Masonic Articles and Essays
Confusing Truth
Very Illus..... Bro... Kristine Wilson-Slack 33o
Date Published: 10/23/2024
All Masons seek after the Truth, a most elusive goal - especially in the digital age. Is this process made more difficult by our modern notions? Have we perhaps made it more difficult to find despite the increase in the common man's awareness?
We have heard a lot of attacks on truth. And Truth. Truth itself has been under attack, e.g. Fake news. I differentiate the two "truths" in this way:
"truth" is what we empirically know or understand; we believe it is accurate by the evidence we have in our own, singular mind. It is a fact or belief we accept as true. The "truth" involves fact or reality, as far as it can be perceived by the individual. It might even be welcomed by a collective but perhaps not by everyone. The "truth" may be subjective.
"Truth" applies to all life, all humanity, equally and regardless of circumstance. It's not subjective like truths about religion, culture, race, creed, or even history. They might be more or less meaningful to the individual. Truth is considered universal when it applies to all places and times, logically transcending the state of the tangible and physical universe around us.
Truth and truth can be very challenging to define but it's worth doing so. Why? Most of the confusion when we talk about Universal Truth, something near and dear to seekers and Freemasons, is often thought of as individual. It's not. There is no "my Truth." There is "my truth," which is a common phrase. Let's explore this a little more.
What are examples?
I read recently that "The sun rising in the east and setting in the west" is a universal Truth. I laughed because that's not the Truth. The sun isn't moving as "rising" and "setting;" the Earth is rotating. So, the Truth seems to be that the Earth rotates counter-clockwise. However, I think that's a little pedantic for the conversation here.
Freemasons work in Universal Truths, not personal truths. Freemasons have a common language in symbols and the words of ritual to discover these Universal Truths. Is something like "life is sacred" a universal Truth? Perhaps. Could something like "as above, so below, and as below, so above" be a universal Truth? We lift our consciousness from the mundane to the divine, and think in terms of cosmic eons and spacial expanse, I think we approach the realm of universal Truths. When we talk about truth applying to the "human-made," we are not speaking in universal Truths.
Universal Truths are now owned; there is no "my Truth" and "your Truth." This is where Freemasonry digs deep; this isn't about what we believe but about what IS. We know that all religions and philosophies have sparks of this "Truth," but not a single one can say that it elevates all of them. This is why, I believe, Freemasonry elevates all religions. It elevates them all because all are essential to humanity coming closer to the ideal picture of Truth. Ethics and morality come from a higher source, one that encompasses all the mores, laws, rules, and commandments of the world's religions.
Freemasons achieve this by studying symbols. The symbols of Freemasonry are taken from throughout time and while they might change slightly depending on the consciousness of the age. While some may think that specific symbols can mean "anything," they do not. Compasses have a very definite meaning within Freemasonry. However, the individual's interpretation of said tool may be slightly different. We all see things through different lenses. It doesn't mean that one Freemason has it right and another wrong, or that it must dogmatically mean what ritual states it to be. What it means is that the concepts are broad enough to encompass much and yet, be specific.
To that end, truth is found in symbols, and Truth is found in the study of symbols in close association with the human heart and mind. We are unique, and while we may experience a profound understanding of the nature of the universe, that Truth is for everyone. When we share our vision, and use whatever words we have to describe it (flawed as they may be,) we begin to draw on the larger picture of Truth in the universe.
That is why we are all seekers.
