How Important Is Freemasonry?

Is this all just junk?

Stephen King, in his masterpiece “On Writing” tells a story about his time in Junior High School:

““What I don’t understand, Stevie,” she [the principle of his school] said, “is why you’d write junk like this in the first place. You’re talented. Why do you want to waste your abilities?” She had a rolled up copy of V.I.B. #1 and was brandishing it at me the way a person might brandish a rolled-up newspaper at a dog that has just piddled on the rug. She waited for me to answer — to her credit, the question was not entirely rhetorical — but I had no answer to give. I was ashamed. I have spent a good many years since — too many, I think — being ashamed about what I write.”

And:

“I guess that means I won in the end, at least in the financial sense. But in my heart I stayed ashamed. I kept hearing Miss Hisler asking why I wanted to waste my talent, why I wanted to waste my time, why I wanted to write junk.”

Photo by Vitalii Onyshchuk on Unsplash

I have no idea how many words I’ve written about Freemasonry through the years. But I can say, with confidence, that it is a massive body of work. Printed and bound it would take up a mighty bit of shelf space. But, alas, virtually all of it is digital, so we need not worry about having a place to put it all.

Why have I done such a thing?

Because to my mind, Freemasonry is vital.

To my way of thinking, without Freemasonry the western world as we understand and experience it would not exist. Democracy as we practice it would not exist. Freemasonry taught millions the values of the enlightenment, and the importance of representative government.

But I fear that many Masons, honestly most Masons, don’t see our Ancient Craft the same way I do. They don’t understand its historical importance, or see how it can help to better our world today.

Some do, most do not.

Most view Freemasonry as a frivolous thing, a way to get out of the house once in awhile, a social club.

Recognizing that truth, I often wonder if I’m wasting my time and talent when I write about Freemasonry. I wonder if I’m doing anymore than spinning my wheels, pissing away countless hours.

King, one of the most famous and successful authors the world has ever known, speaks of being ashamed of writing in the horror genre for decades of his life. He mentions that almost all who write are accused of wasting their time and talents. So, I suppose it is quite natural and normal to have doubts of that nature about our work.

I know that not everything I write about our Craft is good. Yet I also know that some of what I write about our Craft is great. I’m the author, and as such I’m in the rather unique position of not knowing which is which. This is something that only the reader can decide.

But I would proudly stack my work up against every other Masonic author.

So, I write. I write about our Ancient Craft because I believe that Craft to be a vital part of our civilization, and I write about it because I believe that I do it well. Well enough to do my little part to strengthen my fellow Masons, and our Lodges.

I write despite knowing that, as the great Mackey pointed out so long ago, most Masons don’t care and won’t bother to read.

But a writer without a reader is worthless indeed. So, who do I write for?

I write for you.

I write for the very miniscule percentage of Freemasons who subscribe to Emeth. For those who read my words. For those who comment here. For those who share these essays. And for those who support the work with their dollars, these most importantly, for without them, the work could not exist.

I write for you. Those of you who, like me, actually do care.

Honestly, I quite love writing about our Craft for you.

I believe that I am rather uniquely suited to write about our Craft for you. Simply because it might be easy for a Grand Master who gets pissed off about something a Mason has written to take action against that Mason. As a PGM myself, such a thing would not be so easy, and it certainly wouldn't be quiet. A Grand Master may bluster and bitch because I objected to one of his ideas, but he’d have a mighty hard time doing more than that. So, I’m safe. Safe in a way that another Mason might not be.

And that is really important. It is really important because if we are going to write about our Ancient Craft, we must be able to write honestly. We can not write about Freemasonry effectively if fear of consequence requires us to do so through a dishonest lens.

But still the doubt remains.

Am I wasting my time and talent by writing so much about Freemasonry? Neglecting in turn other writing that I could be doing?

I wrote an essay this morning that will be published soon. It’s not about Freemasonry. It’s about a Zippo lighter. But it’s not really about a Zippo lighter. It’s actually about international trade, and the huge debate over that subject currently taking place in our United States.

Is that more important than writing about Freemasonry?

Perhaps. Perhaps not. I don’t know. The doubts remain.