Hey Chris yeah Fred what’s a Mason that’s a really good question Fred you’ve reached the internet’s home for all things masonry join Chris and I as we Plum the depths of our ancient craft from the common gavel to the trout nothing is off the table so grab your tools and let’s get to work this is on the level well brother Chris once again on
The level with Fred and Chris uh survived another week wow so um I see you’re uh adjusting the camera there as we speak in our intro just hey hey a he’s back he’s back what’s happening Brother sorry about that I don’t know what happened there it moved it moved
Yeah we started off with a little bit of tech sorrow uh this morning but uh looks like uh looks like we’re underway Tech ghost is attacking us this morning that’s right there are tech there is there are ghosts in the machine uh Gremlins yes it’s it’s almost always user error yeah
However no Gremlins it’s Gremlins dang little things uh well brother um yes I gotta say our our Master Mason lessons from Master Mason part one was an absolute overwhelming hit yeah that was uh pretty crazy oh man I mean the response is still coming in I mean it’s absolutely amazing to me I
Think people really want to talk about the Master Mason degree well and and I think they they also uh I think we as as a fraternity are just hungry for the the esoteric teachings yeah of masonry for the the basics and then on through to
The the upper side of it I think um I’m ready to commit a bulk of our time on the pod podcast to in in fact teaching out of whatever manual book Andor basic teaching esoteric teaching of Freemasonry um as a rule what do you think I think we can make that happen I
Mean we’re here to serve so that’s right that’s right uh I’m glad that they want to talk about this stuff because it’s what we want to talk about too yeah that’s right and it’s it’s amazing to me how it’s such a need um and it kind of speaks to the you
Know where wherever you see a need um it immediately identifies a deficit right a need a a major overwhelming need is I is identifying a deficit well just we’re just tapping into our own desire I mean we really just wanted we tried doing this in the lodge we tried inviting
People to come sit and talk and it didn’t work out people didn’t come but we still had a desire to talk so we said we’ll do it on a podcast right on and here we are here we are okay 19 is episodes in I think yeah yeah I think uh
This would be 19 yeah what do you think we End season one with uh this Grand Lodge session maybe we do it like all right Grand Lodge Cycles okay Grandmaster means a new season new Grandmaster new new uh new season um we have not confirmed it yet uh since you
Mentioned it but uh we will be at uh Grand Lodge yeah uh in Orlando um coming up here we’re not sure if we’re going to be invited to speak uh on the big stage uh but we will be having a booth there and we will be
Attempting to uh do some live not live broadcasts but podcasts from uh there and interview uh some some brothers I’ve already asked a couple if they could make themselves available they said they would so I’m pretty excited about that and then we’ll we’ll see if you listening want to be on the podcast
Maybe you should come by yeah that’s right come by just do a bunch of little quick spots of listeners that stop by to say hi yeah that’d be a lot of fun s out their name and lodge number position if they have one you know oh that would be
Awesome that’d be very cool yeah yeah so we’re we’re def we’re going to be there um our Tech guy is uh he’s he struggles he struggles so but that’ be me but I’m going to do my best to set it all up and and get it running I used to run sound
Uh and I’ve I’ve got a lot of experience in live radio but the tech side it changes so much you know anyway let’s not talk about that let’s talk about the master Mason degree something that doesn’t change something that has not changed for uh well at least years 350
Years so I’m pretty excited about that part uh okay so we left off last week uh at 5.2 we’re working out of the uh Florida uh Grand Lodge um mentors manual uh we are on page 20 uh which is subsection 5.3 which talks about preparation um
And of course I left the door to the studio open which is always a bad idea but let me fix that oh oh wait a minute we had uh we have we have someone who jumped in and an angel jumped in and closed the door for us look at that wow
That’s pretty awesome huh I don’t I don’t know I don’t know how that happened but it happened Jedi Mind powers are strong this morning Jedi Mind Powers that’s right you want to close the door all right so enough of this Chris come on now fine they’re all yelling they’re yelling at their right
Now shut up shut up Master Mason degree Master Mason degree let’s focus so I’m going to read from 5.3 5.4 and 5.5 not in a row we’ll we’ll start their their paragraphs so I think they’re very very informative uh we’ll land on 5.5 which is the obligation I don’t know if we’ll
Get to um 5.8 if you’re following along in your mentors manual uh 5.8 of course is Masonic explanation of dotage fool libertine and profane and I think it’s going to be and a great uh teaching I I kind of dug into that one a little bit
But I don’t know if we’ll get there maybe we’ll save that for episode get number three yeah preparation okay uh the observing candidate will discover several differences in his preparation for this degree when he Compares it with the other two through the clothing he is again reminded that he is to be humble
He is also taught that his obligations become more extensive and binding each time he advances he is again reminded that he attains many of his desires only with the assistance given him by a friend and brother preparation brother what do you think about that yeah I mean I think by
The time you get your master Mason degree you start to feel like I know what’s going to happen I have this under control uh this preparation isn’t totally foreign to me now I came to expect it I’m laughing about it it’s it’s a cool normal thing by this time
But hopefully um in your educations you’ve learned to try to look at what’s happening and start to put the pieces together in your mind of why am I being prepared this way and I think this time when you go through the actual ritual and the ceremony you’re probably
Connecting the dots better of what’s happening to you and why you were prepared this way better than you did in the past so it makes a lot of sense why people are really interested in the Master Mason degree because their experience they were much more aware of
It they were probably more felt a little less afraid of it a little more in control of it and so this first half of the Master Mason degree is probably a very exciting you know they’ve been building to this for six months almost probably um and everybody tells them
