Masons Travel Gate-to-Gate

I've extracted and expanded on some thoughts from one of my papers ("Living the Journey: What Comes after "Better"?), published on October 14, 2021 and posted under “Papers” and my “Library” .

I like to say that as masons, we travel on a journey from gate to gate. We all start at the same "west gate", metaphorically speaking, and then travel our own, individual paths on our way to the Pearly Gate. We start on the level, and follow our interests and inclinations as we move individually through our lives making our own decisions and learning our own lessons as we go, hoping to again find ourselves at a common ultimate destination, the next and final gate.

As we travel, masonry occasionally forces us to confront our mortality and ponder the immortality of our souls. It provides us "waypoints" where we pause and ponder our present path and our ultimate destiny. A master may tell us of the passing of a brother and we gather in his memory to provide his masonic graveside rites. Yes, we are seeing our brother off as he is accepted and passes through a new gate, The Pearly Gate of the Celestial Lodge above for his next journey, but we should also be reminded at the same time of our own mortality in this solemn moment of reflection.

It is these moments and moments similar to these, maybe for friends that are not masons, that we must consider our own fitness, our own readiness to approach and ultimately enter that next great gate. We once waited anxiously outside the masonic west gate; waited to be found worthy, and to be found well-qualified to enter. And our journeys will eventually take each of us to that ultimate gate where we will wait again to be judged on our worthiness and qualification to enter.

Will we have used our time and our travels wisely? Have we taken the opportunities along our paths to qualify ourselves for our arrival at this final gate and ultimate passage? Or have we failed to learn from our experience at the west gate? You see, that really was our very first lesson in masonry, that appearance at a symbolic gate to be judged and deemed worthy or unworthy. I believe this lesson was allegorical for our journey to the Pearly Gate where, after a life lived so far was then to be judged worthy. This to me was the preparatory lesson in masonry, teaching us that our road will take us one day to the place and moment of ultimate judgement, and providing us the true beginning of journey that might qualify us to enter that Celestial Lodge. It taught us that our own free will brought us to that masonic west gate, and it will be our own free will that leads us along the path of our journey to the Pearly Gate where we will next and finally be judged.

We craved and heard the words "...let him be received..." at the west gate. Have we since used our journeys not just as an adventure or life to be endured, but as our path and means to prepare ourselves properly to ensure the next time we find ourselves at a gate we hear the words "...well done thy good and faithful servant"?

My brother, masonry makes it easy to remember or to remind ourselves of the purpose of our journey. When you are struggling, when you are considering a moral question of right and wrong, simply remind yourself that as a mason, you travel from "gate to gate".

S&F

Bro. Bill