What do you leave behind?


 


I just got home from a great class on the Masonic funeral. We discussed all the ins and outs of working with the family, funeral home, military, etc. How to properly honor our departed Brother on his continued journey.

Again, I am a firm believer that the Masonic funeral is the true 4th degree. Life continues, and there really is no “death,” just the transition into another experience and set of lessons.

This is really solidified in the Landmarks “That every Mason must believe in a resurrection to a future life.”

 

How very appropriate that this class was held today. Why, you ask? Well, as I mentioned yesterday, today is the day of the longest night. Starting tomorrow, the days and the “Light” will slowly get longer. Oh, it may not seem like it. In Kansas, we can still be knee deep in snow for some time. But it is true, tomorrow the Sun will slowly start its return.

What does that mean for us? It means that today is the “funeral rites” of your old self, and tomorrow you will be reborn into a brand new you.

It means the seeds we planted earlier this year within ourselves are starting to germinate and, in time, come spring, will break forth and sprout.

But for tonight, this longest and darkest night of the year, your old self is left in decay. The remnants of the old self, old ideas, old practices. These are still important to making the newer you. They are, in a sense, fertilizer for the growth of the new self.

So, going back to the thought of the funeral and the rebirth into the future life. What thoughts, ideas, habits, actions, parts of your old self are you leaving in the “grave”? What did you learn about yourself in your “personal chamber of reflection” as the door is being opened and you are “brought to Light” tomorrow morning?

The important thing to remember is that YOU are being reborn. You are the Light. You are fulfilling the Landmark of a resurrection into a new life. Leaving the old self behind.

How will you embrace it?

Alas, my old self.

I love you, and may we govern ourselves accordingly.


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