EVERYTHING IN PLAY, ALL THE TIME

If we were a service club, our participation would acknowledge an obvious and open mandate. If we were a religion, though we might be close to Buddhism, we would be a singular variant on faith.  We commit charitable acts, but we fail the test for a charity.  Freemasonry is a presence, not a singularity but an attitude. If we meet the test that cements true Freemasons, we are more controversial than any constitutionally based corporation, institute or estate. All aspects of being, of purpose, of agency, of faith, are on the examination table of a Lodge.  We are the interlocutor, who seek out and appreciate this binding, imperfect, confident atmosphere in which to contemplate. No need for posturing, or muscular statements; these are people tasked with self-control and silence.  There is no politics in Freemasonry. This is a concrete impression of manners. As a gentleman understands, there are two topics that make us seem fools.  Politics is one. Religion is the other. We choose to not appear foolish.  Nevertheless, our apprenticeship begins uniformly but progresses based on talent. It is many orchestras. All entertaining. Some more accomplished than others. Some are brought together by a desire and curiousity; if every musician is the best what does the sound of that music?  Freemasonry stretches the boundaries. It teaches how to uses tools but leaves usage to the imagination and desire of the individual. This is how and why Freemasonry is reconfigured everywhere, every day. It endures as thought itself. Far be it from me to suggest it will never be popular but always essential. And if Plato left us with a truism it is this: A Life Unexamined, Is Not Worth Living.  What the hell was he thinking?