THE NEED TO LEARN IN THE ON-GOING DEVELOPMENT OF FREEMASONRY

There was a time I can still recall, when the world was a simpler place.  Asking too many questions was frowned upon. Knowing my place in the order of life was expected and doing otherwise left one vulnerable to manipulations. Today, after a full and satisfying life my questions have less to do with the failings of mankind and more to do with understanding. "We shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we began and to know the place for the first time." T.S.Eliott.- as if we needed a motivation. I remember being taught that words and ideas can have more than one meaning. There was a difference between literal and relative meaning. It helps me understand the animosity of fundamentalists. As a mason, it explains a great deal about the way education is subbordinated in many lodges across Upper Canada. Not to be unkind, there is a gap that has been with us for a long time, literal interpretations become fact. Growing evidence suggests we need to speak about the value of metaphor and allegory, as well as historical tipping points that influenced the context. Meaning. If we do not understand the meaning of what we are doing, especially as we are members of an Order pronouncing abstract reasoning as core beliefs, we are not only languishing without purpose but waiting for that moment to arrive.  In Upper Canada, that quiet moment is now a clamour.