Applying the 24 Inch Gauge

Published On: July 28th, 2016Categories: News

The August 2016 issue of the Pennsylvania Freemason magazine deals with time management and the Masonic symbolism of the 24 inch gauge. The issue will be delivered to mail boxes during the first month of August.

Masonic ceremonies are designed to make a Brother think. Many of the rituals of Freemasonry make reference, either directly or indirectly, to man’s mortality and our shared time on this Earth. Every person has a finite number of years, days, hours, minutes and seconds to his life. The Grand Architect of the Universe doesn’t tell a person how much time he has left. It is, therefore, up to an individual person to use this time however he chooses; whether one thinks he has a lot of time left, or only a little, each moment of each day, an individual chooses how to spend his time.

“Spending” time is a pertinent phrase. Time is a commodity. There is no way that anyone can ever obtain more of it. Additional hours of life cannot be purchased or shared. The amount of time allotted to us on this earthly plane is fixed, and when death calls, we cannot delay the inevitable. Some people are gifted with long and happy lives, full of joys and sorrows, with the ability to look back upon a work well done. Other lives are tragically cut short, whether by accident, violence, health, or circumstance. Yet, for most people, time is treated as an infinite resource; why do today what you can put off until tomorrow? There is always more time, it seems!

This begs the question – how are you spending your time in life? Do you use your time wisely? It’s easy to come home from a long day of work, turn on the television and tune out from the world. Before you know it, it’s bed time, and you fall asleep, only to get up and complete the same cycle again on the morrow. At the end of life, will you look back and be proud of the hours you spent watching television and playing games?

Herein lies the real value of Freemasonry. Instead of arriving home only to find that all-too-familiar groove in the couch, Freemasons choose to do something more valuable. Whether it’s participating in community service, raising funds for a worthy cause, or simply helping a Brother out, ours is a noble profession. While Freemasonry should not consume your life, it can compliment it and make it more enriching. It’s fair to say that as Brothers close the years of their earthly pilgrimages they are, more often than not, glad that they devoted a portion of their time to the Fraternity.

Time is the most important resource any person is given.

How will you use the 24 inch gauge?