Hello hello and welcome back to the Masonic Round Table a weekly program where masons from around the world get together to talk about Masonic news and opinions and a friendly social manner as a reminder the thoughts and opinions expressed here are solely the opinions of of the participants and do not
Represent any Grand statements or positions make sure you keep your conversations open for the public and on the level to interact with us we love seeing you live every Thursday night in Facebook or YouTube land so hello and good evening to all of you in there in
The chat um remember your chats may show up on the show so keep it team keep it PG may maybe PG-13 but we’ll keep it at least PJ and what else uh and if you can’t catch us live you can always catch us in the replays or on your favorite
Podcasting app you know me my name is John RAR I’m a pmas of the Patriot lodge number 1957 and now Leo Lodge education officer of of the Patriot Lodge this year so let’s uh bring some more education and that is my introduction let’s go to Jason good evening how are you Jason
Good evening I’m good how are you John fanastic great my name is Jason Richards I’m a past master of vacationed number 16 in C in Virginia and a member of lafette lodge number 79 in Zanesville Ohio also the colonial lodge number 1821 in Washington
DC nice I’m glad to be here glad to see you speaking of DC Masons we’ve also seen them viewed oh that’s a new one haven’t heard that one before I know not not this year you haven’t oh the best Masonic dad joke I’ve heard all Year Joe how are you hello Joe
Martinez happy New Year uh let’s see what am I past master of Manassa lodge number 182 and there was much there was much rejoicing on both sides of the fence not just on this um yeah we’re done pmas yep boom uh also member of Benjamin B French Lodge Number 15 in the
District of Columbia uh and uh I am John’s boss in education land I’m the district education officer for our Masonic District in Virginia sir yes sir yes sir education do all of it and finally I am the serving the Grand Lodge of DC as the grand orator for the Grand
Lodge of the District of Columbia so that means are you allowed to say that out loud I am I’ve been installed I’m good now yes you’re allow toate that yes I can or does the Grand Lodge know you’re doing this podcast yeah they can watch it every th
L approved yeah yeah um yeah so anyway um all of that not Grand lber is true hash really not a sponsor that’s true and we’re okay with that yes like not a sponsor so funny story like for the for the longtime listeners right we’ve had some Grand
Lodes reach out or or other endent bodies like hey like what you’re doing if you need help like we’ll be happy to sponsor you like thanks but no thanks uh you know when you have a boss then you have to do what the boss says all the time and
Things happen like our forefathers told us independence is a good thing so agreed agreed all right let’s uh give a special shout out to our other bosses be crazy yes PG come on PG Jason no you said PG-13 not PG I don’t I can’t
Do PG man I’m sorry the yeah we we still have one F bomb we can drop before is this like the 1980s PG where there was much more allow like Gremlins PG violence full frontal okay um let’s uh give a special shout out to our other bosses who are the patrons of
The show bringing in our 10th year of the Masonic Round Table coming up soon coming up soon we got six more weeks but all thanks to generous patrons of the show so if you want to be a patrons go over to patreon.com theem Masonic Roundtable I
Just just had a new member join this week so thank you brother for hopping in welcome and supporting the show so we have everybody not just Bros brothers sisters fam your boss super fans people who want to join to complain please that happen please do that exactly you guys are awesome so thank
You all very much and now it’s time for everyone’s Jason you queued up um everyone’s favorite time of the week terot card of the week oh good dramatic pause tarot card of the week it never gets old like again tarot card of the all right you’re
Done so let’s figure out how to keep that from repeating next week it’s the loot button yeah remember you know when we started out 10 years ago and we didn’t have all this new fangle technology so this week we have Ye Old Rider weight Smith love the difference here is
This is the ryer weight Smith Panorama it’s the 16 by9 version yes so we’ve out with the old uh 4 by3 and now now to the 16 by9 it’s like the Zack Snider cut of bigger Longer more yes Ryder weight Smith bigger longer and uncut it’s the Lawrence of
Arabia 2.20 to one and her yes all right um and tonight’s tarot card we have the page of Pentacles look at that that open field he’s got the bunnies indeed cool so page of Pentacles we have money new money New Opportunities new jobs just exploring the world like the world
Is your oyster in the material sense well New Year right yeah what’s that manif new year new year new you and man manifest it that’s a good one yeah I mean yes you could relate it to like the magician but for again the more grounding Earthly material
Things it’s like don’t oh that’s awesome here’s your here’s your manifestation card love in trees yeah so for all of you who’ve given up on your New Year’s resolutions already stop go do it yeah you you have 363 more days to get back on the wagons that’s right it’s all
Right and uh yeah that’s I mean that’s that’s a good segue into tonight’s topic because thank you Jason let’s manifest a new year uh this year we’re going to talk about New Year’s resolutions for 2024 part and I checked part nine we’ve been doing this we still
Haven’t figured out how to be perfect and so we’re going to keep on trying to improve ourselves because why do we keep doing this for nine years in a row because that’s what masonry is all about it’s tradition because it’s the way it’s always been done but
Sigh in all seriousness like if you’re not resolving to make yourself better than why are you masing bro like seriously we’re trying to take good men and make them better we’re not trying to take good men and initiate them into a drinking club right we’re trying to improve
