A Brother Asks: The Backward Claim

 

THE CLAIM

A Brother Asks: I’ve heard it said that every man in the lodge room is a fellow craft and an apprentice.  I want to agree with this since our obligations to both of these remain with us after we ascend to the next degree.  While I am a Master Mason, I am still an Entered Apprentice and Fellow Craft.  What are your thoughts?

Coach: Do you want to re-examine that notion?

Brother: Sure!

Coach: Actually, you are no longer either an Entered Apprentice or a Fellow Craft, if you have rightfully earned the title. Care to hear the logic?

Brother: Absolutely! But first, an example.

Coach: Great!  I love examples!

Brother: Good. You can always work a job that you are over qualified for. If there is no master work, is a master able to do the job of a fellow craft or an Apprentice? My short answer is, “yes.” In my humble opinion, it is better to be a Master with a low paying job, than a master whose family is starving because he has no work.

Also in my opinion, a master who does the work of an Entered Apprentice or a Fellow Craft is reminded of what it is to be a Master, what it took to get to where he is. Call it righteous labor.

This goes for life, not just Masonry. I will get out and help unload my truck sometimes, a job "beneath" me. It reminds me to be respectful and patient with the unloaders as sometimes their job is very difficult. It does me good.

 

THE REFRAME

Coach: Thanks for the examples.  There’s the problem with them though. Each is reframing and redirecting the whole question.  You are no longer talking about titles earned in your examples. You are merely talking about the work to be done. Doing the work that is below your skill and expertise level does not make you the work that you do. It merely means that you can render the work without relying upon greater skill and experience.

Brother: In Masonry, I am going back to the Entered Apprentice degree and studying once I am more comfortable, I will re-examine the Fellow Craft degree and then the Master Mason degree. I now have more tools (thanks to you) so I have to go back to the quarry and be a laborer for a while. While I carry the title of Master, I am going to do the work of an Apprentice for a while to become a better Master.

Coach: And there in lay the difference. Although you wear the title, you know that you still need to do the Work to earn it in a different way, by actually doing the Work that the Degrees point us toward.

Recognizing this is the first step toward the Masonic Mastery that the Degrees point us toward.

As you might have already come to realize, there's a HUGE difference between Freemasonic Mastery requirements and Masonic Mastery requirements. The former requires that you KNOW and repeat back three script. The later require you BE those scripts in every way.

Something to consider when you come across those wearing the Master’s title who hold to the claim that they, and all others wearing the title, are also apprentices and fellow crafts as well:

Just as students normally progress from freshman to sophomore, then from sophomore to junior, then from junior to senior, and finally from senior to graduate to never ever retain nor wear the previous titles and rightfully so, so too do members of the Craft normally progress from Entered Apprentice to Apprentice, Apprentice to Fellow, and finally from Fellow to Master, when they do the actual Work that cultivates each.

To imply or insist in any way that a previous title still applies once a higher title has been earned is likened to calling a graduate a school boy. It simply doesn't apply in the minds and hearts of anyone who has actually done the Work to earn the latest title. It also insults those who know better.

I earned the title "Master", as have countless others. To imply or claim that anyone is something less is to belittle those who have done the Work because you claim through your label that the person is still something that he has honestly and rightfully moved past.

And he shall object and for good reason.

A Master sees through the eyes of a Master. A Master hears with the ears of a Master. A Master works with the hands of a Master.  A Master learns from the vantage point of experience and skill. A Master has Wisdom, Strength and Beauty backing his Words and his Deeds, such that all or present and all are in agreement when he puts it forth. His engagements in life are Masterful. Learning and teaching are a Master's intent and he does so Masterfully.

Masters are no longer what they have passed through. They are the outcome of the sum total of what they have passed through.

When you call them otherwise, that label you make effort to put upon them says more about your views and attitudes than what they actually are.

Brother: Understood. It makes for a great lecture, for I have learned that I am all three and I am sure I'm not the only one who believes this.

Coach: Does that mean that you are still a freshman in high school?

Brother: Negative. 

Coach: Then, if you are no longer a freshman, sophomore, junior or senior, because you have graduated, the same applies to apprentice and fellow craft, because, if you earned the title, you have graduated to Master and are no longer the previous because you have moved beyond them.

Brother: That makes perfect sense.  But what if you run into someone who can't rationally see this?

Coach: Then I suggest you put something more heartfelt in front of them.

Brother: Like?

