Recharge!

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

WB Adam Thayer

I, like many of you, am a nerd. Now, let’s not fight it, we’re on a website devoted entirely to education on a relatively obscure topic. You probably have at least half a dozen other tabs open in your browser right now, unless you’re reading this on your phone or tablet, in which case you’re using precious battery power to further your education. There is nothing wrong with being nerdy! The 1980’s, where we were skewered by pop culture, are far behind us.

Being a nerd, one of the most satisfying feelings in the world is seeing my cellphone and tablet batteries at 100% charge. Now, I know from a technical standpoint, this isn’t the best way to prolong my battery’s life, but I also know it makes me unexplainably happy to hit the power button on my phone and see that it’s fully charged and ready to go.

I forgot to charge my tablet last night. It was an incredibly long day, after an incredibly long week, and I just simply forgot to plug it in. When I woke up this morning and realized what I had done, there was definitely a moment of disappointment in myself; even though I will be spending the day with my wife and daughter, and will probably barely touch my tablet, it’s still nice to know it’s fully charged and ready to go. Right now, at roughly 7 am on a Saturday morning, my battery sits at 79%. (As a side note, yes I do get up stupidly early on the weekend, it’s the only time I have to write, due to the aforementioned beautiful wife and daughter.)

79%. That is plenty of battery left to get me through the whole weekend, and yet it feels like I need to conserve every bit of power it has. I have no idea why my mind works that way, but I’m willing to stake my writing career that at least one or two of you feel the same way. It’s especially silly, considering I could put it on the charger right now and solve the problem, but it is the wrong time of day to recharge; devices should be charged at night, not in the middle of the day. (This may be a whole other issue I have, that you don’t necessarily share.)

So here I am, on my third cup of coffee, staring at this tablet with 78% battery power, cursing myself for forgetting to charge it, and even more so for being crazy enough that I can’t charge it during the day, watching a terrible 80’s horror movie (one of my other guilty pleasures, and another reason I get up so early on the weekends), wondering if I’ve got enough power to get through the day if maybe I only read books on the tablet instead of watching videos and surfing the net, and I find myself asking this important question: how is my Masonic battery?

You see, we all have a limited amount of energy to put into our efforts; work, family, friends, civic efforts, Freemasonry… all of these things eat away at our batteries, leaving us worn down, sapped of strength, not even wanting to go outside and see other people. We all have to determine where our energy is best spent; how much time do I dedicate to work, how much time to my friends and family, et cetera, et cetera.

In a perfect world, we would be able to keep up with everything, without needing to worry about running out of strength, but in reality we all realize that we need to maintain our strength, and put our efforts into where they will be most valuable. We have to metaphorically (and, in some cases, literally) stop watching the tenth cat video, so we can spend some time studying our ritual work instead.

In the past, I have said that going to lodge helps recharge my batteries, and while that was true in the past, and surely will be true again once I’m through being an officer, right now it’s a significant drain on my energy and patience. I’m not complaining, I am beyond honored at being asked to serve my lodge in this way, but the reality of the situation is that being an officer in an especially active lodge will age you very quickly. Brother Robert Johnson has said in the past that being an officer is a full time job, and that is definitely true in my lodge; we meet nearly every week, and always have something going on to keep us occupied. It can get exhausting!

In the recent past, we have featured a few articles about Masonic burnout, and you don’t need to see another one to know it’s an issue we all face. Instead, let’s just use the reminder about how important it is to keep your battery fully charged, so you don’t get too worn down to continue perfecting your ashlar.

I’m now on five cups of coffee, midway through a second movie, my daughter is awake and ready to take on the world, and my battery is at 75%. Having spent this past hour or so writing to you, knowing that these words will help someone out there who is struggling, my Masonic battery is fully charged, so I have to ask you: how is YOUR Masonic battery?

~AT

WB. Bro. Adam Thayer is the Senior Warden of Lancaster Lodge No. 54 in Lincoln (NE) and a past master of Oliver Lodge No. 38 in Seward (NE). He’s an active member in the Knights of Saint Andrew, and on occasion remembers to visit the Scottish and York Rites as well. He continues to be reappointed to the Grand Lodge of Nebraska Education Committee, and serves with fervency and zeal. He is a sub-host on The Whence Came You podcast, and may be reached at adam@wcypodcast.com. He will not help you get your whites whiter or your brights brighter, but he does enjoy conversing with brothers from around the world!