What a big day it is uh and so yeah I don’t think they’re completely shocked in the preparation room I think it’s probably a rhythm you know they’ve been with these guys now for months that they’re getting prepared with if they’re doing it together with somebody um and
They’ve gotten the education and they’ve gotten all the pre-education so from what I recall the Master Mason preparation time was an exciting time very exciting it was near not nearly as nerve-wracking as the first two yeah I agree I agree when I uh Entered Apprentice uh in the preparation room I
Had no idea what was going on and the dear brother who read the pre-initiation um uh Mentor out of the mentors manual there’s a pre uh Entered Apprentice initiation um talk that you give and he had did this dear brother whom I love dearly decided to write his
Own and did not read out of the the manual and um though I think had I been more knowledgeable of the basics of Freemasonry that would have been helpful but I knew nothing I had no idea what was about to happen at all so I went in into this uh not only a
Little fearful and apprehensive but completely clueless because you didn’t get properly mentored correct correct uh and there are there are there are reasons for that that um that legitimate reasons for that we we’ve gone over that in other podcast but I think that’s probably an issue many many many Masons
Have faced yes I agree i’ I’ve spoken to many Masons and and they’ve said the same thing that the the the pre-initiation talk for the Entered Apprentice degree is is Paramount uh you got to get that right uh in your lodges um you you’ve don’t write your own don’t
Write your own get the manual out study it and and and give them the time also what what was happening is that everything was happening so quickly that there wasn’t time to just sit and digest what was being said I think that’s I think yeah I don’t know if this is
Possible I don’t know why we’re talking EA here but I I don’t know if it’s possible but I think that perhaps that pre-initiation thing should be done the day before or perhaps at a meeting of just those guys coming up sitting down in a very calm you know coffee shop kind
Of way and and and give them you know the the overall things about it so to your point by the time I got to the Inner Room for masteron degree I completely understood because I took the time to go back and understand EA understand fellowcraft and now I was
Looking forward to yeah Master Mason and I was able to completely understand what was being said to me right uh and then going in uh you know I was very very keen on what was being said um and I was listening very intently to what was
Being said yeah which of course is part of the progress right so EA fellowcraft to Master Mason we come out of Darkness well into light you know then we we we are given education and knowledge uh and now we’re being raised to this Sublime degree this this this final but not
Final but not final uh degree of uh of fellow of of Master Mason Chris is touching the wires and and they’re going crazy so he’s going to stop doing that now very sensitive technology and and since you knocked me off my thought Chris go ahead wow so apologize it was
It was this connector right here ah so uh yeah I mean the the format of The Three Degrees becomes familiar right to you as you as we both just said and that that gives you a level of comfort familiarity and more presence of mind so I think probably your third degree the first
Section is your most prepared most aware most engaged degree you’re going to get Plus at that point you already understand this is the last biggest one that you’re going to get right the most important one everybody tells you there’s no degree bit better better or bigger than the third degree right so
You’re just it’s one of those moments in life where it’s going too fast and you just want to enjoy it you just want to soak it up so much right yeah whereas that first degree especially feels like an eternity you’re just so confused the whole time and just have no idea and
You’re like you don’t know if eight hours just passed or one it’s so true that is so that is so my experience right and then by the time you get to the Master Mason degree you just want to just soak up every moment of that and it
Just feels like it’s over in the blink of an eye and it can even be a little disappointing to people I think they like dang I wish I could have hung on to that a little longer something else happened that I wasn’t expecting um which is a great uh setup
For the second half which uh for me I had no idea was going to happen and I was completely shocked which is probably why I had such an impact on me and still has a lasting impact on my brain uh just because it was such a shock a complete and total shock that
And then when you see what’s happening and you’re going through it it was like just new surprise after new surprise I was like oh my gosh this this degree with people understated what I was going to experience here today I was completely shocked that uh there were brothers trying to
Act uh it seemed to me that they were trying a lot harder to act and costume help that you know dressing up probably helps a lot you hear that from actors once they put on the costume they felt like that part right that’s right so that could has something to do with it
In our lodge we use costumes I know not all lodges do but if you can get your hands on some it really enhances the ritual both for the performer and for the person going through see I didn’t know that some lodges don’t use costumes in the second part because to me that
Would be that would totally negate the entire the entire thing to me the costumes were huge I mean the costumes are huge to me um you know having um you know being a Master Mason and going to other lodges or even in our own Lodge and witnessing uh the degree um as a
Master Mason and seeing the spectacle yeah um it is it it and I think that’s that’s probably the next level right you go through it yourself yeah uh and then when you have the opportunity and privilege to sit you know amongst brothers who are going through it beh coming up behind you then
You really get you really that’s when I got it the the first time I sat through the Master Mason degree and saw the raising yeah right that part of the raising right and we’re going to go through the the mentor’s manual does talk about the legend of hyam a Biff uh
In there which is about as far as I’m going to go as connecting the dots there but um yeah that part of it was meant a lot to me yeah even that I had no I wasn’t understanding the significance of it at the in the moment because no one had
