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 uh welcome to episode seven of the on the level podcast with Fred and Chris Chris how’s it going seven I’m I’m good yeah yeah we’ve survived a hurricane oh yeah that’s right uh hurricane yeah we had some destruction
Here in our area of the corner of the Earth but we s i I did all right how about you uh you know I live in a in a villa as you know and um they’re they’re kind of like little con bunkers they’re all real close together and low roof
Profile so nothing happened to the buildings whatsoever uh we lost a couple of giant trees uh here and there but other than that we were good um but I’ll tell you I I’ll give you a little bit of a a little inside baseball on on Fred’s
Head um I tell you man I went through this little bit of postpartum kind of depression thing I know that’s not possible postpartum but uh I kind of went through this kind I don’t know what it was but you know after my entire uh the the devastation from
Hurricane Ian for me was that my routine was completely devastated and I am a major routine guy man I if without my routine I’m a mess and I guess after you know several weeks of uh you know no electricity well we had electricity and everything but several weeks of of us as
A community not having everything and me not being out you know having to go into work and do all this other stuff the way it had went down I just went through this three three-day Funk man it was just like all right you know so I just
Had to I just had to get up and grow up and suck up and uh and because that’s what we do and uh I’m better now so anyways uh I don’t know why I went on about that but I am better now folks so we’re all good you what you experienced
Is probably everyone’s out there shaking their head yep yeah me too I think it was a lot of people felt that and your rhythm is broken you’re not exercising like you usually do you’re eating stuff you don’t normally eat might even be drinking maybe it’s a little more
Stressful than you’re used to yeah just a little bit mm and uh you know you’re worried you’re worried about not maybe not even yourself but your friends we were all cut off uh we had no phone service we couldn’t even tell people we were all right we were just in the dark
That’s right you had to you had to drive down towards the highway about five miles from my house to get phone service service yeah we’d make trips once a day just to tell people everything’s all right wow we’re here we’re uh we’re living the high life I’m eating like all
The meat in my fridge tonight right right and just so just so everybody knows um we live uh in Sarasota Florida which is just below Tampa Bay um so we as Sarasota a we did not suffer uh nearly as bad as Fort Meyers did Fort Meers got crushed my home office is down
There not home office the home office of the corporation I work for is down there and they got absolutely flattened and uh they’re still digging out there is still power issues down there there’s still all kinds of trouble uh I I was reading a a piece the other day um it is uh
There’s a massive amount of looters coming in on boats uh into the channel ways and breaking into the the you know the exclusive you know expensive homes there on the coast by boat and this is happening all over the place now so this is this is uh well this is Florida we’re
A weird place you know like they say and I’ll cut it off here every nut eventually rolls downhill to Florida never forget that Brothers never ever forget that so anyways uh this get a lot of Out of Towners here oh my gosh it was bad it was all right let’s cut off this
This hurricane Ian conversation yes yes we’re here to talk about what uh well we’re here to talk about uh the EA degree and um The Heading is uh lessons of the EA degree so that’s kind of where where uh where we’re going to start not kind of but for sure where we’re going
To start and I thought that maybe I would just read uh the the uh the the mentors manual on the EA degree it’s chapter three of the Florida um the the Florida um enters manual and uh it’s the the degree of Entered Apprentice chapter 3 3.1 and the
Heading is uh the candidates first step in the Masonic process and I’ll just read this and then maybe we can get a uh get a conversation going well not maybe I know we can that is definitely going to happen that’s definitely going to happen the candidate’s first step in his
Masonic process the candidate has now received the first degree in masonry and has thereby opened the door to another area of education and inspiration which marks the first step in his M Masonic indoctrination and progress he should have impressed upon his mind the three qualities which each Entered Apprentice
Must possess if he is to attain full benefit and enjoyment of Freemasonry these are obedience humility and industriousness he must obey those who are appointed to teach him if he would learn what is required of him before he progresses further he must have a sense of humility so that he will not develop
A belief that he knows more than those who are assigned to teach him he must also develop a spirit of industry for Freemason requires those who would know her Treasures to labor for them and that last one means a lot to me but Chris uh start us off here start off our
