THE BEEHIVE
“Wherefore we labor, that, whether or not present
or absent, we may be accepted of him.”
two Cor. 5:nine
Of all the hieroglyphic emblems described to a Master Mason none is more significant than the beehive. Symbolizing industry and labor, the beehive is mentioned to instruct us that operate is required of all guys and creatures on earth, as effectively as of the creatures in heaven. It serves as a reminder that real joy and prosperity are identified only when gentleman labors diligently for the frequent very good. So important is that labor that Masonry regards the guy who refuses to work for his neighbor as a drone – a worthless member of modern society who is unworthy of getting secured as a Mason.
All through historical past, the bee has been regarded as a image of knowledge. As the bee extracts pollen from the bouquets, so does man extract knowledge from the activities in his daily life. The insect is also considered sacred to the goddess Venus and is one of the several existence kinds for whose origin cannot presently be traced. In that bees are dominated by queens, they are also viewed as consultant of the so-referred to as female basic principle. Nevertheless, Masonry retains much more closely to the symbolism that relates to market and labor – for quite clear causes.
The Great Architect has not created a entire world loaded with rich gentlemen and females. Relatively, the earth largely is composed of human beings who are so poor that each and every must toil ceaselessly for a meager subsistence. It is specifically for this cause that Masonry holds perform in such high esteem. It honors the worker who makes, as opposed to the person who merely consumes that which the labor of others generates.
The law of attraction, so nicely known to Masonry from time immemorial, theorizes that man’s life consists of that which he helps make for himself. The concept rests heavily on positive considering, but positive pondering with out work to achieve the process is as useless as the Apostle James discovered faith with out functions. Imagined lays out the strategy that work will accomplish. One does not serve mankind without the other.
As odd as it may look, in real truth almost all of the noblest achievements in the globe have been produced by individuals of inadequate signifies. Poets, scholars, artisans and artists whose roots prolong deeply into the poverty stricken highways of the world have produced functions of genius. There is absolutely nothing superb in the globe that did not very first require labor, both of the physique or the thoughts. With out it there would be no pyramids in Egypt to set the mind to pondering no temples or properties of worship to clear the soul before devoting to God no canals, highways or air terminals to transport commerce and no memory of the previous or hope for the potential.
Freemasonry also teaches that we ought to inspire our offspring to labor, if we really need to offer for the best opportunity for their future pleasure. Man was not produced for luxuries, neither was his head suited for indolence. He who pampers his body and mind with luxuries and indulgences sends the improper message to his youngsters. The beehive signifies function, not the accumulation of wealth. Is your legacy to be an case in point of self absorption, or one of serving mankind? Do you would like to set your kids on the route to indulgence, luxury and vice, or is it far more critical to you that they turn into great citizens serving other individuals? Masonry teaches that the service to all mankind is the noblest future of gentleman. It also teaches that prosperity is to be utilised to mend the sick and reinforce the bad of spirit. It is these classes that the beehive seeks to impart.
It is man’s character to want distinction – to really feel important and essential. Whether at function, at home, or in a Masonic lodge, gentleman desires to display that he not only belongs, but that he also has some thing essential to contribute. Masons are not taught to operate from people natural emotions, but to utilize them in their lives in a constructive manner. The perversion of these wishes results in striving to accumulate titles, income, honors and public acclaim. The good application of people wants outcomes in housing for the aged, hospitals for ill young children and cost-free clinics for people who require help in talking so that they may be plainly recognized. It is the latter software, not the former perversion that promotes true development for all humanity.
Edgar Cayce, the well-known seer of the 1920’s, ’30’s and ’40’s, underscored this real truth for the duration of his readings of “patients'” earlier lives. Whether or not or not one accepts or rejects the idea that a human being, this sort of as Cayce, could at any time have this kind of skills, or that souls incarnate, die and are reincarnated is entirely irrelevant. Rather, even if nothing much more than symbolic of what was in his brain, the readings relating to function and industry are instructive to Masons.
Cayce interviewed a number of people whom he described had, in previous life, held important positions of electricity and management in places of authorities. He also noted that in other preceding life, these exact same entities experienced lived in poverty, or were relegated to a lesser station in lifestyle. Without exception the poor and lowly, simply because of their work and market, created better long lasting contributions to society than did people who liked positions of energy. Ladies Festival Weekend for these kinds of a end result was not simply because the people by themselves have been defective, but rested squarely on the truth that God expects us to provide other people, not ourselves.
The beehive also teaches us that every single man has a work to do in himself. That work is nobler than the fashioning of wood or marble – it concerns the shaping of the human soul. Freemasonry refers to that perform as the work of virtue, without which male lives his complete lifestyle with out ever satisfying his true destiny. No Mason need to ever deem his daily life doomed to mediocrity, meanness, vainness, or unprofitable toil. In the fantastic providence of the Supreme Architect of the Universe there is adequate excellent work for every male. He wants but to think it and then to do it.
Masonry has constantly sought to ennoble common life. The wealthy and the inadequate, the substantial and the minimal, who as produced by one almighty mother or father and inhabitants of the identical earth are to assist, support and defend every single other. What is completed in non-public is in many cases a lot more critical to the development of humanity than that which is carried out in public. The nameless gift to hospitals in which physicians straighten the twisted limbs of our kids the quiet delicate prayer spoken on behalf of an additional in need to have and the humble giving of one’s time to mend another’s distresses are at the very least as useful to the progression of the human soul as are the more community selections created by legislators, organization executives and local community leaders.
Put in its suitable viewpoint, the beehive symbolically emphasizes 1 word that is effectively identified amid Masons. That term is obligation. The bee that gathers the pollen does so due to the fact that is its duty. The bee that builds the hive does so since it must. And the queen presides over all of the action simply because that is the appropriate order of items needed to satisfy the duty of the hive. Each and every has a operate to do that if unperformed renders the function of the complete hive incomplete. So, way too, must each Mason perform his respective support that the work of the Craft will be completed.