Prepped me for that or told me about it so in my mind this was just another step in what I was going through I didn’t realize how Monumental that moment was right and the connection the person was trying to make with me that was actually in that part of the ritual with
Me in that moment uh it took some months before I realized to looking back at how important that was which was also a cool experience you know yeah to have it the awareness come much later and then looking back going oh my yeah that’s right wow that my mind’s going right
Right how crazy is this ritual uh keep surprising me and still like you said The more you go back to it the more you uncover and discover hidden within it that’s maybe not so obvious and not explain to you so plainly yeah right right you start looking for that in
These things as you go more and more to them and start participating more and more in them you’re looking for those little things that you missed or you’re like a that what was that what was that what was that I never thought about that before um and you start to really become a
More more of a uh what’s the word archaeologist you know how they’re hunting to try to uncover the Mysteries that’s you you’re hunting through these degrees trying to find Clues little little things maybe nobody’s talked about that are in there and some of those we’ll be talking about here but the preparation itself
Shouldn’t be alien it shouldn’t be new you shouldn’t be surprised much by it that’s right the details of it are very interesting and especially when you look at it as a whole not just this one but when you look at the first the second and the third and the preparation
Itself and start to see the bigger picture of how there’s a pattern and a and a complete system here between the three degrees Yeah I and one thing that I was I I I remembered um about the the masterm degree I when before we went
Through the door uh just as the you know the door was open for the second time and we were being led in somebody whispered in my ear I know who it was it was a dear brother whispered in my ear and he said to me um I want you to he
Didn’t say I want you to he he said who is who is H a Biff really yeah someone whispered that uhuh yeah and so and of course by the end of the night I did not know really but the second time I saw it and witnessed it that’s when I realized
And I’m not going to say and if you’re a master Mason and you know and you’ve done your studies uh and you’ve been paying attention you know exactly who he is uh and that’s all I’m going to say about that but um but what what this
Degree is trying to use ham abff as the vehicle of is teaching he’s the right he’s the focus but the you know he’s a vehicle to teach the moral lessons that are supposed to come through in this degree right yeah that’s right we’re not worshiping Haram iff as a deity in case
You’re listening no HFF is a character in the overarching story that helps the story culminate in the uh the largest moral lesson which is uh going to be talked about here so if you’re not a a Mas and you’re listening to this we by no means are
Worshiping someone named ham a Biff as any kind of a deity we don’t have his severed head we don’t do circles around it that’s right yeah uh and it’s just a character that’s uh I think pulled from the Old Testament it is and fleshed out for the purposes of telling a really
Strong moral lesson yeah ham ab’s boss uh the king of Tyre would have is is in the scriptures anyways if you’re are listening to this podcast and you are not a Mason good on you man good on you go down to your local Lodge they have an
Open house and talk to those men uh and see if this is something for you see if this is something for you all right we get a lot of emails that say Hey I don’t know what how do I join and always I have to tell them just Google Freemason
Lodge near me so if you’re listening you’re not a Mason just Google Freemason Lodge near me that’s right and you’ll probably have options there’s probably more than one and then if you did that please email us and let us know what your experience was we’d love to talk to
You about it yeah so let’s move on to 5.4 which is the reception um and I like the way this reads it’s a little little and I like the way this reads and it reads like this as in the preceding degrees before you get into the reception I’m so sorry
I just had a a image in my mind because we’re this is the last preparation we’re going to talk about so I was Steward in a degree wasn’t mine uh but these guys one of them was a good friend of mine so I was paying special attention to them
Uh as you do when you Topline sign you want to make sure your person’s prepared and you’ve got them ready so I kept popping in on the preparation room and they were getting ready and the last time I popped in before they came in to read you know the education guy there’s
Three of them and one guy sitting in a chair and he has both of his legs behind his head and I said what the what in the God’s name is going on in here and these other two guys are looking at me like help us oh God help us apparently this
Guy just decided hey look what I can do you know while they’re prepared in their you know degree and this brother is still at the lodge he’s still in our L member of our lodge yeah do not not Ral his name and you’d be shocked when I
Told you because you would not believe this person was doing that yes I would be uh but but that was probably the funniest thing I ever saw in a preparation room was just shocked by a guy who’s doing some kind of contortionist stuff just probably to make the other guys uncomfortable
Because they probably weren’t like I said in the third degree you feel more confident so something like that will oh wow this is interesting I for I find myself speechless which doesn’t happen very often so yeah yeah I’ll next time I see the guy I’ll see if I can get him to do
It for you no I’m I’m gonna I’ll probably pass on that brother it’s all good no worries man I don’t want any injuries you know to be pass become less flexible that’s right bringing new meaning to the word flexible uh here on the on the level with Fred and Chris
Mason flexible all right please 5.4 everyone’s saying please please 5.4 5.4 is the reception so preparation inside reception opens up outside uh as in the proceeding degrees reception is meant to include clude all of the ceremonies transpiring at the inner door the instrument to which attention is called
Reminds one that all of the tenants of freemer must be implemented in the heart if they are to if they are to serve their ultimate purpose and become a part of your way of life to be fully effective in all of these to be fully effective all of these must bear fruit