Ourselves at the macro level yes we are we are very good at taking good men and making them bitter but let’s let’s change that I to an E and then just be the change you want to be in World be the change I’m done with you Joe so uh for all our online
Listeners uh drop your New Year’s resolutions in the chat because those will be fun to see I’m sure there’s going to be some good serious ones and some witty ones as well don’t let us down so tonight um we’ll talk about what are our specific New Year’s resolutions
Not only for ourselves but for masonry RIT large and and um there’s there’s a lot going on in masonry right so to be Joe ask Joe thanks Sun card great happy New Year suncard uh but let’s let’s pull that hey by the way can we can we just say uh
Really great announcement dropped this weekend for ESO teron oh yeah June 15 we got start teasing that yeah so for all I see the sun card jogged my memory yeah Sun card yep defin previous previous attendee so for all you who like the weirder side of things like I do and
Some of other people on the show do uh esoteric con’s back we’re back in Virginia and uh don’t want to take up too much of the show with this so if you’re on the mailing list you’ll be seeing stuff soon um and if not just
Stay on social media um we are I know most of us are gen xers um some of us right Gen X Gen X you millennial Millen Millennial Millennial Gen X yep okay cool Robert’s Gen X that’s why I like him the best it’s so funny
Cuz Robert and I are born the same year but he’s definitely more of a Gen X and I’m definitely more of a millennial he’s just an older Soul yes yes we’ll go with that Santa Claus beard but yes it’s all yeah it’s just the beard stress levels is isn’t that we’re like the
Poster child for like stress unbounded is all for yeah like losing my hair I’m boxing it’s like I got midlife crisis and then I just come home and drink beer nice as as a good gen xer should that’s right anyway don’t want to take up the show esotericon stay on social
Media and learn things and we’ll see you in June I got such a Broner for this it’s they’re always good but I’m biased all right uh let’s talk about why again why should we resolve ourselves I I kind of ceue things up for the discussion but before we get into
Specifics like again we’re still talking about this brother Roy let’s I hope to uh hope you have a great journey so yeah it’s good to see you on here but why why do we do this like we keep talking about this uh this resolution thing why is it so important
That we we keep bringing this up Jason because if we aren’t trying to make our eles and the world around us a better place than like why are we here yeah I’m still a rough ashler I don’t know about you guys there’s always a lot more work to be done very rough
Ashler Joe has a lot of work that could be done I am I’m like a asteroid level cosmetically and ous pumis stone mental I’m like one of those rough ashlers that like destroyed the dinosaurs like that shape and size I mean you are that old yes
Yes yep but I try that’s the important part that’s all we ask that’s all we ask how about you Robert uh what’s your general approach to making resolutions either now or anytime during the year because I know you’ve said things in the past that have been a little bit contrary to this uh
Annual celebration of new resolutions yeah I think that it’s kind of uh how do you even say this like a lot of the yeah well we’ll try maybe um I think it’s interesting that we’re always looking at trying to do things to uh better ourselves and the things that
We tend to focus on are these ideas of uh very tangible sort of things you know get the beach body do the thing and I think a lot of the stuff that I’ve been focusing on and I think you anybody who’s really um contemplative you know thinks about not
Necessarily what they can do to better themselves to enrich their lives but almost like what can you do including giving things up in order to improve the lives of those around you like what can you give away now like what more can you give like I tend to think in this manner
Um mostly because I think of a lot of the other things that um I want to do like I want to do for me right like I want to get in shape I want to lose weight or I wanna memorize my ritual better yeah all those things but I at
The same time I I just think that to a certain end um I try to be of service right like the the Masonic degree uh there’s a you know in the lecture it says uh wherewith God has blessed you with your talents as well to his glory as to
The benefit of your fellow creatures and so I think about that a lot and that that’s kind of it I think what you guys were alluding to there in a second was a moment ago you said John you know we’re rough a ashler and and things of that nature and
Um I didn’t think n was going to come up here but I’ll bring him into it you know when he says uh And Thus Spoke zarathustra he comes out and he says zuster goes into the the court and he starts yelling at all the people and he
Says uh you think you are the EB of humanity you’re wrong right it’s kind of like these people who are just satisfied so so with their lives and going about their daily business even not knowing you don’t know what what you could be better at because you don’t
Know what you don’t know but the point is to like realize it and then work out anyway is that is that controversial or contrary to what I don’t know spend all your money don’t pay the rent burn the bridge burn the bridge treat yourself I’m just the the opposite too I
Know you are so funny the uh you could see so there I was talking to some co-workers early December starting to get the itch and the the meetings are starting to like get canceled off the calendar right uh easing into the holidays and you know they we’re starting to talk about like
Well what work do we need to get done and um jokingly I said well well this this one piece for this project that’s for future John to worry about that’s for 2024 John to worry about right because we have this concept of things that we could do now or things that we
Could do later that’s part of the human condition and so this is where my mind’s been a lot lately um for a variety of reasons that um there’s an economics podcast that I listened to that was talking about the future value of money and how do we make tradeoffs uh like Joe