Conversation geez where do you go Apprentice degree your your first step in Freemasonry I guess symbolically we talk about your first step in Freemasonry being born again reborn as a man into Freemasonry we talk about coming from the darkness of the outer world to the light of Freemasonry
And uh what do we mean by light in Freemasonry we don’t mean physical light right right comes from the Sun or from an artificial light bulb we mean knowledge and understanding and information that comes from only one source and that’s somebody that we call the great architect of the universe or
The grand artificer of the universe or the Supreme architect of the universe uh or God that’s our that’s our creator and so you’re instilled uh from the very beginning with the idea that Freemasonry puts a lot of weight on putting your faith in a Creator or God
And in the very beginning of the degree we tell people uh before they’re even obligated and made entered apprentices hey before we get started we’re going to pray because this is important to us and you’re taught from the very beginning that anything you do that’s important to
You you should go ahead and invite you know the blessing of God into that thing whatever it is if it’s important to you so um you know right at right from the get-go before we even entered apprentices Freemasonry is telling us what’s important to Freemasonry right which I find interesting yeah uh and
That’s a belief in a higher power and a respect for that higher power and a subservience to that higher power that you need to invite it into any because you can’t succeed on your own in life yeah I I totally agree with that and and the the the lodge
Itself uh is uh in in my opinion it’s the only place where men can congregate together from all different faiths all different walks of life a belief in God in other words you cannot be an atheist you cannot believe there is no God um it’s it’s it’s in the it’s it’s in there
Man you you make a profession um that you do believe in uh a Creator uh and even in some places um and I’ve read it um in a lot of different places uh we we believe in the fatherhood of God in other words that God is is the supreme
Leader the Supreme Creator and founder of all things and uh and I just find as a you know as a Christian I I moved right into that that just totally got my attention like yeah well I get that part completely um but uh as an EA talk I
What what I like about the entire EA fellow Master Mason the ceremonies we do the the allegories um everything that goes to it is is the symbolism behind it and the symbolism for uh the EA the Entered Apprentice uh is birth coming from Darkness to light Breaking the womb and
Coming into light you know we we groped uh about you know it says that we we were groping in the dark but then we became you know we we came to that place um where we we tasted light if you will and now we desire further light and
That’s really what the progression yeah really is EA fellowcraft Master Mason and on is is feeding that desire for more and more of God’s light yeah so I agree that first degree is about starting over starting from Ground Zero and where do you start if you’re
Going to start from Ground Zero you know if you were building a system what would you make the first lessons you’re going to teach somebody that that that has agreed I’m going to empty my cup I’m not going to bring like you just read from the mentor’s manual I’m not going to
Bring my ego into this I’m not going to bring my preconceived notions or ideas about anything into this I’m just going to come in with an open heart and mind and let Freemasonry wash over me what would you want to put into that system and tell these people right
Away um and I think Freemasonry has clearly done it right uh you know okay you need to be a Pious man you need to be a spiritual man yes that’s a given and we were told that before we joined because it’s on the petition we saw the
Questions that we answered right but you know what didn’t we see we talk about uh the working tools uh in the EA degree are a pretty big indicator of what they think is going to be important to start with a good base that you can grow from
For the rest of your life and they give you the working tools of an operative Mason which are the 24inch gauge and Comm gavl right first lessons you’re probably going to remember from your iner Apprentice degree we’re talking about the 24-inch gauge in common gavl so we’re telling
Them okay Hey listen here’s your life you only have 24 hours in your day first thing you should probably do is figure out how to use that time why yeah if you want to be a better man let’s look at your life and are you dividing the time of
Your day into these productive buckets which are going to lead to you being a better man a better father a better citizen of this country uh you know and that means you should be dedicating time for other men and women and people are for society that are in need of help and
