ABE LINCOLN'S AX
by Jim Tresner, Editor, Oklahoma Mason
The story is
told of a historian recording folk history in Illinois in the 1970s. Several
people in the countryside had told him of a farm family, which had the ax
Abraham Lincoln used when splitting logs for a living as a young man.
The historian
finally located the farm, and found the farmer in the yard splitting wood for a
living room fireplace. He asked him about the story.
"Yes,”
said the farmer, “It’s true. Abe Lincoln lived around here as a young man and
he worked for a while splitting wood for my great-great-grandfather. Happened
he'd bought a new ax from a peddler the day before Abe Lincoln came to work
here, and he gave it to Lincoln to use. We've kept it ever since."
"That's a real historical treasure,"
said the historian. "It really ought to be in a museum. Would you mind
going into the house and bringing it out so I could see it?"
"Oh, we know it's important," said
the farmer. "I take it to the school from time to time and tell the kids
about it and Lincoln. Seems to sorta make him real for them. But I don't have
to go into the house, I've got it right here."
He handed the horrified historian the ax he
had been using.
"You
mean you're still using it?"
"Sure thing, an ax is meant to be
used."
The historian
looked it over carefully. "I must say, your family has certainly taken
good care of it."
"Sure,
we know we're protecting history. Why, we've replaced the handle twice and the
head once.
In many ways,
Masonry is like Abe Lincoln's ax. All of us tend to assume that Masonry has
always been the way it was when we joined. We have become fiercely protective
of it in that form. In fact, we've done more than replace the handle twice and
the head once.
For example,
when Brothers George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Paul Revere (and other
Masons of their era and for decades to come) joined the fraternity, they did
not demonstrate proficiency by memorizing categorical lectures.
Instead, the
same evening they received a degree they sat around a table with other brethren
of the lodge and asked each other questions and answered them for the
instruction of the new Brother. They asked him questions and helped him with
the answers.
The
discussion continued until they were confident that he understood the lessons
of the degree. They then taught him the signs and tokens, and he was
proficient. In many-cases, he took the next degree the next night.
The custom of
allowing 28 days to pass between degrees came about for no other reason than
the fact that most lodges met every 28 days, on the nights of the full moon.
There was no mystery behind that, very few horses come equipped with
headlights, and only on nights of a full moon could people see well enough to
leave their homes in the country and come into town for a meeting safely.
As to other
changes, for instance, the names of the three ruffians have changed at least
three times since the Master Mason Degree was created around 1727.
More
importantly, the nature and purpose of the fraternity has changed radically
over time. It certainly is no longer a protective trade association, nor a
political force amounting almost to a political party, but it has been those
over its long history.
So, yes,
Masonry changes. It changes fairly frequently and sometimes dramatically. Far
from being a bastion of conservative resistance to fostering revolutions in
political life (the American revolution, for example) and social life. It
created homes for the elderly and orphanages, and then worked for the sort of
social legislation to make those widespread. It sought economic development for
states and communities. Until the late 1940s and 50s, it was one of the most
potent forces for change in America.
And Masonry
is like Abe Lincoln's ax in another way. For, although the handle and head had
been replaced, that ax was still used by the Abe Lincoln in truth if not in
fact.
The farmer
used the ax to teach. He told children about it and about Abe Lincoln. He
helped make the past real to them so that they could learn the great values of
honesty and hard work, which Lincoln typified so well.
It's the same
with Masonry. In spite of the many changes which have already happened and the
changes which are bound to happen in the future (Masonry, like any living
thing, must change and grow, or die) it is still the same.
It's essence
-- the lessons it teaches, the difference it makes in the lives of men, that
great moment of transformation which is the goal of Masonry, when a man becomes
something new and better than he was when he came in the door as a candidate --
the essence cannot and will not be lost, as long as Brothers are meeting in the
true Masonic spirit; to work and learn and study and improve themselves and the
world.
That's
Masonry, and like Abe Lincoln's ax, it was meant to be used, not to rust away
in a museum case. That use keeps it bright and sharp and Masonic, no matter how
often the handle and head need to be replaced.
