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July 16, 2007
aedifico42\| What the Hell do you guys Do? Posted at: 11:13 pm What the Hell Do You Guys DO? Good question. Here’s the wrong answer that you will get from lots of Masons who don’t know any better…they will tell you “it’s a secret.” Why? Why will they lie to you so boldly? They will tell you this because they do not know what REAL Masons do. These guys are Brothers, and we love them just the same. Real Masons sometimes feel sorry for those others in our Craft who never read, think, meditate, explore and ask questions. We feel sorry for them because, like so many Profanes (this is our funny little word for non-Masons) they have chosen the path of sloth and simplicity which results in ignorance. Let me give you a quick example…then I’ll answer the big question. Have you ever heard a Mason bragging about all the prior Presidents that were Brothers…or Actors…or Military Personalities? The guys who brag about this don’t care about the Craft. They care about the trivia. While this is not always a bad thing, it falls too short of the truth…but if that’s all they’ve got, then we must assume that they know nothing more. Now to the question; What the Hell Do You Guys DO? Well, as you might suspect, there is no simple answer. If you want a simple answer, go away. We don’t want people who want simple answers. The days of “McMasonry” are fading fast…and not soon enough. For too long our Craft was worried about the number of new guys we could get in the door. We ignored the fact that we were not learning and teaching and reasoning. We did not care that we were turning our back on the very thinking tradition that allowed us to break-open the way the Western World thinks and reasons. We got lazy about our intellectual curiosity, we got sloppy with our ritual and worst of all, we lost contact with our communities. So what is it that we DO? Right now, we are rebuilding the Fraternity. We are the scrap-collectors who labor day and night trying to re-connect to our lost traditions of REAL Brotherly Love, REAL Relief and the courage to really tell the TRUTH. That’s one of the things that we are doing right now. As painful as it is to some of our own Brothers…the truth is that we are rebuilding that which was lost. One of the other things we are doing to get to where we want to go is practice this thing called Ritual. It’s like being Catholic (or whatever). You get together with the group and do this scripted play type thing where different people play-out a short episode. It really is quite hard to define or descirbe, but when done correctly, it is inspirational. We find a spiritual comfort in this ritual even when it is done to open and close our monthly business meetings. It’s repetitive nature is somehow comforting and special. It is a gift that each of us owns and gives to each other. Again, we still have some Brothers who pay no attention to the depth and meaning of this sort of thing. We still like these guys, and some of them are starting to get it…but they occasionally frustrate the brothers who see the great value in our simplest and most repetitive Rituals. We learn. It is not unusual for a group of us to sit around and discuss the great mysteries of whatever culture or philosophy or other topic we deem appropriate for discussion at that time. It is a free-thinking and tolerant society that allows men to discuss the most important issues of our time. This is no random coffee-house meeting of people who compare their prescription drugs and complain about the weather. Deep thinking individuals who value the opinions of others can be found among us. And you can still find some who are more interested in their motorcycles. We got ‘em all and we love them all just the same. What else do we DO? Well, you will hear about our 2 million dollars daily for charity (boring) and our willingness to help those less fortunate (again, boring). But what gets this writer going are the mental exercises; the challenge to be better-read, better-prepared for ritual, a deeper thinker and a step closer to the eternal. These are the things that Masons SHOULD do. We are better men when we make the effort, when we turn-off the History Channel and read some Toynbee, Pike, Hutchens or Voltaire, when we sit and silently meditate on a simple lesson from our ritual, when we deliver a memorized lecture for the sake of the listening brethren (and not just in order to get that proficiency card). These are the things that we do. Frankly, we don’t care too much if you don’t understand any of it. We are not here for you. Masons lost their way when they began to believe that they had to make everyone else’s life better before they improved their own. We are re-learning that it is the man sitting next to me who is and should be most important. It is my family, my neighborhood, my State and my Country that deserve my attention. It is my devotion to my God and your freedom to devote to yours that requires defending. Masons do more now to become better men because we have to. Reclaiming our place in history will take much more time and energy than it did to lose it. I know that like-minded Masons will agree. Our Craft is on the rise. The brothers who now knock on our doors are more demanding than any generation in the past. We must DO more to meet their expectations, and Do more we shall. So what is it that we DO? We do more than you know…and that’s no secret.
MasonicMinute.com Comments (10)

July 16, 2007

aedifico42| What the Hell do you guys Do?

Posted at: 11:13 pm

What the Hell Do You Guys DO?

Good question. Here’s the wrong answer that you will get from lots of Masons who don’t know any better…they will tell you “it’s a secret.”

