The Common Gavel

The Common Gavel is an instrument made use of by operative masons to break off the corners of rough stones, the better to fit them for the builders use.; but we as Free and Accepted masons are taught to make use of it for the more noble and glorious purpose of divesting our hearts and consciences of all the vices and superfluities of life, thereby fitting our minds as livings stones for that spiritual building, “that house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (http://www.ncdistrict39.com/index_files/Page330.htm)

The common gavel is another working tool of the entered apprentice. Opertavely it was used to make stones smooth so that they could be fit into a building. We are building that "house not made with hands." which symbolically is ourselves. We are to improve our own lives by getting rid of the bad and replacing it with the good. Like the 24 inch gauge, the common gavel is an instrument not directly used in the physical building of a structure. It is used in the preparation of that building. The entered apprentice is a newly made mason that is preparing himself for the further travels in his masonic life. He has not yet been given all of the tools. He is learning and preparing himself for advancement to the next degrees at this point. It is the same in life. We are to prepare ourselves to be a just and upright man. We have the qualities to some degree or else we would not have been accepted into the craft. The same with the rough ashlar, it is somewhat square yet it is not yet in a position for the master's use. As we grow and develop in both our lives and masonic life, we shape ourselves into what we have now become.

The following is taken from the ritual used in Scotland. "" The Common Gavel teaches us that skill without exertion is of little avail , and that labour is the lot of man, the Heart may conceive and the Brain devise in vain if the Hand be not prompt to execute the design. The Gavel also represents the Force of Conscience which should keep down all vain and unbecoming thoughts so that our feelings and actions may be pure and unpolluted." 

We need to put effort in what we do. Nothing is given to us. We should strive to make "that house not made with hands" into a perfect ashlar in order to serve our creator's purpose for our lives. We have the tools to do it. The rest is up to us.