Through their practice in our daily lives so a little bit difficult to understand if you don’t know uh Freemasonry because it says right the instrument to which attention is called well that’s uh protected they’re being a little vague yeah they for a good reason because that’s something we can’t
Actually talk about that’s privileged information for Master Masons only um wink wink however it whatever it is um it does it does speak to um the the fact that everything up to that point you know um is is is part of your education and what it’s what it’s reminding us is
That EA fellowcraft Master Mason teachings is a complete system yeah that encompasses you know your entire life if you truly want to walk in the way of a Mason then you’re you’re going to implement like for instance the working tools all of them uh and of course in
The Master Mason degree uh the main work tool is a is a metaphor for all of them that that we use all of them in life to make us better men better husbands you know better churchmen whatever it is that you do in life better better at
Your work uh we use all of the tools all of those things and I I I really wish we could give more information because that particular part uh and I’m tinti tantalizing tinzing tizing tantalizing I don’t know I’m I’m uh if you’re not a Mason uh and this
Is uh causing you to want to uh know more then good I I hope you will again uh Google uh Masonic lodges near me go down talk to them send us an email and we’ll talk further about it but anyway um if you are a Mason if you are amazing then think about
This you’ve been given five core working tools right two in the first degree and three in the second up until this point and you’re coming into the very beginning of the Third degree and there are a lot of working tools involved in this degree if you think about it
There’s a sixth core working tool that you’re going to be shown in this degree which is the one um not the one we’re talking about right now this Implement is from a previous degree but uh you will have six core working tools by the end of this degree but at the very end
We cover many other um symbols and emblems that are related and some of them are working tools um and some of them are just symbols and emblems but there’s a lot of that in the Master Mason degree but at the very beginning I like what this is telling us
That that experience of being received and that Implement that’s used is is supposed to be putting in your mind that all of these tools and all of the methodology that you’ve learned up to this point contain the whole of Freemasonry and it’s alive within you your heart um basically you are Freemasonry
Now you contain it within you you carry it into the world you car with you everywhere you go you should be by the time you leave this degree a full-fledged Mason that understands all of the core you know principles tools and tenants of this fraternity correct and you should have accepted it in
Yourself by the time you become a Master Mason you’ve dealt with your instructor your catechism person your classmates you’ve toiled in the quaries with them you’ve proved your proficiency you’ve learned a lot of lessons and hopefully you’ve actually been applying some of them to your life by the time you go
Through the Master Mason degree and you’re prepared to become an actual full-fledged member of the oldest fraternity on Earth I amped up a little bit too much when I have a catechism class uh I start texting them like a few days before their Master Mason degree telling them to enjoy their last few
Days on the earth as a profane uh because about to become something more than a man uh and I keep that going right up until the hour of their degree so I just the expectation so high I love it in their mind by the time they get
Their degree but that’s what this uh reception is basically telling us you’re different now right you are a free basry it’s inside of you and it’s a reminder at the very beginning that everything that you need is already inside your heart yeah that’s right so you’re uh
You’re in the Inner Room right uh in preparation inside the room the door is open and you you come in and you are you are different yeah you you are in a different place and and in 5.11 uh of the of the of the manual we’ll talk
About the working tool of a Master Mason which obviously we can talk about because it’s published in this book which is the trol of course which represents a lot of different things I don’t want to go too deep I don’t want to I don’t like giving away too much I
Don’t want to ruin it first thing for anybody and also um it’s ours it’s it’s ours these these esoteric teachings uh the teachings that you can only get within a lodge um they’re ours they don’t belong to the world they belong to us if you’re a master Mason today and
You’re listening to this uh we share something in common that that the world is not privy to and to me that means a lot to me and I’m sorry I I know it’s uh a little maybe it’s a little uh well I wouldn’t say clicky revolutionary I
Would say that it is uh This Is My Tribe you know this is my clan My Tribe my people and we have a a very old tradition um that has been handed down you know through through these generations and I do like to protect it yeah you know I am offended by people
Who want to go out there even though most of them are a joke go out online and listen to some of these Knuckleheads but I hear it at the dinner table at my wife’s and it goes on and on and and frankly I hear it too from people and I
Just I just kind of smile and it’s like I’m I’m kind of it it’s kind of I’ve said this before on other podcasts it it it’s kind of funny to me to listen to them talk about people they’ve heard on the internet who say this that and the
Other about masonry but here’s a live human being that you have a relationship standing before you saying no it’s nothing like that and they’re like oh no you’ve got it all wrong it’s like wait hold on hold on anyway let’s just stop right there I by living this you can
Change people’s hearts a little bit like I I have seen it like my my wife’s family hates masonry they’re very religious and I I’m not saying that because religious is bad I’m saying that because being very religious they heard bad things about Freemasonry correct yeah and they don’t even know where they
Heard it right but they know stuff and it’s not good and they have this really negative View and so I like you they they like to make fun of it they like to you know right always go over the line on the negative side and uh I don’t