Why? Why will they lie to you so boldly? They will tell you this because they do not know what REAL Masons do. These guys are Brothers, and we love them just the same. Real Masons sometimes feel sorry for those others in our Craft who never read, think, meditate, explore and ask questions. We feel sorry for them because, like so many Profanes (this is our funny little word for non-Masons) they have chosen the path of sloth and simplicity which results in ignorance.

Let me give you a quick example…then I’ll answer the big question. Have you ever heard a Mason bragging about all the prior Presidents that were Brothers…or Actors…or Military Personalities? The guys who brag about this don’t care about the Craft. They care about the trivia. While this is not always a bad thing, it falls too short of the truth…but if that’s all they’ve got, then we must assume that they know nothing more.

Now to the question; What the Hell Do You Guys DO? Well, as you might suspect, there is no simple answer. If you want a simple answer, go away. We don’t want people who want simple answers. The days of “McMasonry” are fading fast…and not soon enough. For too long our Craft was worried about the number of new guys we could get in the door. We ignored the fact that we were not learning and teaching and reasoning. We did not care that we were turning our back on the very thinking tradition that allowed us to break-open the way the Western World thinks and reasons. We got lazy about our intellectual curiosity, we got sloppy with our ritual and worst of all, we lost contact with our communities.

So what is it that we DO? Right now, we are rebuilding the Fraternity. We are the scrap-collectors who labor day and night trying to re-connect to our lost traditions of REAL Brotherly Love, REAL Relief and the courage to really tell the TRUTH. That’s one of the things that we are doing right now. As painful as it is to some of our own Brothers…the truth is that we are rebuilding that which was lost.

One of the other things we are doing to get to where we want to go is practice this thing called Ritual. It’s like being Catholic (or whatever). You get together with the group and do this scripted play type thing where different people play-out a short episode. It really is quite hard to define or descirbe, but when done correctly, it is inspirational. We find a spiritual comfort in this ritual even when it is done to open and close our monthly business meetings. It’s repetitive nature is somehow comforting and special. It is a gift that each of us owns and gives to each other. Again, we still have some Brothers who pay no attention to the depth and meaning of this sort of thing. We still like these guys, and some of them are starting to get it…but they occasionally frustrate the brothers who see the great value in our simplest and most repetitive Rituals.

We learn. It is not unusual for a group of us to sit around and discuss the great mysteries of whatever culture or philosophy or other topic we deem appropriate for discussion at that time. It is a free-thinking and tolerant society that allows men to discuss the most important issues of our time. This is no random coffee-house meeting of people who compare their prescription drugs and complain about the weather. Deep thinking individuals who value the opinions of others can be found among us. And you can still find some who are more interested in their motorcycles. We got ‘em all and we love them all just the same.

What else do we DO? Well, you will hear about our 2 million dollars daily for charity (boring) and our willingness to help those less fortunate (again, boring). But what gets this writer going are the mental exercises; the challenge to be better-read, better-prepared for ritual, a deeper thinker and a step closer to the eternal. These are the things that Masons SHOULD do. We are better men when we make the effort, when we turn-off the History Channel and read some Toynbee, Pike, Hutchens or Voltaire, when we sit and silently meditate on a simple lesson from our ritual, when we deliver a memorized lecture for the sake of the listening brethren (and not just in order to get that proficiency card).

These are the things that we do. Frankly, we don’t care too much if you don’t understand any of it. We are not here for you. Masons lost their way when they began to believe that they had to make everyone else’s life better before they improved their own. We are re-learning that it is the man sitting next to me who is and should be most important. It is my family, my neighborhood, my State and my Country that deserve my attention. It is my devotion to my God and your freedom to devote to yours that requires defending. Masons do more now to become better men because we have to. Reclaiming our place in history will take much more time and energy than it did to lose it. I know that like-minded Masons will agree.

Our Craft is on the rise. The brothers who now knock on our doors are more demanding than any generation in the past. We must DO more to meet their expectations, and Do more we shall.

So what is it that we DO? We do more than you know…and that’s no secret.

