Each one of us, who have joined a Masonic Order, has his preferences with regard to the parts comprising the Masonic Ritual. Each of these parts is targeting into achieving an advanced state of concentration, helping the participants escape from their everyday lives and see themselves as integral parts of the Masonic symbolism and drama, by descending to the depth of their conscience.
For many of us, the most favorite part of the activities in a Lodge is the presentation of the Masonic Piece, as it is presented by a brother. It is the ritual of the propagation of Knowledge and Ideas to the participating brothers, as well as the cause for the production of some very fertile (and sometimes emotionally charged) discussions. Furthermore, it is the written History of each Lodge, indicative of the unrestrained Spirit born in it.
From the moment Man began to produce sounds in order to communicate, he attempted, at any cost, to immortalize his thoughts. Maybe that urge came from our inborn laziness to repeat what we already said once, or from a selfish temptation to immortalize our wisdom (that's why I'm keeping this blog, in the first place). Thus, the Written Word was born.
However, as many people can testify, the Written Word is something much more than a mere schematic reproduction of the spoken word. In essence, it has such a relationship with the spoken word, as to using a GPS device to get somewhere, compared to getting instructions from my aunt Betsy, whose brain has become like Swiss cheese (actually I have not so many aunts, however, in order to make some literary impressions, I invent some, which later fade into the mist of History, along with GPS devices and Swiss cheese).
The Written Word is something living and breathing and immediately after its birth and propagation, it alienates itself from its creator, to the extent that he (the creator) has just another opinion about it, among the multitude of opinions created from reading of the text. It has become a small or large reference point and much like the Fine Arts, the intelligent and persuasive Written Word creates a multitude of ideas and emotions to other people, some of which are totally different than the original thoughts of its creator.
The fact that some writer achieved a notable mental creation, may be an honor for him, however, that creation cannot be controlled by him, anymore. It is a spiritual path that leads men into uncharted territories. When you drive to Chicago, you never wonder as to who designed the Interstate, as far as it is modern, well-built, safe to travel and it gets you through some interesting landscapes (well, not many to find on your road to Chicago). Therefore, the Written Word incorporates the wisdom of its creator, but it de-personifies it, makes it its own and spreads it to other people making them co-owners of that wisdom.
The built-in Anarchy of the Written Word, meaning its power to create a multitude of different thoughts and emotions, is the foundation of human Freedom, given the fact that nobody, not even its creator, has the right to impose some particular path of thought, an action that would lead to Dogma, a state which by its nature is constrictive to the Freedom of thought. Nobody can know in advance the shape of the tree that will spring from the seed we have dropped, except if our purpose is to create a bonsai which, regardless of its beauty, is an abomination against Nature.
Jesus Christ existed only through the writings of the (much later) evangelists, as Socrates existed through the writings of Plato and Homer through the writings of a much later generation of bards who put on papyrus or clay whatever they could remember from the oral tradition, handed down to them. The oral Word of all the above great men, no matter how enlighted and wise it may have been, would be lost in the mist of Time, if somebody else had not immortalized it on a tablet, for the generations to come. Much later, Muhammad, the founder of Islam, fully appreciated that fact and took care to leave his Written Word by himself, thus maintaining a much closer spiritual relationship to his philosophy, than the previous great men. However, all the problems emanating from these two large Religions, started when some “wise” men decided that they were the sole holders of the Truth behind the Word...
The Written Word is the Power that can modify Reality in ways that not even its writer can imagine. Since “Scripta Manent”, therefore, that Power is capable of acting in our society many years after the physical demise of its creator.
All the above, my dearest friend, brother and sole reader, are indicative, I believe, of the spirit that should govern the Speaker of the evening. Freemasonry is possibly the last shelter of free thinking, imposing no obstacle to the search for the Truth. We, therefore, must honor the privilege given to us to speak in front of our brothers and we can honor it only by ignoring all these repetitive references to bro.: Albert Pike's work and allow our Spirit to roam freely, with a sense of “anarchy” and love for our listeners, so that we may produce something that (if possible) could alter the way they see Life itself.
And this, my brother, shall be accomplished only if we allow our Psyche to speak.
I was extremely fortunate to listen to 1-2 speeches of this nature, so far.
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