Life is short, Shoot the ball

by Midnight Freemason Regular Contributor

WB Christopher Hathaway 

Graphic by Catherine Lee Balsamello-Rutledge

“Death doesn't discriminate

Between the sinners and the saints

It takes and it takes and it takes” 

-Hamilton

The past twelve months have been a year to remember, or maybe a year we would all like to forget. COVID deaths are now at 2.46 million worldwide and we are still in masks and under tight restrictions. In a normal year, I would say not many people give thought to eventually dying but this year is different. This year it is all around us. This year we are actively taking extra precautions to live more than we would at any other time. If you are a Mason, you should be prepared and okay with eventually passing away from this earth and into the next. But are we? And even if we are, are we making the most out of our time here? Life is short and we need to make it count.

In our Masonic Rites given at the funeral of Freemasons we say ‘the cradle and the coffin stand side by side…that at the moment you begin to live, you also begin to die.’ I was discussing this line with a friend who pointed out that scientifically that was not exactly accurate, which is okay by me because much of our teachings are symbolic and not meant to be literal. After a little digging though, I found that we actually begin to die around the age of 25. Not that that is any better! We are fresh out of school beginning our careers, starting families, understanding how mortgages and 401k(s) work and you are rewarded with the process of dying. How lovely! But this lesson teaches us the urgency of living a fulfilling life pleasing to our creator, our families, and our communities. Whatever you have on your to-do list, do it NOW. What are you waiting for? My grandpa once told me if you wait until you have time to do something, you will never do it.

In a song called Death Bed by Powfu he says this:
“Yeah, I don't wanna fall asleep, I don't wanna pass away
I been thinking of our future 'cause I'll never see those days”

Can you imagine being on your deathbed knowing you did not give it everything you had? Are you forming relationships with people, so you have a legacy? Everything that I am today is due to someone else giving me their time and teachings. I hope to be their legacy even if it's just bits and pieces of me. Do the same for someone else. As 1 Corinthians says "Charity extends beyond the grave, through the boundless realms of eternity."

So, love your people today, tomorrow, and the next day. Don’t wait until the funeral to give your speech about them. Say it now, write it now. I fall into this trap constantly. I get too busy to slow down and make that extra phone call or go out of my way for that extra visit. I have never regretted an extra effort and you won’t either.

As my middle school basketball coach liked to say “Life’s short, shoot the ball!”

~CJH

WB Christopher J. Hathaway was raised in Catlin Masonic Lodge #285 and is a plural member of Normal Masonic Lodge #673 as well as Bloomington Lodge #43, where he is a Past Master. He belongs to the Valley of Danville, AASR where he is the Most Wise Master of the George E. Burow Chapter of Rose Croix and Membership Chairman.  He is the Oriental Guide in the Divan for the Mohammed Shiners, and the 1st Vice President of the Bloomington Shrine Club. Other appendant bodies include the Gao Grotto and the Illinois Lodge of Research. Outside of the lodge, he enjoys spending time with his wife Taylor and cheering on the Fighting Illini and Chicago Cubs.   

The Point of the Lost Word

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Ken JP Stuczynski 

I was extremely gratified when I was introduced to the Lost Word in the completion of my Degrees. Whereas it might seem like unfulfilled suspense to some, it was a palpable representation of a concept I recognized from my own spiritual journeys long before I was a Mason.

"The way that can be told is not the Way."

Absolute Truth lay beyond both senses and conceptualization, in the realm of the Mystical. To give something a name is to kill it, or at least separate its reality from our knowledge of it. This linguistic mirage becomes a label, a placeholder, or "substitute" for the real thing at best. In a world of fingers pointing to the moon, we cannot help but err to fixate on the fingers, not the moon.

It's also why some faith traditions do not give G-d a name or even spell that word out fully. When Moses was asked who he shall say sent him, the Answer became a sacred acronym, the tetragrammaton. And yet, regardless of such answers that may be given in other degree systems, it is still a placeholder. It is a few steps forward toward an infinitely distant horizon. (I have to admit, the pretense of a definitive answer for the Lost Word in further rituals disappoints me, as it takes away the purpose I suggest here.)

This is why I have said you could not impart the secrets of Freemasonry even if you wanted to. They are not in the words and grips themselves. Knowing them does not make you a Mason. They are like a key to a door you do not know, and yet can pass simply by knocking, as it will be opened onto you. It is the Gateless Gate.

So how can a secret society impart such a secret to life, the universe, and everything? I have heard ritual wonderfully described as using inadequate words and symbols to show and say what cannot be shown or said. Our whole craft is a language designed to transcend not just operative, literal interpretations, but even themselves. The objects in our rooms and hands draw us beyond "this crude matter" to a thought-form. That much is easy, though many may not have an awareness of even that at first. But perhaps if we let go a little, it can be realized as an ungraspable truth. In a moment of timelessness and everywhere-ness, we catch a glimpse of light, not as seer and subject, but as an object — the Light itself.

And so we cannot be given the True Word, less we kill it, or worse yet, deceive ourselves to think we know, missing the transformation of true Knowing. We give ourselves titles and certificates and other accolades, all of which point to things that may or may not exist. We corporal beings are distracted by such things or derailed altogether.

Even the anchor of ritual, meant to steady oneself against moral relativity and nihilistic libertine-ness, can sink us under the water. A disciple of John was once admonished, "Scripture is like the messenger sent by the Rabbi; do not mistaken the messenger for the Rabbi." Such it is with ritual. Like a name or even a conceptualization, it does not exist for its own sake.

The loss of the Word is about the fall of Adam, and the search for it,  the desire for redemption. It is the perfect ashlar we expend tremendous effort to become, even aware it can only be completed by transcending that horizon, that Level of Time through the profundity of mortal transformation. If we possess the Real Word, even a glimpse of it, our Perfect Ashlar awaits us.

If we get caught up in the idea, the concept, the knowledge, and intellectual prowess we achieve and are not willing to let go of it in favor of the Real Word, we are like those who reach the other shore but refuse to get out of the boat once its usefulness passes. And yet these are the things of this World. These are the tools we must work with because they are the things we CAN work with.

So when does one receive the Real World? Perhaps this is neither the time nor place, and the trials of being human are nothing more than the impetuousness of those who can't bear to wait until their Temple is finished. Perhaps that is the nature of suffering, and Masonry leads us out of it, to that Mystery which cannot be told.

~JP

Bro. Ken JP Stuczynski is a member of West Seneca Lodge No.1111 and recently served as Master of Ken-Ton Lodge No.1186. As webmaster for NYMasons.Org, he is on the Communications and Technology Committees for the Grand Lodge of the State of New York. He is also a Royal Arch Mason and 32nd Degree Scottish Rite Mason, serving his second term as Sovereign Prince of Palmoni Council in the Valley of Buffalo, NMJ. He also coordinates a Downtown Square Club monthly lunch in Buffalo, NY. He and his wife served as Patron and Matron of Pond Chapter No.853 Order of the Eastern Star and considered himself a “Masonic Feminist”.

