My Dear Brother,
As this year continues we have the responsibility of our newly raised brethren to make sure they are well informed and have completed a suitable proficiency. We have seen our young masons take on large tasks this year. With each of these completed tasks we know they have had good direction from well informed brethren. Our past masters and members are one of a kind and I am happy to call you my brother. I researched “Suitable Proficiency” and I was pleasantly surprised with the information I found.
In the Middle Ages operative apprentices were required to labor seven years before they were thought to know enough to attempt to become Fellows of the Craft. At the end of the seven-year period an apprentice who had earned the approbation of those over him might make his Master’s Piece and submit it to the judgment of the Master and Wardens of his lodge.
Hence the requirement that the Entered Apprentice learn his work well is in his own interest. But it is also of interest to all brethren, wheresoever dispersed, that the initiate know his work. They may find it as necessary to prove themselves to him as he may need to prove himself to them. If he does not know his work, he cannot receive a proof any more than he can give it. It is of interest to the lodge that the initiate know his work well. Well-informed Masons may be very useful in lodge; the sloppy, careless workman can never be depended upon for good work.
The initiate should be not only willing but enthusiastically eager to learn what is required because of its effect upon his future Masonic career. The Entered Apprentice who wins the honor of being passed to the degree of Fellowcraft by having well performed the only task set him goes forward feeling that he is worthy. As Speculative Freemasonry builds only character, a feeling of unworthiness is as much a handicap in lodge life as a piece of faulty stone is in building a wall.
Our new Entered Apprentice Brothers have a long and rugged road, please don’t hesitate to pick up the phone or come out to a rehearsal to help our new brothers.
I remain your friend and brother,
Jeremiah Phillips, WM
