William G. Sizemore
1733 Sixteenth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009–3103

Self-development flourishes in America's atmosphere of freedom and toleration.

Each year, the Supreme Council sends a beautiful calendar to Brethren and friends. But the calendar is more than a fund-raiser. It also makes a statement about the Scottish Rite and its values. That has seldom been so clearly shown as in the 1999–2000 Scottish Rite calendar. The cover shows a photograph of the front of the national headquarters building (right). There, flanking the entrance and flying high are two American flags. Also, the page for October 1999—the first month shown in the calendar—is the Executive Chamber of the Supreme Council (below). And there, prominently displayed, is the American flag.

The month of April shows the George Washington Memorial Banquet Hall and features the painting of Washington's inauguration. And there, again, red and white striped bunting of "Old Glory" appears.

For the month of June, a bust of Washington appears in the photograph of the anteroom of the Sovereign Grand Commander's office suite.

July's calendar page shows a night sky, with bursts of fireworks behind the national headquarters, while the page for the month of October 2000 shows the main meeting room, again with an American flag prominently displayed.

Why are these patriotic images in the calendar of a fraternity? What relationship is there between Masonry—older than any government now existing on earth—and the "Stars and Stripes"? Are the images appropriate in a publication of an organization which is international in scope and which teaches that Masonry is "above all strife of nations?" What does the Scottish Rite, an organization devoted to self-education and the moral development of the individual have to do with the essentially political question of nationhood? In my opinion, much.

As members of the Masonic Fraternity have occasion to know well, self-development flourishes in an atmosphere of freedom and toleration. An individual who has found freedom within himself naturally desires external political, social, and religious freedom as well, and he yearns to give that same freedom to others. And that is very much the business of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry.

America is more than just a nation; it is also a symbol—a representative of the freedom of the individual to grow, to develop, to become all that he or she can become. As Albert Pike wrote, "Man is superior over institutions, and not they over him." That idea, the center of the 18th Century Great Enlightenment which gave rise to the United States and to the modern world, is symbolized by the American flag and by such men as George Washington, who, in many ways, was the perfect embodiment of the Enlightenment Man.

Imagine, for a moment, that we were not living with the freedom we have. Imagine you were forced to register with the police as a Mason, and that the police had the right to raid a meeting of a Lodge any time they wished, with or without any defendable reason. Imagine you were subject to arrest and persecution, just because you are a Mason. Think what it would be like to look constantly over your shoulder to see if you were being followed. I experienced that during my two years stationed in the Soviet Union as Defense Attaché and senior military aide to our ambassador.

In some ways, the American flag is a symbol of personal protection. It symbolizes things we do not need to fear. It promises that we do not need to look over our shoulders or peer behind doors. It promises that we do not need to register our political affiliation, or our religious denomination, or our fraternal membership with the police. It promises that we do not have to pass some litmus test designed by church authorities in order to exist. It promises that we do not have to fear reprisals against our family members or ourselves because we belong to Freemasonry.

As American Freemasons, we show our appreciation of the flag and its meanings not as some knee-jerk reaction, but as a thoughtful awareness of the importance of its promises, both for what we can hope and for what we need not fear.
It is appropriate that we remember these facts, not just on June 14th, Flag Day, or the 4th of July, but throughout the year. The flag's promises are real and are kept every month of the year, every day of every month, and every minute of every hour of every day. And, thus, it is appropriate that the flag and other patriotic images appear in the Scottish Rite's annual calendar, for they represent Freemasonry's and America's commitment to the individual's free development and protection. One cannot have one without the other.

  William G. Sizemore, Rear Admiral, USN, Ret., 33°, Grand Cross
served on active duty in the U.S. Navy from 1944 to 1982. Since 1989, he has served the Supreme Council as Grand Executive Director. He has been a Master Mason since 1948 and a member of the Scottish Rite since 1955. He is a Past Master and Past High Priest, R.A.M., and an active member of several Appendant Bodies and Masonic organizations.