THE SALIENT TEACHINGS OF THE CHARGE OF THE ENTERED APPRENTICE DEGREE APPLIED
Last month, WB John Teng sent the lion an e-mail the text of which is quoted in full below:
VW Sir,
How's the Lion doing? Reckon the Lion and the Lion Tamer are in the best of health.
Just to give you an update, Laong-Laan Lodge will have its next stated meeting on April 03, 2004. We will be passing possible two candidates, Bros. Sweke Palacios and Ric Sy.
You may be physically far from us but we all know that your heart is still very much with us as a Laong-Laaner. We all missed the times when you enlightened us no ends with your Masonic Education. May we therefore, trouble you by giving you an assignment. Can you write again a 10 to 15 minutes Masonic Education, any subject of your choice and e-mail it to me. We will gladly assign someone to read your article.
John Teng, PM
Forthwith, the lion sent WB John his reply as follows:
WB John:
I’m sure glad to hear from you again. For a while I thought you have decided to join the forgotten masters.
It seems I have suddenly lost my skills at writing Masonic Education articles and it might take me time to regain my literary pen. But don’t worry, I plan to visit my kids this end-April and expects to attend our stated meeting this coming May.
Bro. Jun
On second thought, the lion decided he could not defer WB John’s request and so here is a Masonic Education Lecture that hopefully the brethren of Laong Laan Lodge No 185, a lodge where the aging lion proudly holds honorary membership, may enjoy hearing. And what appropriate topic can the lion compose other than his insight on the salient teachings of the “Charge of the Entered Apprentice degree?” And so, let his discourse begin.
The Craft’s uncoded portion of the monitor says:
“As a Mason, you are taught to regard the Volume of the Sacred Law as the great light in your profession, to consider it as the unerring standard of truth and justice, and to regulate your actions by the divine precepts it contains. In it you will find the important duties you owe to God, your neighbor and yourself. To God, by never mentioning His name but with that awe and reverence that is due from the creature to his Creator, by imploring his aid in all your lawful undertakings, and by looking up to Him in every emergency for comfort and support. To your neighbor, by acting with him upon the square, by rendering him every office which justice and mercy may require, by relieving him his distresses and soothing his affliction, and by doing to him as you would that he should do unto you. And to yourself, by such a prudent and well-regulated course of discipline that shall best conduce into the preservation of your corporeal and mental faculties in their fullest energy, thereby enabling you to exert the talents wherewith God has blest you, as well to His glory as to that of your fellow creatures.”
But if one will note, the said Charge focused on learning the “Volume of the Sacred Law” which admittedly is not easy to dissect. The lion, for one, has a collection of five versions of the Holy Bible which will be itemized later. Truthfully however, owning these copies and understanding their divine precepts are two entirely different things.
As a first step of this lecture, the lion condensed the lengthy paragraph that is quoted earlier and substituted the answer that the Greatest Teacher of all time made when asked as to what is God’s greatest commandment to mankind. Jesus said:
“Love God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself!
So we now have three short topics, namely, (a) God (b) your neighbor and (c) yourself. Having identified these, let the lion now dissect them in reverse order, in a layman’s point of view, and in the third person’s perspective.
1. TO HIMSELF
It is not unknown to the brethren that one of the main reasons the lion retired was because of failing health, he being a diabetic. Not only that, he was also suffering from acute back pain when he and his tamer transferred residence to this bucolic place. So, once settled, he e-mailed our Worshipful Master who was then the Junior Warden, for medical advice via the aegis of the Internet. The Warden dutifully prescribed two kinds of medicines that he said the lion should take for three whole months without fail. The lion did get free consultation but the cost of those medicines was quite expensive the lion wondered whether the savings he mooched on free consultation did not offset the significant cost. But the back pain indeed disappeared and sincere thanks to our Worshipful Master is therefore well deserved.
Having regained his health somehow, his next effort at further improving it was to savor the seabreeze that freely blew from the pristine beach at their backyard that was being blocked by the cemented fence. To solve the problem, the lion had the fence torn down and replaced it with a steel fence made of angle bars and consequently allowed the fresh air to freely enter the backyard and the house. Needless to say, his health improved further, even allowing him to dry their share of the palay harvest, a task that previously had to be assigned to their neighbor for a fee.
