When is a man a true Mason?

Answer: When he can look out over the rivers, the hills and the far horizons with a profound sense of his own littleness in the vast scheme of things, and yet have faith, hope, charity and courage. When he knows that down in his heart every man is as noble, as vile, as divine, as diabolic, and as lonely as himself, and seeks to know, to forgive and to love his fellowmen.

 When he knows how to sympathize with men in their sorrows, yea, even in their sins- knowing that each man fights a hard and lonely battle against many odds. When he has learned how to make friends and to keep them and above all how to keep friends with himself. When he loves flowers, can hunt the birds without a gun and feels the thrill of an old forgotten joy when he hears the laugh of a little child. When he can be happy and high-minded amid the meaner drudgeries of life. When the star-crowned trees and the sun-kissed mountains and the glint of sunlight on flowing waters subdue him like the thought of one much loved and long dead. When no voice of distress reaches his ears in vain and no hand seeks his aid without response. When he helps the weak, relieves the distressed and assists the struggling and industrious among his Fellows in the craft and even in the outside world to the utmost of his power and ability. When he finds good in every faith that helps any man to lay hold of higher things and to see majestic meaning in the humble beginnings of life. When he knows how to pray, how to love, how to hope. When he has kept faith with himself, with his fellowmen and with his God; in his hand a sword for evil, in his heart a bit of a song-- glad to live, but not afraid to die !

In the hands of such a man, be he rich or poor, scholarly or unlearned, famous or obscure, Masonry has wrought her sweet ministration and the future of Freemasonry is assured.