The prophet Isaiah, in one of his more lucid moments, exhorts his readers to ’Look unto the Rock whence ye are hew’ (Isaiah 51. 1) He apparently meant them to remember Abraham and Sarah and all the ancestry of Israel, but it is good advice for masons too, for it reminds us that a stone can only be as good - or as bad - as the quarry from which it came; and many of us spend so much time looking only at the routine work of our own individual Lodges that we tend to forget the immensity of Masonry in general. But as a builder, selecting stone for a new structure, seeks to know something of the quarry from which his stone is cut, so we should occasionally take the opportunity to reflect on the whole institution of Freemasonry, to consider its nature and principles.
     Perhaps we can best do this by considering three definitions of Masonry which are sometimes offered by the uninstructed and popular world who are not masons, all three definitions are false, and yet each contains a sufficient element of truth which may help us to see things in perspective.
     The first false definition is that Freemasonry is a social club. The world sees that we meet together, that we obviously enjoy our meetings, and that a quantity of food and drink is consumed during the course of the evening. Outwardly therefore, masonry seems to resemble a social club - but with peculiarly severe restrictions on admission to membership.
     The second false definition is that masonry is a Mutual Insurance Society. The world sees our Institutions and says to itself, "These masons pay into a scheme so that they can enjoy private health treatment, private education for their sons and daughters and security for their old age."
     The third false definition of masonry is that it is a Religion, or worse still that it is a substitute for religion. Our Lodges appear, to the outsider, to be in the nature of churches: - why, we even call them ’temple’ ourselves. Also it is well known that masons always have a Bible at their meetings they have Chaplains and prayers, - while apart from sundry loud knocks the only sounds that reach the waitresses in the kitchen are men's voices lustily singing a hymn!
     These, then, are some of the impressions we give to the world, - that we are a Club, an Insurance Society, a Religion. All false in themselves, yet each containing an ‘inspired guess’ at reality, when we remember the great Principles on which our Order is founded: the first of these is Brotherly Love. Now although masonry is not primarily a social club, yet the principle of Brotherly Love is something that certainly appeals to men who are by nature ‘clubbable’. It would be as difficult to practise Freemasonry on ones own as it would be to play football in solitary confinement.
     Secondly our order is founded on the principle of Relief. It is this that gives to the world the impression that we might be a Mutual Insurance Society.
     But it cannot be too often stated that it is not for ourselves that we make these provisions: I am quite sure that no mason has ever subscribed to our Institutions in order that his own child might be educated, or to secure care in his old age. We are the fortunate ones; we subscribe to help those who are less fortunate, Furthermore in the last fifty years or so the tremendous amounts given to non-masonic causes by our Grand Charity will prove that masons are by no means only concerned with their own welfare.
     Thirdly our Order is founded on the great principle of Truth; and while masonry is not, and never can be, a substitute for religion, yet the principle of Truth appeals particularly to men who are by nature religious, who put their trust in the God of Truth, and whose faith is governed by the words of that Sacred Volume which alone can guide us to all Truth.
     We expect our Candidates to come with a pre-conceived favourable opinion of our Order. It is therefore essential for us to speak and act in accordance with the highest principles of Masonry; and nowhere is this more important than among such men whose life and work is devoted to Truth, in professions such as the Law, the Church, Education, Medicine etc. For as we know to our cost, the world will judge such members by the very highest standards and with an even more critical eye.
     Let us therefore take extra care how we behave, both in our public and in our private lives, so that we may give not a false, but a true impression of what masonry means to us; - and occasionally lifting our eyes from the task of smoothing and polishing our own little stone to follow the advice of the prophet Isaiah and ‘look unto the Rock whence we are hewn’.