As a masonic speaker throughout New York State, he has also given presentations at town hall meetings regarding the use of technology in the Craft. His numerous Empire State Mason articles have been republished in Arizona and New Jersey. To aid in his outreach on these topics, he authored “Webmastering the Craft: Fraternity in a Digital World”, available worldwide in softcover and eBook.

Having lifelong interests far and wide across philosophy, world religions, and all the natural sciences, his degree is in Philosophy with a concentration in Ethics and a minor In Psychology. He has written articles and essays on the topics of science and religion, culture and politics, business and economics, technology and futurism, as well as various aspects of social psychology. Usually, with interdisciplinary contexts, many of these focus on the ideals of intellectual honesty and tolerance in all forms. Having edited and contributed to Books of Transactions by the Western New York Lodge of Research of which he is a member, he plans to formally publish some of his larger works, starting with the upcoming book, “Contemplations on Astronomy”, and a special Masonic edition will contain his “Astronomical Tour of the Lodge”.

He runs his primary business, Kentropolis Internet, from home where he lives with his wife and plenty of pets. In addition to various community service projects, he teaches Tai Chi to veterans at the VA Recovery Center. He is also an independent interfaith minister with hospital chaplain credentials who does weddings, funerals, memorials, and other services. His personal project is the “Earth 2 Mouth” program which connects farms, volunteers, and soup kitchens. He also enjoys carpentry and keeps bees with his daughter at an organic farm in East Otto, NY."

A Profile In Courage

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Bro. Steven L. Harrison 33˚, FMLR

Author's note: This is in no way meant to be a political post. It is an account of events that occurred nearly a half-century ago with no intent to imply any relationship to events of today.

The 1956 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Profiles in Courage, is a series of biographies of eight United States senators who endured criticism and personal loss after unpopular acts they each thought were the right thing to do. Among those accounts are courageous votes of Masonic Brothers Thomas Hart Benton and Sam Houston, both of whom opposed extending slavery into the US territories, and subsequently lost elections because of their actions.

Such politicians taking action against the majority views of their constituents in spite of the consequences are a rare breed. Another of our Masonic Brothers, Gerald Ford, falls into that category.

Living in an intensely divided nation today, it is hard to imagine a time when the mood of the country, short of the Civil War era, may have been more politically separated or rancorous, but the Vietnam/Watergate era of the early to mid-1970s clearly qualifies for that.

In 1968, Richard Nixon, after losing a close presidential race to John Kennedy in 1960, made the political comeback of the century. He won the presidency with a promise to end the unpopular Vietnam War. Instead, he expanded the war, even taking it into countries neighboring Vietnam. With those actions, war protests, which had been going on for years, hit a new level of intensity.

At the same time, Nixon's acerbic Vice President, Spiro T. Agnew, who himself had been intensifying the divisions in the country, came under fire for corrupt practices while Governor of Maryland. After a two-year acrimonious battle, Agnew pleaded nolo contendere to felony tax evasion, was fined, and placed on probation. With that, Agnew resigned from the vice presidency and President Nixon selected long-time Republican congressman Gerald Ford to succeed him.

With all that going on, the 1972 presidential elections saw Nixon's re-election. Subsequently, his involvement in and cover-up of the 1972 break-in at Democratic headquarters gradually came to light, in what has now become known as the Watergate Affair.

So with the Vietnam War in full swing, war protests raging, the vice-president battling accusations of corruption, and Watergate grinding on, the US went through a three-year period of political meltdown. Nixon's involvement in Watergate, his lies, and attempts to cover up his actions finally brought him down. Leaders of his own party convinced him there were sufficient votes in both Houses of Congress to impeach and convict, leading him to resign the presidency before that happened. Brother Ford took office on August 9, 1974.

Ford took charge in the midst of all the political turmoil, wanting to put it in the past. Some of his first words to the country were, "Our national nightmare is over." But it wasn't. The country would now have to turn its attention to a laundry list of charges being brought against former President Nixon. The aftermath of his actions could have lasted for months, possibly years, through indictments, trials, endless rehashing of events, and a plethora of incessant and merciless windbags debating it all.

Ford saw it as his responsibility to end the turmoil and get the nation back to some semblance of normalcy. With that, he granted Richard Nixon a "full, free, and absolute pardon." Political opponents and even members of Ford's Republican party leveled a firestorm of criticism at the new president. They accused him, among other things, of making a deal with Nixon that would lead to Ford becoming president. That was not the case. The only deal Ford made was that Nixon had to admit guilt. Nixon accepted the pardon and withdrew to his home in San Clemente, removing himself from further involvement in the political arena.

Historians agree Brother Ford's decision to pardon Richard Nixon was one of the main reasons contributing to the fact he lost the 1976 presidential election to Jimmy Carter. Ford simply said he knew the aftermath of Nixon's actions could go on and on, and he knew he was the only one who could end it.

John Kennedy, along with Ted Sorenson, wrote Profiles in Courage. Had they written it today, they might have included more than senators, and they may well have included Gerald Ford.

In fact, in a sense, he was included. In 1989, the Kennedy family established the "Profiles In Courage Award" in order to recognize the kind of political courage emphasized in the book. Then, in 2001, they named Ford the recipient of the honor, "for his courage in making a controversial decision of conscience to pardon former President Richard M. Nixon."

Brother Gerald Ford, 33°, was a member of Malta Lodge No. 465, Grand Rapids Michigan.

~SLH

Bro. Steve Harrison, 33°  is Past Master of Liberty Lodge #31, Liberty, Missouri. He is also a Fellow and Past Master of the Missouri Lodge of Research. Among his other Masonic memberships is the St. Joseph Missouri Valley of the Scottish Rite, Liberty York Rite bodies, and Moila Shrine. He is also a member and Past Dean of the DeMolay Legion of Honor. Brother Harrison is a regular contributor to the Midnight Freemasons blog as well as several other Masonic publications. Brother Steve was Editor of the Missouri Freemason magazine for a decade and is a regular contributor to the Whence Came You podcast. Born in Indiana, he has a Master's Degree from Indiana University and is retired from a 35-year career in information technology. Steve and his wife Carolyn reside in northwest Missouri. He is the author of dozens of magazine articles and three books: Freemasonry Crosses the Mississippi, Freemasons — Tales From the Craft and Freemasons at Oak Island.