Fight anyone anymore I just try to do what Freemasonry tells me which is don’t engage in it you know keep focusing on myself and my time and so my actions show who we are yeah that’s right I always show up when they need help uh
You know when I if I can help with money with time with the borrowing or finding somebody’s job in the family I’m always the guy that’s trying to be helpful right and when political things come up or religious things come up I just don’t engage um and now they’re at the point where
They’re curious and so they’re having their little their conversations and it’s religious political or whatever and they said what what do the Freemasons think about that I’m like nah I’m not really at Liberty to talk about that you know and now they’re very curious they they’ve gone from being like angry and
Hostile to you know the way I present myself is different than it was before Freemasonry so they’re very curious like what uh how did I get this way and how did they help me and what do I really know and the less I tell them the more
They think I know yeah right right yeah it’s and I love that I just absolutely love that kind of stuff all right so the TR um to me is uh it’s a perfect metaphor you know of spreading the cement of Brotherly Love and Affection and to use that Tri one must have a
Working knowledge of all the other tools uh and um I will say that we are speaking uh April 29th up in Hillsboro and one of the other speakers is uh brother John Nei and he goes through the working tools in a really really powerful way if you ever get a chance to
To listen to some of his stuff online um it’s it’s it’s really powerful and he kind of brings through those uh you know the the working tools up to the trol uh which is of course spreading the cement of brother love and affection and and and again the three degrees are out of
Darkness you know into light uh then preparation education and knowledge and then taking the knowledge taking everything that you’ve been given and implementing it into your life into your world uh and and into the people you know around you uh into your Lodge and and I just the metaphors the
Work uh that has gone into this ancient Craft um is and I I get it lately we’ve been getting a lot of requests from for Chris and I to come speak about esoteric teaching Masonic esoteric teaching and I get it I I understand why yeah because
It’s so deep and it’s so necessary right now yes uh in this in this country especially in the lives of our young men who really need to find some moral compass uh and a and a tribe to belong to and a good purpose to to put
Themselves into we see it uh we we get all kinds of uh uh people writing in and and and talking to us about hey we we need need this in our lodge we want you know we we want you to come and talk to
Us and I think I don’t know how I got off on this tangent but I just think that again as as we we look into this Master Mason degree getting to that place in masonry where you have what you need to begin the actual work in the
World uh is just extremely powerful um and I I encourage every man listening right now regardless of whether you’re ea uh fellowcraft or or Master Mason maybe you’re a Master Mason who’s been one for a long long time go back to the fundamentals go back to the principles
And the principles of making yourself that that good man yeah and spread that love uh uh Brotherly Love and Affection relief all of the things that our craft teaches Lets All of Us make a let’s make that determination that we’re going to study it and then we’re going to go out
And live it ah that would be fantastic because I think it’s coming well this degree in particular is about um old age you could say manhood it’s about that point in your life where you’ve achieved some wisdom through experience and um ultimately age and death and uh the one thing that this
Degree aside from that which is a highlight of a point point in masonry that I think is never left behind which is that your your mortality is something you need to keep in the Forefront is harmony okay that’s like the tool that is given to you in this degree does say
All the Implements of masonry that you’ve learned so far are important but this degree is about learning how to be harmonious with people how to stick together how to have decency and love for each other right this is what we’re really I mean the world is sorely missing this
And our political leaders yeah our religious leaders our Business Leaders wish they were Masons um because back when Masons were involved in those things government politics and religion uh we were a stronger better people absolutely and um we’re now the opposite of harmonious in most of those positions I just mentioned uh we
We don’t care to work with each other we don’t care to hear each other we don’t care to understand each other it’s the opposite it seems like we’re rewarding people that are inflammatory and defamatory and accusatory and all these nasty things are being virtuous in our society now yeah
Uh so really if you’re going to get into masonry you can’t you got a tough journey ahead of you um because the world doesn’t value the things we value anymore and so we have the hard job of trying to bring that back into fashion and trying to bring bring you know
Integrity courage love Harmony working together respecting each other back into the world basry isn’t meant to we we talked in the early degrees if you recall about the EA degree basically putting training wheels on you right and saying okay this is how you’re supposed
To live your life and you do it in the lodge because you learn and that’s how everybody behaves and so you behave that way that’s train training wheels those Wheels need to be off in this degree right you’re supposed to be able to take all that stuff you do in the lodge which
Is be courteous understanding respectful loving out into the world and do that with your neighbors with your co-workers with your bosses with people that you don’t like um and so you know I I hope that people really take that message that this degree is trying to tell you which is
It’s time to grow up it’s time to go out into the world is trying to bring Harmony everywhere you go into everything that you touch as much as you possibly can yeah that’s I mean that’s a good summation this degree hammers Harmony and how important it is to society yeah
Well and and Harmony is of course the other two notes uh that uh coincide in the chord right so the the a chord is H the a note uh and then C and E are those two harmonies so if I were to sing an a
A and you were to sing in E we would be singing in Melody and Harmony and um we’re not going to do it and any music people out there if I’m wrong please tell me I think I’m right it’s been a little while since I did any music