2. TO HIS NEIGHBORS
The new fence did not only allow the seabreeze to enter their premises, it also made them notice their neighbors who live in abject poverty. Right beside their backyard are families of four fishermen whose huts are without water and electric connections, and only one of the four huts has a luxury of a simply-made toilet, which automatically made theirs a common relieving facility. Which reminded the lion during his early years at the boarding house while still studying in the metropolis when he had to wait for his turn to relieve himself when another boarder was ahead of him on the much-coveted seat! (There are of course other neighbors, but their condition are not as miserable.)
.
On all those, the lion and his tamer decided to help in whatever way they can. Among these are:
1. Installing two electric lights to lighten up their backyard thus also lighting these huts. These lights also served as beacons for the returning fishermen from the sea.
2. Facilitated the installation of a link-bridge that connected the cut-portion of the seawall enabling the residents to cross it in going to and from the market. This project was made possible by VW Juanito P. Abergas, DPWH Regional Director for the Visayas.
3. Assisted the neighbors whenever emergency occurs, like accompanying the son of a neighbor who was suffering from dehydration to a town hospital that he may be attended to by a competent physician, or buying, at her expense, the medicines needed whenever a neighbor gets sick..
4. Gave succor to a neighbor whose one-year old son died, thereby enabling the parents to bury the boy’s mortal remains immediately..
5. Sponsored the tuition, transportation cost and school expenses of a neighbor’s daughter who graduated first honor from the elementary grades. The only condition for the scholarship is that she should not get a grade below 80% in any of her school subject.
6. Installed a mini-basketball court for the benefit of the kids. WB John, please take note.
7. Allotted about a hundred square meters space at the back of the back yard that serves as combined mini-park and playground that the children are able to utilize during week-ends and even during the early nights.
8. When the water pump that was being used by these neighbors conked out and thus compelled the female teenagers to take their respective baths at the other side of the road thereby exposing their scantily covered breasts, the lion tamer immediately had the pump repaired. She also had the lighted electric post that was felled by the typhoon last December restored, thus also allowing the women to wash their dirty clothes during the early evenings.
9. Initiated the Harelip Repair project in coordination with the Christian Service International as funding sponsor and the Ramiro Community Hospital that helped a total of 21 harelip patients in a year’s time. This project also encouraged two fraternal brothers to donate P2,000 each as their contribution to this worthy endeavor and to which, their generosity is hereby gratefully acknowledged.
10. Whenever an important event occurs, (like Christmas, New Year or Valentine,) the lion tamer organizes a get-together party at the backyard for the benefit of the residents to their enjoyment. As of this writing, an Easter get together is again on the trestleboard.
3. To God
The lion earlier said that he has five different versions of the Holy Bible which he reads sparingly to help him understand God’s divine precepts. These are: (1) The Revised Berkeley Version that was distributed by Gideon’s International, and being his first book, is naturally his favorite as it was the book he is accustomed to use; (2) the King James Version, where most of the quotations in the Masonic rituals can be found, and the other two English, namely, (3) the Catholic Version, a spare gift given to his son during his marriage in 1999 and (4) the Good News Bible that he found lying around in their newly established residence, are used as reference materials whenever questions on interpretations differ, while the last, or (5) the Visayan translation of the New Testament, is read only whenever the lion wanted to acquaint himself with the intricacies of God’s word in the local dialect.
And it is here where the lion and his tamer differ in their approach at communing with the Great Creator. While the lion contents himself with just reading the Holy Writ and practicing its messages to the best of his ability, she goes to church and prays the rosary daily, involves herself in weekly prayer meetings, and even organized a group called “Lakas Loob Para Sa Diyos” so that the leaking roof of the church could be repaired at a cost of about three quarters of a million pesos.
Admittedly, the perception of some of the town’s residents are not wholesome. The town’s church elders, learning that the lion is a practicing Mason, read a “precana” (a prepared homily that denounced Masons as worshipping the devil, spitting on the cross and denouncing Christ) when the lion tamer attended a religious gathering causing her to be visibly upset. When informed, the lion, instead of commenting, just shrugged his shoulders; Jose Rizal, our country’s foremost hero, after all, stoically said in his Mi Ultimo Adios.
“I go where faith can never kill and where God reigns ere on high!”
