Masonic Musings #7

A hammer is a hammer

Freemasonry is full of symbols and some of the ones we most often talk about are the working tools for each degree. In my last column about Balance we touched on some of the meanings of the 24 inch gauge which is a working tool of the Apprentice, this week I'd like to touch on the Common Gavel.

The typical lesson around the gavel is we are to use it metaphorically to break off, or remove, those parts of ourselves that would keep us from reaching our highest potential. Those items that may be a vice, an attitude, even the anxiety created by worrying about what others are thinking and saying, the items that hold us back. Some of those items are easy to see and relate back to our 24 inch gauge and our balance. If you find yourself out of balance you can reach for the gavel and strike it off. The trick to remain vigilant and continue to remove those pieces for as we have all learned, just because something has been removed doesn't mean there isn't more lying beneath the first layer.

The gavel also relates to not only yourself but the things around you. If you think for a minute, what in your life do you not need? Do you still use that service you're paying a monthly fee for? No, then grab your gavel and strike it away. Do you still need that mountain of paperwork in the corner of your office? No, use the lesson of the gavel and move that pile into the recycle bin.

The lesson of removal is something that can be applied across your entire life, your entire 24 inch gauge. The two implements compliment each other, one to help you understand, and one to help you correct things. I still remember to this day the lesson from wood shop back in school, measure twice and cut once, that way we truly removed what was needed and nothing more. The same applies here, check your balance, reflect, and then if necessary, strike with the gavel.

The gavel stays with us throughout our lives. It is not lost on many of us that the gavel is placed in the hand of an Apprentice as a working tool, and it is the same tool that a Worshipful Master uses to govern his Lodge. It is an implement that we continually use through our journey in life and we learn to use it in different manners as we travel that path.

At first we're not sure how we are going to use it, but by the time we reach the end of that journey we hopefully have mastered it.

Much like the gavel of a Worshipful Master, our own gavel is a symbol of our authority, in this case, over ourselves. That mastery shows that we have learned and now understand what we need to do to become the best version of ourselves. We must be willing to remove what is not needed, to remove that which is not wanted, and end up with piece of work that is best to fit the builder's use.

The gavel is a powerful tool for you to use, take the time to understand it and use it wisely.