Two Kinds of Charity

Vocabulary · 12

Two kinds of charity

The published Masonic understanding of charity has two complementary forms. The first is institutional: what a Mason supports collectively, through dues and donation, by way of the published Masonic charities. The second is personal: how a Mason treats his neighbor, his coworker, the stranger he passes on the street. Neither replaces the other; the Craft is built to do both at the same time.

Love thy neighbor as thyself

The published moral ground both kinds of charity rest on. The phrase is from Leviticus 19:18 ("Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself") and is quoted again as the second great commandment in Matthew 22:39 and Mark 12:31. Mackey notes that the rule is older than Masonry, but Masonry adopts it without reservation: the Mason is not better than his neighbor and is bound to treat him as he would be treated.

Relief, the published tenet

The second of the three published tenets of the Craft (Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth) and the one that names institutional charity by its Masonic title. Webb's published lecture defines Relief as the active duty of soothing the unhappy, sympathizing with their misfortunes, and restoring peace to their troubled minds. By deed where the Mason can, and by word where he cannot.

Masonic Charities Foundation of New Mexico (MCFNM)

A New Mexico Masonic charitable foundation. MCFNM works through the Lodges in their local communities, supporting the projects each Lodge identifies for its own neighborhood, and stands ready for identified statewide circumstances such as natural or other disasters. The giving is bottom-up: the Lodge knows the family or the need, and the Foundation moves the resources. The appendant-body charities (KTEF, KTEdF, RARA, CMMRF, the Shriners' work, the Scottish Rite's work) are separate organizations that raise and direct their own funds.

Knights Templar Eye Foundation (KTEF)

The published philanthropy of the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar of the United States, established 1955. It funds pediatric ophthalmology research and provides direct grants to children whose families cannot afford eye surgery and treatment. New Mexico Templars contribute through the Grand Commandery and through individual Commanderies.

Knights Templar Educational Foundation (KTEdF)

The published educational arm of the same Grand Encampment. It provides student loans and scholarships, traditionally to undergraduates of any background who present a need; Templar membership is not required of the recipient. Loans are administered through state-level Commanderies, including New Mexico's.

Royal Arch Research Assistance (RARA)

The published charity of the General Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons International. RARA funds research and treatment for Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) in children, a hearing-comprehension condition not detectable on a standard hearing test. Royal Arch Chapters across the country, New Mexico's included, contribute annually.

Cryptic Masons Medical Research Foundation (CMMRF)

The published charity of the General Grand Council of Cryptic Masons International, founded 1995. CMMRF funds research into arteriosclerosis, age-related macular degeneration, and other vascular disorders that disproportionately affect older adults. Cryptic Councils across the country, New Mexico's included, contribute annually.

Take Flight Dyslexia Program

Published dyslexia therapy developed at the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children and now used in Scottish Rite Learning Centers and partner schools across the country. Children receive structured language remediation taught by certified therapists, traditionally at no cost to the family. Take Flight is one of the published, evidence-based reading interventions associated with the Scottish Rite's children's-charity mission.

Shriners Hospitals for Children

The published philanthropy of Shriners International, an appendant body whose membership is open to Master Masons. The network treats children for orthopedic conditions, burns, cleft lip and palate, and spinal cord injuries, traditionally without billing the family. The hospitals are the most publicly visible of the Masonic charities; many a stranger first learns the Craft exists by way of a Shriners parade or a hospital story.

Shrine Transportation Fund

The published fund that pays to transport a child and a parent to a Shriners Hospital for Children for treatment. The hospitals don't bill the family for care; the Transportation Fund covers the trip itself. Local Shrine Temples and clubs raise for it through their own activities, and the fund moves the money to the families who need it. Without the fund, the hospitals are out of reach for a lot of the families the Craft most wants to serve.

Charity at home, in plain clothes

The personal face. Mackey's published reminder is that the same Mason who gives to KTEF on the Lodge floor also returns home, to a wife and children, to neighbors, to strangers met by chance, and to opportunities the Lodge never sees. The Craft teaches the disposition; the world tests it. A Mason who is generous in the published charities but ungenerous at his own door has not yet finished the lesson.

Practice questions · 12

1. Which two complementary faces of charity does Masonry teach?

   • a. Money and time
   • b. Institutional giving through the Masonic charities, and personal conduct toward one's neighbor ✓
   • c. Public ceremony and private prayer
   • d. Domestic and foreign giving

2. From which biblical passage does the rule "love thy neighbour as thyself" originate?

   • a. Genesis 1:27
   • b. Leviticus 19:18 (echoed in Matthew 22:39) ✓
   • c. Psalm 23:1
   • d. 1 Corinthians 13:13

3. Which of the three published tenets of the Craft names institutional charity by its Masonic title?

   • a. Brotherly Love
   • b. Relief ✓
   • c. Truth
   • d. Faith

4. What does the Knights Templar Eye Foundation (KTEF) fund?

   • a. Adult cardiology
   • b. Pediatric ophthalmology research and direct grants to children needing eye care ✓
   • c. Speech and language disorders
   • d. Higher-education scholarships

5. What does the Knights Templar Educational Foundation (KTEdF) provide?

   • a. Eye-surgery grants
   • b. Student loans and scholarships, traditionally not restricted to Masons ✓
   • c. Vascular research funding
   • d. Hospital construction grants

6. What does Royal Arch Research Assistance (RARA) primarily support?

   • a. Pediatric eye surgery
   • b. Research and treatment for Central Auditory Processing Disorder in children ✓
   • c. Adult heart disease
   • d. Public-school construction

7. What does the Cryptic Masons Medical Research Foundation (CMMRF) fund?

   • a. Childhood language disorders
   • b. Research into arteriosclerosis, age-related macular degeneration, and related vascular conditions ✓
   • c. Pediatric eye surgery
   • d. Dyslexia therapy

8. Where was the Take Flight Dyslexia Program developed?

   • a. Scottish Rite Cathedral, Washington DC
   • b. Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children (Luke Waites Center for Dyslexia and Learning Disorders) ✓
   • c. Shriners Hospitals for Children, Boston
   • d. The Royal Arch Research Center

9. What do the Shriners Hospitals for Children treat, and how is the family billed?

   • a. Adult orthopedics; family pays on a sliding scale
   • b. Children's orthopedic conditions, burns, cleft lip and palate, and spinal cord injuries; the family is traditionally not billed for care ✓
   • c. Pediatric oncology only; Medicare pays
   • d. Dental work; insurance covers it

10. What does the Shrine Transportation Fund pay for?

    • a. Construction of new Shriners Hospitals
    • b. Transporting a child and a parent to a Shriners Hospital for treatment, when the family cannot cover the trip ✓
    • c. The hospital's operating budget
    • d. Adult patient transportation between hospitals

11. How does the Masonic Charities Foundation of New Mexico (MCFNM) actually function?

    • a. It owns and directs the appendant-body charities (KTEF, RARA, CMMRF, Shriners)
    • b. It works through the Lodges in their local communities, supporting projects each Lodge identifies, and stands ready for statewide circumstances such as natural disasters ✓
    • c. It collects all Masonic giving in the state and redistributes it nationally
    • d. It is a successor organization to the Grand Lodge

12. What does Mackey's published reminder say about the Mason who is generous to the Masonic charities but ungenerous at his own door?

    • a. He has fulfilled the published duty
    • b. He has not yet finished the lesson. The Craft teaches the disposition, and the world tests it. ✓
    • c. He need not concern himself with personal charity
    • d. He is exempt because he supports the institution