Wake up it’s it’s this is is important this is really good you said economics and my brain so good because everything’s economics right do I do I uh practice for my degree now or do I wait till the last minute because we do tradeoffs all the time and that’s really
What resolution saying masonry is a business no economically it is but um business time so yeah so we have the the future value of money or we have uh also known as like delayed gratification right which has been proven like the whole marshmallow test for children you
Know do you eat one marshmallow now or do you wait 10 minutes and get two marshmallows and Studies have shown some you know with some mixed results that um the kids who wait and have delayed gratification and wait for the two marshmallows actually are quote unquote more successful by by General standards
Later in life and so Joe you look do you agree with that or disagree I I well I agree to a point because isn’t so then isn’t masonry aren’t we just the two marshmallow kids into into Infinity right like we’re all we talk about is this okay well make yourself a
Little bit better now each and every day for that big payoff when you die exactly so yeah and how do one day classes factor into that well if you showed up to the meeting you would know the answer to if you’ve worked with your Mentor he would have told that to you
Learn your catechism and bring in 20 more people yeah okay that’s the Top Line signer you get a gold bar tit Tac so yeah so this the the um delay gratification or the time value of money in economics perspective like what can I do now to put my
401k instead of spending that money now what can I put my 401k so that I can have uh Joe wake up so you can have more of a payoff later but that’s what that’s what New Year’s resolutions uh that’s what improving yourself in masonry really does right it’s trying to enjoy
The last 16 years of masonry by investing whether it’s not money it’s investing time effort uh Social Capital right intellectual Capital so that we get all the rewards on all the wages of a Master Mason by the time we pass off the celestial sphere and I think that’s
The that’s the best part of this what are the wages that you speak of life well lived right a well spent life Absol like is it okay to pull that thread for a second and and like pass judgment on what exactly a well lived life is no reg RS right no regrets My
Credo and that’s it right uh no regrets not the one if you uh if you listen to folks like Gary Vee right he’ll say he’ll you know you want to see like what regret looks like you know go to a nursing home and go talk to people that are like
Literally like on their deathbed and you can see the things that they wish they had done and yet here we are January 2024 that’s a terrible example because nursing homes are like worse than college dorms when it comes to people doing whatever the hell they want okay
Yeah I’m not talking about the no lofas no pineapples right we’re just saying specifically all seriousness to that effect okay like if you guys want to do something really interesting to listeners out there too go on over to the Monroe institute’s website click on um classes seminars
Courses kind of thing look up they have a course that they’ve done and essentially uh it’s a course on preparing for for death and in the course we did nothing but talk to terminally ill patients for like two days and this was uh a wakeup call not that those people like were
Like oh do do the stuff now because you’ll regret it later those people didn’t necessarily have regrets but you know what they did have advice and you know what that advice was just do it back back to Nike your boys yeah exactly and so you know I do think
Resolutions whether you do them January 1 or whether you do them anytime through the year are a noble Pursuit because that’s what we’re here to do like we don’t want I I’ll say it I don’t want a Mason to join and never change yeah I don’t want them to be the
Same person they are when they got their third degree how could you say something so controversial and brave it’s sad that that is a somewhat controversial yeah exactly I had to think to think about it for half a beat before I I said it but me that’s what we’re here to do
That’s what we are inul inculcated to do this is what we are encouraged to do and so like if you pay if you awake unlike Joe in any of the ritual you’ll actually hear ways of saying that all the way through like this is what we’re about yeah
Huh no but I I I think not not to be to Dead Horse but I mean listening to listening to you talk I I get it’s kind of a bummer right because I think that a lot of Masons don’t and I’ll tie this back to resolutions eventually um don’t get it or they’re
Not it’s not told to them when they become Masons or as they’re going through that process right like there’s you know a great example is the the misconception about Masonic charity right um you know the idea that suddenly emptying your wallet out makes you a
Better man you know it it it gets more into the the why you’re doing it the for what purpose and what’s the what’s the meaning behind it right and and but give all my possessions to the poor and have not love I they it easy there Diamond Jay
So but no he’s he’s spot on so I think that you know bringing this back to resolutions it’s it’s we concern ourselves with these short-term things which for some people are really important um you know I like the resolutions we’ll talk about tonight some are very very important to me to to
Make that effort to change but we got to understand the reason why we’re doing it right it’s not you can’t just throw that glad handing out oh it’s to make the world a better place around me shut up with that you know like it’s it sounds
Really great and it looks good on a bumper sticker right next to to be1 ask one but it’s not the end goal right the end goal is to make yourself a better human being and make the world a tiny bit less shitty sorry John than it was
Before right and and through that change it’ll organically get better right so we don’t need 20 people standing on a soap box and yelling about how the world’s going to become a better place just take care of your own little sandbox make it pretty make other people want to come
