TODAY WE SAILED WESTWARD
Often we have heard the story of how Columbus, despite the mutterings of his crew, kept his little white-winged fleet sailing onward over an apparently boundless and endless sea. He had failed miserably in his calculations of the distance around the earth, the distance to be traveled in achieving his dream. It was fortunate for him that land impeded his way to the great pacific, of which he knew nothing. His little ships never would have completed the longer journey; and we learn that tand was sighted only a few hours before the time set down by agreement with the muttering crew for turning back.
One would expect Columbus to have set down in his log the daily progress of the little band of argonauts seeking the golden treasures of the East; but in at least the final days of the adventure the only entry was, “Today we sailed westward.”
That was all: ‘Today we sailed westward.”
Many Freemasons become discouraged because the Fraternity seems not to be reaching its goal, or because it does not set sail for goals for which many believe it should strive.
Yet we really have more reason to feet hopeful than did Columbus, who had an unwilling crew and no chance to reach the goal at which he aimed.
Those who really man the ships of Freemasonry are not an unwilling crew. They gladly remain at their posts. They are certain there are spiritual rewards awaiting the programs which they promote. That is not a rainbow in the distance that recedes as we approach. It is the solid land of achievement that appears.
“Today we sail westward,” but “Eastward toward the Light” might be a better way of expressing it for a Freemason.