Thank you for your attention.
Bro. Jun
Last month, WB John Teng sent the lion an e-mail the text of which is quoted in full below:
VW Sir,
How's the Lion doing? Reckon the Lion and the Lion Tamer are in the best of health.
Just to give you an update, Laong-Laan Lodge will have its next stated meeting on April 03, 2004. We will be passing possible two candidates, Bros. Sweke Palacios and Ric Sy.
You may be physically far from us but we all know that your heart is still very much with us as a Laong-Laaner. We all missed the times when you enlightened us no ends with your Masonic Education. May we therefore, trouble you by giving you an assignment. Can you write again a 10 to 15 minutes Masonic Education, any subject of your choice and e-mail it to me. We will gladly assign someone to read your article.
John Teng, PM
Forthwith, the lion sent WB John his reply as follows:
WB John:
I’m sure glad to hear from you again. For a while I thought you have decided to join the forgotten masters.
It seems I have suddenly lost my skills at writing Masonic Education articles and it might take me time to regain my literary pen. But don’t worry, I plan to visit my kids this end-April and expects to attend our stated meeting this coming May.
Bro. Jun
On second thought, the lion decided he could not defer WB John’s request and so here is a Masonic Education Lecture that hopefully the brethren of Laong Laan Lodge No 185, a lodge where the aging lion proudly holds honorary membership, may enjoy hearing. And what appropriate topic can the lion compose other than his insight on the salient teachings of the “Charge of the Entered Apprentice degree?” And so, let his discourse begin.
The Craft’s uncoded portion of the monitor says:
“As a Mason, you are taught to regard the Volume of the Sacred Law as the great light in your profession, to consider it as the unerring standard of truth and justice, and to regulate your actions by the divine precepts it contains. In it you will find the important duties you owe to God, your neighbor and yourself. To God, by never mentioning His name but with that awe and reverence that is due from the creature to his Creator, by imploring his aid in all your lawful undertakings, and by looking up to Him in every emergency for comfort and support. To your neighbor, by acting with him upon the square, by rendering him every office which justice and mercy may require, by relieving him his distresses and soothing his affliction, and by doing to him as you would that he should do unto you. And to yourself, by such a prudent and well-regulated course of discipline that shall best conduce into the preservation of your corporeal and mental faculties in their fullest energy, thereby enabling you to exert the talents wherewith God has blest you, as well to His glory as to that of your fellow creatures.”
But if one will note, the said Charge focused on learning the “Volume of the Sacred Law” which admittedly is not easy to dissect. The lion, for one, has a collection of five versions of the Holy Bible which will be itemized later. Truthfully however, owning these copies and understanding their divine precepts are two entirely different things.
As a first step of this lecture, the lion condensed the lengthy paragraph that is quoted earlier and substituted the answer that the Greatest Teacher of all time made when asked as to what is God’s greatest commandment to mankind. Jesus said:
“Love God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself!
So we now have three short topics, namely, (a) God (b) your neighbor and (c) yourself. Having identified these, let the lion now dissect them in reverse order, in a layman’s point of view, and in the third person’s perspective.
1. TO HIMSELF
It is not unknown to the brethren that one of the main reasons the lion retired was because of failing health, he being a diabetic. Not only that, he was also suffering from acute back pain when he and his tamer transferred residence to this bucolic place. So, once settled, he e-mailed our Worshipful Master who was then the Junior Warden, for medical advice via the aegis of the Internet. The Warden dutifully prescribed two kinds of medicines that he said the lion should take for three whole months without fail. The lion did get free consultation but the cost of those medicines was quite expensive the lion wondered whether the savings he mooched on free consultation did not offset the significant cost. But the back pain indeed disappeared and sincere thanks to our Worshipful Master is therefore well deserved.
Having regained his health somehow, his next effort at further improving it was to savor the seabreeze that freely blew from the pristine beach at their backyard that was being blocked by the cemented fence. To solve the problem, the lion had the fence torn down and replaced it with a steel fence made of angle bars and consequently allowed the fresh air to freely enter the backyard and the house. Needless to say, his health improved further, even allowing him to dry their share of the palay harvest, a task that previously had to be assigned to their neighbor for a fee.
