A bridge to light

A BRIDGE TO LIGHT
by
Rex Hutchens

C. FRED KLEINKNECHT, 33d Sovereign Grand Commander

FOREWORD

The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite is above all
else an educational institution. Throughout its history
it has stood as a beacon on the shores of ignorance.
Instruction about the great ideals of morality,
philosophy, religion and philanthropy permeates our
ritual and our writings,unencumbered by sectarian
doctrine.

We have sought, not to teach men the truth, but rather
a way to the truth. Each must find it for himself. We
seek only to be a guide--teaching the common ground of
various philosophical and religious approaches to
belief in order that men might be more united in their
standards of right and wrong and their understanding of
the reality of God.

The apexof our teachings has been the rituals of our
degrees and Morals and Dogma, written by our beloved
Sovereign Grand Commander Albert Pike. The latter, once
widely read, has become less so today. The Bible as
well is less widely read than in his time. Many factors
have conspired to bring about this condition, but chief
among them has been a shift in educational priorities
in America,particularly after World War 11 as the
teaching of science and technology began to overshadow
the humanities. Neither Greek nor Latin is commonly
taught in our high schools, and instruction on
classical mythology is virtually nonexistent. Thus many
come to Morals and Dogma sadly deficient in the
foundation Pike rightly expected his readers to have.

A Bridge to Light seeks to overcome thisdifficulty by
presenting passages from Morals and Dogma which best
reinforce the teachings of the rituals of the degrees.
It is hoped that these degree summaries and the
accompanying citations from Morals and Dogma will
encourage our members to investigate more fully the
profound teachings of the Rite and learn how to apply
them in their daily lives. A lesson learned, but not
practiced, is notlearned at all.

Our ritual both instructs and affirms: it teaches our
new members what might be expected of them in matters
of demeanour and, through our Reunions, affirms the
bonds of brotherhood which unite us.

Ritual is the very soul of the Scottish Rite and its
proper presentation is an imperative. Thus is this work
presented--to inform, guide and remind us of our duties
andresponsibilities to ourselves and the world at
large.

I believe that the publication of this work could truly
be the dawning of a new day in our Jurisdiction.
C. Fred Kleinknecht, 33d
Sovereign Grand Commander

PREFACE

This work was prepared using the published rituals of
the degrees as written by Albert Pike and occasionally
revised by the Committee on Rituals and Ceremonial
Forms of theSupreme Council. It incorporates those
allowable additions in the rubrics that have from time
to time been published.

The author and the members of the Committee recognize
that certain Valleys may be physically and/or
financially unable to present the rituals in their
complete form. These degree summaries are presented as
a guide only; their intent is to assist the members of
the Rite inunderstanding the lessons of the degrees
and the meaning of the symbols employed in the
presentation of those lessons. It is only expected that
the Valleys will do the best possible job of presenting
the degrees within the limits of their situation. We
hope the brethren will avail themselves of the
information in these summaries to increase their
understanding of the degrees. Unlessotherwise noted,
all page references are to Morals and Dogma.

Rex R. Hutchens
Tucson, Arizona
1988

Masonry is useful to all men: to the learned, because
it affords them the opportunity of exercising their
talents upon subjects eminently worthy of their
attention; to the illiterate, because it offers them
important instruction; to the young, because it
presents them with salutary precepts...