Worthy of help and service to God you need need to divide part of your time into your job so that you can make money for your family and you need to take time for yourself because you need to be able to relax refresh yourself you need to be able to get
Enough sleep that you’re going to be a productive person and a happy person I think those are pretty Common Sense things that you would want to put into a system uh to try to explain to somebody how to start to think about changing yourself and changing your life in
Positive postive ways really easy really simply just start from the beginning what do you do all day right what are you going to do tomorrow let’s talk about that yeah how much time are you going to spend playing video games in at the bar uh you know and wasting your
Life and if you’re going to if you’re going to go ahead and invest into those things you should be prepared for what the outcome of that is going to be in your life but if you want to change they’re giving you a pretty simple roadmap do this do this do this and this
Is the basis for how you’re going to be a happy guy and a productive guy yeah I agree uh it’s no accident that the very first of our working tools um and there’s there’s many working tools but the the main ones of course are the the
Gavel uh sorry the the 24-inch gauge the common gavel the plum the square the level the Trel and of course the compass uh and it’s no accident in my opinion that the 24inch gauge is the first one out of the box because it it it represents your time and life um and it
Ties right into the level walking on that plane that level of life you know you we as Masons are taught to value our time and to with with introspection look at how much time do I have left you know there we’re in America here most Americans are are taught and or you know
Desire to to deny their death to ignore their death to ignore their time to fill their time with all kinds of uh trivial Pursuits that keep them numb to the fact that if you look at a clock with 12 hours in it where are you uh in terms of
Your age where are you well I’m going to turn 60 next month well I guess I’m at uh quarter till maybe am I ten till I know where are you you know in masonry um the first thing uh that we are uh the first working tool we’re given forces us
To look at that and say where where am I on this clock of my life man and how much time do I have left we don’t know the time the day or the hour of our death only God knows that but we we we can look at it and then find not not
Fear not stress but urgency we can find an urgency to do those things you know that God is calling us to do in our lives and do them well do them with you know with with uh with um with Excellence you know and that’s just the
Way I see it you know and and I’m not saying I do but I am saying that I need to you recognize its importance it’s it’s really important you know and I at turning 60 and maybe that some of that depression the other day that I was
Talking about earlier what are you a month away from that now I’m I’m November 9th I turned 60 60 baby less than a month now less than a month now and uh you know my my own story of course this this journey that I’m completing started when I was 55 so I’ve
Been on a five-year journey to hit this number so I guess coming why am I on this Rabbit Trail that makes sense at 55 your fiveyear plan was to get to 60 hey that’s a good goal get to 60 at a certain Health Level Health to be able
To live your life still at 60 to be able to live to 75 as a 60-year-old that that was my goal and I beat type two diabetes and I I changed my diet and and I’m I’m working on some other things right now to try and step that up anyways that’s a
Different podcast entirely and and this guy is you’ll see his picture he’s in great shape he’s in better shape than most of the guys I know that are 30 yeah well like I told you the other day when we were talking I uh I I I make it look
Like that but I don’t I don’t look like I feel you feel your age I can feel that age man and it’s just I cannot lift the weight that I used to lift I cannot run the hill uh the way I used to but I can
Run it and I can lift it and I do it I do it well as a as a 59y old you know that’s that was the goal I don’t want to be somebody else I want to be me the optimal me what does the optimal Fred
Look like how does he act and how does he behave so bringing it back to the 24 inch gauge the 24 inch gauge you know we it’s it’s a representation of of my time and my life and it’s just so important that we all we encourage EAS and and ourselves as
Well to evaluate each time it it says it says that it breaks it out into three eight hour periods right now those are not to be followed strictly but what it means is that there are there are three ideas behind the breaking down of the 24
Hours you know obviously eight of it is for sleep you know there’s no way around that one if you don’t sleep good then you die young that’s just the way it is uh but the other one is for our vocation and help me out on what the third one is
It’s uh for the service of God and and a fellow brother the service of God and a fellow brother and to man basically and to God right so serving other people and that’s an important part I think of every system of personal growth is getting outside yourself and the