Visit it and it’ll organically get better all on its own you know and I think we don’t we don’t express that to people who join and people who stay in or people who’ve been in for 20 years and don’t know why they’re there you know so going back to your point John
There are a lot of Masons out there that have been in for a while and have not changed the person they were you’re giving me like this you’re G like this sorry like Epiphany thing that I’m starting to like yeah so RJ’s getting a brain gasm
Oh and it’s stupid because it’s like so Elementary right this entire years ago we talked about like what Masons do in catchphrases in your 60c elevator pitch and like I said something like change the world right and that’s like so grandiose and amazing and whatever and mysterious and people like all right
I’m gonna join and change the world and they just like join and they’re like getting involved and they hop into the administration and and and organize all the Charities and they do all the things and then you end up in Texas what if instead of changing the
World name in a lawsuit um so what if what if instead of changing the world you change someone’s world yeah or like that’s where I guess I’m going is like they you you hop in and you just start doing all the thing because you think that’s the
Point but the point is like like maybe do that stuff but don’t forget about you and all of that this is very uh sort of strange strange thing so I wanted to come back around to Corey’s comment I think living each day as if it’s your last is an important
Thing to recognize tomorrow is never promised and if we live each day joyfully we also impact those around us uh with that positive influence and she was not happy this morning I will say that so yeah I mean if I woke up next to you i’ I’d be disappointed as well we
Can we can forgive her for thaten number one go ahead Jason I was I was going to say you know going back to like why why do we expend the energy to try to make ourselves better um this is one of the things I talk about in my death
Presentation like the the fact that there is a limit to the time that we have here gives life intrinsic meaning the fact that it ends you know to me at least provides a lot of that motivation for you know it’s not even not even building a legacy it’s really
Just trying to help people on the journey with you with the little time you have well I I think that not to uh yes we’ll get to the resolutions I promise but you just you and Corey struck something really important that has a lot to do with masonry is
That we go through these rituals and we go through this allegory and we are Pres presented these lessons that ultimately teach us this big important lesson about death and dying right most of I’m sorry to say most of The Lodges out there and most of the people who go through that
Process they kind of gloss over that fact that you are taught at some point in your Masonic Journey how to die and for some people it’ss in masonry Joe no there but but there is but anyway you’re you’re taught how to die and in that figurative death you’re supposed to do
Exactly what Corey is telling us to do right is to take those moments right but we’re so afraid to talk about it and we or if we do we talk about it on this really vapid high level right and just gloss over it but spot on you know we’re
So scared to talk about the end you know because it’s viewed as nihilistic and and and um something not to talk about and we as a society were just scared but that’s literally one of the big things that masonry teaches us is how to die and from that learn how to live
Yeah it’s very stoic as well which I love um that whole concept right that you know imagine like that’s it midnight tonight that’s it that’s all you got like back to the regrets thing what are you do a nail to try and fix or improve
Or Savor if nothing else enjoy and be in the moment with what you got yeah and if you can’t enjoy it be patient yeah let’s talk resolutions then so heck yeah um let’s just uh just throw them out there we’re not going to do round Rob or anything we’re just gonna say
What are what are some things that we are thinking of and so we can talk personal uh we can talk about our our Masonic Pursuits over the next uh 12 months and or one thing that was fun in previous years to talk about what is our resolution for Masonry at large outside
Of our control what is one thing we we hope or wish for I it’s a big one Joe’s resolution is to be Master for four more I am gonna set your home on fire okay it’s recorded exhibit a your honor no I didn’t leave my Tesla plugged
In for two weeks straight no it was Joe yeah ABC always be charging um I have I have one that I’ve been dying to to get to eventually is um so my first resolution it’s a masonic resolution is to learn to say no um oh the Lost word yes I have spent
The last 10 years just saying yes to every single thing that gets thrown in front of me with the basically at 10 years later what I’ve learned is most of it was because of fomo you know it was just oh if I don’t do that I’m not going
To see this or I’m not going to know that but 10 years later I’ve learned I didn’t really need that or I didn’t need to do that or I didn’t need to invest all that energy so I think I’m finally at a place where I can start saying no
To things you just pull a Brad and start depending from everything well you didn’t say no yesterday Joe well yeah shut up I said it’s a resolution it’s not something I’ve already done so it’s a it’s a a hill to climb up not a future tense P
It’s low commitment so that’s cool yeah I uh I agree with you I think I had a similar resolution the episode after I got out of the East the opposite side of that there’s a I think it’s there’s a quote attributed to um uh Warren Buffett who says uh you
Know basically write down the 25 things you want to do in in priority order and then scratch off the bottom 24 because they don’t matter like the things that matter are the the top of your list so in other words you should be saying not
Only yes but heck yes to the things that you want or any other PG-13 adaptation thereof and so if your internal dialogue is a yeah maybe or yeah I feel guilty if I don’t say no then you should say no right in other words those things that you are going to
