A Brother Asks: What's your "Take" on Our Obligations

 

A Brother Asks: Coach!  I'd like to hear your take on the MM obligation, perhaps our obligations in general, and whether they mean as much as I think that it should to obligate myself to my brethren, or if it is simply antiquated ritual.

Coach: This is an outstanding request and kudos to you for wanting it responded to.  

My "Take", and some quick supporting thoughts: 

1) Freemasonry is a full-immersion role-playing theatrical-society with a moral purpose. 

a) It is an introduction to Masonry only 

b) It offers to its members a path to follow that will lead them to Masonry and its practices

c) It offers obligations that assist in committing to a Masonic way of being 

d) It is not in any way itself Masonry

2) Freemasonry offers morality plays for its initiates and members. 

3) The morality plays Freemasonic organizations offer are scripted allegories put forth that convey principles, ethics, concepts, and ideals relevant, significant, and pertinent to those experiencing them with the sole purpose of having that experience leverage moral change with them and for the better. They have within them a call to action to obligate oneself to improve and, as most all morality plays do directly or indirectly, often have this call put forth as obligations. 

4) In Freemasonic morality plays, these"Obligations" are burdens that members take on to: 

a) Improve themselves morally 

b) Support others as they themselves would expect to be supported 

c) Assure that do not ruin the experience for others by conveying information that has not yet been earned - usually in the form of confidentiality ("secrets" to be honored) 

5) Those experiencing these morality plays can use these experiences to: 

a) Claim that they have "been there and did that" to fit in 

b) Use them to claim "rights, lights, and benefits-privileges" barred from others who have not earned them 

c) Use them as a springboard-roadmap to improve-better themselves in ways that would otherwise be unattainable to them if no similar improving-bettering actions are not taken. 

d) Use them as a guide-roadmap to that improvement-betterment 

e) Disregard their significance as just scripts that are required to be experienced to become a member. 

f) Apply them figuratively and/or literally and in the spirit in which they were conveyed and to do so rigorously within the limits therein established by the length of your cable-tow and without fail.

The option(s) that each member exercise(s) can be seen overtly in his behavior, heard in his words, and felt through the impact of his choices and decisions. Literally, his very looks betray him, continuously. 

And those surrounding him should treat him accordingly.

Why do you ask?

Brother: I asked you this because the WM who brought me into the fraternity, downplayed these obligations as "just rituals" and seemed to not think much of them beyond this. He is also a brother that has proven to be one I feel that I cannot trust. 

Coach: He is dismissive, doesn't want to be responsible, and doesn't want to be held to account for his given words.  You see him for who and what he is. Treat him accordingly. But do not let on that you know who and what he is. He will resent you for what you reflect back to him and for being seen by you for what he is and chooses to be and he will treat you as a target thereafter. No one of his caliber needs to know that you see him for what he is.  These people cannot be trusted.

I hope this response provides to you my "take" on these obligations worthy of your consideration.

 (Hat tip to my Bro. for the inspiration for this post.)

 

Another TCU Review! by Brother Jeffrey Blaisdell

  

"When YOU don the Mask and assume your role, 

\do you portray it, or do you betray it?"

-- Bro. Jeffrey Blaisdell

 

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

"'All the world's a stage, and we are merely players.'

"I had long questioned the myth so promulgated among Brethren, one even officially taught by my Grand Lodge, that being the myth that we are directly descended from a guild of stonecutters. To me, it didn't make sense. Why would men of wealth and with philosophical leanings join a band of manual laborers? What did Masonry offer to attract such men, and why would a labor guild *want* such men?

"Clearly, Freemasonry had some deeper meaning, something beyond the physical. Indeed, one could not enter one of the Craft's masterpieces without feeling something mystical, something magical, even something spiritual, in the design and execution of the work.

"For centuries, the Master Craftsmen understood the relationship between Man and Nature, and the Creator. They sought to exemplify and honor His Greatness. They passed their knowledge to successive generations through their labors and their teachings in ceremonies and pageants.

"But after the English Civil War, there was a sharp decline in the trade, for a variety of social and economic reasons. The masons were no longer needed. The guild was dying, and with it the mysteries of Masonry.

"The challenge of how to preserve Masonry became very real. If it could no longer build grand edifices of stone, perhaps it could continue to inspire the minds of men by building edifices within.

"Short of its Trade, Freemasonry held on to its Mysteries. Instead of teaching them through years of apprenticeship, lessons were taught in hopes men would apply them in their hearts and minds. To do so, the halls were opened to men who were of good character and willing to labor on their own edifices.

"'The Craft Unmasked' illustrates just how such a transformation took place, how the pageantry of an ancient guild became itself a system of instruction, and why the dedication of those performing the pageant is so vitally important. Just as the stage actor who loses himself in the role becomes indistinguishable from the character he plays, so does the man who immerses himself in the pageantry and lessons of Masonry.