Building upon your empathy and thinking about other people and the thinking about their problems and how enriching that is to your personal growth as a man interesting lesson that it’s stuck into that 24in gauge and it’s the first thing I talk about when you start dividing your time is service to other people
And you know you’ll find that lesson in throughout the ined Apprentice degree uh the principal tenants faith hope and charity and we tell them that’s all great to have faith in God it’s all good to hope for eternal life but you have control over charity right right and it’s in the 24
Inch gauge and then again they put it into the tenants of the of the fraternity uh so that’s how important the service to other people and charity towards mankind is to Free Masonry into your own personal growth and so you know uh when I do these meetings with uh certain members
Of my Lodge with new candidates or interested parties that want to potentially join they point out hey Freemasonry is not a charity just so you know and I can’t help myself but jumping in and saying okay I agree we’re not registered as a charitable organ we’re
Not you know a 5013c right right you’re not going to get a tax deduction if you donate to the lodge I get that but boy you look at anything we talk about in Freemasonry try to tell me charity is not embedded in who we are as a
Fraternity and I’ll call you out every day of the week and twice on Sunday because uh you’re not going to find almost anything in freem missry that doesn’t tell you over and over again how important charity is um and that this is something that you have control over
That you can make your mark on other people’s lives and on the world and be remembered in history for the acts you do in life of Charity yeah yeah you take a take a young man who uh By Nature is selfish um and self-centered and and it
It it kind of makes sense a young man needs to be a little bit selfish needs to be a little bit hardworking and and dedicated and focused on his own life and the things that he wants to do in his life but you take a young man like
That and you put him into our system um and he learns how to to be to have empathy for others and to serve other people and to get his Focus off himself and on to other people that is Charity we are doing charity when we send that
Young man back out to his home his wife his family his work a better man able to serve the community and that’s I mean that’s that is charity and the word charity uh which means love it’s it’s a specific word love it comes from the Greek f f
Fileo or fileo um which means Brotherly Love or it is the act of Love at the the type of love that I have for my brother like for instance um Philadelphia is known as the City of Brotherly Love fileo that’s Philadelphia so that’s that’s what that means that’s where that
Comes from so when you when you hear the word charity you know we’re not talking about agape love which is God’s Supreme love for us or a royos love which is the love between a man and his wife um but we’re talking about a love that is
Active a love that is working you know faith hope and charity or love active caring love and and it makes sense back to the gauge right the the gauge tells us to to to serve other people to to serve the community um and and to serve
A brother Mason and and to give of yourself that’s the whole idea and I think it ties back into the three the the three qualities that are to be impressed upon uh the candidate which I read in the beginning there which is obedience humility and industriousness and I love that
Statement on industriousness listen to this uh for Freemason requires those who would know her Treasures to labor for them and it just makes me think of the brother who comes in um and says you know he wants to do the floor work uh he wants to you know dress in Fine Suits
And and I love all that stuff don’t get me wrong man I love our rituals love what we do and the way we do it striving to always do it better but if that’s all you do if you don’t do the studying if you don’t read it and study it and and
Let it come into your mind right you’re not being industriousness you’re not being industrious and you will miss out on the treasures um that Freemasonry offers us it offers us Treasures but we must work for them wow that’s powerful stuff right it sure is sure okay all right all right so
Let’s go on to the gavl talk about the gav what is the gavl actually before we get to that point I wanted to propose we go back okay yes in the beginning of the degree we’re divested of a bunch of stuff right like we’re we’re removed from our our worldly clothes and
Possessions right yeah the Armani suit is not allowed taken off right right we ask you to wear it well you came with a suit and tie that’s awesome yeah go take it off and put this on now and wear it in this specific way and so you put
Somebody in a position where they’re off-kilter you’ve removed the vestiges of their whatever they imagine themselves to be in their real life right take it all away and they may even be going through this experience with other people and now they’re just like them they’re clothed just like them
