PIAKO
Royal Arch Chapter No 48

Visitors will be received at 7:15 pm

RE Comp Jack Benfell GSupt will be received at 7:30 pm

E Comp Tom Clayton
will also be installed as Second Principal
of the
Bay of Plenty Chapter No 57

For Me it is the End of an Era

Several of you will know that in October Jan and I will be putting our house on the market and when it sells we will be shifting to Wellington. It is a move about which we both have mixed feelings—we have lived in our present home, in Morrinsville, for 22 years taking up residence there when we returned to New Zealand, after nearly 25 years in Australia. In that time we have both been involved in different organisations and made many friends. We will be sorry to leave, but our move is in response to the stronger ties of family—a situation which Freemasons recognise as paramount.

I never dreamed, 22 years ago, that I would have the privilege of being able to promote education and philosophy through summonses such as this, but as I prepare this, the last summons for Piako Chapter before I relinquish my position as Scribe E, the reality of our impending shift is beginning to gel in my mind. We do not know, of course, when our shift will occur. It will be a matter of waiting for a buyer to turn up and I sincerely hope it will not happen instantaneously because we both wish to see the year out with our various responsibilities. However I do not wish to still be here this time next year!

So, as I approach the end of what, for me, has been an immensely rewarding era in my life, I would like to leave you with a thought. We know that the degrees of Craft Masonry do not complete our Masonic journey. We know that Grand Lodge recognises the degrees of Royal Arch Masonry. We also know that some in the hierarchy of Grand Lodge would rather that recognition not exist—that they would rather actively discourage membership of our Order. So what can we say to Brethren we think would benefit from this Order (Remembering that we can approach them, unlike those we would wish to encourage to join the Craft!)?

We could, of course, ask if they know why a Lodge is structured the way it is. We could ask if they understand the relationship between Entered Apprentice and Fellow Craft. Or we could ask if they believe that the symbolism of Solomon's Temple implies an infinity of stability ("In strength I will establish this mine house to stand firm for ever."). Or we could ask if they are prepared to accept the concept of substitute secrets—which can sound rather patronising!

Perhaps, rather, we should ask them if they know what is "that which was lost". The clues are in the Craft degrees, but they need to understand the history and development of the ritual to identify them. The Royal Arch Degree offers enlightenment—what is that which was lost; how it was lost by the death of just one of three men when all three knew what it was; what that which was lost means; and, what it means to us as Freemasons.

Despite our Craft ritual, nothing was lost, not even the "word": it was the implication of the"word" which was lost—because it could not be pronounced. As ME Comp A B Christensen PGZ wrote, the "word" had a special meaning for the Jews—it signified all truth, and to us it is symbolic of the deity. So, the Royal Arch Degree, introducing us to the "word" by teaching us how to pronounce it fulfills the promise of the First Degree ... as ME Comp J P Glenie PGZ wrote "We know at last that Freemasonry leads to the Deity Himself: that first declaration we make in the first degree is now at last explained."

Here are the pointers for us—ask those questions, but perhaps leave out the "substitute secrets" bit. And then ask whether they feel Craft Masonry has brought them to an understanding of Masonic philosophy and its relationship to the declaration they made in the First Degree; to the duties they owe to their God, their neighbours and themselves. The Royal Arch Degree will bring to them an insight which will take them much further along the road of their Masonic journey than the Craft degrees can ever achieve.

Gary Kerkin