-12-01, Volume Fourteen, Issue 04
In it is stated, ―From the ranks you have risen and to the ranks you shall return.‖
It is a reminder that some of us may be called to lead from time to time, Page 56 but we must always remember that we are still ―on the level with our Brethren.
Source: www.masonrytoday.com/index.php?new_month=6&new_day=4&....
One of the sets of Masonic Working Tools used by the Holy City Lodge No. 4 in Jerusalem Israel.
Masonic Working Tools:
In each of the Degrees of Freemasonry, certain implements of the Operative Art are consecrated to the Speculative Science, and adopted to teach as symbols lessons of morality. With these the Speculative Freemason is taught to erect his spiritual Temple, as his Operative predecessors with the same implements so constructed their material Temples. Thus they are known as Working Tools of the Degree. They vary but very slightly in the various Rites, but the same symbolism is preserved. The principal Working-Tools of the Operative Art that have been adopted as symbols in the Speculative Science, confined, however, to Ancient Craft Masonry, and not used in the higher Degrees, are the Twenty-four-inch Gage, Common Gavel, Square, Level, Plumb, Skirret, Compasses, Pencil, Trowel, Mallet, Pickax, Crow, and Shovel.
The following poem, written by Mary Brooks Picken, entitled, "Thimblefuls of Friendliness" was written in 1924, and, perhaps says it, best.
"Thimblefuls of Friendliness"
"Isn't it strange that Princes and Kings
And clowns that caper in sawdust rings,
And just plain folks like you and me,
Are builders for Eternity?
To each is given a bag of tools,
A shapeless mass and a book of rules,
And each must make ere life is flown,
A stumbling block, or a stepping stone.
So,...it's up to you. What will YOU decide to build with YOUR working tools?
On the Level:
The Level is a tool used in construction.
Just about every Mason hears the phrase ―On the Level
when they attend their Lodge meeting. It is one of most basic ideas put forth in Freemasonry.
At it‘s core on the level indicates that an object is the same distance from a common surface no matter where you measure from.
This is critical in construction to make sure that a house or structure
will stand. That the floors do not slope and things will not roll or slide across the floor. Generally in construction when something is level, it has more to do with the ground
on which it stands and gravity as a whole.
In Freemasonry a level not only refers to things that are of equal distance from a common surface, it refers to many other things.
The first thing it refers to is what the phrase most commonly translates to outside of the fraternity. When someone is ―on the level‖ they are honest, they deal with someone fairly. This also can have another allusion most commonly held with one of the Cardinal Virtues of Freemasonry: Justice. The balance scale, that is a common symbol to indicate Justice, has a level as it‘s core element.
With both sides being equal, a balance scale will be level across indicating that both sides are equal.
The second thing, is that it is a reminder that we are all equal in the eyes of death,
often referred to in Masonry as the ―Great Leveler.‖ It means that death comes for us all, no matter what station we have attained in life, no matter what we attained as status
in the fraternity, we will all look upon the face of death. It is a reminder for all of us
that we are no different from the person walking beside us on the street or standing
next to us in our lodge room.
Third and most importantly, it is a reminder to Freemasons that, no matter what we do inside the fraternity, no matter what position we hold or have held, we have
a responsibility to our brothers and to the world to treat each others as equals.
No one person is more important than another in the fraternity, even when someone
briefly achieves the position of Most Worshipful Grand Master, the highest position
and leader in any Grand Jurisdiction.
All must be held to the same standards and all must be treated as equals.
It is for all these reasons that most Lodges will end their meeting
with everyone standing on the same surface. It symbolizes that we are all standing together equally and no one, no matter their position, is exempted from standing shoulder
to shoulder with their Brethren.
One of the best examples of on the level comes from an Installation Ceremony. Bob McBride. MSPub / DDGM / Peterborough District‟s Electronic Beacon / 2020-12-01, Volume Fourteen, Issue 04
In it is stated, ―From the ranks you have risen and to the ranks you shall return.‖
It is a reminder that some of us may be called to lead from time to time, Page 56 but we must always remember that we are still ―on the level with our Brethren.
Source: www.masonrytoday.com/index.php?new_month=6&new_day=4&....