Masonic Flair

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

WB Darin A. Lahners 

Brian the Mason and his flair

After my article: "What would you say you do here?" referencing the 1999 movie: Office Space dropped, Robert Johnson made a comment on a social media post promoting that article that I should tackle the issue of Masonic Flair. If you have never seen the movie, there is an exchange between one of the main characters: Peter, played by Ron Livingston, and Joanna, played by Jennifer Aniston, regarding Flair. Jennifer works as a server at a fictional restaurant chain in the movie, Chotchkie's. Peter meets Joanna when he enters the restaurant and asks her to lunch at a neighboring restaurant, Flingers. She meets him there in her work uniform and the following exchange takes place.

JOANNA Hi. 

 PETER Hey. 

 JOANNA I wonder if they will let me wear this in here. 

 PETER I think it would be ok. Would you like to sit down? He motions to a chair. 

 JOANNA Ok. (does so) Wow. This place is really nice. 

 PETER Yeah, is it? 

 JOANNA Oh my God, compared to Chotchkie's. I like the uniforms better anyways. 

 PETER I like yours. 

 JOANNA Nah. (makes a face) Peter looks at the buttons' wearing on his suspender. One says We're not in Kansas anymore. The one underneath says POOF. 

 PETER "We're not in Kansas anymore." JOANNA Yeah. Really. (laughs) PETER It's on your - (points) J

OANNA Oh! That's, uh, that's uh, my pieces of flair. 

 PETER What are pieces of flair?

 JOANNA That's where you know, suspenders and buttons and all sorts of stuff. We're, uh, we're actually required to wear fifteen pieces of flair. quite stupid actually. 

 PETER Do you get to pick them out yourself? J

JOANNA Yeah. Yeah. Although I didn't actually choose these. I, uh, I just grabbed fifteen buttons and, uh, I don't even know what they say! Y'know, I don't really care. I don't really like talking about my flair.

Random picture of Joanna and her flair

Freemasons love their flair. and I used to be like Joanna. It felt like I had about 15 masonic pins on my suit coats. I probably had less, but the problem is... I also didn't really choose them. I just grabbed some pins and pinned them on. If I was asked about them, I believe I would be able to answer where they came from, but I didn't really pin them on to be conversation starters. I just thought it was something you were supposed to do. I don't know where I got the idea that I should wear so much flair, but I imagine that it was due to a conversation like this:


GRUMPY PAST MASTER: Darin? Would you come here for a moment, please? 

DARIN: I'm sorry. I was late. I was finishing my green beans. 

GRUMPY PAST MASTER: I need to talk about your flair. 

DARIN Really? I have 15 pins on. I, uh, (shows him) 

GRUMPY PAST MASTER: Well, ok, 15 is minimum, ok? 

DARIN: Ok. 

GRUMPY PAST MASTER: Now, it's up to you whether or not you want to just do the bare minimum. Well, like Brian, for example, has 37 pins. And a terrific smile. 

DARIN: Ok. Ok, you want me to wear more? 

GRUMPY PAST MASTER: Look. Darin.
DARIN: Yeah. 

GRUMPY PAST MASTER: People can get their degrees anywhere, ok? They come to Freemasonry for the atmosphere and the attitude. That's what the flair's about. It's about fun.
DARIN: Ok. So, more then? 

GRUMPY PAST MASTER: Look, we want you to express yourself, ok? If you think the bare minimum is enough, then ok. But some people choose to wear more and we encourage that, ok? You do want to express yourself, don't you? 

DARIN: Yeah. Yeah. 

GRUMPY PAST MASTER: Great. Great. That's all I ask. 

DARIN: Ok.
GRUMPY PAST MASTER: Now, about your ritual.
DARIN: Ugh.

At some point, the number of pins that you wear on your suit coat has to become excessive. What number would be excessive? I'd suggest that anything over one or two is excessive, but this is coming from a guy who used to wear an excessive amount of masonic flair. I wish I would have come to this realization by having a conversation with my Grumpy Neighborhood Past Master.

GRUMPY PAST MASTER: We need to talk. Do you know what this is about? 

DARIN: My, uh, pins. 

GRUMPY PAST MASTER: Yeah. Or, uh, your lack thereof. I'm counting and I only see fifteen pins. Let me ask you a question, Darin. 

DARIN: Umm-hmm.
GRUMPY PAST MASTER: What do you think of a person who only does the bare minimum?
DARIN: Huh. What do I think? Let me tell you what I think, Stan. If you want me to wear thirty-seven pins like your pretty boy Brian over there, then why don't you just make the minimum thirty-seven pins?

GRUMPY PAST MASTER: Well, I thought I remember you saying you wanted to express yourself. 

DARIN: Yeah. Yeah. Y'know what? I do. I do want to express myself. Ok? And I don't need thirty-seven pins to do it. All right? There's my pins! And this is me expressing myself. (Starts to remove pins from lapel) There it is! I hate this this lodge! I hate Fremasonry and I don't need it!! (Storms off)
GRUMPY PAST MASTER: But we haven't even discussed the eighteen mistakes you made in your floorwork! While I didn't have a conversation like the above nor did I have as many pins as Brian, I realized that I was wearing an excessive amount of flair when I showed up to a Masonic funeral a few years ago and I was instructed to remove it. It probably took me a good ten to fifteen minutes to remove those pins. They had to delay the funeral service while I removed my pins and placed it into my suit pocket. That was my wake-up call.

I will say that Americans are the only Freemasons that like to advertise that they are Freemasons. This is most likely due to the public perception of Freemasons in America versus other countries. In England, there seems to be a precedent where someone in the Press will attempt to vilify Freemasonry every so often. It got to a point that the United Grand Lodge of England had to push back and say: "Enough is Enough". It seems that wearing Masonic flair is a uniquely American phenomenon.

Before I begin the equivalent of the points in/points out debate when it comes to Masonic pins, I'm going to acknowledge that you're going to wear as many pins as you want to wear. So, I would ask if you wear pins, please wear them because they mean something to you. Maybe a brother you hold in high regard gave you a pin, or you received one from your mentor upon the completion of your degrees, or you survived your year in the East and you wear your Past Master pin as a reminder to never do that again. Just don't wear them to wear them. I also can't believe I'm saying this, but use some common sense. You don't have to overcompensate for being divested of metal by wearing it on your lapel. If you can't see your lapel, then you're probably wearing too many pins! However, I do thank you for actually dressing up for a degree and showing the candidate some respect.

~DAL

WB Darin A. Lahners is our co-managing Editor.  He is a Past Master of and Worshipful Master of St. Joseph Lodge No.970 in St. Joseph. He is also a plural member of Homer Lodge No. 199 (IL), where he is also a Past Master. He’s a member of the Scottish Rite Valley of Danville, a charter member of Illinois Royal Arch Chapter, Admiration Chapter No. 282 and is the current Secretary of the Illini High Twelve Club No. 768 in Champaign – Urbana (IL). You can reach him by email at darin.lahners@gmail.com

The Greatest Masonic Testimonial I Ever Heard

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Ken JP Stuczynski 

I decided I must go, right then and there. I put aside the concerns of my usual vocation, after asking myself, "What am I waiting for? There's only a three-hour drive between me and a dying Brother."

