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The Arkansas Bible Presentation
My Brother, you are now a Master Mason. You have served your Entered Apprenticeship as bearer of burdens and as hewer of stone in the quarries and have come at last to the exalted position as overseer of the work; a mason entitled to travel into foreign countries, work and receive master's wages. We have given you your tools to work with and have taught you their Masonic uses. We have shown you how to properly divide your time by the twenty-four inch gauge in order that you might have eight hours in which to work, eight in which to rest, and eight more in which to serve your fellow man and worship your creator. We gave you the common gavel to rid your mind and conscience of the vices and superfluities of life so that when the appointed time arrives, you may find your proper place in that spiritual building, that house not made with hands, eternal in the Heavens. We taught you to walk up rightly by the plumb, to square your actions by the square of virtue, and to meet and work upon the level. Finally, we gave you the trowel with which to spread the cement of brotherly love and affection which binds us together into the greatest fraternity the world has ever known. A brotherhood which extends into every far-flung corner of the earth. But, my Brother, there is one thing we have not yet given you, something every workman must have in order to do a good job--a thorough job. We have not yet given you a set of plans to work by-- or in our own Masonic language, your trestle board. Here is your book of plans (shows Bible) the most complete set of plans ever given to man. Here you will find a plan to guide you, to comfort you, to sustain you in every contingency, in sickness or in health, in riches or in poverty, in fair weather or in foul. The answer to every question, to every need can be found between the covers of this great book. How well you choose to use it, my Brother, is not for me to say. That is something you must work out for yourself. You may find the answer in the words of the Prophets; in the ten commandments as laid down by Moses and other records of mosaic law found in the book of Exodus; in the inspiration of the Psalms as written by David and those other men who came after him; in the wisdom of the Proverbs of King Solomon; or you may find it by example. The example of that perfect and most successful life ever lived nearly two thousand years a go by a humble carpenter. But let me tell you this, my Brother, and I say it in all sincerity. Whenever you turn to this great book to find your plan, it will never fail you. So, we give you your book of plans, your trestle board, the Holy Bible (hand Bible to candidate) with our best wishes and blessing. It is yours to serve to guide you in your business, your social and your domestic life. And now, properly equipped with your tools and trestle board, go forth and do your work as a man and mason.
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