Theory all right number 5.5 the obligation which um we could definitely spend an entire episode uh talking about this and believe it or not it’s just a short paragraph and I think that’s for a reason because there is so much here there’s a lot they just they just give
Us a blurb on it and then you can you can take it from there but I do like the way it’s worded it’s very good the obligation is the heart of the degree for by its assumption by its assumption one obtains the Privileges the rights and benefits of the society in which he
Has sought to sought membership the new Mason must be reminded that a knowledge of the obligation is essential is essentially necessary if he is to keep and perform it every brother should commit this obligation to memory and employ it as a yard stick by which he may measure the minimum Duty toward God
His neighbor and himself and i i i s i put a box around that word minimum Duty your obligation is the minimum standard that we live by and uh that I mean that’s that’s a high standard yeah yeah and it’s the minimum and it’s the minimum this is like it’s the starting
Point right this is what makes you a Mason if you can do this minimum expectation but it’s h that you can do much better and greater than this uh tough order yeah and I think uh that that that it it says here in the uh stuttering stuttering stuttering
Stuttering not get off maybe not enough coffee or maybe too much coffee I’m not exactly sure don’t get nervous but it says it should be committed to memory and employed as a yard stick you know when when I think when it says committed to memory I it’s it’s in other words own
It you should own them so there’s the three obligations they all they all work together they all build on each other and come to this one Crescendo but um it’s it’s that that you you should own it so as you as you go through life and
As you see situations arise in your life that obligation should be on a subconscious level guiding the things that you do and say um and you know the the focus is toward a brother Mason yeah uh in and masonry and a brother Mason but it is clearly also gear also points
You to the World At Large and the way we are to behave uh in in the world I think it it is geared towards the individual’s relationship with the world but it does say mo most especially you got to remember to treat your brothers this way right yeah that’s right
Definitely try in the world world but you absolutely need to treat your brother this way and this is this is training for life and I’m going to say this I’ve said it before on other podcast it’s it just breaks my heart that um you know the church that I attend uh as a
Presbyterian um they don’t they don’t outright teach this stuff it’s assumed uh there is no there is no manual um what they’ll tell you is the scriptures are the manual which is true which is true but there is no man who who extracted from it uh and sat down and
Said okay here’s here’s a systematic way of organizing your life in a fashion that is beneficial to God and man uh and it just breaks my heart that they move further and further away from it seems uh I went uh last Sunday I was in in
Church and the sermon I heard I I I could have been in tears at its lack of relevance uh in the in the life in the current lives of of young men do they take feedback is there anyone you could oh no church is not real they’re not
Real good at feedback never never real that’s not true maybe they have been but in my experience my 35 38 years experience of being in and out of church ministry um feedback is not really um I don’t even know where you would I guess you could have a private meeting with a
Pastor and tell him how you felt about a sermon but sounds really serious though in my op in my experience I’ve done it more than once um at that point your relationship with that Pastor generally changes and you are no longer you know on the inner circle I’m sorry to sound
So negative I look I am a member of good standing at a church I attend my church regularly um and I participate wherever I can within it simply because I am commanded to by the scriptures but there is no greater critic of the current state of that of that or of those
Organizations than I am because I left I tried for 25 years to find a place where we are teaching how to do this how do you do this that’s great okay I get it I understand salvation I understand all that I I get it um but the parts where
We have to go out into the world uh and carry each other and help each other and build each other up and forgive each other where where do we teach that at and fortunately unfortunately and fortunately I found it in the oldest fraternity uh that is known to society which is
Known as Freemasonry and again um I support the church 100% I support him with my tithes and and with everything I do but they are sorely lacking so if you’re listening to this and you’re a Freemason uh maybe you’re a Christian maybe you’re a Muslim maybe you’re a Buddhist doesn’t matter uh because
Freemasonry is not a religion um you are on a pathway um that is uh in my opinion um sorely lacking and privileged uh it is a privilege yeah to be a part of a systematic um uh tradition of of good living of right living right um of of
Learning how to go from Darkness uh to to that narcissistic Darkness to a uh to become a man of who gives and cares and and does unto others as he would have them you know do done to himself and you know the Golden Rule and all of the all the teachings it’s all
Appropriate and and understandable if you’ll just take the time to go through this and and and learn it anyway that’s my sermon for today we’re going to move on they say that Freemasonry is a system of morality that makes good men better but uh at our open houses uh I often
Tell people it’s more accurately to say that it’s a system of morality that gives men the tools to make themselves better that’s correct that’s more accurate much more accurate yeah it’s it’s affirming what you just said like you have to actually you know use those things they’re going to actually make a
Change right right just being aware of their existence doesn’t do anything if you don’t use them um and so never forget that this is a lifelong uh Journey that becoming a Master Mason in this degree is not the end of your journey the work isn’t over uh it’s just
Starting it’s really just beginning um and it’s something that you’re going to have to work at your whole life and you’ll go through phases I think there are times when family or work takes over your life and you just you don’t have time for anything else and you got to do