Coach:  Ask them, "What man do you know who honestly believes that he's both a man and a boy just because he once went through boyhood?" Follow this with, "The entire point of Apprenticeship is maturing the Candidate so they can be embrace the demands of manhood.  A member who claims to be both a Master and Apprentice Mason he has yet to embrace this." 

Brother: Yikes!

 

For Further Light:

The Forever Apprentice

 

A Brother Asks: Orders of Architecture

A Brother Asks: Coach, Would you tell me how the columns figure into our Masonic journey?

Coach: I sure can.

Brother: Great!  Please do!

Coach: The first thing you must realize is what each column actually denotes allegorically.

Brother: Allegorically?  You mean the columns are standing in symbolically for a quality that a Brother must embrace Masonicly?

Coach: Exactly!

Brother: Wow!  I had never considered that approach before.

Coach: Many don’t.  Yet, they first are presented in a symbolic lodge and you’d think that most members would. I mean, it is a symbolic lodge.

Brother: True enough. Let’s start with the Tuscan.

Coach: No.  Let’s start with the Doric.

Brother: Why the Doric?                                                                 

Coach: Great question. What do you know about the symbolism of the Doric as it relates to the officers of the lodge?

Brother: I know that the three principle officers are denoted by the Ionic, Doric and Corinthian columns.

Coach: Meaning?

Brother: The Worshipful Master, Senior and Junior Wardens respectively.

Coach: Great! So which officer is the Doric?

Brother: The Senior Warden.

Coach: Correct.  And what quality does the Senior Warden represent?

Brother: Strength.

Coach: Agreed. Using this understanding, what do the Ionic and Corinthian columns represent?

Brother: The remaining officers respectively, and by default, the qualities of Wisdom and Beauty too.

Coach: Yes.  So, you’re telling me that the Ionic, Doric and Corinthian columns represent Wisdom, Strength and Beauty?

Brother: No. Ritual is telling us this through our ritual lectures.

Coach: Indeed! 

Brother: How does this play into our Masonic journey?

Coach: Let’s overlay these qualities.

Brother: Okay.

Coach: The Doric column represents any Brother who demonstrates that he has worked sufficiently upon his Strength.

Brother: You mean sufficiently doing the Work pointed toward by the apprentice ritual to bring Order to the Chaos of his heart?

Coach: Precisely!

Brother: That makes perfect sense.  What about the Ionic column?

Coach: The Ionic column represents any Brother who demonstrates that he has Worked sufficiently upon his Wisdom.

Brother: You mean sufficiently doing the Work pointed toward by the fellow craft ritual to bring Order to the Chaos of his mind?

Coach: Yes. 

Brother: I like that! What about the Corinthian column?

Coach:  The Corinthian column represents any Brother who demonstrates that he has Worked sufficiently upon his Beauty?

Brother: Beauty?  How is that possible?  How do we work upon our appearance?

Coach: It’s symbolic my Brother.  And it means that a Brother has applied what he has learned within the first two degrees to create a recognizable masterpiece of Beauty.

Brother: You mean sufficiently doing the Work pointed toward by the master ritual to bring Order to the Chaos of his spirit?

Coach: Indeed!  You’re getting the hang of this symbolic stuff.

Brother: Thanks… your coaching helps a lot.

Coach: So does your ability to grasp the allegorical elements and apply them.

Brother:  Thanks... so, what about the Tuscan?  What does it represent?

Coach: The Tuscan is the plainest and simplest of all the columns presented to them within the staircase lecture. 

Brother: Okay…

Coach: When this is to symbolize any quality assigned to a member, it is to denote any Brother who demonstrates that he has yet to Work upon any aspect of his Wisdom, Strength or Beauty.

Brother: So, they have yet to do any of the Work pointed toward by the first three degrees?

Coach: Exactly!  They may have done the memorization work, but they have not applied anything that they have memorized toward their lives.

Brother: So, they are rough ashlars?

Coach: Yes, they have yet to even take up their Working Tools and applied them toward their Ashlars.

Brother: So, they are members, but they have yet to truly do anything other than fit in.

Coach: Sadly, I have to say "yes."

Brother: What about the Composite column?  How does that apply to our Masonic journey?

Coach: The Composite column is any Masterful Mason.

Brother: As in?

Coach: As in any Brother who demonstrates that he has Worked sufficiently upon his Wisdom, Strength and Beauty to create a masterpiece, most especially of himself.

Brother: You mean the Work that is pointed toward by the three symbolic degrees?

Coach:  Yes! Furthermore, he has integrated this Work fully and suitably into his being and everyday manner such that they all are present and they all agree.

