Freemasonry ‘s greatest problems are lack of interest in its teachings and attendance at communications. Many plans have been devised by our leaders and lecturer’s to stimulate interest and increase attendance, but few such efforts are temporarily effective.

As your Grand Lecturer it is my job to attracts as many good men now as in the past. But in the absence of a concerted effort to teach our Craft cause a lack of interest in the brother’s to attend meetings.

It is my belief that a good strong teaching program in any jurisdiction will bring the old Master Masons as well as the Newly made Master Masons back attend Lodge meetings.

The Enter Apprentice Degree, being the first symbol degree of the three degrees has much to officer. There are many books out their on the first degree that we over look once we receive our Master Mason Degree.

I know you have heard these words before. At your leisure hours that you may improve in Masonic Knowledge you are to converse with well – informed brethren, who will always be as ready to give, as you will be ready to receive.

Freemasonry is a system of morality, veiled in allegory, and illustrated by symbols.

This definition of the Ancient Craft means much more to the well-informed Freemason than to the initiate, to whom it can convey but little. Naturally he wants to know "why Freemasonry? Why is it veiled? Why illustrated with symbols?

Freemasonry is "veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols" because these are the surest ways by which moral and ethical truths may be taught. It is not only with the brain and the mind that the initiate must take in freemasonry but also with the heart.

Mind speaks to mind with spoken or written words. Heart speaks to heart with words, which cannot be written or spoken. Those words are symbols; words which mean little to the indifferent, much to the understanding

The body has its five senses through which the mind may learn; the mind has also imagination. That imagination may see farther than eyes and hear sounds fainter than may be caught by ears. To the imagination symbols become plain as printed words to the eye. Nothing else will do; no words can be as effective (unless they are themselves symbols); no teachings expressed in language are as easily learned by the mind as those, which come via the symbol through the imagination..

Take from Freemasonry its symbols, the husk remain, the kernel is gone. He who hears but the words of Freemasonry misses their meaning entirely.

Having passed the ballot, the petitioner in due course is notified, presents himself and is initiated.

He then becomes an Entered Apprentice Mason. He is a Mason to the extent that he is called "brother" and has certain rights; he is not yet a Mason in the legal Masonic sense. Seeing a framework erected on a plot of ground we reply to the question, " What are they building?" by saying, "A house. "We mean, "They are building something which eventually will be a house. "The Entered Apprentice is a Mason only in the sense that he is a rough ashlar, in process of being made into a perfect ashlar.

The Entered Apprentice is the property of the lodge; he can receive his Fellowcraft and Master Mason degrees nowhere else without its permission. But he does not yet pay dues to the lodge, he is not yet permitted to sign its by-laws, he can enter the lodge only when it is open on the first degree, he cannot hold office, vote or ballot, receive Masonic burial, attend a Masonic funeral as a member of the lodge, and has no right to Masonic charity.

He has the right to ask his lodge for his Fellowcraft’s degree. He has the right of instruction by competent brethren to obtain that "suitable proficiency" in the work of the first degree, which will entitle him to his second degree if the brethren are willing to give it to him.

The lodge asks very little of an Entered Apprentice besides the secrecy to which his obligation bound him and those exhibitions of character outlined in the charge given at the close of the degree.

It requires that he be diligent in learning and that so far as he is able he will suit his convenience as to time and place to that of his instructors.

In the Middle Ages operative apprentices were required to labour seven years before they were thought to know enough to attempt to become Fellow of the Craft. At the end of the seven – year period an apprentice who had earned the approbation of those over him might make his Master’s piece and submit it to the judgment of the Master and Wardens of his lodge.

The Master’s piece was some difficult task of stone cutting or setting. Whether he as admitted as a Fellow or turned back for further instruction depended on its perfection.

The Master’s piece survives in Speculative Masonry only as a small task and seven years have shrunk to a minimum of one month. Before knocking at the door of the West Gate for his Fellowcraft’s Degree an Entered Apprentice must learn "by heart" a part of the ritual and the ceremonies through which he has passed.

Easy for some, difficult for others, this is an essential task. It must be done, and well done. It is no kindness to an Entered Apprentice to permit him to proceed if the Master’s piece is badly made.

As the initiate converses with well – informed brethren, he will learn that there are literally millions of Masons in the world – three millions in the United States. He does not know them; they do not know him. Unless he can prove that he is a Mason, he cannot visit in a lodge where he is not known, neither can he apply for Masonic aid, nor receive Masonic welcome and friendship.

Hence the requirement that the Entered Apprentice learn his work well is in his own interest.

But it is also of interest to all brethren, where so ever dispersed, that the initiate know his work. They may find it as necessary to prove themselves to him, as he may need to prove himself to them. If he does not know his work, he cannot receive a proof more than he can give it.

