A Brother Asks: Will Freemasonry make me smarter?

 
 

A Brother Asks: Will Freemasonry make me smarter?

Coach: No! You will never be smarter than you are now.  You can get better informed. You can get wiser.  But you're stuck with your smarts.  So, when you want better for yourself, get better informed and wise up!  These are your best options.

And following the Masonic path that Freemasonry offers is a great start!

Here is an expansion of this theme:

The Path to Personal Growth: Learn and Wise Up

Your intelligence —your "smarts"— is a fixed starting point.  It is not the whole story though. Life offers you two incredible tools to reach higher, achieve more, and become better: learning and wisdom. These tools, unlike intelligence, are limitless in their capacity to grow.

Here's how to harness them effectively:

      1) Learn What You Can

Learning is growth’s cornerstone. Knowledge opens doors, deals with doubts, and equips you to navigate the world more effectively. Commit to a mindset of curiosity and exploration:

• Stay Curious: Ask questions about everything. Curiosity keeps your mind sharp and your world expanding.
• Embrace Change: New technologies, ideas, and challenges are opportunities to learn. Don’t resist them—use them.
• Learn Actively: Read, observe, listen, experiment, & PLAY! Passive exposure doesn’t cut it; you have to engage with the material.

      2)     Wise Up

Wisdom is the discerning art of applying knowledge. It comes from reflection, experience, and understanding the nuances, dangers, and benefits life:

• Reflect Often: Wisdom grows in the quiet moments when you think about what you've learned and how it applies to your life.
• Seek Perspective: Wisdom flourishes when you step outside yourself. Learn from others' experiences, failures, and successes.
• Practice Resilience: Life tests you. Wisdom comes from learning from success & failure and rising stronger.

Why This Matters

You’re not limited by where you start. Intelligence can only take you so far; learning and wisdom take you the rest of the way. Whether you want to improve your career, relationships, or self-understanding, these are your most powerful tools. They are your way forward, no matter your current situation.

A Call to Action

Start today. Read something new. Take time to reflect on your actions and decisions. Ask for feedback, listen to advice, and don’t fear failure—it’s a great teacher. Intelligence may be fixed, but your capacity for growth is boundless. Use it wisely.

One again, following the Masonic path that Freemasonry offers is a great start!

 

 

 

A Brother Asks: The Winnowing Process?

 

A Brother Asks: I always thought the winnowing process was done by the investigation committee. Once candidates made it past that stage, and were initiated, they started working on their own ashlar, if they were serious about being Masons, and not just members.  Am I missing anything here?

 

Coach: It's true that the investigation committee affirms a choice of the petitioner's choice to join and confirms that it would be a good fit.

 

However, our collective Craft Problem is that we have created a Freemasonic Tower of Babel.  And this includes the term "winnowing" when it is applied to our Craft.

 

As a result, word meanings are all over the place and due to our babel tower, we have created our own divisions.

 

So you are clear as to my understanding, here are my best thoughts:

1) FREEMASONIC PATH: Winnowing (as you alluded to in your candidate work comment) occurs throughout the overt Freemasonic progression through the organization's degrees. Proficiencies (memorization) and behavior determine progression.

 

2) MASONIC PATH: Additionally, this winnowing process continues throughout the actual candidate's implementation of what the degrees espouse for him to do.

 

Here are the levels of winnowing that a candidate must engage in should he want to follow the Masonic Path successfully, not just the Freemasonic path.

1) Stepping through the West Gate - Winnowing yourself from the profane and into the sacred temple.

 

2) Apprentice's Work - Winnowing yourself from the burdened (vices & superfluities) and weak (Virtue challenged) and into the world of the unburdened and virtuous.

 

3) Fellow Craft's Work - Winnowing yourself from the uneducated and unknowing and into the educated and knowing.

 

4) Master's Work Part 1 - Winnowing yourself from the Ruffians and into the completed Temple World.

 

5) Master's Work Part 2 - Winnowing yourself from the seekers of the Master's Word and into the Comprehension of The Master's Word.

 

6) Master's Work Part 3 - Winnowing yourself from those who just comprehend the Master's Word and into the erectors of the spiritual building world.

 

As you can see, a whole different set of proficiencies and behaviors come into play, should this path be taken as well.