Brother: Wow!  That’s a lot to take in?

Coach: Yes, and the sad aspect of this whole thing is that its hidden within plain sight and most members do not see it.

A Brother Asks: The Apprentice Claim

The Illusion

Brother:  Coach, what are your thoughts about Masters and Fellow Crafts claiming to be Apprentices too? 

Coach: It’s pretentious.

Brother: Wow Coach.  Don’t hold back.  Tell me what you really think.

Coach: What?!  Not enough?

Brother: Well, you usually start out responding to my question with your own line of questions.

Coach: And?

Brother: You cut to the punch line on this one.

Coach: It’s not rocket science Bro.

Brother: Yes, but that’s it?  You’re not going to get into it?

Coach: What’s there to say Brother?  The claim is not only wrong, it also exudes false modesty – a terrible illusion to put in front of those who want better and an affront to those who do know better.

 

Bread Crumb Techniques

Brother: Okay.  You see right there? You did it again.

Coach: Did what?

Brother: You’re planting the bread crumbs right in front of me to get me to go down another rabbit hole with you.

Coach: Am I?

Brother: You sure are.

Coach: How’s that?

Brother: You want me to ask you about all your statements.  This is even worse than asking me a series of questions. 

Coach: Worse? Brother, you know, we really don’t have to go there.

Brother: No.  That’s wrong Coach.  We now have to go there and you know it.

Coach: Well, okay, if you insist.

Brother: I do.

 

Going In

Coach: So, where do you want to start?

Brother: Let’s start with your statement about the claim being “pretentious”.

Coach: Okay. 

Brother: Isn’t that saying that they are attempting to impress others by affecting greater importance on what they claim than is actually possessed.

Coach: Yes.

Brother: But that doesn’t make any sense.

Coach: How so?

Brother: Wouldn’t it be just the opposite?

Coach: Would you please explain?

Brother: Apprenticeship is not more important as Mastery to a Master.

Coach: Yes, and?

Brother: By implying through their claim that it is, they are claiming lesser title and being than they actually are.

Coach: Yes.  They are doing just that, especially if they truly did the Work to earn the title they proudly, and hopefully rightfully, wear.

Brother: I don't understand this. 

Coach: And neither do those who falsely claim to be an Apprentice when they wear the title of Fellow or Master. By the way, this also goes with my false humility statement.

Brother: But I want to understand it. Would you lead me through it please?

Coach: Sure. They are claiming they are less than they actually are and are implying this is more important, all under the pretense that they are still learning.

 

Twists

Brother: Wow!  That’s pretty convoluted.

Coach: Yep.  And they get away with this claim most of the time.

Brother: Why?

Coach: Because it's also implying that you’re less important than them if you don’t buy into their illusion, that poorly portrayed false modesty, and the insane premise that to continue to learn, you must be an Apprentice. 

Brother: That’s a warped mind game, isn’t it?

Coach: Yes, and twisted heart game as well.

Brother: Heart game?

Coach: Yes. They’re playing on your shame, guilt and fear. 

Brother: Shame, guilt and fear?  I don't understand.

Coach: They're assuming that you’ll feel ashamed and guilty enough to claim the same, even though you aren’t what they claim they are.  All of this is banking on an additional belief that when you don't claim the same, they might confront you and embarrass you.  And they play on that fear as well.

Brother: Okay, that is unbelievably emotionally manipulative as well.

Coach: Indeed.  It’s an immature ego trip, mostly used by males who haven't matured emotionally.  And anyone who has any misgivings about the title they rightfully earned, may feel ashamed or guilty to say anything against this apprentice claim for fear of being attacked and shown to be arrogant or less than for doing so.

Brother: Yikes!

Coach: The simple fact is this, when you have done the apprentice Work and earned the titles of Fellow or Master appropriately, you are no longer what you were previously - an apprentice.  Fellow Crafts who have done the Apprentice Work will not buy into it in the least; they know better.

 

The Goal

Brother: Agreed. But do you think anyone ever stops doing the Apprentice or Fellow Craft work.

Coach: Why do you assume this?

Brother: It’s never perfected.

Coach: I don’t think this for a minute. 

Brother: Why?

Coach: You’re using the word "perfected” to denote "brought to flawlessness". Ritual does not agree with you in this use.

Brother: How so?

Coach: Perfecting, as in “making the work flawless” has nothing to do with earning the  title.  Maturing enough to have the title does.

Brother: Maturing rather than flawlessness?

