THE CONSCIENCE NECESSARY

Learning is becoming. Becoming is learning. If we were boys we would defend experiential against contemplative learning with the same self-serving results. It is when we read between the lines, (speculative masonry) and if we continue to look into the sun, the point is missed. It is the difference between striving or passivity. Evidence of this comes to us from carefully reading the Ancient Charges- those odd declarations given less import than the index in your book. We created a club-like atmosphere, replacing the spirituality put in place in 1813- the year of reconciliation between those who stood firm for orthodoxy (Ancients) and those who stood for adaptability (Moderns). Conviviality became less refined as expectations faded.  Proactive charity gave way to reactive giving because we had faint notions of principles and values on which this is formed.  Proactive thinking avoids complications. Reactive deals with existing problems. Masonry has looked further into the future because it was intelligent enough to recognize one from the other.  There is a question in this, that each individual faces. Can our emotion be controlled to the extent we can put weight to a line between what we see and how it began?  Masonry extolls us to try. It outlines tools that have helped the brotherhood for centuries.  Why but why have we abandoned these efforts and asserted our own? Clearly that is in line with materialism and the me-generation. Some would say it aligns with the fears associated with a secular society.  To be kind, let's suggest there have always been masons among us who walked with insight, whose disappointment caused their isolation; who saw the supremacy of humanist philosophy over ego. Begin by selecting the instrument; epicurean, stoic or sceptic. Then compare with that inner man who looks at you from the other side of the mirror.  Enlightenment lies in shades of grey that fade into light.