From the Office of the Right Worshipful Grand Lecturer
Brotherly Love
Brotherly love. Oh, yes, the lodge is full of it. It is curious the way it manifests itself, sometimes, but when you dig down deep enough into men's hearts, you find a lot of it. A lot of them never show it.
Oh no, certainly not. Men don't go around demonstrating their affection like a lot of girls. But you don't have to see a demonstration to know the feeling is there. The trouble with so many young Masons is their misunderstanding of the term brotherly love, though high heaven knows the words are sufficiently easy to understand.
Brotherly, now, means like a brother. I know a lot of brothers hate each other, but they don't act like brothers. There have been cowardly soldiers, and forsworn ministers, and corrupt judges, but when you say a man is like a soldier, you mean brave and true. When you say he is good as a minister, you mean one who truly does his honest best. When you say upright as a judge, you mean as straight as the best of judges. And when I say brotherly, mean like a brother, I mean, like a brother who is acting as a good brother likes to act.
As for love, there are more definitions than there are words in my mouth (which are several). But in connection with the brotherly, the word means that true affection which first considers the good of the person loved.
Masonry teaches brotherly love. Many of its scholars are a long way from 100 per cent perfect in their lessons. But a lot more could get E on their report card if the Lodge gave out evidence of scholastic standing. For instance, there was Brother Jones, that's not the real name, but if will serve. Brother Jones undertook to do a piece of work for a hospital. It took him a year. At the end of the of the year his business was in shreds and tatters. He had one of those businesses that needs a man's personal attention. His attention had gone to his hospital, which, by the way, was built and
flourishes, to the everlasting credit of his city. It ought to be called the Brother Jones hospital, but it isn't. A lot of his brethren in his lodge got to know about Brother Jones. They called a meeting, called it the Brother Jones meeting, issued stock in the Brother Jones association, bought the stock, started Brother Jones all over again, and let him pay them back as he could. All this, without Brother Jones ever asking for help. Brotherly love, my brothers, in the best meaning of the word.
There was poor old Smith, again not the real name. Smith, during his lifetime, came to lodge every night. He wasn't very bright. He couldn't learn the work and had no presence. Couldn't make a speech to save his life, so he never was called on at banquets. He never did anything audible, but he was always on committees and he always passed around refreshments and he attended every funeral, and he was always down ahead of the meeting to see if the room was clean, and if it wasn't, he would sweep it out.
He gave the best he had in service. Well, Smith died. Men do, you know, an awful lot have, already. At the funeral, we found out Smith left an invalid wife and two half grown children and no assets. It's the lodge business to take care of such, and they did. But three brother in the lodge with more money than ability to keep it to themselves, subscribed enough cash to put the boy through a good business school and the girl through a normal school, so they could earn their own living. Charity? Nonsense, the lodge attended to the relief. The three attended to brotherly love. They just remembered what old Smith was and how he gave, and so they turned to and gave. Actually, Smith did most of the loving. The three just acted in reflex to Smith's loving heart, that so cared for his brethren and his lodge he was always engaged in brotherly work.
I could talk all night about it. But what's the use? Those to whom brotherly love is just words won't listen to what I say and those who
know what they really mean don't need to hear it. I am glad I heard it. Get it firmly fixed in your mind brothers, more than one man has gone into a lodge and curled his lip when he learned that he was supposed to be a brotherly lover, and turned around and wept when he found that he was being loved like a brother by men he didn't know cared what became of him.
Masonry works miracles all the time, and the commonest of them and the one she works often is teaching hard-hearted citizens to be soft hearted Masons, teaching men the real meaning of the words brotherly and love until they, too, become teachers.