The
Four-Leafed Clover
by Roger M. Firestone, 33 KCCH
rfire@jtan.com
http://mastermason.com/rfire
It's about a 3/4 mile walk from
the bus stop I use to the
This time, what caught my eye
was a four-leafed clover. I have a knack for spotting them, I guess; in the
past couple years I've found more than a dozen. I don't always pick them;
often, it's just satisfying enough to know that my eyes are still sharp. But
this time, I bent over and plucked it. Putting the tiny plant into my shirt
pocket, I walked on to the stated communication.
A couple of Brothers had seen
me bending over and asked what I'd found. I showed them, and one said that he'd
never found a four-leafed clover in his life. "But they're
everywhere," I said, and recounted my having found many in recent months.
He shook his head, and I moved on to greet other members.
My last stop before picking a
seat was the SE corner of the room, where the dedicated Illustrious Brother who
heads the Sick and Distressed Committee always sits, so he can borrow the
microphone of the Secretary. I greeted him and decided to leave the clover on
the Secretary's desk. Who is in more need of luck than the Brother who has that
job? Well, maybe the Brothers whose names the chair of the Sick and Distressed
Committee would read, but I didn't have that many clovers. Good wishes and
prayers would have to do.
In the course of the meeting,
the Secretary mentioned the clover without knowing who'd left it. Meanwhile,
the remark of the Brother who'd never found one in his life continued to echo
through my mind. Abruptly, I realized what the clover symbolized. But we'd had
such an excellent and distinguished (not to mention Illustrious) speaker that
it would have been impolite to add any remarks that evening, even though the
tender of the floor specifies "...anything to offer..."
But there would be another
time to point out that the four-leafed clover is unquestionably a symbol in
nature of the Fourth Degree. From my experiences at finding them, I knew they
were everywhere, along the sides of roads and next to buildings, in our
backyards and in parks. Yet most, like the Brother who had never found one,
overlooked them amidst the mass of ordinary three-leafed clovers. A four-leafed
clover was surely within that Brother's reach nearly every day if he had
bothered to look closely.
Why does the clover symbolize
the Fourth Degree? Four-leafed clovers are everywhere within our grasp, but few
look and see what is before them. The motto of the Fourth Degree is "Light
and Truth are within the reach of every man that lives, would he but open his
eyes and see." Light and truth are the philosophical four-leafed clovers
of Masonry. Anyone can find the truth if he chooses to look for it, for it is
everywhere about us. But we ignore it amidst the mass of three-leafed trivia to
which we pay no attention.
Open your eyes and see, my
Brother; open your eyes and see!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Biographical note:
Roger M. Firestone is a
member of the Valley of Alexandria, Virginia, where he is 1st Lt. Commander of
the Council of Kadosh. He is also serving as Grand
Master of Cryptic Masons in the
Other note:
Any resemblance of the above
to actual events, occurrences, and people is not a coincidence!