Friendship plays and can playa great part in maintaining and extending the true spirit of Freemasonry. I think a man really grows up and becomes a man when he realises the solemn truth that each one of us is born to live and die alone.

Each one of us is a separate entity; you can not live my life and I cannot live yours. No man can really understand the motives, the fears, the aspirations which actuate his fellow man.

Almost against our will we increase our isolation by creating barriers based on differences in a social scale, differences ,in rank and fortune, and religious creeds.

How often have we heard the remarks,"Why cannot we pull together again as we did in years gone by?

The answer is, we can if we are big enough to look at men as men, to value them for themselves not for what they may be in the eyes of the world. Unfortunately we have becomes to a large extent too selfish and engrossed in our own welfare and thus have missed the best in life.

There surely lies the great opening that Freemasonry gives us. We admit men to our Lodges not because of their external advantages of rank, or fortune, but because we believe them to be good men and true, and worthy of being our btothers in Masonry. Freemasonry transcends politicaLbeliefs, religious creeds and social distinctIons.

We meet in our Lodges on an equal footing; we call one another Brother. I wonder sometimes if we always mean it? We have a common aim in the well being of the Craft. That aim should be great enough to unite us in the true friendship, in true Brotherhood.

It is to be regretted, and it cannot be denied, that some Brethren have regarded the Craft as a means for personal advancement, have welcomed honours as a form of self-advertisement, and have put the rewards before the work. Such Brethren have missed the whole joy and purpose of Freemasonry.

The joy of the Craft is to enter a Lodge leaving all the competitive rush and turmoil of the world behind, to be at peace with the brethren, to know them as men you may trust and who trust you. The greatest rewards of service to the Craft are te friendships you make.

By the genuine brotherhood of the Craft we can help to lessen that isolation in which each one of us lives and moves.

And so brethren, as the years pass, when the shadows lengthen and the busy world is hushed, what greater comfort can there be to all of us than the memory of our friendships amongst the Brethren, of heip given and help received.

Bro. Noel West
Courtesy The Dr.Rustom K.R.Cama Masonic Study Circle

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