Brethren, as we begin another year, I hope your holiday season was filled with joy and peace.  My hopes for you continue as we look forward to what this new season of life will bring us.

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I must offer my sincere gratitude to all of the Brethren of Washington Lodge No. 20 who have placed their trust in me to serve as Senior Warden. This chair is very special, but also very daunting. I think of all the men whom I hold in high regard who have also served in this role, and I am humbled by the knowledge that I have a heavy responsibility to meet. I ask your forgiveness if I stumble in my duties, but you can be assured that with your assistance, I will arise to carry on.

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I have been contemplating the significance associated with the West, the symbolic seat of the Senior Warden, and a preparatory location for “receiving further instruction in the East.” 

• Why is the West so important? 

• Why is the Level the jewel of this office? 

• What is implied when the Installation Ceremony states, “Look well to the West!”?

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As we enter Freemasonry, we are continually instructed that we are symbolically travelling from West to East, from the position of the sun’s retiring to the location of its ascension.  We are emblematically moving from spiritual darkness to enlightenment, from the profane world to sacred and solemn spaces.  However, before we can begin the long trail of self-improvement, we must be permitted to enter this realm of discovery through our own motivations towards goodness and justice. 

We must prepare our hearts, we must knock at the gate, be found worthy, and be admitted only after thorough examination.  Those alone who have already demonstrated their ability to do good are allowed to improve even further within our ranks.  And this preliminary evaluation is allegorically accomplished at the symbolic “West Gate.”

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The Tiler, the Deacons, and the Senior Warden (as well as all of the other Officers of the lodge to one degree or another) work together to ensure those who enter our divine dwelling do so with noblest of intentions. This is practical as well as symbolic. 

We learn from scripture that King Hiram of Tyre, a ruler of the Phoenicians and a great friend to both King David and Solomon, provided many of the skilled workers who built the Holy Temple (1 Kings 5:1).  Traditionally, these men would have been tested for their skill and loyalty prior to being allowed to build so great an edifice. 

The ignoble and crudest worker would not have been permitted to labor on such a holy site, not only because of their lack of skill, but also because they had not prepared themselves to serve in so great an undertaking.  They would have been turned away until they had improved, if that ever occurred.

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Symbolically, our Craft upholds the same ideals.  All who seek to enter our hallowed halls must demonstrate an acceptable level of humility, an ethical desire for improvement, and moral decency. This emphasis on “Guarding the West Gate,” included in the earliest recorded Masonic constitutions and also the written regulations of operative stonemason guilds, continues to this day.  It is my hope that our emphasis on only admitting good and true men will endure in perpetuity.

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The Level, a ubiquitous image in all lodges of Freemasonry, is symbolic of equality.  All Freemasons are alike to each other, even as they hold a position of office in the Lodge.  This truth is reiterated in the admonition to the Senior Warden during his installation ceremony:

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The Level, my Brother, demonstrates that we are descended from the same stock, that we partake of the same nature, and share the same hope; and that although distinctions among men are necessary to preserve subordination, yet no eminence of station should make us forget that we are Brethren; for he who is placed on the lowest spoke of fortune's wheel may be entitled to our regard;

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This helpful caution is apt for one who has ascended to this station, for since he is soon to sit in the Oriental Chair and lead what a distinguished lodge, he may be inclined to assume that he is becoming something greater than he is.  However, as the Greatest Teacher instructed, “…whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant…” (Matthew 20:26-27).  The Level is placed around the neck of this Officer in part to remind him that he is to serve the Lodge to his greatest ability, and also to display to the Lodge that this man is tasked with maintaining harmony “that none may go away dissatisfied.”  It is a tangible reminder that once a man is initiated into our order, he is forever among equals.

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Knowing all this, I hope I can live up to “the Love and confidence of (my) Brethren”. You have my pledge that I will do my very best, and I ask for your assistance in ensuring that harmony will prevail among our beloved Lodge. 

May the Great Architect bless us all.

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