To commit to it’s the opposite of the say no to more things it’s the say heck yes to the things you want to make sure that those things that you are in you definitely want to commit to you are giving your full energy and attention to
Um to again appreciate it more savor it more whatever you want to call it so what you’re saying is I should not only say yes but I should say heck yes to a tattoo sleeve heck yes oh always say yes to a tattoo sleeve let’s go we’ll go tomorrow let’s go let’s go
Let’s do it all four of us go so for for me one of the things that I have said yes to not only yes but heck yes to this year is doing more interesting research I took a little bit of a year off last year with um just you know
Research and and presentations I had my death presentation but that had been in the works um for a couple years before last year and you know last year really took it easy had a lot of things going on at work um this year I am super
Excited to just get my hands dirty with Masonic research again uh and esoteric research at at that so I already have three or four ideas for papers and presentations that I’m working off this year I’ve almost got one paper done out of four so I’m excited that that goes with my rule try
To do one presentation a year no matter who you are one new one yes one new presentation per year because uh there’s no excuse you can do one new educational research and share it with the lodge with the Brethren with the Brethren the Brethren I love it that’s good and I I
Know some of the ones you’ve got queued up so I’m really looking forward to some of those cool all right how about you Robert any uh any resolutions that are New Year’s are not related yeah I think um you know over the last year and a
Half or so I’ve taken a real back seat uh in terms of not being super active right like I was Secretary of my Lodge um and I was part of the Masonic education committee before that was gutted so in an interesting way um I found myself kind of re-engaged in
Masonry uh I’m back in the East um for an education center Centric Lodge which um is a first time for me um I’m also secretary at my my mother Lodge again so there’s all this kind of thing and then looking back at writing um you know I have taken such
A step back from writing I feel like so many of us get out into that sphere initially and we realize like oh wow people care what we have to say and we build a reputation on on writing some interesting things like whether that’s midnight Freemasons or you know Jason
Had your blog two foot ruler um you know all of those really those really great things and then what we do is we kind of say everything we had to say after we’ve become to a seasoned part of our masonry and what’s interesting is you start listening and reading newer Masons
Like articles and things and it’s funny because they’re they’re bitching about the same things we did and it’s like okay I don’t need to write anymore because I’ve said everything there is to say about this stuff and guess what people are still crying about the same stuff that we did
And so maybe it’s not maybe it’s not enough to just say I’ve already said it maybe there’s other avenues to pursue and so in that respect I’ve kind of Taken on this idea of introducing I guess in my Masonic you know spheres introducing some sort of calculated
Chaos um in into it um you know thinking about entropy and things of that nature right like so you got an enclosed system of Freemasonry and uh you need a calculated amount of Chaos in order to kind of keep things moving and fresh if you want to
Think about it that way and I think bringing some amount of controversy to masonry not for controversy sake but to bring about a change in the way the thinking is um or to think about things the way they’re meant to be like in context um and not just taken for
Granted James Buckhorn gave a great presentation at Masonic on Chicago uh last year and he basically said your Mentor was a romantic guy you know what he meant by that was you know our mentors tell us a lot of you know BS they don’t know any better but it’s up
To us to write the ship and course correct so if that means you have to say some controversial things like you know the Forget Me Not is not really Masonic or whatever the case is you know that’s just an overplayed example but what get it you know get that information out
There um I think and I think that’s um a little bit of my resolutions this year is to just dive back in the pool dive back in I love it so we got Jason going back in AR going back in get out of the
Pool you got a B room as long as Joe doesn’t pee in the pool when we’re all in it together then be all right it’ll be fine just just know never you’ll never know one of the other things that that I’m trying to do this year that I’m resolving to do is
I feel like I say this every year you know deepen my spiritual journey yep and um same you know I’m doing that through several different resolutions actually uh so one is the research that I’m doing in the presentations that that I’m preparing for a lot of them are you know
Deeply spiritual esoteric topics um which is which is still very new for for me um the other is I’ve you know I have resolv to to pray more um that is a habit that I really got out of for a number of years and the the final one of kind of
That that triumphant of spiritual resolutions is I’ve I’ve resolved to actually schedule time in my work calendar for 15minute meditation and contemplation three days a week so love it somewhere blocked on my calendar yep what right next to your team’s calls yep I look yeah I am a firm believer of
If it’s not on your calendar it doesn’t exist yes learn to say no or yes exactly yep yeah and so block it off so one of the things that I that I did while I was thinking about my resolutions for for tonight on the show is I did a three card Lenor
Draw what’s lenorman Jason so lenorman is a 36C card uh divination system a to tarot named after madmoizelle L norand uh we’ve talked about this on the show before uh she was an occultist who was uh the advisor ult adviser to Napoleon um she really had nothing to do with the
