Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1913-10-01

strength in ways most worth while, |
ways in which he may serve his times |
with the finest and strongest of his |
powers. Masonry comes with an up.
lifted vision, a wide view of large op-
portunities and vast realms of SER
vice.
A second characteristic of the mod !
ern age is its wide spread and con-
trolling interest in the present world.
With all its suffering and distress
the present world seems to the modern
man a more satisfying place than it
did to the representative men of other
days.
1t has been Chara of other
ages to regard the golden age as past
and that nothing better might be ex-
| pected.
| But our times thrill and electrify
with possibilities. Human life now is
tremendous in its outlook and pur-
pose
/ Men now have an unbounded faith
in the future and live in the convic-
ton that every day is rich with fine
opportunity.
| Masonry does not permit men to
think that the earth is a poor and
unsatisfying place, but puts before
his vision a work worth doing now
and here for this world, in which he
may throw all the Royalties of his
soul and life.
Another characteristic of our age
is its growing social concern for the
welfare of the depressed classes.
Never was the social conscience of
men SO wideawake as now.
Never was character so interpreted
in social terms and the burden of the
welfare of society increasingly felt
both by individuals and institutions.
Our generation is burning with zeal
for social, economic and civic reform
and is controlled by the idea of human
brotherhood and marked by its prac-
tlce as no generation ever was.
1t is just here that Masonry finds
its greatest field of service and makes
its largest apology for existence
1t is the men who have been it's
builders who are the worlds bene-
factors, the men who have supplanted
weeds with wheat, who have spanned
crevices with bridges, who have made
| fearsome electricity servant of COM
fort, who have sung the songs that
changed night into day, who have put
hope into the disconsolate and have
added to human life an increment of
! blessedness
CT nd fha g
men big enough for these tasks.
Personality is the key to the issues
of life. Take that and you hold the
citadel; lose that and all is lost.
We have remedies for social ills to
spare, but they will fail unless there
be found men who are prepared and
ready to serve humanity's needs.
1t makes no difference where you
look. In business, in politics, in edu-
cation or religion, everywhere the cry
is for large-minded, whole souled
men.
This institution is out for the MAX
ing of big men, men free from base
passion, free from prejudice, from sell
fishness and intolerance, men who
are on the highway leading from err
ror to truth, from imperfection to true
manhood, men who will strive to re-
concile all mankind in the ties of a
common brotherhood To help in the
production of such characters is the
true mission of Masonry.
WHAT MASONRY IS NOT.
There are some things which Free
masonry is not.
l. And one OF these is that it is not
reform institution. While its teach
ings are ennobling and helpful yet they
are not to be applied in doubtful cases
| Masonry is not exclusive but inclusive.
Excluding those who do not sympa-
thize with her noble principles and
| aims and inclusive of those who de
sire fellowship in the exemplification
of its noble tenets. 1t is not wise
/ therefore for a lodge to admit TO
Masonic privileges one who in heart
and life is not in harmony with
Masonry in the hope that 1t will make
| him a better man. IL may do so, but
TIE risk is too great. If man is not
a Mason in spirit and conduct before
he becomes q Mason it is not likely
that he will be after he receives the
rights and benefits of our noble insti
tuition. One OF its elements of great
est service to men is that it unifies
u good men and brings them together
with common purposes, comrlon meth
4 DDS and common sympathy and fra
4 ternity.
II 2. One OF the noticeable features
II Of our day is its loneliness. We live
H in a time Of specialists, and specialize
H ton means isolation. II used to be il