Page:Manual of the Lodge.pdf/85

40 PRAYER. As Masons, we are taught never to commence any great or important undertaking without first invoking the blessing and protection of Deity, and this is because Masonry is a religious institution, and we thereby show our dependence on and out trust in God.

A BELIEF IN GOD. This constitutes the sole creed of a Mason—at least, the only creed that he is required to profess. But such a profession is essentially and absolutely necessary, because, without a belief in a superintending Power, with the inevitable deduction from the purity and holiness of such a Being, that sin will be punished and virtue rewarded, there would be no sanction to a moral law, for the atheist would have no motive to keep a promise or to preserve an obligation.

THE LEFT SIDE. The left side has always, apparently for a well-known physical reason, been deemed inferior to the right. The right side is the side of honor. "To sit on the right side of the king" was a mark of great favor. And the ancients were so impressed with this fact, that among them the words for left and unlucky were synonymous, as were also those for right and fortunate. The same peculiarity exists in our own language, where sinister means both left and inauspicious.

THE RIGHT HAND.

The right hand has in all ages been deemed an emblem of fidelity, and our ancient brethren worshiped Deity under the name of Fides or Fidelity, which was sometimes represented by two right hands joined, and sometimes by two human figures, holding each other by the right hands. * * * *