"Unfortunately, (or perhaps fortunately,) 'The Craft Unmasked' makes it easier to spot the bad actors, accentuating their lack of dedication, lack of study, of their roles and themselves. And as Freemasonry is essentially a union shop (as a holdover from the guild days, perhaps,) it is very difficult to remove these characters.

"TCU is a wonderful tool for anyone who wishes to understand the purpose of Masonic ritual and the importance of full dedication to its execution. 'To be, or not to be.' Ask yourself, What will you be?"

-- Brother Jeffrey Blaisdell

 

Thanks Again my Brother!

-- Coach John S Nagy

A Brother Asks: Buying into the Fantasy

A Brother Asks: How do you quickly determine when another Brother has drunk the Kool-Aid and bought into the fantasy.

 

Coach: You'll know, when he acts like and states that he really believes Freemasonry is a continuation of Stonecraft in a speculative form and sells it as such rather than understanding and enjoying it as the "role-playing theatrical society with a moral purpose" that it is. 

Very few Brothers realize that the lexicon, words, symbols, and lore used within the society have only been borrowed from Stonecraft and integrated into our organization's writings and rituals to add an authentic feel to its plays.  They're not historic and neither is the lore. 

 

Brother: Wait?!  Freemasonry isn't a continuation of Stonecraft in a speculative form?

 

Coach:  Perhaps you and I need to take a moment, step back and have you explain in more detail exactly what you meant by drinking the Kool-Aid and buying into the fantasy. 

 

Brother: Just pulling your leg Coach.  That's exactly what I was looking for.  Thanks!

Coach: LOL!  You had me going there.

 

Brother: It's about time.

 

F&S,

 

Coach John S Nagy

A Brother Asks... Why no Females?

 

 

A Brother Asks: Why aren't females permitted in mainstream's open lodge activities?

 

My Response: Because the members of the male-craft version of Freemasonry, by way of a written proscription, decided about 300 years ago to create and support a "no female" environment. It can't get any plainer or simpler than this.

 

He Continues: Do you believe that it's because the Craft is keeping a stonemason tradition that didn't permit women masons?

 

My Response: No. That is not a stonecraft tradition and it never was one. Like so many other stories in Freemasonry, this lore was made up to support and justify what we have today.

 
The fact is, we are not a continuation of those guilds. We never were. That is fabricated lore that supports a fabricated fantasy; it is not fact.

Moreover, if we are to be considered a continuation of anything it would be the theatrical societies of medieval times when most all guilds put on "mystery plays" (The word "mystery" at that time meant "occupation" when applied to this term). Such theatrical groups did not permit women not because they didn't want them to participate but due to society norms and more especially the laws of the time proscribing woman from participating as actors in theatrical productions.

In other words, it was illegal to have them involved.

If you think about it, if the Craft are to continue doing the theater that we do, focusing our patrons upon their morality, and remain true to the theater norms of that time, no woman would be allowed in what we do, ever.

That being said, the tradition is outdated. Times and attitudes have changed.
 
But men's mentalities and needs to be in all men groups are not governed by the laws of man. They are governed by a strong psychological need to be away from female influences when communing with other men, even if all that they are participating in is mind-numbing business meetings.

I believe if you examine the evidence, the organization more than fills that need for some.

He Continues: Modern freemasonry has enacted many amendments to its rules, but none related to gender. Why?

My Response: We have a men's society and we like it that way for a multitude of reasons; all personal to the men folk who engage in it. 

He Continues:  Is this rule related something deeper, perhaps related to cabala, alchemy, etc.?

My Response: Nah. You can tunnel down a thousand rabbit holes of fantasy and rationalized woowoo but the central fact is simple: The membership wants a place to hang out with only their male homies. 

 

Here's a question thrown back at you: Why must this basic desire be explained and justified further?

 

He Continues:  Maybe esoteric masons can explain?

 

My Response: They could, but it would not help to clarify and bring into focus the male only picture by throwing rubbish upon it. 

 

Men want a place they can get away from specific influences that take them away from what they want to be focusing upon.  Religion, Politics, Unnecessary Friction (and Drama!), and Women are but a few.  The men of the male-craft versions of Freemasonry have created these places and they call them their own. 

 

The less mature members of the organization feel that they need to explain this to those who want such influences in their own gatherings and they construct elaborate reasons and excuses when they make effort to convey this. 

 

The mature members of the organization do not need to explain or justify it. Their attitude is simple:  If you want something different, create it for yourself somewhere else, and don't try to force it upon us when you do.

 

I err toward this latter attitude, but take the time to expand upon it a bit for the benefit of our newbies.

 

F&S,

 

Brother John S. Nagy