Earlier that afternoon, the Worshipful Master had gotten the call. The daughter of an infirmed member wanted him to be among Lodge Brothers in his final hours. The staff of the Masonic Care Community in Utica, New York, said he may not last the night. She lived on the other side of the country and had just gotten the news, unable to make immediate arrangements to travel.

I was hesitant as Senior Warden to take it upon myself, wondering if a closer Brother who actually knew him personally should go. He had not been to Lodge since before I was a Mason and so I know I had never met him. Speaking with both daughter and Master, there didn't seem to be anyone who could go and at some point, I just snapped. The clock was ticking. What was I waiting for?

Two hours on the Thruway, one to go, and I got the call. He had passed. When I got there, the staff respectfully had put his Masonic cap on his head, a Past Master's Apron gently placed across his waist. There is no telling if his presence was still there; I gripped his hand in a way only a Mason could know anyway. It was strange spending a few moments with a Brother I had never met, and would still not meet until my own attendance of the Celestial Lodge. But he was my Brother nonetheless.

I talked with his daughter over the car's phone speaker on the way home. Even a lone Brother making the trip, and being too late, was deeply meaningful to her. And then she repaid me by giving me the greatest testimony about Freemasonry I ever heard.

It wasn't that my Brother didn't have other family that might have made the trip, but that early in life he had alienated his family and friends. Plainly, she explained he was a horrible husband and father. His family distanced themselves from him.

And then he became a Mason. Over a few short years, she realized he was a changed man — a better man. She was the only one in her family willing to see a difference. And that difference was profound. He did not die without family that loved him, after all. And he had been assured a Brother was on their way, perhaps the last words he had heard.

I have seen a number of Brothers grow, in things like confidence, gentility, and general amicability. Looking back, have other Brothers seen such changes in me? Am I a better husband, father, friend? I realized that day the best testimony of one's value from Freemasonry may not be their own, but from those they Love.

~JP

Bro. Ken JP Stuczynski is a member of West Seneca Lodge No.1111 and recently served as Master of Ken-Ton Lodge No.1186. As webmaster for NYMasons.Org, he is on the Communications and Technology Committees for the Grand Lodge of the State of New York. He is also a Royal Arch Mason and 32nd Degree Scottish Rite Mason, serving his second term as Sovereign Prince of Palmoni Council in the Valley of Buffalo, NMJ. He also coordinates a Downtown Square Club monthly lunch in Buffalo, NY. He and his wife served as Patron and Matron of Pond Chapter No.853 Order of the Eastern Star and considered himself a “Masonic Feminist”.

As a masonic speaker throughout New York State, he has also given presentations at town hall meetings regarding the use of technology in the Craft. His numerous Empire State Mason articles have been republished in Arizona and New Jersey. To aid in his outreach on these topics, he authored “Webmastering the Craft: Fraternity in a Digital World”, available worldwide in softcover and eBook.

Having lifelong interests far and wide across philosophy, world religions, and all the natural sciences, his degree is in Philosophy with a concentration in Ethics and a minor In Psychology. He has written articles and essays on the topics of science and religion, culture and politics, business and economics, technology and futurism, as well as various aspects of social psychology. Usually, with interdisciplinary contexts, many of these focus on the ideals of intellectual honesty and tolerance in all forms. Having edited and contributed to Books of Transactions by the Western New York Lodge of Research of which he is a member, he plans to formally publish some of his larger works, starting with the upcoming book, “Contemplations on Astronomy”, and a special Masonic edition will contain his “Astronomical Tour of the Lodge”.

He runs his primary business, Kentropolis Internet, from home where he lives with his wife and plenty of pets. In addition to various community service projects, he teaches Tai Chi to veterans at the VA Recovery Center. He is also an independent interfaith minister with hospital chaplain credentials who does weddings, funerals, memorials, and other services. His personal project is the “Earth 2 Mouth” program which connects farms, volunteers, and soup kitchens. He also enjoys carpentry and keeps bees with his daughter at an organic farm in East Otto, NY."

Making Choices - A Thought Experiment

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Robert H. Johnson

People make choices countless times a day. Well, not exactly countless. What if I told you that the average human makes around 35,000 semi-conscious decisions each day? Not bad for not being a machined computer. These decisions, for the most part, are simple. Notice I said, semi-conscious. The majority of these choices are very passive and are based on experiences that have embedded visualized outcomes within the subconscious mind. It’s like a computer’s Random Access Memory (RAM). Frequent things that your mind uses all the time are stored in a way that makes them easily accessible. This makes making the decision easy.

In our day to day lives, while just moving through our day, how many times would you say you stop and think about the outcome of a choice you’re about to make? Perhaps the big decisions--sure, you think about them. But those everyday choices, the ones that don’t seem so big--the ones that add up and have outcomes that seem to be just a part of daily living. Are we giving those decisions the thought and foresight we would when making other decisions?

When we think about the big decisions, we often think about how those outcomes will impact our lives first, and if we’re extra mindful, we take the extra step of thinking about how those choices impact our friends and family. It’s kind of like Chess. In Chess, you’re always thinking about the next move. The best players think about the next several moves and the outcomes. I love Chess, but I’m terrible at it.

What makes choices easy? When we think about whatever choice we’re going to make, we immediately process the previous occasions we made similar choices. Our brains determine the probability that things will go the way they did previously. This gives us comfort in our decision. “This is just like last time. I’ll make the same decision, and the outcome will be the same.” A warm fuzzy blanket. Emotional complacency is born.

Rather than think about each choice we make and deal with the emotional and sometimes headache-inducing internal debate, we develop an easy road--scratch that--a lazy road. The lazy road allows us to develop an unwillingness to rationalize scenarios and outcomes and instead, always rely on similar situations we’ve experienced ourselves, or within our peer circles.

Not every choice needs this deep dive. But some of them, we may benefit from taking the time to calculate the outcomes. “I should water my plant. Well, maybe not. I didn’t water it yesterday, and it’s fine.” We know where this leads. Get up and water the plant. “Extra tablespoon of sugar in my coffee today. Well, I’m supposed to watch the sugar. Nope. Just one tablespoon today.” These are small decisions. But they have a measurable impact when we think about them and their long term or cumulative effect.

What does Freemasonry say about making choices? Well, it gives us a few virtues that give us some good insight. Fortitude allows us to stick to our guns once we’ve made a choice. In the classical sense, justice will enable us to weigh in on an outcome’s equity—selfishness versus selflessness. Temperance allows us to remain moderate in our decisions. But Prudence--prudence is what we’re talking about here. Prudence is deliberation. It means to take into account all possible perceived outcomes of a situation and make your choice based on the aim of the person making the decision. Do you want to affect the most people? The least people? The questions are innumerable.