MasonicMinute.com: Comments (10)


aedifico42\| Welcome to MasonicMinute.com! Posted at: 10:55 pm Welcome. MasonicMinute.com will develop over time, and I am certain you are not interested in the normal platitudes of newness, so we shall dispense with any further blathering and jump right in to the heart of it. The first tool presented to the Initiate is the 24” gauge. (By the way…if you are ever planning on becoming a Mason…don’t read any further. We are not giving-away any secrets, but we are also aware that some of you are just investigating the Craft. If you are, and you don’t want the full-effect of the learning process that our degrees have to offer, then keep reading. But if you want to experience Freemasonry as it was intended, stop here. I will not apologize later for exposing you to something you are not yet ready to receive.) The gauge is the most important tool in the Craft. It teaches us to divide our time. This lesson of paying attention to the way we spend that most important currency (time) is one that certainly did not escape Brother Ben Franklin. It was this first American diplomat who created a planning book where he took the most important virtues and dedicated a week to each one. He would strive to perfect in himself this virtue this week, and the next during the next week. Once he got to the end of the virtues, he would start over again! This dedication of time is a Masonic lesson that we must always keep in the fore. Time is the only currency we cannot get more of (for who knows how much we have to spend?), and once we’re done…we’re done. Time well-spent is time not wasted. The first building tool gives us a guide as to how we must divide that time. Those three portions – worship (service), refreshment and work – are exactly the three general categories of live that we should live. There is no shame in working hard, and even stressing-out a bit about our work. We should always find the gift of giving to be a form of worship, for it is through giving that we receive those blessings that each of our individual faiths promote. And last, there is no shame in taking an evening with the guys and having a beer or two. Refreshing the spirit in the company of your friends and brothers is as good for the soul as prayer…laughter and friendship are sometimes exactly what the Supreme Architect would want for us! So think hard about how we apply this first tool that our Craft has to offer. Work at your job, and your Masonic learning. Worship and provide service to others in the Spirit of the SAOTU and as your faith decrees, and relax enough that you might be able to do it all again with equal vigor and strength tomorrow. This balancing instrument – that which we are taught to use for measuring our time – should accompany us in all our planning. For without proper planning, we will not perform the tasks of Masonry well. [As an aside…you will see many changes to this site as the next few weeks pass. I am learning more and more each day, and I intend to present a great tool for you to use. So don’t be afraid to email me (and even criticize) whenever you like…it’s all part of the fun.]
MasonicMinute.com Comments (0)

aedifico42| Welcome to MasonicMinute.com!

Posted at: 10:55 pm

Welcome.

MasonicMinute.com will develop over time, and I am certain you are not interested in the normal platitudes of newness, so we shall dispense with any further blathering and jump right in to the heart of it.

The first tool presented to the Initiate is the 24” gauge. (By the way…if you are ever planning on becoming a Mason…don’t read any further. We are not giving-away any secrets, but we are also aware that some of you are just investigating the Craft. If you are, and you don’t want the full-effect of the learning process that our degrees have to offer, then keep reading. But if you want to experience Freemasonry as it was intended, stop here. I will not apologize later for exposing you to something you are not yet ready to receive.)

The gauge is the most important tool in the Craft. It teaches us to divide our time. This lesson of paying attention to the way we spend that most important currency (time) is one that certainly did not escape Brother Ben Franklin. It was this first American diplomat who created a planning book where he took the most important virtues and dedicated a week to each one. He would strive to perfect in himself this virtue this week, and the next during the next week. Once he got to the end of the virtues, he would start over again!

This dedication of time is a Masonic lesson that we must always keep in the fore. Time is the only currency we cannot get more of (for who knows how much we have to spend?), and once we’re done…we’re done. Time well-spent is time not wasted. The first building tool gives us a guide as to how we must divide that time. Those three portions – worship (service), refreshment and work – are exactly the three general categories of live that we should live. There is no shame in working hard, and even stressing-out a bit about our work. We should always find the gift of giving to be a form of worship, for it is through giving that we receive those blessings that each of our individual faiths promote. And last, there is no shame in taking an evening with the guys and having a beer or two. Refreshing the spirit in the company of your friends and brothers is as good for the soul as prayer…laughter and friendship are sometimes exactly what the Supreme Architect would want for us!

So think hard about how we apply this first tool that our Craft has to offer. Work at your job, and your Masonic learning. Worship and provide service to others in the Spirit of the SAOTU and as your faith decrees, and relax enough that you might be able to do it all again with equal vigor and strength tomorrow. This balancing instrument – that which we are taught to use for measuring our time – should accompany us in all our planning. For without proper planning, we will not perform the tasks of Masonry well.

[As an aside…you will see many changes to this site as the next few weeks pass. I am learning more and more each day, and I intend to present a great tool for you to use. So don’t be afraid to email me (and even criticize) whenever you like…it’s all part of the fun.]

MasonicMinute.com: Comments (0)

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