When I was a kid in the 1960s, Masonry was to me a "big" thing, a "grown-up" thing. I knew my father was a Mason; I knew he was in Scottish Rite and Shrine; and that was about it. The things of my father's adulthood were about as separate to me as would be the culture of another planet. I was a kid; he was an adult. That to me explained it. Masonry was an adult thing, like going to work, owning a house, taking care of one's family, and so on. Indeed, all I knew of anything associated with Masonry at that time was that sometimes he wore a fez, that he had a Masonic ring, and that he had a white apron in the bottom of his dresser drawer. I knew Dad was (and is) proud to be a Mason, but I didn't know exactly why.

Let's fast-forward the memory tape 30 or so years. I find myself an adult in a demanding job focused almost entirely on my career, in a town I didn't grow up in, with few close friends. Out of the blue, a friend invites me to a guest night for his local Lodge. My wife and I go to the dinner—a modest affair, but with a significant difference. For the first time in years, I am socializing with people I don't work with! What a delight this is. I meet fellows from all walks of life—machinists, doctors, insurance men, custodians, lawyers, you name it. They seem interested in me; I am interested in them. One of the most compelling speakers I have heard talks about Masonry—a simple talk about a group of men who aim to live right, help each other and humanity, honor the good, eschew the false. For whatever reason, this rings true to me, and I am hooked—I turn in a petition. It's accepted, and three months later, I am a Master Mason, proud as punch. I glory in my associations; I am in awe of what I have yet to learn. I take part in schools for instruction, rituals, initiating, passing, raising. I learn, and I want to know more.
This is not surprising. I am, by profession, an academic in the teaching and learning business, and I have been for a goodly while. I've been told I have an inquisitive mind. So when presented with the opportunity to go further in Masonry, I took it. I petitioned, was accepted, and joined Scottish Rite.
My experiences in Scottish Rite have been fascinating beyond my wildest expectations. As I work at a university, perhaps it's appropriate that I should find such a thrill in the Scottish Rite—the "University of Freemasonry," as it's sometimes called. I am proud of my association with Freemasonry, and especially with Scottish Rite. Let me use the background I have provided above to tell why.
First, I find Masonry to be a profound anchor for life. Far, far too often, we find ourselves awash in a sea of moral relativism. What was bad one year is OK the next; what wouldn't be allowed at one point is the latest popular fad another day. It is all too clear that relativism threatens to give humanity no point at all, no anchor. It is as if society has the kind of immediate want/immediate gratification emotional process of a child.
Masonry brings a "grown-up" perspective. I know now that my father was a Mason because he believed in those same things—the sanctity of the family, the belief that some things are always wrong and others are always right. Now, not only do I have his example, but I also have the example of all my Masonic Brethren that it is necessary now more than ever for human beings to "do that which it is right to do." Scottish Rite and Masonry tell me that there is a Right, and they impel me in pursuit of it.

Second, I find the association with like-minded men to be essential to my understanding of the world. The world is polycultural and polylingual. As a result, it is a fascinating place. It's imperative that Masonry, as a universal Craft, take a place in the promotion of mutual understanding among peoples along the lines of the right principles afforded by our Fraternity. In local Lodges, we see men of all trades, cultures, ethnicities, and economic positions come together on the level. In Scottish Rite, we see men from all Lodges meet as Brothers. My father and brother, both Scottish Rite Masons, share with me this diverse brotherhood.

Third, Scottish Rite makes me think. We are fated to live in a time that provides us with so much information—the Internet, e-mail, hundreds of television channels and radio stations, thousands of new books each day. Yet this same world, ironically, encourages us to be passive receptors of information. Scottish Rite can promote a dynamic involvement and critical discernment needed in the modern era. The complex ritual of Albert Pike requires one to think on several levels at once to discern its meaning. The complexity of the ritual, whether in Pike's 19th-century language or the Supreme Council's modern, revised text, forces us to be aware of what is going on in the literal, symbolic, and spiritual levels of the text, whether we read it or perform it. We get the basics of the ritual when we go through it. But as we go further in Scottish Rite, it, like great literature, gets under our skin, in our blood, and becomes part of us. In the Scottish Rite, we can all, to an extent, become Masonic scholars.

And fourth, Scottish Rite brings me closer to my Creator. The 14th Degree ring I wear (which was my father's) is a constant reminder of the obligations I have made before Deity and of the Deity Who enables me to strive toward those goals of the 14th Degree—to do good not for reward, but because it is simply good and right to do so. My associations with the men in my Valley who are living examples of selfless service remind me that others serve the same Grand Architect of the Universe.

Thus, I have become "grown-up" in the Scottish Rite. It causes me to think, to have faith in "that which it is right to do," provides me with a higher purpose for my life, and provides me with a varied and enriching set of companions. How, therefore, could I not be proud to be a 32nd Degree Mason? Scottish Rite provides those things which, to me and to other Masons, make a stable and fascinating world, a world beyond the mundane, yet a world which informs and explains the everyday as well. And, if there is anything the world needs more than individuals who are mature, critically aware and thinking, guided by God, and morally astute, Brothers who seek understanding across cultures and countries, I'd really, really like to know what it is!

Robert D. Whipple, Jr. is a fourth-generation Mason. A native Texan, he is currently Junior Warden of Florence Lodge No. 281 in Omaha, Nebraska, and is the Expert in the Consistory of the Valley of Omaha, Orient of Nebraska. He has taught college writing for 20 years and has authored many articles and presentations on writing, technology, literacy, and popular fiction. He is Associate Professor and Chair of the English Department at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska.