The Masonic Ledge[i] -- Are you a Member?
It’s unfortunate that it happens all too often, and if you’re
someone fortunate to experience it for yourself,
then you know exactly how it feels.
ae)
LOOK
AROUND
YOU )fb
Hello
my Brother. Yes, it’s me and I know that
you’re standing there. You’re not as
stealthy as you want everyone to believe.
Sure, I know the vast majority of your Brothers can’t see you there but
I know you’re there. You don’t have to
believe me though. You don’t have to
invest anything into my words, but it’ll
change nothing about my awareness of your
situation. Your Ledge activities are
more obvious to me than most.
This shall never change, ever.
You
might be wondering about how I could possibly know that you’re there. You might even be trying to figure out how
you can move one or two Steps to the Left or Right to Better conceal yourself
from spying eyes like mine, but you’re not going to succeed in any of your
efforts whatsoever. You’ve not got the
ability yet to conceal yourself and standing on that Ledge isn’t going to hide
you. It’s only after thoroughly searching
your heart that you shall understand how I know that you’re there.
No. It doesn’t take much “know how” to know such
things. It’s simply a Strong sense you
get about others after you connect solidly to your own Heart. Once you do, you get really good at picking
up on all those “on-the-Ledge” vibes others give off and without much effort
too. Ere you’ve been there yourself, you
just don’t have what it takes to pick up on the Ledge activities of others.
And
I can very much tell you that you’re there on the Ledge due to tremendous frustrations
and repeated disappointments. You
expected something different from your involvement or your Brothers or
both! And you believe that you’ve been
let down, or even misled by them! And
you believe that you didn’t get what you wanted, don’t you? And you asked for something and something was
given to you, but you didn’t get what you truly wanted, right? And you sought something that you thought
you’d wanted, but what you found was utterly unsatisfying, true? You knocked upon a door, and sure, it was
opened to you, but did you actually walk through it – really?
Yes. I’m sure that I’m being unusually brutal in
my questions and observations. I know
that I am. And I can tell you without
reservation that most Brothers get disgusted by this kind of bluntness. They expect more “candy coating” on such
things.
And
perhaps that’s exactly why you’re on the Ledge.
You might have expected everything that you asked for to be sweet when
you got it. You might have expected
everything you sought to be acceptable to your past conditioning and views. You might have expected every door that you
knocked upon to swing open effortlessly so that you could enjoy what you
thought was on the other side.
But
the reality that you found was probably overwhelmingly real, unbelievably
demanding and perhaps very much unacceptable to the point where you’re still a
bit Speechless and have not gotten your Head back upon your shoulders quite
right. If it was presented properly, what you saw put
out before you were sets of conditions that required Work from you; Work that
you knew required you to Transform yourself from a child to an adult; Work that
was not exactly what you wanted to invest your Heart in either. And you know that what you heard were
conditions that had to be met for true growth to come to Fruition. What you felt most likely was your gut being pulled
in two differing directions, intuitively knowing that neither direction was
truly right for you.
Yup. Without a doubt, the Masonic Ledge you’re currently
on is possibly experienced as a place of solitude and maybe for some time now. It’s were you found yourself after you were
whisked through your Degrees, participated in your fair share of mind-numbing
business meetings and engaged in endless “service” work. It was where you found yourself when you
finally took a good honest look at what you were involved in and recognized
that you were starving for something else that such participation would never
give you.
And I’m here to tell
you that you’re exactly where you should be – on the Masonic Ledge!
You’re
almost certainly for the first time looking down
at Masonry believing that you’re getting a good bird’s-eye view of its offered
Reality. But you should by now realize too
that the view that you currently see is one of your own making. You chose to see your involvement this
way. You chose to do what others have
done and all that got you was on to that Ledge.
And
that is a good thing! Your choices mean
that you created this condition and your view so that you could see where bad
choices can lead you.
But
it ain’t all that bad! If anything, you can
redirect your Masonic choices and recreate them so that you do get your needs
met and perhaps lead others by example toward more nurturing Masonic activities.
Ledge Membership
You
can start by choosing to look at your situation differently. You have already made it through the
Initiation, Passing and Raising and now you have your Traveling Papers. Think
about it! This paper allows you to
go anywhere that Recognized Brothers have inter-visitation. What’s even better, now that you have your
Papers, you can make connections worldwide with other Brothers who are on the
Ledge with you.
Yes! You heard me
right. You’re not alone on this Masonic
Ledge. There are countless other Brothers
just like you taking in that view. The
ones who have stuck around have recognized three important things about it.
The
first is that the Ledge is filled with Brothers just like you who want more. They each realized that they weren’t going to
get more from participating in the usual venues and that they could get what
they wanted much easier Working with other Ledge members.
The second is that the Ledge is an illusion.
They each realized that they were actually standing on the Ground Floor
of a rich Foundation laced with valuable Veins of Light ready for the getting.
The third is that the Ledge is all about each of them and not about others. Rather than stepping off the Ledge, each of
them stepped into its Light by Taking Personal Responsibility for their own
Transformation. Each of them no longer
relied upon others to give them what they needed and wanted.
In short, they all embraced
Adulthood and all that comes with it and left youthful dependence behind.
Are
you truly ready for Better? Then take a Step in the Right Direction and join
them!
Points to Perpend:
1)
Who
do you know who’s on the Ledge?
2)
How
would you coach them to get their needs met without directing them back into
the Lodge?
3)
What’s
your plan to help Lodge members from becoming hopeless Ledge members?
[i] 1) A cut or projection
forming a shelf on a cliff, a solid wall, or a rock wall; a raised, horizontal,
or projecting edge or molding intended to protect or check
2) An underwater
ridge, rock shelf or reef
3) A
narrow flat surface or shelf; especially one that projects from a wall of rock;
rock that is solid or continuous enough to form ledges
4) A level of rock-bearing ore; a vein; a lode
