15. What is the purpose of the Masonic “secrets”?
    On the most mundane level, to share a secret is to bond together. Families have “secrets”— known only to members of the family that help to unite them. In that way also, Masonic secrets are a bonding device. But also and more importantly, they are symbols of the fact that the most important things in life cannot be spoken or communicated directly. The really great and moving experiences of life are ones we cannot put into words or tell another about. But if two persons have had similar deeply moving experiences, they can communicate about them indirectly by symbols, which are secrets to anyone who has not shared the experience. Masonic secrets are like that — of the deeply moving experience that Masonry provides. They are the outer visible signs of an inner invisible reality.