System it really was a uh a a game that originated in German um and then you know got got popular over several hundred years and the the interesting difference between lenorman and Tarot is that Len norand um you know the cards have meaning but the card just
Positions um really are what matters so the context that you can draw from different cards being beside one another uh is is something that’s much more important than even like a know three card or Celtic cross spread and in Tarot and so when I when I was looking at my
Resolutions I was like okay so so how is this going to go this year and the spread that I drew uh with just now ju yes just now you probably saw me taking a picture of it about like five or 10 minutes ago um the spread the digest
Drew was the stor cross Ross and book which is very interesting um because the stor really is an action card it is starting something new it is movement and moving in the right direction um the red pip card is generally uh generally canotes a yes
Sard don’t put that evil on me we are not talking about having another baby um but you know it is you know next to an adjacent to the cross the cross is not a positive card in Len norand it is a card that denotes anxiety sacrifice sacrifice emotional
Distress um it’s like my Tuesdays that it’s like any any day especially after two weeks off of work right um and the final card here is the book and the book is knowledge secrecy secret wisdom and so from the context clues here you know it’s telling the story of
Me really starting a new Endeavor and getting momentum around uh spirituality and esoteric research that’s going to some sacrifice uh it’s going to take my time it’s going to make me deeply uncomfortable because if you’re doing true spiritual work your faith needs to challenge you it needs to make you deeply
Uncomfortable uh but through the process at the end of this is you know the achievement of or the you know the ability to obtain wisdom that would had been hidden to to me from from before this point and so there’s a there’s a payoff there’s some pain to get there
But there will be a payoff um for the resolutions and the research and the spiritual work that I’m doing this year nice so brace yourself changes happening John what about yours what about me see I was going to try and fly under the radar but here’s what I’m thinking this year um
So it’s less resolution and more plny and here’s where I’m I’m going with this is okay shocker if you’re in the United States this is an election year coming up and so you know we are going to have uh we’re going to be drowning in political divisiveness like for the for the next
You know at least 11 months and so I’m going to try everything will go fine don’t worry about it it’s fine it’s fine we don’t have a huge national debt problem or anything that we need to all well oh it’s it’s the it’s the it’s fine uh comic with the dog drinking coffee
With the Flames around him there are no flames though John okay that’s it doesn’t matter there is no spoon there is no debt Robert it’s all in your head you’re living in a simulator I have such I have such Financial anxiety because it’s like what do the future like hold
And where I’ve changed over the years is trying to instead of trying to fix the system it’s like uh be more like water right go with the flow in the sense of you can’t you you can’t necessarily control or change certain things so then how do you leverage you know the opportunities that
You’re given right how do you play the hand that you’re dealt instead of complaining that the game is rigged or the system’s rigged and so I’m definitely going to try and do more of that I’m going to try to um really look at how I’m in investing in
My and my families and my my kids future try to double down on that those things that I’ve kind of put like on autopilot like be more focused and committed on those things so that way um those systems are in place when we go into more debt when you know the the new
Regime will come in and not change anything and it’ll all be all screwed up again for the next four years right it’s a lot of the stuff it’s it sounds very nihilistic as well but in the sense of I those things are not going to impact how
I protect the house the family my spiritualism my uh my finances right and so it’s basically getting my ducks in a row that’s what a lot of my uh and I’ve said this in previous episodes I try to I like what Damon John did did uh when
He talks about his goals he categorized them in the categories of things like Faith Family career Health right and so if you have a a why behind it then all of those things can can be mutually inclusive they can they can support each other uh because otherwise for example
What is a mutually exclusive set of goals to well if I’m trying to grow my career and and be you know CEO of a company then that might come at the cost of my family and I don’t want that right so how can I have all those goals Faith Family
Career Health Etc be mutually inclusive and work together uh to leverage a chaos that’s going to come because I tell you what I’ve been sending these guys messages all on the side like all the astrologers are all are saying that like Pluto and Aquarius this year it’s just
Going to be a whole bunch of Revolution coming I don’t know if I believe it or not but let’s just say I’m gonna hope for the best and prepare for the worst take over in the 2025 exactly yeah so it’s going to be a wild ride either way whether or not you
Believe in the astrology part or would get along with Ronald Reagan so much what what makes you say that he would well you know he was inaugurated at 12:01 a.m. right I did not know that that’s when the time was best according to the astrologer nice yeah
See that’s see look makes sense Ru Ark and Reagan 20 26 four five never never you can never be president John you’re way too gold uh yeah I’m too clean I don’t have you’re you’re way too clean no no one would ever elect a Libertarian president that’s true we
Also have that you know what living Coastal Florida or Southern Texas for a year and then come back with all the weird things you come back with and then you can be president all right I’ll take that advice Boom the in four years I think um something else that I think you know
