VWB C. Blair Leckie Deputy of the Grand Master in District 4 of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Washington for 2005-2007 Mailto: cblairl@excite.com

Musings on the Entered Apprentice Degree (February 2006)

Recently, it has been my privilege to obligate several candidates to be made Masons.  It is informative and nostalgic to watch the candidates as they are being brought into our fraternity.  The sensory experience and the sheer load of information they are given is overwhelming.  One remembers one's own bewilderment.  But, to participate in the Entered Apprentice Degree is to be reminded of the greatness of our Craft.  It is humbling to be reminded how much we need to learn regardless of how much we think we know.

Emblematic of youth, the First Degree gives us all we need to become good Masons and therefore, good men.  The Degree and its Lecture instructs us in one's responsibility to the truth, the value of integrity and charity all the while underscoring the need to honor and give tribute to our Creator.  This is pretty basic stuff yet it comprises the work of a lifetime.

Light and darkness are the predominant metaphors of this degree.  In preparing for and in performing the Entered Apprentice Degree, one is reminded of the duality in all things.  No matter what enlightenment is attained, there is a corresponding ignorance.  No matter what the degree of integrity, treachery exists.  No matter what the incidence of charity, greed and hoarding persist.  One of the purposes of Masonry is to give us the means with which to temper this duality within us.  The lessons of the First Degree are both the challenge of a lifetime and a precious gift to us and to our newly obligated Brothers.  Because we have all been there, we understand.  We remain challenged and grateful.   All of the tools we need for this life's work are in the Entered Apprentice Degree.

Because the Entered Apprentice Degree contains such valuable lessons and because it is a candidate's first exposure to the workings of a lodge, it is incumbent upon Master Masons to be both diligent in our preparation and presentation and supportive with our attendance.  It is where it began for all of us.  It becomes our responsibility to make our first impression good and memorable.  We are, after all, stewards of a most valuable legacy.  It begins with the First Degree.

Thanks to both the District Deputy of the Grand Master in District 4, and the Masonic Monitor which publishes his articles for allowing us to reprint them.  The Masonic Monitor is published monthly (except August) under approval of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Washington.  The Masonic Monitor can be contacted at: 6619 132nd Avenue NE, PMB 237, Kirkland, WA, 98033-8627, USA.  Phone: (425) 822-4605 - FAX: (425) 822-2535 - Email: masonicmonitor@earthlink.net.