A Brother Asks: Making Master Masons

 

A Brother Asks: Isn't the basic function of a Masonic Lodge is to make Master Masons? 

Coach: Unfortunately, for most every Lodge, the entire purpose of a Freemasonic Lodge is thought to be to make members. This is so that the money coming in from those members will help to cover the overhead of the white elephants they maintain. Those white elephants are their lodge building and associated properties commonly owned by the Fraternal organization itself. 

As far as making Master Masons, this is very far from the actual reality of Lodge operations. Lodges can call the members who go through three degrees "Master Masons" till the end of time or till they turn blue in the face, whichever comes first. However, with rare exception, these assembly line members are merely dues paying members. They're anything but masterful in what espoused Ritual asks of them. Most members have no clue what their Masonic purpose is.

Brother: Then what should the Lodge's focus upon to correct this?

Coach: The Lodge's Basic Function SHOULD be first and foremost making Masterful Masons. This focus would shift their activity insanity FROM new membership driven activities that try to keep the doors open by making more members TO a sane betterment drive that attracts new members because these pre-masons see evidence of mastery in the current membership.

With rare exception, pre-masons will NEVER see Masonic Mastery exhibited by the majority of the Lodge members they inspect because Masonic Mastery has NOT been cultivated in them; just the ability to memorize and regurgitate stuff that they have little to no understanding of.

 

 

 

A Brother Asks: When is the Temple going to be completed?

 

A Brother Asks: When is the Temple going to be completed?

Coach: The Temple referred to in the 3rd degree should have been completed prior to knocking on the inner door for the third time. 

Brother: Really?

Coach: Yes. If it wasn't completed, then the candidate is the very ruffian the drama acts out.

Brother: How's that?

Coach: If the Brother didn't complete his temple - the Work spelled out by the first and second degree - he is coming into the degree expecting to receive something he has yet to earn... just like the drama's ruffians!

Brother: But I'm talking about the Spiritual Building. 

Coach: Oh! The Spiritual Building referred to in the first degree is to be started only after the Master's Word can be understood, and not before. Any effort to build it before hand will fail due to infidelity.

Brother: Not before? Why is that? 

Coach: That's because until one completes the Temple referred to in the 3rd degree the Master's Word cannot be understood. It could be put right in front of a man, but it will not be understood for what it offers.

Brother: Wow!

Coach: Furthermore, without the Master's Word, no Spiritual Building can even begin to be started.

Brother: Why?

Coach: Because you cannot build without knowing the building rules & designs! 

Brother: So, when will the spiritual building be completed? 

Coach: Only after one erects it agreeably to God's Rules & Designs.

For More Light:

 The Craft Mastered

For Further Light: 

Completing the Temple

 
 

 

 

 

COACH'S CHALLENGE - Completing The Temple

 

COACH'S CHALLENGE

 

You are the lodge Masonic Education Officer, keeper of the Lodge Light and provider of wisdom, insight and assorted tidbits of esoteric knowledge. 

 

A group of your lodge's Master Masons approach you with a very serious question, one that has been burning in the bowels of their minds ever since they were each raised. 

 

They approached you because they felt, out of all the members who they knew, you would be most likely the one who would give them a straight, profound and no-nonsense answer.

 

They provide you with some constraints though. If they feel that you are beating around the bush in any way and providing them an answer that is unworthy, they will make sure that the tiler will never let you set foot in the lodge again. 

 

You know that they are serious and that they have the means to make it happen. 

 

You want to help. You ask them what the question is and what would be considered inappropriate responses. 

 

They want to know why. You reply that you want to make sure you can set foot again into the lodge and you want to avoid any landmines in responding to their question.

 

They agree that this is fair and reply:

1. We want to know what it takes to complete our temples.
2. We each want to complete our own temples and live within them.
3. We want to do so while each of us are still alive, with ample time to enjoy the temples we build, enjoying the fruit of our labors into old age.
4. We also want to know the purpose for completing these temples, the benefits of completing each and the problems that would occur if any one temple is not completed.
5. We want to know what we do once we have completed our temples.
   

 Any response that implies or conveys that their temples will never be completed until they live their lives OR be completed when they die OR that their temples will never be completed, will result in lodge banishment.

 

You agree that you will take all this into considerations and that you will provide to them responses that honor their request.

 

What do you tell them?

 

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WARNING - If you chose to play along with this and post any response that dishonors, disrespects or dismisses their request, your response will be noted, filed and deleted!

 

Here's a teaser video that you might find interesting...

 

 

 

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