The initiate should be not only willing but also enthusiastically eager to learn what is required because of its effect upon his future Masonic career. The Entered Apprentice who wins the honour of being passed to the degree of Fellowcraft by having well performed the only task set him goes forward feeling that he is worthy. As Speculative Freemasonry builds only character, a feeling of unworthiness is as much a handicap in lodge life as a piece of faulty stone is in building a wall.

But the most important reason for learning the work thoroughly goes farther. It applies more and more as the Fellowcraft’s Degree is reached and passed and is most vital after the initiate has the proud right to say, "I am a Master Mason.."

One of the great appeals of Freemasonry, both to the profane and to Masons, is its antiquity. The Order can trace an unbroken history of more than two hundred years in its present form (the Mother Grand Lodge was formed in 1717), and has irrefutable documentary evidence of a much longer existence in simpler forms.

Our present rituals – the plural is used advisedly, as no two jurisdictions are exactly at one on what is correct in ritual are the source books from which we prove just where we came from and, to some extent, just when.

If we alter our ritual, either intentionally or by Masonically, from pro and fanum, meaning, "without the temple." To a Mason a profane is one not a Mason; the profane world is all that is not in the Masonic world. The word as used by Masons has no relation to that used to describe what is irreligious or blasphemous.

If in spite of us alterations creep in by the slow process of time and human fallibility, how much faster will the ritual change if we are careless or indifferent? The farther away we get from our original source, the more meticulously careful must trust-worthy Masons be to pass on the work to posterity exactly as we receive it.

Ritual is the tread, which binds us to those who immediately preceded us, as their ritual bound them to their fathers, our grandfathers. The ritual we hand down to our sons and their sons’ sons will be their bonds with us, and through us with the historic dead.

The lodge is a symbol of the world. Its shape, the "oblong square" is the ancient conception of the shape of the world. The Entered Apprentice is taught its dimensions, its covering, its furniture, its lights, its jewels, and will learn more of it as a symbol as he proceeds through the degrees. Although a symbol of the world, the lodge is a world unto itself; a world within a world, different in its customs, its laws, and its structure from the world without. In the world without are class distinctions, wealth, power, poverty, and misery. In the lodge are all on a level and peace and harmony prevail. In the world without most laws are "thou shalt not" and enforced by penalties. In the lodge the laws are mostly "thou shalt" and compulsion is seldom thought of and as rarely invoked. Freemasons obey their laws not so much because they must as because they will. In the lodge men are united in the common bond of three fundamental beliefs: the Fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of man and the immortality of the soul, and all the sweet associations, which spring there from. In the lodge the initiate does as all others who have gone this way before him.

This mouthful of a word, meaning literally "walking around," is not only the name of a part of a degree but also of a symbol. The Candidate is conducted around the lodge room for a reason later explained, but the inner meaning of this ceremony is hidden. Its deep significance unties the initiate not only with all who have gone this way before in a Masonic lodge, but with those uncounted millions of men who for thousand of years have made of circumambulation an offering of homage to the unseen presence.

Among the first religions were sun and fire worship. Prehistoric man found God in nature. Thunder was his voice; lightning was his weapon; wind was his breath; fire was His presence. The sun gave light and heath; it kept away the wild beasts; it grew the crops; it was life itself. Fire gave light and heath and prepared the food – it, also, was life itself. Worship of the sun in the sky was conducted symbolically by worship of fire upon piles of stones, which were the first altars.

The sun seems to move from east to west by way of the south. Early man circled altars, on which burned the fire, which was his God, from east to west by way of the south. Circumambulation became a part of all religious observances; it was in the ceremonies of ancient Egypt; it was part of the mysteries of Eleusis; it was practiced in the rites of Mithras and a thousand other cults, and down through the ages it has come to us.

When the candidate first circles the lodge room about the altar, he walks step by steps with a thousand shades of men who have thus worshipped the Most High by humble imitation. Thus thought of circumambulation is no longer a mere parade but a ceremony of significance, linking all who take part in it with the spiritual aspirations of a dim and distant past.

A further significant teaching of this symbol is its introduction to the idea of dependence. Freemasonry speaks plainly here to him who listens.

From the hour we are born till we are laid in the grave we grope our way in the dark, and none could find or keep the path without a guide. From how many ills, how many perils, how many pitfalls we are guarded in the midst of the year.

With all our boasted wisdom and foresight, even when we fancy we are secure, we may be in the presence of dire danger, if not of death itself.

Truly it does not lie in man to direct his path. And without a true and trusted friend in whom we can confide, not one of us would find his way home. So Masonry teaches us, simply but unmistakably, at the first step as at the last, that we live and walk by faith, not by sight; and to know that fact is the beginning of wisdom. Since this is so, since no man can find his way alone, in life as in the lodge we must in humility trust our guide, learn His ways, follow Him and fear no danger.