They’re feeling the same feelings they’re feeling doesn’t matter if they’re a president of a company or they’re The Gardener or of unit they’re having the same experience they’re feeling the same feelings they look exactly the same at this point what have we done we’ve shown them right from the beginning before
They’ve even started you ain’t any better than the guy next to you hate to tell you right when you take away all that stuff that’s not real your jewelry your fancy clothes your idea that you have control over this world and you’re sitting there you know half naked uh you
Know that’s how we leave this world as naked and Afraid and now you’re about to enter a new world essentially Naked and Afraid and being leveled to the point where your preconceived ideas about your importance in the world’s taken away from you man we’re sending some powerful
Messages before we even got started yeah that’s right that’s right and it when you brought it up and I’m glad you did it just brought me right back to that felt ital feeling of confusion you’re scared you’re like what’s happening to me I have no control over this situation
Right and and to come in I had my suit on I was looking good feeling good and they said here do this and I was like what wait hold on hold on I’m doing what and uh you know then like you said cold and uh way out of your element and uh
Even you know dare I say Hoodwinked for goodness sakes you know and uh and and and for me that that was a real struggle I do not I you know I’ve studied uh self defense for a long time and uh and you know that that aware situational
Awareness so to put on to put that on and to be led about uh in a you know in a compromised State you’re right total humility total humility total humility and and obedience the two the first two obedience humility and industriousness well you have to give up at that point
You got give up somebody’s gonna hopefully take me around carefully and tell me what to do because I don’t know what’s happening I just got to trust yeah I just got to put a little faith that this is going to be okay and it was
And it was it was more than okay and and the the way it’s laid out and if it’s done correctly and in my case uh for my EA degree it was done very well um I thought and it it’s so funny that when you when you go through it it seems like
You’re being L around for hours and hours and hours but then when you afterwards you you you become a Master Mason and you go and and you participate in an EA degree um you know as one of the participants you realize man it’s just not that long at all it goes by
Pretty quick but 20 minutes felt like two hours hours man I was just like when will this end this is crazy but anyway we’re beating that one to death no but I’m sorry for going backwards but IAD I’m sitting here thinking you know what there were some really important lessons
Even before that uh because we are divested of everything we’re shed of all the trappings of the world it’s all gone and we’re put in a state of material and spiritual poverty before we even step through the door powerful lessons being taught and you’re not going to realize it at the time but
That’s not the point the point is to experience that and feel the feelings at the time because you’re going to go back and analyze it later right and that’s the way we teach in freemius and yeah that’s right we we claim to uh you know that the great
Architect uh you know the the fatherhood of God who who is Creator um and we uh we are attempting to know him um so if you have to think about the the difference in beings here you know this this is a being who claimed to have created everything from nothing ex
Nelo um and it’s a big universe man so uh you know I’m thinking he’s a being that that is far far surpassed uh than anything we can really understand therefore it is incumbent upon him to reveal himself to us because on our own apart from his Revelation his light and
US seeking that light we’re really not going to understand and truly know him you know so I think you know I I just I just that that is so comforting to me to know that if he is who he says he is then he’s already got a plan he’s
Already got a plan he has to because I know in myself I mean I’m a being that if he doesn’t correctly clean himself will get sick and die so at some point we have to just humble ourselves and cry out and say okay okay show me I don’t have a master plan I
Sure hope somebody does right you got to surrender to the idea that that plan exists yeah man and that uh whatever you’re doing if you’re working hard and you’re trying the best you can that you’re you’re just doing what you were created to do you can’t help it so yeah you’re prepared lessons
Lessons already coming at you and then you want to get in there and get this degree done but you can’t because something’s in the way so you discover right away that there’s things blocking your path to light you’re in a state of Darkness clearly literally in a state of
