HOW MASONIC EDUCATION ADMITS ONE TO THE GLORY AND GREATNESS OF MASONRY

HOW MASONIC EDUCATION ADMITS ONE TO THE GLORY AND GREATNESS OF MASONRY

Author: Joseph Fort Newton

Year: 1923

In this deeply personal piece of architecture, Joseph Fort Newton reflects on his journey with Freemasonry to illustrate how Masonic education is the key to appreciating the fraternity's true greatness. He begins by recounting powerful family stories from the Civil War era, where Masons offered quiet aid to his widowed mother and a Union officer saved the life of his captured Confederate father, demonstrating a brotherhood that transcended even the bitterness of war. Despite this profound heritage, the author describes how he lost interest in the Order after his own initiation. He was full of questions about the meaning and history behind the rituals, but neither his Lodge Master nor other senior Masons could provide satisfactory answers beyond "that is the way Masons have always done things." It was only years later, when he undertook the task of writing an introductory book for new Masons, that his passion was rekindled. This experience convinced him that lodges must give young men more than just the ritual to keep them engaged. Newton then explains his understanding of Masonry's core philosophy. He praises its exclusion of partisan politics and sectarian religion, which allows i