Address of R.W. Deane A. Murdy
on His Official Visit  to Golden Rule Lodge, September, 2002

Secrecy

"Secrecy may be said to consist of...". All of us have heard these words but have we really thought of what is behind them. Going all the way back to the time of King Solomon there was secrecy surrounding Masons. Each level of Masons had its own secrets. Hiram Abif was willing to die for his beliefs and to safe guard those secrets. The reason for this secrecy is lost to antiquity.

Moving into the middle ages in the time of operative Masons, secrecy was of an obvious benefit to the craft. Economically it allowed a monopoly on building large structures with stone. Stately edifices such as cathedrals, castles, and large manors could take decades to build providing long term employment and prosperity for those lucky enough to be admitted to the craft or be born into it. Who in their right mind would spread this wealth of knowledge widely and kill the goose that laid the golden egg.

As we progress though the ages we approach the time of speculative Masons. Secrecy was kept for a different reason. At the time England was still a Catholic nation. Openly being a Mason was, if found out, a death sentence due to the enmity of the King. If you were lucky the death was swift and relatively painless. It wasn't until the Protestant reformation that this changed. Even then it was 90 or more years before Masons felt comfortable to let non-masons know that they were Masons.

As late as the 1940's being known as a Mason could be worth your life. Many Masons last trip was to a Nazi concentration camp. Just for their beliefs, which did not correspond to the creed of Adolf Hitler, they were thought a danger to that regime. Standing up and saying " I am a Mason and you are wrong" may have been a courageous act but it did not lend itself to an extended life line.

Looking around this room you see rings, tie tacks, and lapel pins. Cars carry license plates and stickers with the Masonic symbol, Here we freely display our allegiance.

Masons even today in parts of the world do not advertise them selves as we do. Even English Masons are much more reserved about displaying our symbols. Old habits die hard.

Now we come to today. We are still perceived as a secret society by the public at large. From our history you can see why. In the past we benefited economically, or physically, by remaining quiet about our allegiance and secrets.

To some extent Masonry benefits from a restrictive regime because we are seen to be opposing the oppressor and people with like beliefs gravitate to Masonry even though it is thought to be a secret society". But in a more open society where there is no dictator to oppose we are not standing out from the norm.

At times like these our secrets may be working against us. We need to allow men of good morals to know us. If we do not tell people that we our still here, and continue to hide our light under a basket, we can hardly blame people in these prosperous times for over-looking us and going their own way.

I do not want to see the Craft decline until a social upheaval makes secrecy necessary again for a revival of what we stand for. It would be much preferred if we publicly stated that we were upright God fearing Masons, and by our example allow society to emulate our actions, and continue to become a much kinder and gentle world.

Secrecy works against us in other ways. My father imparted this story to me at Grand Lodge. My Grand Father Murdy was a Mason as were 5 of his 8 sons. At the funeral of my Uncle Don, a Mason, his wife, Aunt Ethel mentioned to Aunt Doreen the wife of Uncle Bob a non-mason, that Don had always wondered why Bob hadn't asked to be a Mason. Doreen stated that Bob had always wanted to be a Mason, but could not understand why one of his brothers hadn't asked him to join. Here is an individual who grew up in a Masonic family, had five brothers who were Masons and did not know that he had to ask us. If he didn't know, how many other worthy men are there in the world who would like to join us but do not know that they have to ask us. Most groups like Rotarians or Lions ask you which is what most people have experienced with.

An eminent Mason from the Sudbury area stated that the way he imparts the information is to say, " The Masons could use a man like you." If the man shows any interest he then gives him the pamphlet "What is Freemasonry". You can choose to impart the information in your own way, just don't hide your light from the world. I am not saying that we should allow the public to view our secrets and rituals. These are part of our landmarks and must be preserved.

However, we are not a secret society. We are a fraternity who's methods of recognition are secret. Any good library probably has a book that contains them all. I am implying that we as Masons should not be afraid to let it be known that we are Masons, that we are proud to be Masons and that we would welcome like minded men.

Thank you