Bankruptcy Laws - By: Alan Browning

Fear is a natural reaction to that with which we are unfamiliar. When pain is potentially involved, it is most natural to, at least, feel a great deal of trepidation. Imagine for a moment the plight of the Grand Master Jacques De Molay as he awaited certain torture, most clearly already having been told precisely which instrument would hurtfully probe which delicate parts of his body. Without doubt, he felt fear. Yet, as we are informed by ancient history, he eventually overcame that fear, declared that he would not profess the misdeeds attributed to him and his Knights Templar and was subsequently burned alive at the stake.

What is it that enables men to overcome fear? The heroic efforts of the soldiers at Iwo Jima, or those who stormed the cliffs at the Normandy invasion stand out to generations as examples of unflinching bravery. To the military man the answer is clear - he fights because of his comrades in arms. But, why do we resist fear? Most of us are not in combat and thus not at war. The answer is that we have so conditioned our faith and our minds that we know that we, like all men, will die. Our passing from this material life was ordained before we were born. It matters not so much how we die, but how we live.

Freedom is a gift of God. In the Entered Apprentice Degree, the candidate sees and hears Freemasonry's lesson symbolized by the star-decked heavens, or clouded canopy which covers the material earth. This symbolism is of such significance that many European and domestic lodges continue to reinforce its lessons by painting the ceilings with stars, planets and other heavenly luminaries. Concealed within that symbolism is the additional veil to certain wise and serious truths known as "Jacob's Ladder."

We read in the book of Genesis that a man named Jacob fell asleep one night out in the open during his travels from Beersheba to the land of Haran. In his dreams he saw a great ladder with one end set on earth and the top reaching far into the heavens above. Jacob seemed to see the "angels of God" ascending and descending the ladder. As he looks higher up, he also seemed to see God Himself standing above it and heard Him promise that Jacob and his descendants would inherit the land where Jacob slept. Upon awakening, Jacob declared the ground sacred, arranged the stones he used for a pillow into a pillar and named the spot Bethel, which means house of God. (Genesis 28:10-19).

Like so many other stories in the Old Testament, for those who do not insist upon a literal interpretation, the legend of Jacob's Ladder conveys a deep concern and belief that is actually centered in a very old culture. A careful reading of the book of Genesis reveals to the discerning eye that the entire book, when read as a whole, appears to be disjointed, difficult to read as one continuum and seemingly missing some very essential background information. Recent academic research has concluded a reason for this fact that tends to more fully explain why Egypt was so important to our Masonic ancestors.

Jacob's vision was but a fragment of a richer living tradition; an ancient teaching about the link between the earthly and divine worlds.

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