My charge to you is to attempt to bring prudence back into your life by taking small pauses when you recognize that you’re about to make a decision. Think about the outcomes. Maybe you do the thing you always do. Maybe, you change your mind. Remember, not every single thing needs a panic-inducing brain cloud. Just be mindful and try this out when you can.

~RHJ

RWB Johnson is a Co-Managing Editor of the Midnight Freemasons blog. He is a Freemason out of the 2nd N.E. District of Illinois. He currently serves as the Secretary of Spes Novum Lodge No. 1183. He is a Past Master of Waukegan Lodge 78 and a Past District Deputy Grand Master for the 1st N.E. District of Illinois. Brother Johnson currently produces and hosts weekly Podcasts (internet radio programs) Whence Came You? & Masonic Radio Theatre which focuses on topics relating to Freemasonry. He is also a co-host of The Masonic Roundtable, a Masonic talk show. He is a husband and father of four, works full time in the executive medical industry. He is the co-author of "It's Business Time - Adapting a Corporate Path for Freemasonry," The Master's Word: A Short Treatise on the Word, the Light, and the Self: Annotated Edition, and author of "How to Charter a Lodge: A No-Nonsense, Unsanctioned Guide. More books are on the way.

We Had to Ask Him...

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Robert H. Johnson

I first heard from Ken JP Stuczynski when he came on board the Masonic Speakers Association. He had a handful of amazing topics to offer and has an incredible resume in both the technology sector as well as within Freemasonry. His writing style is his own and I have to say I quite enjoy what he does. Brother Darin Lahners asked me, "Do you think he would say, yes if we asked him?" There was only one way to know.

We asked. He said, "Yes." And we're so happy to bring Brother Stuczynki aboard. I know you'll all love his writing and get some great insights from him. His official bio is below. Thank you, Ken!

"Bro. Ken JP Stuczynski is a member of West Seneca Lodge No.1111 and recently served as Master of Ken-Ton Lodge No.1186. As webmaster for NYMasons.Org, he is on the Communications and Technology Committees for the Grand Lodge of the State of New York. He is also a Royal Arch Mason and 32nd Degree Scottish Rite Mason, serving his second term as Sovereign Prince of Palmoni Council in the Valley of Buffalo, NMJ. He also coordinates a Downtown Square Club monthly lunch in Buffalo, NY. He and his wife served as Patron and Matron of Pond Chapter No.853 Order of the Eastern Star and considered himself a “Masonic Feminist”.

As a masonic speaker throughout New York State, he has also given presentations at town hall meetings regarding the use of technology in the Craft. His numerous Empire State Mason articles have been republished in Arizona and New Jersey. To aid in his outreach on these topics, he authored “Webmastering the Craft: Fraternity in a Digital World”, available worldwide in softcover and eBook.

Having lifelong interests far and wide across philosophy, world religions, and all the natural sciences, his degree is in Philosophy with a concentration in Ethics and a minor In Psychology. He has written articles and essays on the topics of science and religion, culture and politics, business and economics, technology and futurism, as well as various aspects of social psychology. Usually, with interdisciplinary contexts, many of these focus on the ideals of intellectual honesty and tolerance in all forms. Having edited and contributed to Books of Transactions by the Western New York Lodge of Research of which he is a member, he plans to formally publish some of his larger works, starting with the upcoming book, “Contemplations on Astronomy”, and a special Masonic edition will contain his “Astronomical Tour of the Lodge”.

He runs his primary business, Kentropolis Internet, from home where he lives with his wife and plenty of pets. In addition to various community service projects, he teaches Tai Chi to veterans at the VA Recovery Center. He is also an independent interfaith minister with hospital chaplain credentials who does weddings, funerals, memorials, and other services. His personal project is the “Earth 2 Mouth” program which connects farms, volunteers, and soup kitchens. He also enjoys carpentry and keeps bees with his daughter at an organic farm in East Otto, NY."

What would you say you do here?

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

WB Darin A. Lahners 

Office Space is a 1999 American black comedy film written and directed by Mike Judge. It satirizes the work-life of a typical mid-to-late-1990s software company, focusing on a handful of individuals weary of their jobs. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_Space). One of the scenes in Office Space has a pair of consultants, Bob Slydell and Bob Porter (known in the movie as the Bobs) who are brought in to interview the employees in order to help the company downsize.  Bob Slydell, played by John C. McGinley, famously asks one of the employees, Tom Smykowski who is played by Richard Riehle, "What would you say you do here?"

Imagine if you will that Freemasonry was the corporation in Office Space instead of the fictional Initech.  Imagine that you were called before the "Bobs", and Bob Slydell posed that now-famous question at you, "What would you say you do here?"   What would your response be?  I believe that each individual Freemason would answer that question differently.  Some of you might give the old tried and true answer: "We take good men and we make them better."  Others might answer: "We make new Freemasons".  Others might not even know how to answer the question.  Others might have a completely different answer.    

Still, others might be more forthright answering, like the character of Peter in Office Space.  Peter, who is played by Ron Livingston, when interviewed by the "Bobs", confesses that he lacks the motivation to do a good job.

PETER

The thing is, Bob, it's not that I'm lazy. It's just that I just don't care. 

BOB PORTER 

Don't, don't care? 

PETER 

It's a problem of motivation, all right? Now, if I work my ass off and Initech ships a few extra units, I don't see another dime. So where's the motivation? And here's another thing, Bob. I have eight different bosses right now! 

BOB SLYDELL 

I beg your pardon? 

PETER 

Eight bosses. 

BOB SLYDELL 

Eight? 

PETER 

Eight, bob. So that means when I make a mistake, I have eight different people coming by to tell me about it. That's my real motivation - is not to be hassled. That and the fear of losing my job, but y'know, Bob, it will only make someone work hard enough to not get fired. 

What would Peter say to the Bobs about Freemasonry?   I'd imagine the conversation going something like this:

PETER
The thing is, Bob, it's not that I'm lazy. It's just that I just don't care.

BOB PORTER
Don't, don't care?

PETER
It's a problem of motivation, all right? Now, if I show up to a meeting, there's a good chance that I'm going to spend all of the stated meeting listening to the other guys complain. I'm getting absolutely nothing from the Stated Meeting. There's no education, no festive board, nothing to entice me. So where's the motivation to attend? And here's another thing, Bob. We have eight different Past Masters right now!

BOB SLYDELL
I beg your pardon?

PETER
Eight Past Masters.

BOB SLYDELL
Eight?

PETER
Eight, bob. So that means when I make a mistake with my ritual or floor work, I have eight different people coming by to tell me about it after the meeting. That's my real motivation - is not to be hassled. That and the fear of being publically embarrassed, but y'know, Bob, it will only make someone not want to come back to a meeting.