What you got to do but as much as you can come back to this I think it will help you ground yourself in your life and improve in many aspects of it uh so it’s a great thing and um no one’s going to look down on you if you get busy for
10 years and you had kids and you got a job uh if you come back every once in a while or even after five 10 years they’re going to welcome you like you were there yesterday and be grateful that you’re back uh a lot of people I’ve noticed are really hesitant and afraid
To come back after some absence yeah right which is it I kind of understand that and it is kind of the the onus is on us who are active in Lodge to reach out to them yeah I think they just assume they’re going to have forgotten
Stuff and be embarrassed uh but you know that is not the case I don’t know if that’s how it was at one point but today if you come back after 10 20 30 years of not being around they’re just going to be glad to see you nobody’s going to ask
You questions or try you these are your brothers You’re it’s your Lodge your L longer than theirs and so they they should respect you and show you um your status as an elder um in that Lodge when you come and you should be treated as an
Honored guest so yeah don’t be afraid to come back yeah no I agree come back yeah we do these Rusty Mason things we’re going to be doing one this month and it’s for people like that they they forgotten it’s been so long you know they don’t remember the words and the
Signs and so it’s a little crash course where you give them a refresher and a reminder is that at The Shrine yeah yeah so it’s even better because there’ll be drinks afterwards and before and before possibly during uh um I would encourage everybody I’m waving my my my little red
Um Florida Masonic code book uh at the camera right now for those who are listening I would encourage everyone to get it out um and go to the Master Mason catechism uh where the obligation is or the blue one which is the digest either one uh and and go through your master
Mason obligation again oh yeah and and just just go through it just re refresh I like using the codebook because it forces me to go back in memory uh and do it instead of uh you know any kind of rein course there is no actual written out reading of the catechism itself no
Not really not not really but unless you go to open books which is the last Sunday of every month here in District 23 23 uh and this month I think it’s in Porta which is really far away so it’s sometimes it’s at our lodge and and I
Have yet to make it oh really um both times we had it at our lodge I was actually running the uh Lodge work day so I was out back pulling weeds right while everybody else was side uh going through the books but I’m I’m looking forward to doing that and I don’t know
How I got off on this tangent but if you’re going to open book uh day and you’re sitting down with the in in our district the men you’re sitting down with to go through those books are heavy weights man they they know their stuff big time um but if you’re doing that
Good on you man because you are taking an active part in in really digging in to uh to what the obligation is to what what you’re obligated to do as as a Mason for yourself your family uh and Society do we want to do one more oh absolutely yeah and you’re becoming an
Asset to your Lodge you can take that you know so many uh people rely on what they were taught and they don’t go verify anything for themselves which um I understand that uh but in reality you make you wind up repeating a lot of mistakes um and
Making new ones so they start to compound over time if you’re making if you learn in properly and then you make mistakes and then you teach someone you see how it gets worse through the generation so it’s really critically important that somebody’s going to open books to check make sure they’re keeping
Everybody up to par with what the Florida work is and sometimes they change the Florida work so if you go to open books you’ll be notified of any changes that are made which is going to be important for your Lodge too right yeah and and that is what keeps uh
Masonry um uh you know speaking the same message UniFi for 350 years you know it’s the same message because of the way um the the system is set up you know the those checks and balances we get off sometimes and words are inserted and and words all words have meanings but then
That open book brings us back to uh you know the original concept and Charter uh of what Freemasonry is okay 5.6 real quick clandestine Lodge and clandestine Mason oh boy let’s finish off with this one although we only got about 10 more minutes Chris you think we can do it
Sounds nefarious I think we have to do it destine Lodge a clandestine Lodge is one which does not owe its existence to a charter or warrant issued by some regular Grand Lodge all Grand Lodges of the world seek to establish fraternal relations with sister Grand lodges many
Of these are recognized by the Grand Lodge of Florida free and accepted masons but this is is not the case with others there are certain standards to which Grand lodges must conform in in order to secure recognition the grand lodges that are not recognized by our grand lodge and The Lodges and The
Lodges Holden under such Grand lodges are considered clandestine to this extent visitation by our brethren in such lodges is not permitted nor May Florida Masons receive visitors from such lodges in their own meeting so Frizinghall of Florida yep and you can obtain this book and then you can look at it and reference any Lodge that you’re thinking of going to just to make sure that they are recognized or regular as we call them and if they’re not in that book then they are not recognized
And they’re clandestine which means you’re not supposed to go visit them and it’s it’s not because we’re we’re necessarily uh angry at odds anything like that it’s because we we as regular free and accepted masons we we hold to a standard uh and and one of those
Standards is obedience uh to to the standard so if you if you’re involved with a clandestine Mason or or a clandestine Lodge those are people who have made up their mind that they’re not going to submit they they are they’re going to pretend to be uh Masonic and be
Masons but they’re not going to submit to the Grand the the the state uh Grand Lodge uh and underneath it and you may not agree with this the way the Grand Lodge is currently being run you may not agree with a lot of the people in there
It doesn’t matter at some point in your Masonic life that’s going to happen you’re going to disagree with something they’re doing and some legislation they’re passing or the way that they’re behaving right but you took you took an obligation before God and your brothers
