The Third Revered Sense - Feeling

To most people feeling has two facets, namely that of touch and that of sensing. One is active, while the other is passive. We actively grasp to feel physical objects and passively have feeling about the things around us. For the Freemason both facets are important, but the active touch is a major part of his journey toward improvement.

While much of the body is sensitive to touch, it is the hand and fingers that are our most important instruments of this sense. To the blind, the fingers are their eyes to the world, and as blindness sharpens this sense, so should we, when hoodwinked, sharpen our mind to the messages of touch and feeling.

The importance of the hand and touch appears in our introduction to the Craft and throughout our journey. Like a blind man wandering down a hallway, we are lead by the hand to meet our first resistance to Masonry at the entrance to the Lodge. Only through touch do we recognize that resistance. An explanation is given later, but only the sense of touch tells us what we have encountered.

Upon entrance to the lodge room a second spiritual door is placed before us and if successful, a trusted hand reaches out and touches ours. Sound may reach our ears in the darkness, but physical assurance lies in the recognition of a human hand placed in ours. The transfer of strength and warmth through touch remove isolation and through this grip we are lifted to continue our journey.

Throughout the degrees, when in darkness, we will be given instruction through touch. The hand of our conductor guides our approaching, standing, kneeling, holding, and placement. The darkness of mental and material understanding places us in the hands of a trusted friend and the lessons of Brotherly Love and Affection are most evident. The everyday expression of "lend a hand" must become a rule for our conduct in interacting with our Brothers, for the grip symbolizes how we must touch each other's lives.

Finally, we are "raised" as a Master Mason and the hand that reaches out for us is the hand of a Brother. In the depths of darkness and at the lowest point, both literally and symbolically, this is the "touch" we seek from the Great Architect of the Universe at the end of life's journey. We have no greater goal.