William Herbert “Skip” Boyer, KCCH

Learning to keep a secret is the real lesson in Masonry.

Super-secret military maneuvers are underway in Iraq as I write this. I know this because it was on the news last night, complete with some very dramatic film. God forbid that the wrong people should tumble into this sensitive stuff. Secrets are double-edged swords.

Remember when you were a kid? Having a secret was like having a big piece of candy you couldn’t eat. Of course, after savoring the whole business of having a secret and feeling very exclusive, the next thing you did was go looking for someone to share it with.

This brings me to Masonic “secrecy.” You’ve heard all the disclaimers. We’re not really secret. We’re in the Yellow Pages, for crying out loud! How secret can you be with a Yellow Pages listing? Besides, if you really want to know all the great Masonic recognition secrets, well, they’re as close as your computer and your Internet connection. You can find it all right out there on the World Wide Web.

But that’s not the point.

We do have some secrets. That’s not the issue. The issue is why do we have them?

Now, if you are a follower of the “Craft Guild Theory of Masonic Evolution,” you know that our secrets were the means by which traveling Master Masons were greeted and recognized at new building sites. By demonstrating his knowledge of certain signs and tokens, a man was recognized as being in on the secrets of operative masonry. At least, that’s one theory.

But, on the other hand, if you believe in the “Templar Theory of Masonic Evolution” and that great-great-great-great granddad rode with Jacques DeMolay and the boys, you know that the secrets were vital to their safety and well-being as King Phillip the Fair (who was anything but) sought to destroy them.

Then there’s the theory that Masonry’s big secret is that we have no secret. If that’s the case, we’ve been pulling the world’s leg for centuries. And I’ve always thought that secrecy was part of the appeal of Masonry. Doesn’t make much difference. Either way, we have a handful of arcane secrets we pass carefully from Brother to Brother, often not understanding just what they mean or why we have them. And we’ve sworn mighty oaths to keep them secret.

Why?

Well, I have another theory.

Like much of our work, our secrets serve to teach us an important lesson in Masonic practice. Learning to KEEP a secret is part of learning to be discreet and careful in your utterances. It’s learning the real meaning of discretion. It’s remembering to circumscribe our passions. In other words, it’s not the secret that’s important.

It’s learning to keep it that is the real lesson here.

It’s hard to keep a secret. And it hasn’t gotten any easier since we were kids. It’s just that, well, it’s so hard not to tell!

My Brothers, let’s remind ourselves of this fact: The secret is not important. It’s keeping it a secret that honors our obligations. It’s what we strive for as we seek to make ourselves better men. That is the real secret of Freemasonry: Making good men better. That, my Brothers, is a secret we shouldn’t keep.

Note: The above article is reprinted from The Philalethes magazine (February 2004)

William Herbert “Skip” Boyer KCCH writes from the Valley of Phoenix, where he is the executive producer and senior writer for Best Western International. He is a fifth generation Master Mason, Past Master of Paradise Valley Silver Trowel #29, and a member of the Scottish Rite Bodies of Phoenix, Arizona. Brother Boyer received his red cap in 2003. Contact: skip.boyer@bestwestern.com