Coach: Yes.  That’s the goal.  The Work we do was never about being flawless; it was always about maturing and becoming suitable for the Builder's use.

 

Proper Mindsets

Brother: Please explain.

Coach: Sure.  You cannot be a valid Fellow Craft until you bring Order to the Chaos of your heart.  This requires maturing from Youth to Manhood.

Brother: That’s the Apprentice Work, right?

Coach: Yes!  You bring Order to the Chaos of your heart by completing the Apprentice Work enough to do just that.   When you’re done, you’ve matured into manhood.

Brother: But what if there are storms that cause heart chaos afterward?

Coach: You mean to ask, “Will you be unable to deal with them?”

Brother: Yes!

Coach:  When you have done your Work you will. And you will deal with these "storms" maturely when you've already laid the foundation and matured.

Brother: What about Master Masons?

Coach: Likewise, you cannot be a valid Master Mason until you bring Order to the Chaos of both your head and your heart.

Brother: Both?

Coach: Of Course!  The two being ordered are what makes you a Master Mason.

Brother: How do you have them both ordered?

Coach: You do that by completing the Apprentice and Fellow Craft Work enough to do just that.

 

Future Storms

Brother: What about the storms occurring afterward?  Will you be unable to deal with them?

Coach: Of course, when you have completed your Apprentice and Fellow Craft Work you will.  In other words, you deal with life at a Master’s level, not at an Apprentice or Fellow Craft level.  But you appear to think that just because there are storms messing with the Order of either your head or heart, that somehow this raises a question as to your Fellow Craft or Master’s qualifications.  Right?

Brother: Exactly!

Coach: Brother, life brings forth storms that mess with our well-ordered minds and hearts all the time.

Brother: Exactly!

Coach: When you bring Order to your head and heart, you have learned how to do it and then do it as a matter of being.

Brother: Because it’s now who you are?

Coach: Yes!  Exactly!

Brother: Okay. And when storms hit, you have the skills well-developed to handle the chaos at a Master’s level?

Coach: Yes!

Brother: Okay, I understand.

Coach: Good! Give it back to me then.

Brother: Okay. Because you’ve matured and gained experience, you’re able to deal with what life throws at you more effectively, efficiently and maturely than someone with less maturity, experience and skill development.

Coach: You got it! Kudos!

 

Testing

Brother: But isn’t it like passing an exam?

Coach: How so?

Brother: Doing the work “enough” to get a pass; in other words, getting that pass or title.

Coach: Meaning?

Brother: There is still so much else to be learned about the degree.

Coach: Sure, but it’s not about learning more about either degree. 

Brother: It’s not?

Coach: Of course not.  It’s about moving from Youth to Manhood and then from Manhood to Age.  The degrees only show you the path; they are not the path!

Brother:  But much more work needs to be done to perpetuate and prolong the stability of that “Order from Chaos”. 

Coach: As I said before, the Work will never prevent life’s storms.

Brother:  Yes, but when doing that work the Brother is working as an Apprentice, he doesn’t need Fellow Craft or Master’s skills to progress it. Similarly he doesn’t need Master’s skills to continue with the Fellow Craft study or work.

Coach:  Only when you’re looking at it as an assembly line movement from one title to another. However, this is not an assembly line situation.  These are mental stages.

Brother: How's that?

Coach: Apprentices are Youths. They are by their very nature immature. They deal with life and its storms from an immature point of view and with immature skills.  The Apprentice Work is there to help them Mature and in doing it, it provides vital skill development to handle chaos effectively when it occurs – not if it occurs. 

Brother: Okay.

Coach: But more importantly, the Work helps them create a life of order which, when chaos occurs, they know how to bring it back into order.  When the Work doesn’t mature them, then the Work is incomplete.  When the Work matures them, then the Work is complete.  Get it?

Stages

Brother: Okay. I mean, I think so.  What about Fellow Craft?

Coach: Fellow Crafts are mature males; we refer to them as “men”. They are by their very nature mature in their outlook, manner and being. They deal with life from a mature point of view and they have the life skill development to handle chaos when it occurs. If they didn't, they would be Apprentices still. 

Brother: So, what does their Work do for them?

Coach: It cultivates their minds so that they can better help bring order to the chaos of the world around them, make sense of things that bewilder others who have not done the Work and prepare themselves for serious studies of things that are beyond most people.

Brother: Like?

Coach: Thoughts, writings and discourses presenting, discussing and examining theological and philosophical issues.

 Brother: Interesting.  What about Masters?

