Making Time

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Bro. Aaron Gardner 32°

Life can be pretty hectic. Even that true sentence is a huge understatement. Life isn’t just hectic, it can feel like it is virtually impossible to accomplish all the tasks that are needed to be done. Even if you are retired there are a plethora of tasks that need to be accomplished. We all have jobs, families, school and friends among many other things that we have to pay attention to. To add to it all Freemasonry can feel like a second full time job. It is expected of you to show up and sit in a chair, conduct Masonic business and maybe even hold an office. If you hold an office you have even more responsibility, duties and tasks that your office must accomplish. It really is a second job to some.

Then, you have the Freemasons that seem to have nothing but time to dedicate to the Craft. They are the ones who are writing articles for various magazines, blogs, producing radio shows and creating new projects that involve Freemasonry. Brethren, these “Super Masons” are not super after all. They go through all the same issues that any other brother must. Family obligations, work, school, personal relationships outside the Craft, Lodge meetings and they somehow still find time to sit behind a computer and jam out a 500-1000 word article. It is not the super powered ring they wear that allows it. It is their love and dedication to the Craft. When you love something as much as some of these individuals you will find… No, make time to see that you can fully enjoy your passions.

There will come a time that every brother must make a decision. A lot of the time it is shortly after they make commitments to other branches of Freemasonry, rather it be York or Scottish Rite, or the Shrine. That decision can be very difficult at times. What can a brother move around or delete in his already busy and hectic schedule to encompass his passion of Freemasonry? Some of the writers of this blog, may say their jobs, so they can focus more energy on writing. Other brothers may say something else. What ever they want to move around or delete from their schedule is mute. There is no way a Masonic writer can stop working, he has to pay the bills somehow. There is, however, a various nice tool that all Freemasons should come to understand. It helps measure your time into three equal parts. Those who seem to have nothing but time for Freemasonry still divide their day using this tool, but, just a little differently.

Work will always require you to work at least 8 hours per day. There is no changing that unless you are working over time. So mentally, take out your 24-inch gauge and mark that time off in shades of pencil. We will get back to this later.

Now, as the favorite motivational speech given by Arnold Schwarzenegger says: “ I’ve always figured out that there 24 hours a day. You sleep six hours and have 18 hours left. Now, I know there are some of you out there that say well, wait a minute, I sleep eight hours or nine hours. Well, then, just sleep faster, I would recommend.” He has a great point. Mentally, mark that time off in shades of black Sharpie. That is time you will not use for other activities, intentionally that is. You may wake in the middle of the night with a great idea. Keep a note book by your bedside to write this down quickly and return back to your dream. A good writer keeps a notebook handy to take quick notes at all times. Even if you aren't interested in writing, you should still keep something handy to record thoughts as they occur.

Good, we have 6 hours of sleep shaded off on the gauge and at least 8 hours shaded off for work. That is a total of 14 hours of your day already occupied with something else. Now, how you divide the rest of the time is solely up to you. But first, let’s remember the pencil shaded area of work. Use the mental pencil, flip it around to the eraser and erase the time you use for lunch or breaks. If you get a 30 minute lunch with two 10 minute breaks that is almost an entire hour that you can dedicate to something else. You can dedicate it toward your rest and refreshment or toward the remainder of the gauge we have not covered. You can divide that time even more by dedicating a portion to rest and another portion to your own personal growth. Take the ten minute breaks and use them to read a Masonic article, talk to your family or read ahead in your school books. Either way you use it, don’t waste it. You’ll never get that time back.

Now, with a mental ink pen write in the pencil shaded area of something you did or could do that isn’t directly related to work. If you pray while working, congratulations you just dedicated time to the Great Architect. If you thought about what you want to do for dinner with your wife, you are already dedicating time to your family. It is said that our minds cannot multitask. Well, neither can computers. The actions of computers just happened so quickly it appears to be multitasking. That is how your mind works too. As long as you are awake you are constantly thinking, or doing something other than what that allotted time was set for. Mark all that into your mental gauge, with the ink pen. It is not a “super Masonic power” that only the Past Masters have, or those who dedicate their time to the Craft have. It isn't a Masonic secret that is kept stored away until you reach the 33° of the Scottish Rite. It is simply a different way of using that very tool you learned about the first time that the hood wink was lifted. It’s not about finding more time to dedicate to the different things in life, its about rearranging them and making that time happen. Like single mothers who amaze people with their work ethic, school grades and their devotion to their children; when you love something you’ll make the time for it.

~AG

Bro. Aaron Gardner, an American Soldier who just recently transitioned into the Reserves after 8 years serving the Active Duty Army. He dedicates the majority of his free time to Freemasonry with his constant studies, writing and traveling from lodge to lodge to learn as much as he can regarding Freemasonry. He likes to relate his everyday life to the Craft and anything he finds he wants to spread to the world. It is his passion to study people, religion, history and Freemasonry. When he isn't working as a Soldier he is dedicating his time to the amazing and supportive Emily, writing about Freemasonry and writing his very own novel. His blog page is Celestial Brotherhood.