Darkness literally trying to get into this place to get this information and you can’t because something’s blocking your path and so we’re taught right from the very beginning that you have to overcome these obstacles right there’s a door it’s can you get through it maybe not initially you’ve got to wait for
Help help comes and you do pass through the door there’s another lesson I think right there um that you’re going to face opposition to your spiritual growth because that’s what you’re seeking when you come to Freemasonry right and you’re going to be naked and afraid and then a
Brother’s going to come and give you some help and he’s going to show you the light yeah yeah I mean that’s just like that’s it man right there that’s a beautiful thing and and and how many men in this country right now are searching
For that you know a brother to uh to not enough not enough not enough not enough but we’re we’re working on it we’re working on it that’s right so um the the common gavel yes let’s go there back to the common gav back to the common gavel
So the common gavel was used by operative Masons um well you hit stuff with it right you hit stuff with it you you you chip away uh you take a rock um a large Rock most likely granite and uh you chip away at it with this gavel
Uh until you until it’s suitable for the Master’s use right um and I love that I love that analogy you know it you chip it away but but that’s that’s the Practical use of a common Gabel what is the meaning of the gavl and we all have
Our own kind of interpretations of it for me the gavl represents my willingness to work because if I show I’m I’ve been in construction my entire life so gabbles hammers levels it all it all makes sense to me but if I if if I’m on a job site
And I got an apprentice who comes in um and I hand him a gavel when he first comes in he’s not going to know what to do with it and he’s probably going to hurt himself with it but if I give it to him and he takes it and puts it in its
Proper place and then looks up at me with a willingness to learn how to use it well then then I understand the concept of this working tool as an EA the common gavel represents in my mind my willingness to do the work with that gavel my willingness to learn how to use
It first and foremost you’re coming back to the industriousness part that you exactly very beginning right right this is a tool that’s going to help you have an industrious purpose uh if you can use it the this is a kind of a like all the tools it’s got layers
It can be pretty deep the more you think about it but okay let’s start at the beginning from an operative standpoint we’re going to break off whatever you don’t need of this hun of stone to try to shape it into whatever the master Workman says this
Needs to be so whether it’s a square or maybe it’s an arch or maybe it’s a sphere whatever it is you’re going to have to shape it and it’s Rock so it’s not like clay you’re not just going to mold it you got to shape it with hard
Work so you’ve got this tool to do it uh now we’re what we call speculative Masons so we’re not physically going to do anything uh but spiritually we are trying to lay our foundation as an inned apprentice the foundation of a spiritual building an operative Mason is going to
Lay the foundation of a physical building with these perfect squares or blocks that they’re creating out of hun of stone and if the foundation is not perfect if it’s not strong you know what’s going to happen to the building right it’s going to crumble it’s never
Going to last through time it will fall uh and so the foundation is literally the most important part of the building it’s not the sexiest part it’s not the part everybody sees right but it is probably the most important part of the building because nothing of that
Structure Will Survive time if it’s not got a solid foundation so we’re talking about how to build a solid foundation for our spiritual building that we’re going to build in Freemasonry we’re going to build this Temple to God inside of us uh out of our mind right uh and
How do you make a solid foundation well here we go you’re going to have to shape your life a little bit you’re going to have to break you’re going to have to lose some of the things you don’t need that are getting in the way of a strong
Foundation and in Freemasonry they tell you that’s most of the vices in your life right yeah and all the crap that you’re wasting your life on uh they have a big word for that uh that I had to Google and I I had to do
That a couple times because I have a bad memory but uh essentially what they’re telling you is okay excessive drinking smoking gambling uh you know spending too much time on trivial things uh whatever that may be these are all things getting in the way of building a solid spiritual
Foundation for yourself right and that word is what’s that the word is super flu superfluities of Life Of Life yeah the excesses needless excess yes right to that’s that’s the definition of the word according to Websters needless excess it’s great you know because that’s the last thing people want to do oh yeah
Absolutely Absolut I love my needless excesses are you kidding me I’m an American come on I want to eat all the red meat I want to drink all the whiskey I want to smoke all the cigars that’s right yeah and you know okay drink have have one occasionally because you need some