In an Entered Apprentice's lodge, the 133^rd Psalm is read.

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Asron's beard; that went down to the skirts of his garments; As the dew of Hermon and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion, for there the Lord command the blessing, even life for evermore.

Unity is an essential of a Masonic lodge. Unity of thought, of intention, of execution. It is but another word for harmony, which Freemasons are taught is the strength and support of all well regulated institutions, especially this of ours. Dew is nature's blessing where little rain falls; the dew of Hermon is proverbially heavy. Israel poured precious ointments on the heads of those the people honored; that which went down to the skirts of his garments was evidently great in quantity, significant of the honour paid to Aaron, personification of high priest - hood, representative of the solidity of his group. The whole passage is a glorification of the beauty of brotherly love, which is why it was anciently selected to be a part of the Entered Apprentice's Degree, in which the initiate is first introduced to that principal tent of the Fraternity.

In old rituals this was originally "cable rope." Our cable tow probably comes from the German "Kabel tau."

The cable tow is symbolic of that life cord by which the infant receives life from his mother. Symbolically the cable tow is the cord by which the Masonic infant is attached to his Mother Lodge. When a baby is born the physical cord is severed but never the knife was ground, which can cut the spiritual cord, which ties a man to his mother. In the Entered Apprentice Degree the physical restraint of the cable tow is removed as soon as the spiritual bond of the obligation is assumed but never the means has been made by which to cut the obligation, which binds a man to his Mother Lodge and the gentle craft. Expulsion does not release from the obligation; unaffiliation does not dissolve the tie; demitting and joining another lodge cannot make of the new lodge.

When an initiate is first brought to light, the radiance comes from the three Lesser Lights, which form a triangle about or near the altar. Lesser Lights are lit when the lodge is opened and the altar arranged and extinguished when the lodge is closed and the Great Lights displaced. Not very much are said of them in the ritual. They form one of those symbols in Freemasonry… of which there are so many! Which the individual brother is supposed to examine and translate for himself, getting from it what he can and enjoying what he gets in direct proportion to the amount of labour and thought he is willing to devote to the process of extracting the meaning from the outer covering.

In some jurisdictions the Lesser Lights are closely about the altar: in others one is placed at each of the stations of the three principal officers. In some lodges the three Lesser Lights form a right, in others and equilateral, in others an isosceles triangle. What is uniform throughout the Masonic world is the triangular formation; what is different is the shape and size of the triangle.

Of course, it is not possible to place three lights to form anything else but a triangle; they cannot be made to form a square or a star. Hence the natural question: why are there three Lesser Lights and not two or four or more?

There is "three" throughout Ancient Craft Masonry. The first of the great sacred Number of the Ancient Mysteries, three was the numerical symbol of God, but not because God was necessarily considered triune. While many religions of many ages and peoples have conceived of Divinity as a trinity, the figure three as a symbol of God is far older than any Trinitarian doctrine. The triangle, like the circle, is without beginning or ending. One line, or two lines, has ends. They start and finish. Like the square or the five or more sides figure, the triangle has no loose ends. And the triangle is the first of these, which can be made; as God was always considered as first, and also as without either beginning or ending, the triangle itself soon became a symbol of Deity.

By the light of the Lesser Lights the Entered Apprentice is led to see those objects which means so much to a Mason, the Great Lights; the inestimable gift of God to man as the rule and guide for his faith and practice, the tools dedicated to the Craft and to the Master, the Alpha and Omega of Freemasonry. Light alone is not enough; light must be used! Here, too, is symbolism, which it is well to muse upon.

As the lodge as a whole is a symbol of the world, so should a Mason’s heart be to him always a symbol of the lodge. In it he should carry ever what he may remember of the Great Light and with spiritual compasses lay out his work; with spiritual square, square both work and actions toward all mankind, "more especially a brother Mason. " Therefore must he carry also in his heart three tiny Lesser Lights, by the light of which he uses his spiritual lodge furnishings? If he lights these from the torch of love and burns one for friendliness, one for helpfulness and one for godliness, he will be truly an initiate in the real sense of that term, and about the altar of Freemasonry find a new satisfaction in the new meanings which the three Lesser Lights will, with silent light and soft, imprint upon his heart.

More ancient than the Golden Fleece or Roman Eagle, more honorable than the Star and Garter.

In these words the ritual seeks to impress upon him who has been invested with the white lambskin apron its value and its importance.

The Order of the Golden Fleece was founded by Philip, Duke of Burgundy, in 1429.

