The Spirit Shall Return

"Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them; While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain: In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened, And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low; Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets: Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." Ecclesiastes 12:1-7.

"Finally death comes. We must face it without fear and, without regret, give life up. In this manner, birth, puberty, marriage, aging, and death have always depicted unavoidable trials. Whether we face them happily or despairingly, whether we celebrate them or let them go unnoticed, they map the path of human life. With each test completed, a new phase of existence begins. At the end of each season of life, the outline of a new being emerges.

In my opinion, our American culture no longer celebrates enough the various stages of life we must go through. We no longer feel with the same acuity how much we change with each trial we overcome. Little by little, we have become unconscious of our own metamorphoses. By straightening out the winding path of our lives, by removing all obstacles from our journeys, we deny truth. In a way, we lie to ourselves. Lost in a fog of the disconnected soul, we fall out of step with the indispensable vital pace, rhythm, and tempo of our lives.

Today, the distressing questions concerning the meaning of life stem mostly from the loss of this existential rhythm. Many men have told me that this, in essence, was the reason for their joining Freemasonry. To regain their footing on this path, to find once again their rhythm, and to celebrate as well as comfort each other during those life events and stages."

~ Robert Herd, The Initiatic Experience: That Led To Your Initiation Into Freemasonry