You brought up this idea of an election year I think that’s really interesting and I think I think it should give pause to a lot of us um I did lose Facebook friend status with with some folks in the last few years um and that’s that’s you know likely because I
Um I had been posting you know passive aggressive political ideologies that I would post uh you know is is is memes about certain political figures and and parties and I think this year uh is an election year I can do better you know I can I can post just flat out aggressive
Dank memes that’s not where I thought you were going with that but no I I KN I knew was going there because I was really scared that I wasn’t going to get the the love that I did from Robert all these years but I knew deep down that’s where he
Going like GD your loins fellas uh you’re not only saying yes but heck yes dankness let’s just no but you know actually that I mean that I’m not lying about any of that but also I need to make a doctor appointment my wife say she”s been telling me to make a
Doctor’s appointment for like literally four weeks every day and I just don’t and it’s a portal appointment like why don’t I do it I’m gonna resolve to make a doctor appointment tomorrow there you go good there’s your health resolution I need to do a lenorman draw about whether or not
You’ll succeed in making a do get right on that Jason I’m G to do it and make you real like so so so uh you know you’re a great Leon reader yeah all right so last question for you guys um chances are you’re not gonna do
It see there you go just based on the cards i p well I’m based on statistics shoot based on Robert uh question so what is your resolution uh let’s say let’s make that our final question for tonight what is your New Year resolution for Freemasonry as as a whole in 202
For what are the goals that you think that uh you would as like to see masonry Aspire towards improvements that could be made in the fraternity as we know it currently any upcoming Grand Lodge annual Communications say in January that you know have a lot of anxiety or contentiousness around anything like
That nice hat Joe o so so um great hat love this hat so who wants to Jump Right In I’m ready nope I’m ready I’m ready fine ready fine too nice Jason all right send us home Joe he’s gonna interrupt me 10 times during my talk so I know it’s
Okay so yeah I was gonna say you’re thinking that I’m actually going to let him talk no he’s not going to so here’s mine and I’ve been thinking about it and uh you think sometimes okay I believe that we as Masons and I believe should uh a great Broadway
Show God damn it there we go okay so um now I’ve muted him no I think that um uh this resolution is is actually coming true on its own um that we just need to as Masons we just need to start preparing these next few two years for a
Really big sea change when it comes to how people practice Freemasonry right like we’ve been through the peaks in the valleys and John can smash you with data and show you that numbers do not lie and he’s showing you 2040 on the screen but I think we need to start instead of just
Letting it happen and you know letting the buildings crumble and the columns be broken I think we just need to start preparing now for a more personal a more person Focus um and a less administrative Centric type of Freemasonry because I think that’s the type of masonry that we’re
Going to give to our kids in our grandkids um and it’s still G to be awesome it’s going to be okay um you’re not going to get the buffet the really terrible Buffet Hotel dinners that you get at the Grand annual Communications that you go to and stuff
But it’s going to be awesome nevertheless so I think we just need to start preparing for that and getting Masons ready for what’s ultimately going to be masonry in the next 10 15 20 years and unfortunately we’re in that age group that are going to see that change
Yes and depending on how we react to it that’s how masonry is going to move forward or not so yeah be the change be the change so yeah be the change Robert so what I was going to say dovet Tales nicely into to what Joe is saying um I
Do agree that we’re going to see a a huge see change in Freemasonry over the next 10 20 years I mean we’re Pluto and Aquarius we are starting to see I will say we’re starting to see the beginnings of the collapse of the Grand Lodge system um we have multiple Grand lodges
With active lawsuits against some um and my my resolution for Freemasonry is you know personally to stay out of the garbage and out of the and focus on doing good and being that brother you know at the local level uh being that um mentor to those
In the fraternity and just you know trying to live out the tenants that we’ve heard inculcated very frequently um and you know do that without passing judgment on the crazy swirl that’s going on around us so pass judgment you just you don’t have to be super overly vocal about it I
Mean you can you can judge privately now like I mean quiet Facebook chats with your friends you can judge all day long so don’t just uh do masonry be masonry be the change Robert be the change all your masonry are belong to us Robert Robert be the
Change I like Jason’s uh all your m belong to us that’s a millennial thing no I got that I don’t know I don’t know if it is uh in any case I think that is uh prophetic in that um all that masonry does belong to us
And and it should you guys are you know I don’t know if we’re going to see the collapse of the Grand Lodge system anytime soon um I think I think that the system itself is set up in such a way that um doesn’t really enable it to
Change fast enough to keep up with societal norms and um in fact there’s probably a sort of Mis I don’t know what you call it like like like a misidentification of of what the Crafts rules are telling its Administration to do and to not do and
By that I guess I mean there’s probably a misunderstanding by most of what bylaws and constitutions actually say and until um we get people who know how to read um then sometimes um you know things are are not going to always pan out I think for for the the lesser of the Brethren
And by lesser I you know we’re all on the level blah blah blah blah blah but so many of them yeah right I mean the Lesser are the constituency everybody outside the Grand Lodge um and I think if I’m gonna do something uh tying it back to sort of
