I find it interesting, the number of times found in the Masonic teachings that deal with the aspects of death. All of which, without revelation are meaningless. We teach ourselves that death is a part of life, that should be holden with reverence. For, ere too long we will be called to the Celestial Lodge above, and we need to make the most of our lives and actions along the way.
One set of revelation can be found in the Worshipful Masters discussion of the working tools of the Fellow Craft. Where we are taught by the plumb line that we should always walk uprightly in our several stations before God and Man. By the square, that we should always square our actions by the Square of Virtue. And that by the level, we are to remember that we are traveling on that Level of Time, to that undiscovered country, from whose borne, no Traveller returns.
But isn’t this line familiar to us? The same line can be found in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. In Act 3 Scene 1, Hamlet tells us of his despair and not knowing whether to continue the struggles in life or accept death’s friendly grasp. From his soliloquy we find: (1)
To be, or not to be, that is the question,
Hamlet – William Shakespeare
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, ’tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish’d. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there’s the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law’s delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover’d country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.–Soft you now!
The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remember’d.
In the first line Hamlet is contemplating death, asking whether “To be, or not to be.” If in fact that life is so troublesome, why don’t we just accept death now. But death is the unknown, as certainly only those that have crossed the border (borne) into the Dark Valley would be able to share with us, their experiences. But alas, they can no longer return from that undiscovered country. (2)
So then, if we are not ready for death, should we not make the most of life? We are taught Masonic-ally, that we are to walk uprightly by standing true to our word. And by squaring our actions, by only doing that which is right. And standing on the level with our fellow man, never leading anyone astray.
But that “Level of Time”, the ever elusive understanding of who we are, where we have been, and where we have yet to go. Ever so quickly doth the sands of time fall through our fingers. Time is always level, it is always true. Time never stops for anyone. Time has been from the beginning an ever present force that will continue far past our existence. (3)
So with the thought of the tools from the Fellow Craft degree, we learn that we should not squander time and make the most of it today. It is our actions, our word, our daily dealings with our fellow man that will determine our experience after we have passed from this earthly abode. Death is but the messenger, carrying us to the undiscovered country where our actions will be judged, lest we square our actions by virtue and stand uprightly like a plumb line.
Resources
1: http://shakespeare.mit.edu/hamlet/hamlet.3.1.html
2: https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-does-this-quote-from-hamlet-mean-an-114259
3: http://www.themasonictrowel.com/Articles/degrees/degree_2nd_files/the_level_of_time.htm