FEASIBILITY OF 21ST CENTURY CRAFT

Imagine living in a time when new ideas would be judged by institutional thinkers. Imagine the effect on entire cultures, believing heretical ideas could be irradicated. While the marketplace/agora might well be fickle, it is an ideal place to hide subversion. Knowing the truth would seem to be a tremendous advantage if only the advantage didn't come with some much stickiness.  Are you and I convinced the minds that designed masonry had a firm grasp of human nature?  Seventeenth and 18th century didn't just appear out of the ether. The usual checks we already know; renaissance, enlightenment, the legitimization of science did not eradicate the status quo entirely. But it did not matter to the progress of mankind. Trial and error, we repeat our foibles and missteps until we accept more efficient ways to define our ambitions.  The good life? that is too ambigious to put into practice on a large scale. Consider how difficult it is to live the formula outlined in the Antient and Accepted, by just one man and then compound that difficult by extension to our communities.  Especially in masonry it is important to validate all the assumptions it claims. That is how we practice and learn to respect logic and reason, by putting them to use in everyday life. When we pick up the mantle it brings us an awakening. Claiming to life by highest moral and social standards means understanding what that means. We can not master what we do not know unless we accept the premise mankind was born in a state of grace.  Reality reminds us values need to be demonstrated in the context of our daily function. Easier for parents to provide this for their child because the state has an obvious mandate to do the same.  Right from wrong. Truth from fantasy. Compassion and empathy. The good life once understood needs to be accessible. Imagine the moment a man realizes in the privacy of his own thoughts he is changing? It is as we mature.