A Brother Asks... About Preparation

A Brother Asks:  Where were you first Prepared to become a Mason?

 My Response: The most common and accepted response you will get from those trained in Freemasonic proficiencies is, "In my heart".   But what you shall not hear too often is how that preparation occurs and when.

Most men think that this Preparation is done 'before' they become members of a Freemasonic Order. And it is understandable how they could be easily led to believe that this was all that this sentence implied.

This question alludes to something more profound though. Perpending the sentence with more diligence and due consideration, they might come to understand that this sentence more accurately represents the focus of the Apprentice Work, of which, if left undone, reveals to the world that this Preparation was never started.

But, don't take my word on this.  Let's expand upon this further and then make up your own mind if you see that what I share does apply. 

What does the Apprentice Work focus upon?  If you review what Ritual espouses, it is all about Working upon a man's heart; moving it from Chaos to Order. 

Here's a list of things that does just that:

Apprentice Work (Development of the Heart)

 1) Setting your Plumb; (VoSL)
 2) Determining what's Important/Unimportant to you; (Plumb)
 3) Establishing and Maintaining your Priorities for ...
     a) Time Management, (24IG)
     b) Standards, (Compasses)
     c) Boundaries, (Compasses)
     d) Divestiture (Vices & Superfluities) (CG)
     e) Investiture (Virtues); (Square)
 4) Establishing and Maintaining your Moral Integrity (Square)
 5) Circumscribing and Subduing your Emotions (Passions and Desires!) (Heart!!!!)

Every last one of these activities leads up to and then properly prepares a man's heart to become a Mason.

As you might have gathered from what is shared herein, it is truly not enough to simply want to become a Mason and claim that itself first prepared you.  One must first properly prepare oneself to become and that starts with properly preparing one's heart!

F&S,

Brother John S Nagy

For more information about this specific Work, please refer to Building Boaz and Emotional Awareness Made Easy.

A Brother Asks: The Holy Saint Johns & Masonry?

 

A Brother Asks: How do the Holy Saint Johns fit into Masonry?

 

My Response: I'll focus strictly upon the Masonic side and not the Freemasonic side of this question. When interpreting Ritual Masonically, I always default to how Allegory and Symbol support the Transformational Work that the Degrees point Brothers toward. 

 

The first Degree Work is Development and Cultivation of the Heart -- Bringing Order to the Chaos of the heart is its whole purpose. This clearly is alluded to by Holy St. John the Baptist; he was a man of great passion. Research his life to get a feel for how this applies. 

 

Likewise, the second Degree Work is Development and Cultivation of the Mind (Intellect) -- Bringing Order to the Chaos of the mind is its whole purpose. This clearly is alluded to by Holy St. John the Evangelist; he was a man of great intellect. Research his life to get a feel for how this applies. 

 

Sure, they collectively allude to 1) the Left and Right side of Masonry (Heart and Mind), 2) the before and after (Alpha and Omega) and 3) the Solstices (Great Illumination-most obvious versus Lesser Illumination-less obvious), but the allusion to the Transformational Work has ALWAYS taken priority for me -- how else can the claim that "Masonry makes good men better" be justified and supported? 

 

If we don't keep the Transformative Work as our focus, then it's all just mental pleasuring. Not that this isn't fun, but nothing of any significance occurs for any man without Work.

-- Coach John S Nagy ;-)

PS - You can find more about "The Flanked Circle" in , Building Boaz - Volume 2 pages 55 through 68. You can find it here: http://www.coach.net/BuildingBoaz.htm

 

 

A Brother Asks... What is Moral Law?

 

A Brother Asks: What is Moral Law?

 

My Response: From all that I've read about this, there exists but one Universal Moral Law and it has two entirely different ways of being stated so that its fullness can be understood by those who make effort to. It is: 

1. One should treat all others as one would like all others to treat oneself.
2. One should treat no one in any way that one would not like to treat oneself.

It is founded upon Civility, Consideration, Understanding, Respect and Tolerance, especially for Differences. It is found woven Universally into the Sacred Laws scattered to the four corners of Humanity.

 

Unfortunately, there exist hypocrites in positions of authority, both legitimate and illegitimate, who hang their hats upon the term "moral law" as an excuse to treat others hatefully and as less than. Those who support them are more culpable in that they are the ones who put these individuals in positions to do their bidding and do so deliberately to distance themselves from any accountability for their own hateful manners.

 

F&S,

 

-- Coach John S Nagy

For more information on Moral Law, please refer to Building Boaz - Volume 2