2. TO HIS NEIGHBORS
The new fence did not only allow the seabreeze to enter their premises, it also made them notice their neighbors who live in abject poverty. Right beside their backyard are families of four fishermen whose huts are without water and electric connections, and only one of the four huts has a luxury of a simply-made toilet, which automatically made theirs a common relieving facility. Which reminded the lion during his early years at the boarding house while still studying in the metropolis when he had to wait for his turn to relieve himself when another boarder was ahead of him on the much-coveted seat! (There are of course other neighbors, but their condition are not as miserable.)
.
On all those, the lion and his tamer decided to help in whatever way they can. Among these are:
1. Installing two electric lights to lighten up their backyard thus also lighting these huts. These lights also served as beacons for the returning fishermen from the sea.
2. Facilitated the installation of a link-bridge that connected the cut-portion of the seawall enabling the residents to cross it in going to and from the market. This project was made possible by VW Juanito P. Abergas, DPWH Regional Director for the Visayas.
3. Assisted the neighbors whenever emergency occurs, like accompanying the son of a neighbor who was suffering from dehydration to a town hospital that he may be attended to by a competent physician, or buying, at her expense, the medicines needed whenever a neighbor gets sick..
4. Gave succor to a neighbor whose one-year old son died, thereby enabling the parents to bury the boy’s mortal remains immediately..
5. Sponsored the tuition, transportation cost and school expenses of a neighbor’s daughter who graduated first honor from the elementary grades. The only condition for the scholarship is that she should not get a grade below 80% in any of her school subject.
6. Installed a mini-basketball court for the benefit of the kids. WB John, please take note.
7. Allotted about a hundred square meters space at the back of the back yard that serves as combined mini-park and playground that the children are able to utilize during week-ends and even during the early nights.
8. When the water pump that was being used by these neighbors conked out and thus compelled the female teenagers to take their respective baths at the other side of the road thereby exposing their scantily covered breasts, the lion tamer immediately had the pump repaired. She also had the lighted electric post that was felled by the typhoon last December restored, thus also allowing the women to wash their dirty clothes during the early evenings.
9. Initiated the Harelip Repair project in coordination with the Christian Service International as funding sponsor and the Ramiro Community Hospital that helped a total of 21 harelip patients in a year’s time. This project also encouraged two fraternal brothers to donate P2,000 each as their contribution to this worthy endeavor and to which, their generosity is hereby gratefully acknowledged.
10. Whenever an important event occurs, (like Christmas, New Year or Valentine,) the lion tamer organizes a get-together party at the backyard for the benefit of the residents to their enjoyment. As of this writing, an Easter get together is again on the trestleboard.
3. To God
The lion earlier said that he has five different versions of the Holy Bible which he reads sparingly to help him understand God’s divine precepts. These are: (1) The Revised Berkeley Version that was distributed by Gideon’s International, and being his first book, is naturally his favorite as it was the book he is accustomed to use; (2) the King James Version, where most of the quotations in the Masonic rituals can be found, and the other two English, namely, (3) the Catholic Version, a spare gift given to his son during his marriage in 1999 and (4) the Good News Bible that he found lying around in their newly established residence, are used as reference materials whenever questions on interpretations differ, while the last, or (5) the Visayan translation of the New Testament, is read only whenever the lion wanted to acquaint himself with the intricacies of God’s word in the local dialect.
And it is here where the lion and his tamer differ in their approach at communing with the Great Creator. While the lion contents himself with just reading the Holy Writ and practicing its messages to the best of his ability, she goes to church and prays the rosary daily, involves herself in weekly prayer meetings, and even organized a group called “Lakas Loob Para Sa Diyos” so that the leaking roof of the church could be repaired at a cost of about three quarters of a million pesos.
Admittedly, the perception of some of the town’s residents are not wholesome. The town’s church elders, learning that the lion is a practicing Mason, read a “precana” (a prepared homily that denounced Masons as worshipping the devil, spitting on the cross and denouncing Christ) when the lion tamer attended a religious gathering causing her to be visibly upset. When informed, the lion, instead of commenting, just shrugged his shoulders; Jose Rizal, our country’s foremost hero, after all, stoically said in his Mi Ultimo Adios.
“I go where faith can never kill and where God reigns ere on high!”
Thank you for your attention.
Bro. Jun
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