Random Building Thoughts - 2022-01-04

 

-------------- HUMOR --------------

-------------- CLARITY --------------

************************************************

-------------- WARNING: -----------------

************************************************ 

 

Clarity
shortens superfluous discourse,
intensifies improved understanding
and diminishes destructive tail-chasing.

-------------- COACH'S CHALLENGE --------------

You belong to a very traditional lodge. 

All Lodge members from previous years are still present, 

all attend regularly, and all are able and available 

to participate now and into the future.

 

The members of your Lodge are upset. 

The incoming WM is planning to appoint someone 

to the position of Tyler 

and this choice breaks with this Lodge's traditions,

 long held by it since time immemorial.

 

The Lodge brings this to the attention of the incoming WM,

they voice their opposition to his choice 

and they express both their dissatisfaction 

and their reasoning behind their dissatisfaction.

 

You witness all of this and stand by supporting them.

 

The WM listens intently, 

agrees with the Lodge and changes his choice, 

fully recognizing the future impacts.

 

 

YOUR TASKS:

 

Respond to the following...

 

1) Who do you think the Lodge believes should be the Tyler?

2) Why do you think the Lodge believes this specific person should be the Tyler?

3) How does making this person the Tyler affect Lodge performance?

 

How do you proceed?

(Hat Tip to Bro. Nick Adair)

-------------- MATURITY --------------

A Grown Boy
is no More a Man
than his Ability
to Maturely Handle Life.
Apply this Ideal
toward the Craft
and you might Begin to see
the Source of most Craft Problems.

For Further Light:
Maturity

 -------------- VICES --------------

At one time,
Alan Watts' writings
had a huge influence in my life...

Nah! ! Who am I kidding...
they still do!

 

 

"If you do not know who Alan Watts is, 

he is one of the very few people I would coin as enlightened."
-- Brother Nicholas Robinson

-------------- NO ROOM --------------

Countless Superfluities
Rule far too many Men
within the Craft.
Lodges Filled by them
have little to no Room
for anything Worthwhile.

  -------------- NEGATIVE ACTIONS  --------------

When you Divest yourself
of Negative Things,
you're Taking Negative Actions
in Positive Directions.

-------------- MATURE HEART --------------

There's a huge difference between
a well educated man
and a well educated boy.
The former has a mature heart.
The latter has yet to subdue his.

For Further Light:
Preparation

 -------------- MYSTERY --------------

(Hat tip to Bro. William Kennard!)

 

For Further Light: 

Mastery

 -------------- FILED UNDER: Immorality of the Soul --------------

 

FILED UNDER: 

Immorality of the Soul

The Sun Continues to Shine
Long After It Sets. 

-------------- GOD'S GAMES -------------- 

Observe life enough
and you'll find out that
some of God's most favorite games are:

 

1) Role Playing

2) Hide and Seek

3) Knock Knock

4) 1001 Questions

5) Guess what

6) Connect the dots

7) Telephone

8) What if

9) Let's Pretend

10) You're It

 

-------------- PLUG -------------- 

"Light received. 

Knowledge, wisdom, moral lessons, 

and Eureka! 

Moments await. 

So grateful for the opportunity 

to get such a collection."
-- Ian Jagger Gibb-WIlsom, 1/4/2019

-------------- END -------------- 

 Be Well and Travel Light!

-- Coach Nagy ;-)

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You can also find me on:

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Educational Materials can be found here:

 http://www.coach.net/BuildingBuilders.htm 

 

https://www.youtube.com/c/JohnSNagy 

 

 

 

 

Random Building Thoughts - 2022-01-03

  

-------------- SEEK MORE! --------------

Ritual is a Rubik's Cube of Symbols
Requiring men to Grasp and Wrestle with it
until they eventually Form
Acceptable Patterns that Enlighten.
Many Patterns are Formed
but very few are Solid.

-------------- BECOME --------------

This is the Basis of "The Craft Unmasked!"
book's Theme and The Craft we Practice
within the Society of Free & Accepted Masons.

 For Further Light:
The Craft Perfected!

-------------- NEED MORE! --------------

We need a lot more people Who
Responsibly Assume Thinking,
and fewer of those Who
Irresponsibly Think Assumably.

-------------- EARNED --------------

The Most Comforting Aspect
about Ruffians is that,
by their Own Behavior,
they shall Eventually get
what they Earned,
even if it is in the End.

 -------------- MENTOR-SHIP --------------

 

One of my mentors...

 

 "You become mature
when you become 

the authority for your own life.”
 -- Joseph Campbell

 

 

 -------------- TRUST --------------

 

Don't confuse "forgiveness" with "forgetfulness" and "re-Trusting". One can forgive offenses, but one would be foolish to forget offenses that go uncorrected and to re-trust an untrustworthy individual. 

 

Once someone has offended you, it is your responsibility to assure that an appropriate boundary is both Established and Maintained so that future offenses do not occur -- for your sake and for other's sake.

Forgiveness entails "clean up". It should never include:

 

1) continuing to place trust in a person who shows no signs of correcting offensive behavior, or

2) forgetting the character of such a person and setting yourself up for another offense.

 

To continue to trust someone who is untrustworthy is simply insane. This doesn't mean you cannot forgive the person for the offense. It simply means that forgiveness doesn't mean re-trusting. There is much more to it!

 

For Further Light:
a-brother-asks-forgiveness

 -------------- COACH'S CHALLENGE --------------

A group of candidates you are mentoring
are finding it difficult to believe
that murderers making every effort... 

 

1) to hide a dead body; and

2) to outrun their accountability 

 

...would deliberately "plant an acacia [sprig]
at the head of the grave,
in order to conceal it
so that the place may be known
should occasion hereafter require."

