A Brother Asks: What's Missing?

A Brother Asks: I see so many men coming in to our organization with no clue as to what to expect from their membership.  Coach!  What's missing?

My Response: Great observation and a truly awesome question!

It's a front end preparation issue and in it is the flaw that you have detected.  The missing component in far too many Masonic Investigations is not having the petitioner disclose verbally and in a concise and revealing way what he Perceives to be "Betterment" and how that Applies specifically to him!   These two things are the Vision and Intent behind his joining!

Think about it.  What's Prescribed based upon Ritual?  If we take it for granted that he actually did come to the organization to truly improve himself, shouldn't that be the target to shoot at in all his future involvement?  Shouldn't that be what we focus upon in our investigation and later on in our support of him?  Shouldn't that be what he shares with us upfront so that everyone is on the same page as he goes through our Freemasonic process? 

When these two things are not disclosed upfront, he is likely to blindly wander the Freemason Landscape unknowingly bumping into one Improvement Opportunity after another without taking advantage of them in any way. His focus will be elsewhere and so will most all those who direct him.

To Improve Improvement Opportunities, Investigation members would do well to have the potential Brother-Member lay out this Strong Foundational Intent and Vision during the Interview.  What does he Visualize Betterment to be and how would that apply to him!  Force the interview to come to a complete stop if necessary and return to it when the petitioner has had time to give these things worthy consideration and contemplation.  These are not worth dismissing or skipping past.  They ARE the reason all candidates have come through the West Gate, at least, according to Preston-Webb Ritual.

Yes, his Vision and Intent may and shall rightfully change with Further Light and that's not the point or an issue here.  Giving him opportunities to pro-actively think is!  And especially upon the very things that Ritual Espouses!

A Purposeless Quest is non-hunger driven eating; it serves no good purpose.  Make sure his Quest starts out with the best of intent and clearest of vision!

If a Pre-Mason's attention is not focused upon the very reasons Ritual espouses for what he should be coming here to do as a future member, how can we honestly expect him to focus upon that activity if we don't?

F&S,

Brother John S. Nagy