To not be a part of that and and it protects the fraternity yeah that I think that’s the bottom line it it protects the fraternity from those who have made a decision to be above in their own minds or or apart from MH the actual Lodge yeah couldn’t agree more it’s
Um again this is one of the things that just makes us Masons we took an obligation we took an oath we swore falty to the Grand Lodge to The Grandmaster and that’s part of what a fraternity is and you took an obligation to be part of this one and so right in
Order to keep the Integrity of this meaning that we can police our ourselveses we can M make sure that people are living up to the standards that we set as Masons uh we have to be within the system if you’re not within that system then there is no penal oversight and
People can technically say and do whatever they want right with no repercussions and that is not Freemasonry that’s right yeah we are all accountable um you know to our Brethren uh there’s a reason why we have a line in the lodge and it goes up uh you know
Up through your LGE to the to your worshipful master and from there it goes to um your uh District Deputy grandm uh and then from there it goes up into the the grand the grand line we should actually cover that in a podcast yeah that sounds the system the penal
System in masonry and how it’s set up and how it works and the process of filing complaints and stuff like that perhaps we should ask uh right worshipful District Deputy uh gr sorry no no Tom Tom habber sorry Tom Right worshipable District Deputy Thomas habber District district Deputy Deputy Grandmaster yeah right
Worshipable District Deputy grandmas grandmas I I always get the grandmas part wrong I’m sorry I’m sorry you’ll have to G slap me in the back of the head next time you see me he doesn’t care about his T I know I know he does not neither neither does does Doug but I
Find it important it’s important it’s it’s not the man it’s the office I want to the office I do respect the men absolutely but I I want to respect that office and I think all of us should and it gets back to the the whole concept of clandestine masonry you know they don’t
Respect the offices um and they don’t respect the concepts behind uh masonry if if there are any clandestine lodges out there anymore I I I’m having a hard time uh believing that there’s a lot of them perhaps there is we don’t experience it ever really here in our
Little corner of the world but I’m sure at Grand Lodge they deal with it yeah probably that’s something we have to ask them about when when we when we’re privileged enough interiew does this come up like is this an issue that you guys are dealing I’m going to write that
Down yeah that is a good question for it is I’m curious how stay tuned stay tuned fellas I bet they have stories to tell so so Chris uh this is our second um Endeavor into uh lessons from the Master Mason degree um I I see that uh next
Week uh we’re going to get into a discussion about dotage um Mad Men and and Libertines so uh I think that’s going to be it’s it’s pretty in- depth it’s actually half a page in the manual if you look at it it’s actually I think it’s a great conversation she should
Break into uh you know some different aspects of it um those are words we don’t use much in today’s world do and libertine libertine right which is a very misunderstood word I’m not going to give it away uh this week we’ll do that next week I’m actually curious to hear
What it actually means um I am uh I’m just uh again overwhelmed I’m going to probably end up stop saying this eventually but I’m really overwhelmed by the reception uh that we’ve had everywhere we go um I was at a um uh Widow Sons meeting on early Sunday
Morning uh sitting next to uh a dear dear brother uh and he was just uh they were all just really appreciative really of of the of the show and um and um I had one brother come up to me and he was talkinging to me about he he’d like us
To do a um he wants us to do an episode on on the level the concept of meeting on the level I think we did one I think we did one but his he went through a personal experience recently oh uh in business outside the lodge with another
Master Mason uh where the concept of meeting on the level was ignored and he had he had a some really good Insight so I told him that we would definitely dig deeper into it one day and bring it and I told him to be careful cuz we might
Actually call you up and get you out here so brother careful what you ask for yes yes because I can tell you this once we start interviewing people it’s not going to stop man it’s going to roll so many interesting people oh yeah I’m looking really really looking forward to
That well Chris we’re at 56 minutes or so just about an hour um I do want to expand um maybe do a after hour um uh one go go a little deeper on things and an after hour one I think one hour show per week is probably good that’s our
Goal you guys let us know email us if you’d like us to try to go a little bit longer maybe on these or do extended versions or you know behind a wall kind of thing uh anything like that just shout out it’s Fred onthel withth Fred and chris.com or Chris at onthel Lev
With Fred and chris.com spell it out no spaces we did it for a reason it’s easy to remember just hard to type but uh you can also get us on Facebook YouTube yep Spotify Apple podcast we everywhere yeah you can get us on Twitter as well yeah
Twitter too yeah you you cannot get us on Tik Tok and you will never get us on Tik Tok because I opened it up to uh take a look at it and as soon as I saw what I saw I removed it and deleted it don’t need Tik Tok sorry uh no political
Reasons there just because of the garbage that came over it the first time I opened it I was like nope I’m done don’t want it that’s why I deleted it I don’t know how it happened but it’s all like really inappropriate stuff I don’t really want to see yeah it’s like what
What is this anyway we’re not We’re not gonna end the show on that note we’re gonna end the show on this on this note Brothers get out your little red book today uh and go through your master Mason obligation again you won’t regret it uh and and and meditate on it think
About it a little bit more and and go back to your Lodge and uh and Shake somebody’s hand and and and uh and tell them you know that you’re you’re grateful to be a part of uh the world’s oldest uh fraternity with them and on that Chris you got anything for us on
The way out no I think that’s a great that’s a great thing to leave everybody with thank you for listening and look forward to talking more about the masteration degree in part three see you next Week
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