Many people when faced with times of uncertainty choose to look at the future through the dark lens of resignation, putting themselves at the mercy of others.
As masons we need to react, because a Freemason can always find within himself and in relation to others the key to open the door to a brighter future.
Only in researching the depths of what it means to be human and of its grand mystery may be found the resources to look to the future with confidence, despite everything that seems to stand in our way.
Captain Matthew FlindersWhen Matthew Flinders, after becoming the first person to circumnavigate the Australian mainland, was imprisoned in Mauritius on his return voyage to England in 1803, he could have sunk into despair. Instead, he used his six years of imprisonment to write a book about his journey, illustrated by maps proving for the first time to a European audience, that Australia was a separate continent.
When Flinders was finally able to return to England, poor in health, his book A Voyage to Terra Australis was published, and survived his all-too-brief life to become a widely-praised work. In 1824, the British Admiralty adopted the name Australia for the continent. Flinders’ maps of the Australian coast were so accurate that they were used for shipping purposes as late as the 1970s.
The first tool needed is the ability to see beyond the pathos of our own daily lives. This enables us to find the inner strengths and solutions to our daily problems; to overcome the obstacles that life puts in the way.
Being human is not like being an island, and you will find the best of it when you come out of the cage of solipsism and engage with others. Even Flinders recognised this, and used the opportunity of accidentally crossing paths with the French explorer Nicolas Baudin in April 1802 on the south central coast of Australia, to exchange ideas with his brother in science.
Culture, Science and Brotherhood: three instruments with which man can still change the world and build the temple of humanity.
Article extracted from Freemason magazine, June 2020, page 20.
