True, there was a Hiram Abif in history, but our Third Degree goes far beyond what history tells of him. Our Hiram Abif is a symbol of the human soul. If, therefore, you have been troubled with the thought that some of the events of this drama could not have happened, you can ease your mind. If they never happened in history, they are symbols of what happens in the life of every man. It is an inexcusable blunder to treat the drama as a mock tragedy or semi-comedy.
Savage peoples employ initiation ceremonies as an ordeal.
But Freemasonry is not savage. The exemplification of our ritualistic drama should be as sincere, as solemn and as earnest as a prayer before the Altar. He who takes it trivially or with perverted humor betrays a shallowness of soul which shows him unfit to be a Mason. To repeat, Hiram Abif is a symbol of the human soul. The work he was engaged to supervise is the symbol of the work we do when we supervise, organize and direct our lives from birth to death.