I'm being facetious, but unfortunately, the answer I gave above is based on personal experience. To the attentive ear, the question that Bob Slydell asks Tom sounds similar to one that is asked while opening on the First Degree.  "What came you here to do?"  The answer given is: "To learn to subdue my passions and improve myself in Masonry."   That answer is very telling.  How does someone learn something?  You either learn by trial and error, by observation, or you are taught; meaning you are educated.

Freemasonry further reinforces the idea of education being important in the Fellowcraft degree when the candidate is taught about the winding staircase consisting of three, five, and seven steps.  The Three steps alluding to the three degrees that each lodge confers, along with the three principal officers of the lodge, the Five Steps alluding to the Five orders of architecture along with the five human sense, and the Seven steps alluding to the Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences, one of which, Geometry, Masonry is founded on.  I dare say that Education takes a major place in the Three Degrees.  In each degree, the candidate is taught about the working tools, the meanings behind our symbols, how to wear their apron, the due guard and signs, even the tokens and pass by which they can identify themselves as a Freemason.

It makes me wonder why education takes a backseat in our Stated Meetings?  Why is education not prioritized more by our Lodges?  If we are supposed to be improving ourselves in Masonry, then doesn't that allude to an ongoing process of educating ourselves? When we are told to make use of the common gavel for the more glorious purpose of divesting our hearts and consciences of the vices and superfluidities of life, thereby fitting our minds as living stones, for that spiritual building, that house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens; are we not being told to undergo a process of self - improvement?  While divesting your heart and conscience of the vices and superfluidities of life sounds a lot like subduing one's passions, doesn't it also go hand in hand with improving yourself in Masonry?  Is it not part of one's self-improvement to learn new skills?  How does one fit their mind to be a living stone without educating it? 

How would you answer Bob Slydell?  One of the beautiful things about Freemasonry is that it holds a different meaning for each of us.  Therefore, we each will give a different answer to Bob Slydell. It's also somewhat worrisome. As Freemasonry finds itself competing for its member's attention with numerous outside distractions like Social Media, Streaming services, Sports, and other community organizations, shouldn't we want to prioritize one of the main things that Freemasonry should be doing for the majority of its members?  If we are to improve ourselves in Masonry, then Masonry needs to be educating its membership on how to do so.   Otherwise, we're not improving ourselves, we're settling for stagnation.  I'd suggest that the next time that you hear someone grip, groan, or moan about you daring to suggest that Education be a part of our meetings, you remind them of that line from the First degree, and then ask them like Bob Slydell would: "What would you say you do here?"

~DAL

WB Darin A. Lahners is our co-managing Editor.  He is a Past Master of and Worshipful Master of St. Joseph Lodge No.970 in St. Joseph. He is also a plural member of Homer Lodge No. 199 (IL), where he is also a Past Master. He’s a member of the Scottish Rite Valley of Danville, a charter member of Illinois Royal Arch Chapter, Admiration Chapter No. 282 and is the current Secretary of the Illini High Twelve Club No. 768 in Champaign – Urbana (IL). You can reach him by email at darin.lahners@gmail.com   

Far Out

by Midnight Freemason Guest Contributor

Ken JP Stuczynski

It was the first time he seriously looked at the Charter. Written on what looked like actual paper, it was dated "6169 A.L." The eldest Past Master proudly pointed out it was dated exactly 100 Earth-years after Tranquility Lodge’s first communication of any Lodge, not on Earth. Apparently, it still exists. It was naturally chartered under the Grand Lodge of Texas, thanks to a document brought with Brother "Buzz" Aldrin on Humankind's first landing on its solitary moon. Not altogether coincidental, that was exactly another hundred years previous.

Freemasonry clearly traced back to before any forays into space. Maybe that's why the ritual seemed so odd. It wasn't just the archaic language--difficult to comprehend at times. Both "moon" and "sun" were used in the singular, while he lived his whole life on a world with two of one and three of the other. And why divide the 24-inch gauge into three parts instead of six when there are two full sleep periods between sunsets? His brain caught up with his thoughts and recalled days on Grandmother Earth are roughly half as short. Or... were his twice as long? And what if he lived on the innermost planet of his system, which is tidally locked? There is no sunrise or sunset there at all.

By the time he had been a Mason a full year, or what his world considered a year, he realized nothing in the ritual was arbitrary. The roles of a lonely Sun and lonely Moon filled some special place in Humankind's psyche. He could either resign himself to unrelatability, or let it take him back to an earlier time, one where such things were much more physical realities than vague symbols.

Here was a chance to hold the sort of tools that were used centuries ago, by countless hands over an eon or more. He could recreate their use in his mind as if he were working with actual stones, building a grand edifice by sheer will and skill rather than artificial calculation and the strength of machines. If not for ritual, he would never have contemplated the rawness ⁠⁠– or rather a purity ⁠– of such Geometric knowledge. He couldn't express it in spiritual terms, but it felt like an immortal marrow to the bones of all mortal technological advancements.

Most Lodge meetings were "Personal Observance", meaning that except for Labor to Refreshment and collation, there was no presence at a distance of any kind, be it audio, video, or holographic. It was like the days of yore when people, out of necessity, gathered together face to face or not at all. There was something so... human about it, something he didn't even know he had been missing. And he discovered the custom of the physical handshake was perpetuated or even revived on some worlds simply because it was preserved by Masonic tradition. Taken for granted by the masses, it tied Humanity together across space and time.

There were a lot of other meanings to all this, or so he started to understand. But to experience a tradition so rooted in early human existence took him to a place where he sat among ancient brethren who freely breathed natural air at all times, bare feet touching Terra Firma. The stories and objects in the degree lessons were not so far removed from everyday existence but were visible, accessible in a palpable way.

He couldn't expect them to look forward to a distant future and see all that has happened since. They might have doubted their Craft would survive after building with stone was replaced with other materials and processes. They may have wondered if Humankind would destroy itself, if not suffer a geologic or cosmic disaster before escaping the solitary tenancy bounded by Earth's gravity.

But perhaps they did look up at the firmament and wondered if some descendant among the stars would someday return the gesture with a shared contemplative spirit.

And he wondered how much Masons back on Grandmother Earth take for granted the configurations of their Masonic Work. Surely they must realize its perpetual testament to Humankind's nature and place within creation at his original home. Or perhaps they don't.

~JP

Bro. Ken JP Stuczynski is a member of West Seneca Lodge No.1111 and recently served as Master of Ken-Ton Lodge No.1186. As webmaster for NYMasons.Org, he is on the Communications and Technology Committees for the Grand Lodge of the State of New York. He is also a Royal Arch Mason and 32nd Degree Scottish Rite Mason, serving his second term as Sovereign Prince of Palmoni Council in the Valley of Buffalo, NMJ. He also coordinates a Downtown Square Club monthly lunch in Buffalo, NY. He and his wife served as Patron and Matron of Pond Chapter No.853 Order of the Eastern Star and considered himself a "Masonic Feminist".

