…presented at Ozias Lodge No.508, Burford, October 18, 2008.

Brethren how many times do we come into the lodge room, sit down among the other members, have the lodge open and get on with the business not really thinking what actually did happened during the opening, "What do you think of?" The Wardens and the Master in their ritual, the Tyler and Outer Guard in their performance of their duties or does anyone really reflect on what the Chaplain or Past Master is doing when adjusting the three great though emblematic lights of masonry, that book that guides us in our everyday life, and it's that book that makes us better men and masons. Brethren this afternoon, I would like to share with you an article that was edited and rewritten by RW Bro R. Beckett to which the author was unknown and is in a format that can be used in the presentation of the V.O.S.L. to a member. Please listen and reflect. It is my duty and privileges this afternoon to present to you the V.O.S.L.

Before doing so however, I have certain observations to make regarding this Holy Book, to which I trust you will pay strict attention. The V.O.S.L., that Great Light in Freemasonry, is commonly thought of as being one book because it is contained between two covers. In reality it is a library of sixty-six books, thirty-nine of which comprise the Old Testament and twenty-seven the New Testament.

These books represent the sacred literature of the Hebrew race. They are the products of many centuries of writings by varies authors, on many subjects. They combine law, history, poetry, biography, philosophy, ethics and the revelations of Divine Light and Truth. Though diverse in its subjects and authors, and as remote are its figures, legends and language, the intelligent reader soon discovers an ever increasing purpose running through its pages, like silver threads in a dark material. And, like veritable flashes of Light and Truth, they reveal the Will and Wisdom of God, and remind us of his unchanging love toward all mankind. The V.O.S.L. is the world's supreme record of mans experience with his God and of his own Faith.

It is a masons Trestle Board and guide to their life's future direction, a life to which you have dedicated yourself today. In these books can be found those principles to which you have committed yourself, and in its pages live those luminaries whose lives and actions you should strive to emulate. They lived, they loved, they fought, they dies, they sinned, and they repented, and they left behind them this Holy Book as their testimony of living by God's Holy Will. You, my brother, will know that living by these Holy precepts, in accordance with God's Divine Will, they will enrich your life and the life's of those around you.

We need to know the Bible, read and understand its Divine messages and to revere it as the Book of unerring Truth and Justice in our lives.

And finally my friend and my brother, that your feet may not totter on your journey through life and that the way of life may be enlightened for you, the brethren of this lodge have commissioned me to place in your hands, today, your own V.O.S.L. With a prayer that it may be a guide to your steps and the light to your journey through life. They bid you to read it frequently, thoughtfully and with understanding, and to use it as a rule and guide in your earnest efforts to become a better man and a better mason. A credit to masonry in general, your lodge in particular and to the community in which you might reside May the G.A.O.T.U. give you the wisdom to understand His Holy Will, the strength to support you through eternal life and the beauty to enrich your immortal spirit.

So brethren the next time you come to lodge and a brother opens the V.O.S.L. please reflect those holy precepts.