Relaxation in your life yes but excessiveness is what we’re talking about uh these things will get in the way of your relationships your vocations and your connection with your creator they’re they’re inhibiting your spiritual growth so you know I think it’s a good idea right out the gate of
Of a person that’s in a state of recognizing they need to Humble themselves recognizing they don’t have all the answers okay you’re not we’re not going to give you all the answers but we’re going to give you the tools to find the answers for yourself and that’s
What you haven’t been able to do right with your life up to this point um and so now you’re a new man and you’re armed with tools to be a better man but it’s up to you to use them and so in order to use a tool properly as you know you have
To really understand it and you have to practice it and you have to be taught and then practice correct fail fail I get it I get it after a while you’re going to understand it but you have to use the tools and so doing work is the
Only way that you can actually use those tools operatively and it’s the same spiritually you have to do exercises that require you to think about these things and enact them and and use them in your life and I think that’s a great great lesson that’s a a genius way to
Take somebody into a system and try to continue to help them empty their cup continue to say hey just open your ears and maybe talk a little less at this point and look around at what you see look at the other guys that have been here longer than you and hopefully those
Guys are an example of yeah what’s going to happen if you do those things well I me I was as you were talking about that I was just thinking about the you know they the the quality of of the mentor is just as important as the willingness you know
Of the EA that openness uh that they have you know of understanding what it is that they’re they’re getting into and you know I remember being on cruise uh in Arizona years ago we we used to build houses very differently in Arizona than they do here but we would have uh
Different Crews that would be responsible for different phases of a framed house uh and I would I would run joying Crews or a trust crew or a framing crew blah blah blah but you always had you had a foreman you had two carpenters and two helpers and that was
A crew uh and as a foreman um I would have to meet with other foremans on the crew and there’d be just a whole gaggle of us this is back in the day a gaggle a whole big gaggle of us uh know it alls and uh and you could tell the difference
Between a foreman who was good good um because all of his men were always working uh there very few mistakes um but they always knew where they were at all times everything was flowing and moving everyone knew their role uh because the mentorship that he was providing the leadership he was
Providing was was based on sound practice and then you had the the foremans that were in it for ego uh and in it for themselves and they’re yelling at people back in the day in the construction industry yelling at people was a way of life and I’ve seen people
Just abs abolutely just throw their tools down and beat the crap out of each other on a job site because of ego and those kids whoever those laborers were on his crew learned nothing they learned absolutely nothing and I made it my mission because I was taught very well I
Was taught by a very seasoned uh Carpenter and I learned carpentry hand to hand from from this man Joe Johnson uh who’s probably long gone by now but uh he um the the guys that don’t I guess the point I’m trying to make is that as an
EA it is incumbent upon you to to understand the people that are mentoring you uh and it’s your responsibility you know if if don’t be afraid if you’re an EA and you’re working through everything here and you’ve got a mentor in your life that’s not that you
Don’t feel right about do not be afraid to to move to a different way be polite be respectful because you’re a Mason now so that’s what we do we’re supposed to do supposed to do yes um but be but move to and look for a man uh in the lodge
Who knows his stuff uh who isn’t loud who isn’t constantly arguing and bickering with other people isn’t saying no to every new idea uh that’s out there but find find a mentor who knows his stuff anyways I’m beating that one to death too but but that’s so important that’s uh we kind of
After the degree is over right we link you up with a mentor and a catechism andru RoR and those are basically going to be your tethers to Freemasonry uh for the rest of your degrees that you’re going through so you have a catechism instructor and his job
Is to help you memorize the questions and answers so that you better understand the physical things that happen in the degree and the basic symbolism of what that meant and then you’ve got a mentor who is a different brother that is going to explain in Greater detail the esoteric thinking and
