MOTIVE

from the book "The Lost keys of Freemasonry or The Secret of Hiram Abiff"
by Manly Palmer Hall.

What motive leads the Masonic candidate out of the world and up the winding stairway to the light? He alone can truly know, for in his heart is hidden the motive of his works. Is he seeking the light of the East? Is he seeking wisdom eternal? Does he bring his life and offer it upon the altar of the Most high? Of all things, motive is most important. Though we fail again and again, it our motive be true, we are victorious. Though time after time we succeed, if our motive be unworthy, we have failed. Enter the temple in reverence, for it is in truth the dwelling place of a Great Spirit, the Spirit of Masonry.

Masonry is an ordainer of kings. Its hand has shaped the destinies of worlds, and the perfect fruitage of its molding is an honest man. What nobler thing can be accomplished than the illumination of ignorance? What greater task is there than the joyous labor of service? And what nobler man can there be than that Mason who serves his Lights, and is himself a light unto his fellow men?

Table of Contents of the rest of this book:
Introduction
In the Fields of Chaos
Temple Builders
The Eternal Quest
Thoughtlessness
The Candidate
The Entered Apprentice
The Fellow Craft
The Master Mason
Transmutation
The presence of the Master
Masons, Awake!
Epilogue of the Priest of Ra
Friendship
The Emerald Table of Hermes (Tabula Smaragdina)
Finish of the Tabula Smaragdina
Motive