The Roman Eagle was Rome’s symbol and ensign of power and might a hundred years before Christ.

The Order of the Star was created by John II of France in the middle of the Fourteenth century.

The Order of the Garter was founded by Edward III of England in 1349 for himself and twenty-five Knights of the Garter.

It is commonly supposed that the apron became the "badge of a Mason" because stonemasons wore apron to protect their clothing from the rough contact of building material. But the apron is far, far older than Golden fleece or Roman Eagle, than the Star or Garter, than the stonemasons of the middle Ages – aye, older than the Comacine Masters, the Collegia of Rome.

The Hebrew prophets wore aprons and the high Priests were so decorated. In the mysteries of Egypt and of India aprons were worn as symbols of priestly power. The earliest Chiness secret societies used aprons; the Essenes wore them, as did the Incas of Peru and the Aztecs of Mexico.

Throughout the Old Testament are references to lambs, often in connection with sacrifices, frequently used in a sense symbolic of innocence, purity, gentleness, and weakness, a matter aided by co lour, which we unconsciously associate with purity?

This association is universal in Freemasonry, and the initiate should strive to keep his apron white and himself innocent. His badge of a Mason should symbolize in its co lour the purity of his Masonic character; he should forever be innocent of wrong toward all but "more especially a brother Mason."

With the presentation of the apron the lodge accepts the initiate as worthy. It entrusts to his hands its distinguishing badge. With it and symbolized by it comes one of the most precious and most gracious of gifts: the gift of brotherhood. Lucky the Entered Apprentice who has the wit to see the extent and the meaning of the gift; thrice lucky the lodge whose initiates find in it and keep that honour, probity and power, that innocence, strength, and spiritual contact, that glory of unity and oneness with all the Masonic world which may be read into this symbol by him who hath open eyes of the heart with which to see.

Apron Charge: it is yours to wear throughout an honorable life, and at your death to be placed upon the coffin which shall contain your mortal remains and with them laid beneath the silent clouds of the valley. Let its pure and spotless surface be to you an ever-present reminder of a purity of life and rectitude of conduct, a never – ending argument for nobler deeds, for higher thoughts, for greater achievements. And when at last your weary feet shall have come to the end of their toilsome journey, and from your nerveless grasp shall drop the working tools of life, may the record of your thoughts and actions be as pure and spotless as this emblem…

For thus, and thus only, may it be worn with pleasure to yourself and honour to the Fraternity.

The Entered Apprentice receives from the hands of the Master two working tools.

The Twenty-four Inch Gauge is well explained in the ritual, but the significance of one point is sometimes overlooked. The Entered Apprentice is taught that by the Twenty – four Inch Gauge he should divide his time: "Eight hours for the service of God and a distressed worthy brother; eight for the usual vocations, and eight for refreshment and sleep."

There is no time to be wasted. There is no time to be idle. There is no time for waiting.

The implication is plain; the Entered Apprentice should be always ready to use his tools. He should recall the words of flavius to the workman in Julius Caesar, "Where is thy leather apron and thy rule? What does thou with thy best apparel on? " Freemasonry is not only for the lodge room but for life. Not to take the Twenty - four Inch Gauge into the profane world and by its divisions number the hours for the working of a constructive purpose is to miss the practical application of Masonic labour and Masonic charity.

The Common Gavel which "breaks off the corners of rough stones, the better to fit them for the builder's use" joins the rough and perfect Ashlars in a hidden symbol of the Order at once beautiful and tender. The famous sculptor and ardent Freemason, Gutzon Borglum, asked how are carved stone into beautiful statues, once said, "It is very simple. I merely knock away with hammer and chisel the stone.

In the Great Light we read: "The Kingdom of heaven is within you." We are also there taught that man is made in the image of God. As Brother Borglum has so beautifully said, images are made by a process of taking away. The perfection is already within. All that is required is to remove the roughness, the excrescences, "divesting our hearts and consciences of all the vices and superfluities of life" to show forth the perfect man and Mason within.

The Common Gavel has in every lodge a still further significance; it is the symbol of the authority of the Worshipful Master. Later the initiate will learn of the great extent of the power vested in the Master of a lodge; sufficient now to say that the wise Master uses his power sparingly and never arbitrarily. While the peace and harmony of the Craft are maintained, he need not use it except as the ritual or custom of presiding in the lodge requires. If he so use it will be respected and its possessor will be venerated.

The Master always retains possession of the gavel and never allows it beyond reach. He carriers it with him when he moves about the lodge in process of conferring a degree. When the lodge is in charge of the Junior Warden at refreshment, it is the Junior Warden who uses a gavel to control the lodge. The gavel is the Master's symbol of authority and reminds him that although his position is the highest within the gift of the brethren, he is yet but a brother among brethren.