A Man Makes His Mark

By Matthew R. Stolz, PHP of Macon Chapter No. 21, R.A.M.

As my hair turns white and I keep my sights on my next, ever-approaching, milestone birthday, I come to realize that I am now an elder Companion. My thoughts turn to my fellow Masons and their marks, specifically to the book of marks held in the archives of my Chapter. I have perceived in my time as a Royal Arch Mason that many Companions find the task of making their mark a daunting one. Perhaps some fear that they will make a mistake, that they will choose a mark that they will later come to regret, like a bad tattoo, and they will, of course, be unable to change it. This fear seems to me unreasonable. That fear is based on an imagined future that does not yet exist and that may, in fact, never exist. As Michael Hutchins sang in the old INXS tune, “Need You Tonight”: “All you’ve got is this moment.” I would ask the Companion struggling to put his mark upon the page: Can you express the truth of who you are in the here and now and represent it symbolically upon the page in the book of marks? That is what is called for, no more, no less.

Beyond the world of Masonry, that is what I feel we all seek to do: to leave our mark upon the world, to leave some evidence of the fact that we were here, that we lived. We wish to erect some monument to our earthly lives, to provide some proof of our existence. For far too many modern men, that monument is the stone that crowns our graves, hopefully to be visited by those who love and remember us, but ask yourself: For how many generations does such memory usually last?

The true mark we leave upon the world, the one we are specifically called upon as Freemasons to leave, is in our deeds, in our acts of loving kindness. It is in our attempts to make the world a better place, to care for those less fortunate than ourselves, and in our attempts to right the wrongs of the past. Often this will consist of learning how our parents were raised, realizing how we were raised, and, if possible, to do better in raising our own children. This is not to imply any disrespect to our parents and grandparents, but only to realize that as the world changes, so must our approach to the world change. I personally can say of a certainty that the world which I was raised to occupy, one of phone books, atlases, and card catalogs, for instance, no longer exists. To raise my children the same as I was raised would be to do my children a grave disservice. It may well be that our parents and grandparents did a fine job. It is, however, not a sin for us to try to do to even better. Such perpetual improvement, after all, lies at the heart of Masonry.

These acts of loving kindness are, in truth, the eternal marks of man upon the Earth. In time, sadly, our names may be forgotten. However, the love we have shown to our family, to our fellow Freemasons, to our communities, and even to the strangers in our midst, outlives us. This love, remembered, can be passed on, from person to person and from generation to generation. As this love builds and accumulates over time, it can become a foundation, as strong as any stone, on which a better future may perpetually be built. One single act of altruism, of true charity, may echo throughout eternity and leave an everlasting mark, the mark of he who would build a better world.