 

They insist that such an act
would actually draw attention to the grave
rather than conceal it.

Furthermore, they cannot understand
what occasion hereafter would be required.
Why would the ruffians
WANT to find the grave
when their very act of burying the body
was TO CONCEAL IT!?!?! 

 

You were at a loss for words
and they were disappointed.
The discourse ended shortly afterward,
to your mixed relief.

 

Fortunately, it did not end there.
Your lodge education committee chairman
overheard the discussion
and asked you to research the matter,
do a write up on your findings
and present it to the lodge within two weeks.
Realizing this would make you a better mentor,
you accept the challenge.

 

YOUR TASK:

 

1) Validate these candidate's observations.

2) Explain why the ruffians did what they did.

3) Explain what specific occasion hereafter
would require locating the grave.

 

What do you do?

-------------- BIASED --------------

 Chroniclers Who are Heavily Biased
do not Report what they find;
they Report only what fully Supports
what they want you to see
and in such a way
as to Heavily Bias you.

 -------------- PLUG -------------- 

Candidates Entering the Society
usually have high hopes
of being surrounded by men
who have actually developed Life Masteries.

What they find
is a wide assortment of males
who have yet to master themselves,
much less the principles of the Craft.
(The Craft UNMASKED!, Chapter 2)

 For Further Light:
http://www.coach.net/BuildingBuilders.htm

 -------------- HUMOR --------------

 -------------- END -------------- 

 Be Well and Travel Light!

-- Coach Nagy ;-)

 PS: Subscribe to get daily notifications

You can also find me on:

https://mewe.com/i/john_snagy

https://www.facebook.com/johns.nagy

Educational Materials can be found here:

 http://www.coach.net/BuildingBuilders.htm 

 

https://www.youtube.com/c/JohnSNagy 

 

 

 

 

20 QUESTIONS EVERY EA SHOULD KNOW HOW TO ANSWER*

 

 --------- 20 QUESTIONS EVERY EA SHOULD KNOW HOW TO ANSWER* --------- 

When a Mason cannot 

properly answer these questions, 

they remain just a member. 

 

Here are 20 questions that every Mason should be able to answer knowledgeably before
they pass to Fellow Craft.  Can you answer them?  If you cannot, you have not paid attention to what Ritual communicates.

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

Question #1: What are the three central purposes for doing your Apprentice Work?

 

Question #2: What are 11 Apprentice Working Tools that you are to work with or develop when you do the Work that the Apprentice Degree asks you to do?  (Name them.)

 

Question #3: What was the very first Apprentice Working Tool that embraced you, how does it instruct  you to say "no" appropriately, and what is the determining factor(s) in its use?

 

Question #4: What is the first Working Tool that you must Set to make all your other Apprentice Work possible, why is this so, and how is this done?

 

Question #5: What are Vices & Superfluities, how are they the same, and what is the central difference between them? (Provide and explain examples.)

 

Question #6: What are seven Virtues revealed to you during the Apprentice Degree and how would you apply each of them in your life?

 

Question #7: What does hanging your Plumb Line Establish for the Working Tools of the Apprentice? 

 

Question #8: What diligent process do you go through to determine what's most important to you? 

 

Question #9: What are Standards & Boundaries, how are they similar, and what makes then different? (Provide examples of each.)

 

Question #10: When you are asked what Passions & Desires are, their similarities, and their differences, what should you say?

 

Question #11: What advice was given to you about Circumscribing & Subduing, and which Apprentice Working Tools are you supposed to use to do so?

 

Question #12: What Apprentice Working Tool builds your Square of Virtue?

Question # 13: Which Apprentice Working Tools are used to both internalize & externalize the disciplines that your Apprentice Working Tools represent?

Question #14: Which Apprentice Working Tool represents your Obligation? (Explain this in detail.)

Question #15: What dual purpose does the Common Gavel serve and why?

Question #16: What three other Apprentice Working Tools assist you building and internalizing the disciplines represented by the Level?

Question #17: What three things does the Apprentice Apron configuration represent?  (Explain Each)

 

Question #18: How are you taught Time Management, what does the 8-8-8 truly represent, and what must you first do to assure that you can properly manage your time?

 

Question #19: What distinctions can you draw between Masonry and Freemasonry and the Work of each? 

 

Question#20: How would you know for sure that you were doing either Masonic or Freemasonic work? Please explain.

 

FOR FURTHER LIGHT:

 

 

Here's an older list with some questions already addressed-covered:

 

Question #1: What distinctions can you draw between Masonry and Freemasonry?
Question#2: How would an Apprentice know for sure that they were doing Masonic or Freemasonic work?

Question #3: What is the intent of the EA Work?

Question #4: What is the first Working Tool that an Apprentice must Set to make all his other Apprentice Work possible, and why? (Hint - it ain't so obvious!)

Question #5: What does hanging a Plumb Line Establish for the Working Tools of the Apprentice?

Question #6: What does the Checkered Pavement have to do with the Apprentice Work?

Question #7: What diligent process does an Apprentice go through to determine what's most important to him?

Question #8: How are Apprentices taught Time Management?

Question #9: When Apprentices ask what Passions and Desires are, what should they be told about each and how one differs from the other?

Question #10: What advice is given to Apprentices who want to Circumscribe and Subdue?

Question #11: What are Vices and Superfluities? 

Question #12: How do Vices and Superfluities differ from each other?

Question #13: What examples should be provided to Apprentices when asked about Vices & Superfluities?

Question #14: What are the 11 Working Tools that every EA sees while experiencing the first degree?
Question #15: What Ashlar are you when you complete the Work that the first degree directs you to do?

 

 

Enjoy!

Coach Nagy

* Before they Pass to FC! (Yep, Preston-Webb Based Ritual Only!)