As a masonic speaker throughout New York State, he has also given presentations at town hall meetings regarding the use of technology in the Craft. His numerous Empire State Mason articles have been republished in Arizona and New Jersey. To aid in his outreach on these topics, he authored "Webmastering the Craft: Fraternity in a Digital World", available worldwide in softcover and eBook.

Andy Griffith

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Bro. Steven L. Harrison 33˚, FMLR

In season six of the Andy Griffith show, episode 7, Sheriff Andy Taylor comes into some money. Andy, his girlfriend Helen Crump, son Opie, and Andy's Aunt Bee, have dinner and discuss what he should do with his newfound riches:

Andy: This has been quite a day.

Helen: How exciting! What are you going to do with the money?

Andy: Put it in the bank.

Helen: Put it in the bank?

Andy: What's wrong with that?

Helen: Why don't you do something fun with it? Splurge. Do something crazy.

Andy: What are you talking about?

Helen: Well, when was the last time you people took a trip?

Andy: We take trips. We go up to Raleigh every now and then. And we drove up to Asheville that time… remember?

Aunt Bee: When your cousin became a Mason.

Opie: "Can we take a trip, Pa? Can we? Can we Aunt Bee?

Aunt Bee: "Well, it's entirely up to your father, dear."

Andy: "Well, I suppose we could take a little of the money and take a little trip. Want to go to Parkinson's Falls? It's nice this time of year and Opie hasn't been there since he was a baby."

Aunt Bee: "Hmmmm…"

Andy: "Well, you wanna drive up to Asheville again and see cousin Evan Moore? He's a Grand Master now.

Well, whadya know? Andy's cousin was Grand Master of North Carolina. How about Sheriff Taylor himself? So, we know he went to see his cousin become a Mason, and you don't get in unless you also are a Brother. Aunt Bee and Opie, however, would have been shut out of the actual ceremony. It wouldn't be the first time that's happened, though. Still, the show doesn't specify. In another episode a few years before, members of a "gentleman's club" recruited Andy. Recruited? Whatever happened to 2B1ASK1? It's a moot point because Andy didn't join, since the members wanted him, but not his deputy Barney Fife. If Sheriff Andy was, in fact, a Freemason, he apparently kept it… dare I say… a secret.

Most viewers may not realize the iconic Andy Griffith Show was a spin-off from the Danny Thomas Show. In an episode of that show, country-bumpkin sheriff Andy stopped Thomas' character for speeding. The plot followed Thomas' trials and tribulations while dealing with the small town sheriff, who was also the town judge and newspaper editor. Thomas, a member of Gothic Lodge 270 in New Jersey, created the Andy Griffith show based on that pilot episode and was executive producer for several programs. He was also a 33° Scottish Rite Mason and a member of Al Malaikha Shrine in Los Angeles.

Andy Griffith himself was not a Freemason, but held the Fraternity in high regard. He actually got his comedic start performing for a few summers at the Dare County Shrine Club in – where else – North Carolina.

So there you have it: the Masonic ties to the Andy Griffith show. To recap:

Sheriff Andy Taylor: Maybe… but probably not a Freemason

Andy's cousin Evan Moore: Grand Master of North Carolina

Show creator and executive producer Danny Thomas: A Freemason

Andy Griffith: Not a Freemason

Who knows, maybe Aunt Bee or Andy's girlfriend Helen Crump were in the Eastern Star.

~SLH

Bro. Steve Harrison, 33°  is Past Master of Liberty Lodge #31, Liberty, Missouri. He is also a Fellow and Past Master of the Missouri Lodge of Research. Among his other Masonic memberships is the St. Joseph Missouri Valley of the Scottish Rite, Liberty York Rite bodies, and Moila Shrine. He is also a member and Past Dean of the DeMolay Legion of Honor. Brother Harrison is a regular contributor to the Midnight Freemasons blog as well as several other Masonic publications. Brother Steve was Editor of the Missouri Freemason magazine for a decade and is a regular contributor to the Whence Came You podcast. Born in Indiana, he has a Master's Degree from Indiana University and is retired from a 35-year career in information technology. Steve and his wife Carolyn reside in northwest Missouri. He is the author of dozens of magazine articles and three books: Freemasonry Crosses the Mississippi, Freemasons — Tales From the Craft and Freemasons at Oak Island.

"WE SHOWED UP"

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Bro. Randy Sanders

It came out of the blue and with little notice: A Masonic widow needed help moving.

On a Thursday evening, the notice came to me initially via messenger and later as an email. One of our Masonic widows needed assistance. Not only did she need assistance, but it was also for Saturday morning, and for several of us, it was over an hour away. I have nothing but pride and honor of being with the brethren as we pitched in to complete the mission.

It began as a single last-minute message out to another few individuals, asking if they in turn might help get the word out to the Brothers. A query we are seeing more and more--help for a widow, yet we can be so immersed into our own lives we forget that a few hours can make such a big difference. My part in this was small. I copied the text and sent it out to a few dozen close Brothers via my own text message. I suppose that's our current version of the Masonic phone tree of the '70s and '80s. There really wasn't time to do much more than coordinate with our Brother who remained in communication with the widow, but I did discuss it during the Friday Masonic Happy Hour, garnering another volunteer. How many of us could clear a morning and early afternoon on one day's notice? I had so many Brothers reach out to me saying, "not Saturday, but I can help - tell me how?", and how cool was that? How awesome to know that even if they couldn't make it to the event, they still had our backs by offering other assistance. The Brothers responded.

The weather was just this side of abysmal. We had a full day of slow soaking rain in the upper 30's, and we were blessed with very little wind. Yet we showed up. We pushed through. We didn't let a little weather or distance stop us from being the Masons we all want to be.

Saturday morning a Mason and a couple of DeMolays met at my house having no idea if we were the only ones, or who might have responded separately. To my delight, we had over a dozen respond and had great fellowship as we made quick work of loading a U-Haul and a couple of our trucks. Cold, wet, and tired, we were all back home by early afternoon with a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.

I'm always pleasantly surprised at the dedication and fortitude of the Brethren, and I want to give a quick shout out to Brother DeMolays Darien and Landon Beck (I'm a senior DeMolay and proud to be their Brother), Brother Masons Glenn Parker, and Jess Botterbush, to Brother Terry Coppotelli for coordinating this, and Brothers Bret Akers, Ken Harper, and Robbie Bowles for making sure the information was propagated. There were more, and they also took time and made effort. Effort and time, something which is precious against our own 24-inch gauges. It takes showing up, being there for each other, being there - for our widows and orphans. You gentlemen and the whole of the moving crew - you humble me and make me proud.

