{"id":92,"date":"2006-12-02T14:26:35","date_gmt":"2006-12-02T22:26:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theeduca.mywhc.ca\/?p=92"},"modified":"2006-12-02T14:26:35","modified_gmt":"2006-12-02T22:26:35","slug":"allegory-does-god-exist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ashlarcollege.ca\/ashlar-archived\/allegory-does-god-exist\/","title":{"rendered":"Allegory & Does God Exist?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Allegory<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cAllegory<\/strong>\u201d as stated in our response to \u201cWhat is Masonry<\/strong>\u201d i.e.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span><\/strong>It is a System of Morality, <\/strong>Veiled in Allegory <\/strong>and Illustrated by Symbols<\/span><\/p>\n

This I intend to approach from both an Exoteric (outward & apparent) and Esoteric (inward & hidden) perspective<\/p>\n

Let me begin by giving you the definition of the word \u201cAllegory<\/strong>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Webster\u2019s New Collegiate Dictionary gives the following definition,<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. the expression by means of symbolic fictional figures and actions of truths or generalizations about human existence<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. a symbolic representation.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    In the \u201cFreemason\u2019s Guide and Compendium by Bernard E. Jones, he states.<\/p>\n

    \u201cAllegory has much the same meaning as parable. We may call it a word-figure having two meanings, one literal and the other spiritual\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

    So what does this mean and why is it so important to us as human beings & Freemasons?<\/p>\n

    I recall a saying that states \u201c A picture is worth a thousand words\u201d<\/span> and if I follow that to be true then surely acting out a play conveys a much more vivid and memorable message than the reading of a book.<\/p>\n

    This becomes even more apparent if the story has not been written down or the audience does not have access to books or would be unable to read them even if they had them.<\/p>\n

    Now for what I consider to be my favourite allegory\/parable from the Bible, which can be found in the Book of Luke Chapter 10 Verses 25-37 and is the story of the Good Samaritan.\u00a0 It is interesting to note that the characters in this story have no names and are simply identified as coming from various stations in life or race of people.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I believe this to be incredibly significant as, we as Freemasons learn that charity does not need a name, as the act is significant of itself.<\/p>\n

    The Allegory in this case \u201c Love thy neighbour as thyself\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

    Other very familiar allegories are the stories told to small children teaching them the difference between Right and Wrong, Truth and Lies and all other sorts of meaningful messages. In Freemasonry, as we all know, Allegories are very heavily used in all Degrees, but most particularly in the Master Mason Degree.<\/p>\n

    Now for the message I wish to convey, it is this:<\/p>\n

    In telling a story to our child or grandchild, I believe we take great pains to make the story memorable and convey the correct message. With that thought in mind, does it not make sense for all of us to make that same effort in the preparation for and the delivery of Ritual within the Lodge.\u00a0\u00a0 In my opinion, it would make a huge difference for both the candidate and ourselves.<\/p>\n

    Does God Exist?<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

    A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed. As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation. They talked about so many things and various subjects & when they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said.<\/p>\n

    \u201cI don\u2019t believe that God exists\u201d \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 Why do you say that?<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Asked the customer.<\/p>\n

    Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn\u2019t exist. Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people? Would there be so many sick children? If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I can\u2019t imagine a loving God who would allow all of these things.<\/p>\n

    The customer thought for a moment, but didn\u2019t respond because he didn\u2019t want to start an argument. The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop.\u00a0 Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long stringy dirty hair and an untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and unkempt.<\/p>\n

    The customer turned back and entered the barbershop again and said to the Barber. You know what \u201cBarbers do not Exist\u201d\u00a0 \u201cHow can you say that?<\/span>\u201d asked the surprised barber. \u201cI am here, and I am a barber and I just worked on you\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u201cNo\u201d<\/span> the customer exclaimed. \u201cBarbers don\u2019t exist because if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards, like the man outside.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

    \u201cAh, but barbers DO exist! What happens is people do not come to me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u201cExactly!<\/span>\u201d affirmed the customer. \u201dThat\u2019s the point! God too DOES exist.<\/span>! What happens is, people don\u2019t go to him and do not look for him. That\u2019s why there\u2019s so much pain and suffering in the World.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Author unknown.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Norm<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \u201cIt is a System of Morality, Veiled in Allegory and Illustrated by Symbols<\/p>\n

    This I intend to approach from both an Exoteric (outward & apparent) and Esoteric (inward & hidden) perspective<\/p>\n

    Let me begin by giving you the definition of the word \u201cAllegory\u201d<\/p>\n

    Webster\u2019s New Collegiate Dictionary gives the following definition,<\/p>\n

    1. the expression by means of symbolic fictional figures and actions of truths or generalizations about human existence
    \n 2. a symbolic representation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[116,59,117],"class_list":["post-92","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-educator","tag-allegory","tag-masonry","tag-symbols"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"MasterMason","author_link":"https:\/\/ashlarcollege.ca\/ashlar-archived\/author\/mastermason\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"The Educator<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"\u201cIt is a System of Morality, Veiled in Allegory and Illustrated by Symbols This I intend to approach from both an Exoteric (outward & apparent) and Esoteric (inward & hidden) perspective Let me begin by giving you the definition of the word \u201cAllegory\u201d Webster\u2019s New Collegiate Dictionary gives the following definition, 1. the expression by…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ashlarcollege.ca\/ashlar-archived\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ashlarcollege.ca\/ashlar-archived\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ashlarcollege.ca\/ashlar-archived\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ashlarcollege.ca\/ashlar-archived\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/76"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ashlarcollege.ca\/ashlar-archived\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ashlarcollege.ca\/ashlar-archived\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ashlarcollege.ca\/ashlar-archived\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ashlarcollege.ca\/ashlar-archived\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ashlarcollege.ca\/ashlar-archived\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}