That the chaos element it’s not necessarily A chaos element and I’ve always been this kind of person and that is uh when I get a new job I read the employee handbook and uh when I hear any new employee young person older person talking about
I need to do this hey did you know there’s a policy on this page that deals exactly with this and it can help you out greatly and nobody’s willing to tell that person about that thing right and so in that same respect in masonry I think I want to work hard at getting
Dudes to understand that they have power um this is it it go it just so many times there’s that platitude you know we’re like we’ve got some I mean there are amazing I’m by no means crapping on any Grandmaster ever right none of them but I what I am
Saying is that there are times when people whatever they are doesn’t matter if they Grandmaster just your boss your worship or whatever I’m just brother right but it’s super condescending not in a good way and like there’s this air about what their powers and and things you know
What they are allowed to do and they forget that line in the in the installation ritual right that uh you get there by holding the key to men’s hearts and it is by them you are elevated and I think that escapes a lot of folks especially even the
Constituency right so the the powers in in the people and Grand lodges are always like well if we go away then nobody’s recognized H dude that’s a fallacy like if the Grand Lodge goes away you know uh AAA Lodge is gonna just be like not AAA Lodge under the grand
Jurisdiction of Virginia AAA LOD is just going to be like AAA Lodge in Clifton four Dudes in a pirate ship yeah yeah like it doesn’t matter man yeah yeah that’s that’s going to be wild I was real quick yeah go ahead I I just I have to maybe if if this makes us
Go a little bit long I’m sorry but I gotta ask Joe like you said we got to get ready for it right but like my thought is do you think we can handle it so I’ve thought about this and and what I’ve learned in my 18 years as a
Mason is bonus track is to be really and this sounds terrible to say but I think my first 14 or 15 years years was spent so much on working within the system the way the system is designed and I think all of us will agree we we come up to we’re
Presented with situations or we come up to things that we can’t overcome you know and and then we get told the well that’s the way it is and that’s the way it always been and it’s just a big load of crap right because it doesn’t have to
Be that way and I think as we become older season Masons and unfortunately yes even for you Millennials you now are the older seasoned Masons um you know we’re starting to learn that it doesn’t have to be that way and I think like I said I think we’re at a really
Interesting point in in our Journeys because we have those two choices right it’s either going to collapse really hard very quickly you know as as John points out Revolution right where and it’s not so much Revolution it’s just the system can’t sustain itself anymore right like you can’t afford to print out
Those 300 Page all color booklets anymore you just because you’re not going to have the dues coming in but that’s that’s a that’s a show for another day but I think what I meant by preparing is what you guys were saying with fostering those relationships with guys that you genuinely care about that
You see are learning and having those epiphanies on this journey and spend your time and your and your Social Capital on them and not on the bureaucracy that masonry and that what masonry’s been the last 50 years so that’s what I meant by prepare is Foster those relationships because you know and
You guys all know this I’ve become such great friends and brothers and family to people that live all over the freaking world you know what I mean not dudes five miles away from me that go to Lodge with me but and those are the relationships that I want to engender
And those are the relationships that I want to nurture and not let them die because that’s what masonry is um so to answer your question Robert I think it’s again it’s those small steps in preparing to have that more personal kind of masonry because whether you like
It or not that’s what is I think we’re going to end up with um yeah when when Robert was bringing it up and when you were extending on it I have I’m gonna plant a seed for you think about for next week and the bets are out of the US 50 jurisdictions
Plus which one do you think’s going to go under first like we need we need to start a pool and start uh put on te yeah to see which which Grand LOD is going to go under Pur in the next uh 20 some years I’m really excited about this
Actually like can we follow through and do this this is yeah let’s let’s actually like get a whole like Vegas odds on this I the only thing I’m going to dread though guys is like when we’re out somewhere and we meet a grandmas who like actually watched the show and he
Goes why why’ you pick my state yeah everything’s fine it’s fine it’s fine I’m sorry we had a one day great the four of us are going to get expelled from the fraternity before that happens and that’s how you shut down a 10year podcast yes all right let’s uh good
Conversation think about it chew on that one um but for me start a new one the unmic’d I want to do and um I wanted to focus on specifically masonry in Maryland there’s uh some things that are moving a foot uh that will will be revealed more in
2024 that uh I’m really excited to see uh how some candidates move through Maryland masonry and um I’m really excited to see what uh what Maryland masonry and masonry RIT large will hold for them so stay tuned for that we’ll try to bring them on as a special guest
Maybe later on but that is my aspiration resolution for masonry is that we hold on we do a good job We Hold Steady despite the tumultuous seiz the head and we exemplify the tenants of our fraternity of Brotherly Love relief and truth so with that I want to thank you
All very much for watching the change and keep searching for more light be the change no I’m not doing the gunshots anymore I’m doing not doing the laser beams I’m doing no I’m doing the laser beams cool you do that I’ll switch the be
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