~RS

Bro. Randy and his wife Elyana live in O'Fallon, MO just outside of St. Louis. Randy earned a
Bachelors in Chemistry with an emphasis in Biochemistry, and he works in telecom IT. He volunteers his time as a professional and personal mentor, is an NRA certified Chief Range Safety Officer, and enjoys competitive tactical pistol. He has a 30+ year background teaching Wing Chun Kung Fu, Chi Kung, and healing arts. Randy's Masonic bio includes lodge education officer of two blue lodges, running the Wentzville Lodge Book Club, active in York Rite AMD, Scottish Rite Valley of St. Louis co-librarian, Clerk of the Academy Of Reflection through the Valley of Guthrie, a trained facilitator for the Masonic Legacy Society. As a pre-COVID-19 pioneer in Masonic virtual education, Randy is an administrator of Refracted Light and an international presenter on esoteric topics. Randy enjoys facilitating and presenting Masonic esoteric education, and he hosts an open, weekly Masonic virtual Friday Happy Hour. Randy is an accomplished home chef, a certified barbecue judge, raises Great Pyrenees dogs, and enjoys travel and philosophy.

Labor and Work

by Midnight Freemason Guest Contributor

Ken JP Stuczynski

The Square and Compasses are explained in our ritual, but their relationship to each other is not. Why are they so prominent in our identity? They make up two of the three "Great Lights" and yet are explained less than many of our symbols and tools. This combination predates speculative Masonry and are found in other traditions, such as the Order of Free Gardeners, as explained in a recent article by Bro. Cory Missimore.

The ritual tells us the Square relates to our actions and the Compasses to our desires. This pairs the physical or external things we can see with the psychic or internal processes we cannot. Throughout our initiatory journey, values and virtues, along with education of the intellect, are called to our attention. Yet, it is our actions that are ultimately visible and can be measured and judged. Which emanates from which? Our actions are clearly the result of our desires and the ability to subdue our passions. Be it Qabalah or Lao Tze; metaphysics describes physical existence as emanating from spiritual or archetypal forms. As individuated beings, we are simply playing out one of the endless examples of this relationship.

Would operative voices agree? The Square will more often be found in the quarry or workshop than the drafting table, whereas compasses are primarily a drafting instrument and are applied much more to the conceptual model than the physical form or product. Using a compass with a string as a chalk line (skirret) and a pencil -- a distinct set of working tools described in English ritual -- one can create a bisected line and, therefore, the form of a square. From this, the Square can be used in three dimensions to create a level, and so forth. Eventually, you end up with cell phones and Martian rovers, but all physical inventions trace back to machines made by tools that ultimately trace back to these drafting processes. Therefore, the compass is an instrument of the abstract form by which the physical is conceived and laid out in the mind before being measured in the worksite. Once the plan becomes a stone or edifice, it can only then judged by the Square and its cornerstone-dedicating partners, the level and plumb.

Changes in the points of the compass in relation to the Square may give us more to consider. As beginning laborers, we only perceive the physical in its measurable aspect, Beauty. The conceptualizations on which it is based are hidden from us. Later we are exposed to the language-- Geometry -- by which the Divine promulgates that order throughout creation. This gives us the ability to move beyond superficial aesthetics to consider the physical strength of a construction. The object of our work no longer evokes merely subjective opinions, but measurable dimensions. Wisdom is sight by which the fullness of this emanation from thought-form to creation is revealed, transcending the duality of subject and object. Only then can we realize the perfect forms which all physical things must reflect. It is in that final configuration upon our Altar where the Square cannot be employed without first taking the compasses in hand.

This is all esoterically stimulating if you are into that sort of thing, but what does this all mean in everyday life? History offers us an answer in a roundabout way. There has always been one debate or another over the comparative value of intellectual work and skill versus psychical labor. A lot of class animosity surrounds this. While some see physical labor as less desirable or having less worth, we also see a backlash of anti-intellectualism, making fun of people with Liberal Arts degrees who can't fix their own sink or are able to personally give their wife what all women desire--shelving. One's lack of knowledge of literature and art, and the other's practical helplessness, are unhelpful (and often untrue) stereotypes. But what of these endeavors themselves? Our most basic survival and quality of life depend on the trades; our culture and progress as a civilization depend on numerous intellectual fields of study. Without the former, we cannot exist; without the latter, we cannot live. The parable about the different parts of the same body comes to mind.

Masonry isn't about the politics of class and economy, so why bring any of this up? Because there is a certain dualism between physical and intellectual efforts in our Craft, guiding all of us rather than dividing us. We don't go from concrete-mixing to accounting, milking cows to curing cancer, but we can attempt a comparable inner transformation.

One of my favorite philosophers from the 20th Century, Hannah Arendt, makes the distinction between labor and work as dealing with immediate physical need versus "build and maintain a world fit for human use." It's not quite the same as trades versus intellectual and artistic pursuits, but a bit closer to what we're going for. If you ask two stonemasons at a worksite what they are doing, one may respond, "I am laying stones." Another may say, "I'm helping build a Cathedral." Likewise, a hospital janitor may see themselves as a mop-pusher or as a vital part of the environmental hygiene necessary for bettering people's health. Is it really the same activity, or is one labor while the other is work? Perhaps it is this shift in perspective that is the real transformation between our degrees and the unbreakable pairing of the Square and Compasses.

Hermeticism calls such spiritual progress "The Great Work." It is not merely production, but creation. Sure, stones are laid hour after hour, day after day, but it all follows a conceived purpose and design. It is not the transcendence above physical efforts but an element imbued into it from above. Perhaps this is why I have always felt a nobility in all work (or labors by Arendt's thinking. Some of the exoteric and profane activities we do, like pancake breakfasts and maintaining temporal edifices, do not need to be a distraction inflated by our desire for the esoteric and spiritual. Likewise, our ritual need not be labor, done as a required necessity, but a work that "humbly reflect[s] that order and beauty which reign forever before Thy throne."

I would suggest the Square and Compasses connects us not merely to each other as a common symbol, but as a whole person, physical and spiritual. It shows us how to live in the world yet not belong to it. We can choose higher paths above, yet keep our feet humbly on the ground until that time such tools shall fall from our hands. In the meantime, we need each other, workmen and laborers, and be willing to best work and best agree with both instruments at our command.

~JP

Bro. Ken JP Stuczynski is a member of West Seneca Lodge No.1111 and currently serves at Master of Ken-Ton Lodge No.1186. As webmaster for NYMasons.Org, he is on the Communications and Technology Committees for the Grand Lodge of the State of New York. He is also a Royal Arch Mason, 32nd Degree Scottish Rite Mason, and coordinates a Downtown Square Club monthly lunch in Buffalo, NY. He recently served with his wife as Matron and patron of Pond Chapter No.853 Order of the Eastern Star. You can find more about Ken by clicking HERE.