Coach: Masters are mature men with experience. They are by their very nature both mature and experienced with life skills. They deal effectively with life from a mature and experienced point of view. If they didn't, they would not be Masters.

 

When Enough is Enough

Brother: I don't disagree, but I still think a "youth" can progress the Apprentice work so much further than "enough", without necessarily becoming a Fellow Craft or Master. Sometimes we need to become childlike to see the Light.

Coach:  Yes, one can do the Work and never mature; this does occur unfortunately.  Not doing the Work though is a guarantee that maturity will never occur.  Yes, one can become childlike and in those times when becoming childlike it doesn't mean we become children again.  Or in this case Apprentices.

Brother: Indeed! But, we do need to be free from pride, covetousness, and ambition, and resemble them in humility, sincerity, docility, and disengagement of affection from the things of the present life, which excite the ambition of some FC and MM. Children do not desire authority, do not regard outward distinctions, are free from malice, are teachable, and willingly dependent on their superiors. To complete, (as if it's ever completed), the EA work, then we should have that state of mind!

Coach:  Wow!  That’s a lot to take in. 

Brother: Yes, it is. It's what I believe though and I stand by it 1oo%.

Coach: As well you should.  That being said, I shall have to politely disagree with what you claim from what we need to be free.

Brother: Why is that?

Coach: Let me take every point you put forth; one or two at a time.

Brother: Okay.

 

The List

Coach: Pride is all about valuing something, someone or a situation.

Brother: Okay.

Coach: Being prideful can be foolish. 

Brother: Agreed!

Coach: However, it can also be wise. And with that being said, I opt for the latter pride and leave the former to those who have not done the Work.

Brother: Ah!  You’re referring back to the Work.  Sort of like “mature pride” is okay?

Coach: Yes.  I am indeed!

Brother: Okay, I see what you're driving at.  What about covetousness?

Coach: I have no problem with ownership either; when it is within due bounds.  That’s why we’re instructed, not taught, to subdue and circumscribe our passions and to divest ourselves from all excess – no matter how superfluous.

Brother: We're not taught?  I thought ritual says we are taught.

Coach: Yes, it does say that. However, there is a huge difference between being told to do something and being taught how to do something.  They are two entirely different things.  The former is instruction; being informed.  The latter is transforming with guaranteed results.

Brother: Yikes! I agreed! You’re right!  I see what you are saying and you’re spot on.

Coach: Thanks. And as far as ambition is concerned, once again, there is nothing wrong with strong desires to do or to achieve any rightful and useful thing.  In fact, it's vital to our personal and professional growth. 

Brother: Yes.

Coach: This especially applies when it requires determination, hard work, and it's earned with humility and sincerity.

Brother: I see your point here as well.

Coach: Thanks. 

 

Teach-ability

Brother: What about docility?

Coach: Docility, as in “easily being taught”, comes directly from laying the foundation that the Apprentice Work entails coupled with what the Fellow Craft Work provides. 

Brother: How so?

Coach: The Apprentice Work prepares us to learn and in doing so, we are strengthened (with virtues) and we are released from unnecessary burdens (divesting vices & superfluities) that get in learning’s way.

Brother: This makes sense. Are you saying it's more difficult to learn as an Apprentice than as a Fellow Craft of Master?

Coach: That is exactly what I am saying!

Brother: This understanding didn't come to me until after we started talking about this.

Coach: You are not alone.

Brother: I'm not?

Coach: You are not.  Not many Brothers have thought this through.

Brother: What about the Fellow Craft?

Coach: That Work helps us learn how to learn. In doing so, it lays the pathways within our mind for learning easier those things which would perplex the less trained and disordered mind.

Brother: Wow!  I had not thought about it that way.

Coach: Many Brothers do not who have yet to consider what the Work does for the hearts and minds of those who do it.

Brother: What about attachments?

Coach: As I said initially, I disagree. I was blessed with this life and I have deep affection for all the good it has to offer. Being a Master Mason, I have engaged more in life than before I was one.  That is a good thing for all involved.

 

Who’s Your Daddy?

Brother: And authority?

Coach: As a Master Mason, I have no desire for any authority other than my own and that of God in my life. I've learned to see past outward distinction, but not be foolish enough to ignore them.

Brother: What about malice?

Coach: I know how to handle malice, even when it is of my own making.

Brother: Anything to add about being teachable?

Coach: Yes.  As a Master Mason I am more teachable than most who have yet to clear and strengthen the paths for learning. As a result, I learn better and quicker than I have ever done before.

Brother: But you are dependent upon superiors still?

