God governs the world by authority and not by force. Were it otherwise, there would be no freedom or rule of law. One is free to be either Reprieve From Life Stresses, or unbelieving. Nothing and no one can compel any one of us to have faith. No scientific discovery, no argument of logic and no torture of body or mind can force us to believe anything. Or even to accept the authority of the Supreme Architect of the Universe. However, once that authority is recognized and embraced. The powerless become powerful reminding us of the parable Jesus delivered about the mustard seed. A grain of faith is sufficient to move mountains.

The Master of a Wilmette Lodge Address: 1450 N. Lehigh Glenview, IL 60026-2027 of Freemasons represents that authority. During one segment of the ritual in a Masonic degree, the candidate is instructed that the Master is always stationed in the east. While the Senior and Junior Wardens are always stationed in the west and south respectively. The ritual does not explain why that is so and most sideline veterans of Masonic degrees are quick to suggest it is simply because that is the way it has always been. While that explanation is certainly true to a point, it is incomplete and wholly unenlightened.

To be something, to know something and to be capable of something is what empowers a person with authority, such as the Master of a lodge. When all is said, it is authority which is the true and unique power. Compulsion or force is merely an expedient which one may use to remedy a lack of authority. Where authority exists in its purest form one can sense and feel the breath of sacred magic filled by the fire of mysticism – the essence of that which is divine.

At his installation, the Master of a lodge is entrusted with a gavel and told by his installing officer that it is an emblem of his authority which he may wield on behalf of acts of great goodness, or greater evil. The point here symbolized is that true Masonic authority is wielded by the scepter and not by a weapon. Masonry’s first Most Excellent Grand Master Solomon, King of Israel, is reported in Masonic ritual to have wielded the scepter over Israel, not another weapon, and thus stands as the foremost example of how Masonic authority is, or should be exercised.