"Yes, I am a member of the Scottish Rite. Yes, I receive my Valley’s Bulletin and the Scottish Rite Journal. No, I haven’t been back to a Reunion since I took the Degrees. Well, I went to one, but I didn’t understand what was going on." 

Sound familiar? Have you been a part of this statement or heard statements like these? 

I have used just about every excuse there is for not attending Scottish Rite Reunions. Not until you start going, do you begin to understand what the Degrees are all about. 

I am sure you can identify with my remembrance of the Reunion when I received the Scottish Rite Degrees. I was in a class of about a 120. It was a four-day Reunion taking place over two weekends. I didn’t know anyone. I was herded into a classroom early in the morning and told a certain seat was mine. The classroom director began. We then went into the auditorium and witnessed a play. Then it was back to the classroom. I didn’t ask questions. The Reunion was showing me I was Masonically ignorant. This went on all day, the next day, and the following weekend. By the end of the four-day trial, I didn’t know anyone except the guy next to me, and I figured everyone knew more than I did—and that wouldn’t have to be very much. I had witnessed good ritualists and poor ritualists, but I was still Masonically ignorant. I left that first Reunion in more darkness than when I had arrived. This was not for me. 

Ten years of making excuses went by, 10 years of throwing away programs, Valley Bulletins, and Scottish Rite Journals. Eventually, however, I returned to the Scottish Rite after being asked by a friend to take a part in a Degree. I started attending Reunions and began to discover Scottish Rite Masonry. I found the more I watched, the more I understood; the more I read, the more was revealed to me. I would get upset with the answers to questions I asked the Brethren. Their responses seemed fragmentary and unclear. They did not relate to me. Then I realized that each Brother’s answer is there for him to discover for himself. It cannot be told. It must be understood personally and deeply. Albert Pike states in the 18th Degree Lecture, "No man has the right to interpret the symbols of this degree for another." 

It seemed the more I drank, the thirstier I got. I was not used to this kind of learning. I was from the public school system—presentation, practice, test. As I see it, in Scottish Rite Masonry the key is read, contemplate, dig, read again, wait, contemplate, weigh and, finally, discover. As Sovereign Grand Commander C. Fred Kleinknecht, 33°, states in the forward to the book A Bridge to Light, "It is hoped that the degree summaries and the accompanying citations from Morals and Dogma will encourage our members to investigate more fully the profound teachings of the Rite and learn how to apply them in their daily lives. A lesson learned, but not practiced is not learned at all." 

I have been in the Fourteenth Degree for five years now, and every time it is put on, I discover something new. Dr. Rex R. Hutchens, 33°, G.C., the author of A Bridge to Light, notes, "It may be necessary to see the dramatic performance several times before the teachings are fully comprehended.” By using plays, allegories and instruction, Scottish Rite Reunions reveal 29 Masonic virtues, among them: gratitude to God, love of mankind, confidence in human nature, veneration of God, devotedness to family and friends, love of country, truth, justice, toleration, prudence, temperance, chastity, sobriety, heroism, firmness, equanimity, zeal, probity, honor, fidelity, disinterestedness, leniency, forgiveness, forbearance, charity, kindness, generosity, liberality, and punctuality. 

Ill. Hutchens notes, "No man can be perfect, but he can strive toward perfection and so improve his nature." Albert Pike states in Morals and Dogma, "Step by step men must advance toward perfection, and each Masonic Degree is meant to be one of those steps." We are taught that by living and working within these Masonic virtues we develop our own philosophy, not only how we live but how we perceive life. We begin to build the bridge to light for ourselves, within ourselves. 

As a member of the Scottish Rite, one may need to revisit the classroom, observe a Degree again, and prepare himself by reading the presentation of the Degree in A Bridge to Light and Pike’s lecture in Morals and Dogma. Ill. Hutchens states, "Reunions are intended to increase familiarity with the symbols and story, so that your enjoyment of the performance may be heightened." Just about the time you feel you have a grasp on the story, another angle is presented. It may be by a symbol in a Degree. It may be by the use of a certain color or number. An insight may even be triggered by a different inflection of a character’s voice. Hundreds of elements in a Degree may spark a new meaning. 

Now that you have the Degrees, why not come back for the diploma?