THE ONLY PROBLEM WITH MERIT IS ME

Realizing we are part of an organization that runs on merit is game changing for most if not all of us. The Holy Grail that puts Machiavelli in his place. A declaration the world is not cynical afterall. Some of us are proof of that.  It seems almost luxurious to appreciate what initiation has done. Merit. From time to time, I enjoy delusions as much as the next man. My team is always the best. My choices are always better. And I am like you, equipped with an intellect that can turn truth into a convenient acknowledge of that. So many writers have confirmed what we already knew on the subject.  The problem with merit is the problem with truth and by extension the problem of masonry.  It is based on truth that is more certain than I am.  While I put a pin in that. thought, something strange happens. I proceed to observe the world using that lense. If I am any example, it is realizing as I 'advance' in life I become aware of how much I do not know. Fortunately I live in a world of experts on anything and everything, ready to tell me how I ought to function. Taking us literally by the hand, masonry introduces us to the neighbours.  Over there is history, next to philosophy. There are men finding answers and men walking bye. Knowing that is a lesson in itself. The ubiquitous journey of mason has a destination but not an ending. Every day the world is different and we are too. Where there is struggle, I would suggest answers are likely to be found in places we formerly had never considered. Like looking in a mirror.