Are we Solomonic?

This is the third in a series of guest editorials by Masonic bloggers on the topic "Masonic Harmony, Unity and Discord." My thanks go out to Bro. Greg Stewart for this essay, and to all who are participating in this project.

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Are we Solomonic?
By Greg Stewart, aka Masonic Traveler

What is Masonic Harmony?

In the tradition of Freemasonry, each of us undergoes a trial of initiation. In most modern traditions, that initiation illustrates the damage wrought at the blatant exhibition of unrestrained and unregulated passion. We witness first hand the results, which include reproach, shame, and death under the ever-watching eye of the Great Architect of the Universe. But the aspect of the initiation, ritual, and trials do not lead us to the wisdom of Solomon. We are not to be made perfect, nor capable of proclaiming our ability to be flawless. Rather, we are encouraged to find the means to bring us closer to that state, just as the man of whom we are said to be in emulation of. Still, as men, our passion can become unbridled, which reorients how we are perceived consequently effecting how our work is adjudged. Is this a fair means to assess by, or a result of the way in which the work was created?

No matter our position in seeking the divine, we in fact are not diefic. But, to seek that spark of our spirit, there must exist a degree of peace to quell the noise of our existence and harmonize with our surroundings. And, as above so too it follows below, if in a state of disharmony within our community there can be no means to connect with that divine resonance together as a community.

It is said that Solomon had that peace, and that Master Hiram practiced it, then so too is it incumbent for us, who are on this same philosophical path, to seek it.

Harmony, however, is difficult to achieve and necessitates a strong will to actualize. At times the interest of justice can seem to be ignored, while at others prudence may be forgotten. Even temperance is forsaken as a way to measure our tone. Further, we lack fortitude to weather the storms instead lashing out and asserting our individual will. To be harmonious requires discipline, which comes from dedicating ones self to the study of Masonry.

The act of being a Master Mason is not a rank title or privilege but a Solomonic-like mantle of self-discipline that necessitates our balance in polar opinion. In that balance we can achieve that harmonious state, and in that state can we then come closer to that divine perfection. The house of the great Architect requires that, and so too does the fraternity of its builders. And no matter the name of the order of builders, without harmony NO house of the adytum can be erected, let alone lived in. Not even by the Great Architect Himself.

So then, what is Masonic harmony? It is the peaceful construction of the Holy of Holies, not the admonition of how it should be built.

— Bro. Greg Stewart, aka Masonic Traveler

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