Coach: I can be, when appropriate to my end-in-minds.  More importantly though is that is I am appropriately interdependent with the right superiors, because I have become independent through my Work.  I realize and know the benefits of working with others in harmony. Those with whom I work believe as I, and we have no father save the One True God.

Brother: Wow!  That’s deep.

 

State of Mind

Coach: Yes, thanks. My point is this, we complete the Apprentice Work when we have a mature heart and are ready for cultivating a Fellow Craft state of mind; that is, a mature mind. Likewise we complete the Fellow Craft Work when we have both a mature heart and mind and are ready to cultivate a Master’s state of mind; that is, mature and experienced.  The minutia of the Work itself is to get us to the next level of maturity, experience and skill level.

Brother: So, it's not about the Work; it's about what the Work transforms within us that matters most!

Coach: Absolutely!

Brother: But there is a term in Zen Buddhism which means “beginner’s mind“.

Coach: Okay.  Where are you going with this?

Brother: It refers to having an attitude of openness, eagerness, and lack of preconceptions when studying a subject, even when studying at an advanced level, just as a beginner in that subject would. Like an Apprentice.

Coach: And?

Brother: The Zen teacher Shunryu Suzuki, says the following about the beginner’s mind, “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s mind there are few.”

Coach: Yes. Please continue.

Brother: As a Masonic leader, if you assume an attitude of a beginner and believe something can be learned from everyone you encounter, you begin to experience the power of other positive leadership qualities. 

 

Not a Beginner

Coach:  "If" being the operative term. 

Brother: Of course, but what do you say to that “if”?

Coach: As a leader, you are not a beginner. You are an experienced mature player and you are expected to play that role without wavering. That is the reason you were put in the position of leader. And good leaders look for opportunity to learn to become better leaders. But, in truth, they are not beginners in doing so.  They have prepared themselves to learn and they have learned how to learn.  These are not achievements of an Apprentice and a leader doesn’t fain a lesser role or title, this especially when all who look up to him who have any self-respect would think less of him for his false modesty.

Brother: Okay. So what you are saying is when a Fellow Craft or Master is learning new stuff he is merely "assuming" the role of an Apprentice, (as stated above), not "being" an Apprentice?

Coach: No.  I'm saying that when you are a Fellow Craft, you have the Fellow Craft state of heart and mind.

Brother: So you're seeing through the eyes of a Fellow Craft and not an Apprentice?

Coach: Yes! And when you're a Master, you have the Master’s state of heart and mind.

Brother: Got it! You learn at the level your heart and mind are at. |

Coach: Exactly!

Brother: So, there's truly a major difference between being a student and being an apprentice.

Coach: Yes!  But just to make sure you got it, please explain it to me if you would.

Brother: Sure! When you're a Master, you have prepared yourself to learn and to be that student you need to be...

Coach: And?

Brother: ...and you have also learned how to learn as a student should learn.

Coach: So, you are a student and you are a teacher as well?

Brother: Yes!  When you are an apprentice, you're not yet a student, even though you're learning to tame yourself.  You're only preparing to learn (Apprentice Work) and you have yet learned how to learn (FC Work).


Full Circle

Coach:  Yes!  Furthermore, claiming you are at a lower state of heart and mind than you actually are, or at least should be, is false humility; it’s pretentious and beneath you. When you've done the Work, you're more teachable and you have all the skills and maturity to make that occur swiftly and easily.  You'll not get this from apprentices unless they have already done some of the preparation Work already.  Most are simply too immature, too inexperienced, too burdened and too weak to learn as a Master.

Brother: Okay, I see what you are saying and I agree. Apprentices aren't prepared to learn and are nowhere near being students.  They're simple too rough to be put into that role.  Fellow Crafts are smooth enough to learn how to learn and Masters are the true students...

Coach: Why?

Brother: ...because they've laid the foundation to learn!  Apprentices haven't done this yet.
Coach: You got it!

Brother: I truly appreciate you walking through this with me.

Coach: And I appreciate you walking beside me in this.  It means a lot to me.

Brother: How so?

Coach: It keeps me sharp.

Brother: Like steel sharpening steel?

Coach:  Indeed!  Behold!...

Brother: …How good and pleasant it is…

Coach: …for Brothers to dwell in unity.

Brother: Amen!

 

For Further Light:

 

 

The Craft Perfected!

---------------------------

 

NOTE: A very special and sincere thank you to Bros. Peter Taylor, Nick Adair and RJ Gleason for their collective role in helping me in developing this discourse.