Reasoning of Freemasonry and has nothing to do with memorization work so that’s supposed to be two different people um mentors according to the system of Freemasonry are supposed to be the most seasoned members of your Lodge right the ones that have done the most and experience the most and really
Understand it on a baser level than most and the catechism instructor is supposed to be the one that has demonstrated his Proficiency in memorization and accuracy with that memorization so he can impart that to you uh because what freemasonry’s got this crazy system of inculcation uh and repetition being the
Way that we learn and memorizing things because when you memorize it you’re forced to think about it right you have to think about it over and over and over again to memorize it so it’s genius to me that they made memorization a part of this uh and you will learn that and
It’ll stick with you forever once you drill that into your head right right uh but but those are two supposed to be good Brothers of the lodge they are going to be good representatives of Freemasonry to you because you at this point don’t really fully understand you’re just a baby in Freemasonry you’re
You’re drinking mommy’s teeth still you’re not a big boy at this point and it’s tough for guys to think of themselves as not the big guy or not the most knowledgeable most experienced guy in the room humility is important in any anything you do in life and it’s funny
Because some of the the people that I look up to in Freemasonry are the most humble guys right yeah you can ask them anything and whatever they tell you they’re going to say and brother that’s just my opinion you need to look here for the right answer you need to talk to
That guy for the right answer they don’t come off as the authority I only know what I know and I’m going to give you my best but I know that I’m not the most knowledgeable um and these are guys that have been around and on everything and
So I see that the system of Freemasonry ingrains That humbleness Into You as you you know really make it part of yourself as a man and when you can carry that humbleness out into the world that attracts attention of people when they see a quiet strong man uh
Doing good things never partaking in these negative things you know not being the guy to gossip and and uh just trying to get things done and work together that’s going to attract attention of people light people are drawn to light and you have become the light for them because they’re walking
In the darkness and they’re naturally going to be attracted to the light and they’re going to want what that person has in their life and that’s how you grow the fraternity just by being a mason in the world walking around in the darkness being a a pillar of light but
You know it takes a lot of hard work to get it’s hard to kill your ego man like oh it is pretty much every major religion and every you know every real Endeavor of mankind is trying to kill the ego yeah well there’s that that old man inside you know that that doesn’t
Want he he really doesn’t want the good the true and the Beautiful it’s not natural to him he must work towards it you know to to to find that and and that’s a good we’re 43 minutes in I told you this was going to be a long one well
I’m thinking maybe a part two think so we we have a lot left to talk about flipping through my notes here and I’m telling you right now we could probably do another one so why don’t we maybe tentatively don’t don’t quote me on this but tentatively commit to a lessons uh
Of the E of of the EA degree part two I love it and uh we’ll we’ll we’ll do that one next time when we uh when we come back together Chris as always man it’s just a pleasure uh to do this to sit here and do this
And I hope I hope you guys listening um are getting a lot out of it let us know um yeah just so you know we’re we’re guys that have full-time jobs yep uh we’re both real active in our lodges uh and other lodges and our district and
The Grand Lodge we’re very very active guys we get up at 5 4:30 in the morning yeah uh we’re here uh talking with you and to be honest with you this is something I look forward to all week get to sit here and talk about this stuff I
Don’t view this as a got to get up I’m like yeah I’m set my alarm I’m I’m waking up before my alarm I’m excited to get here yeah uh so you know this is us um at the ass crack of dawn talking to you guys and and we dedicate hours so
That we can do this in the morning before our real lives get going uh and that’s what we do in Freemasonry yeah that’s right man that’s right and and the learning curves and everything that it takes to put this together um I absolutely look forward to learning it
To getting better at it and to producing a podcast that that does masonry proud that’s our goal and and Chris and I are the kind of guys that once we get onto something especially something we like we’re not going to let it go man so we
Will be here uh we will continue to produce these shows and they will get better and better please please please leave your comments we need good bad indifferent it’s okay uh we’re big boys we can take it um constructive criticism is always welcome it’ll get you to the
Front of the line around here man so uh absolutely not a problem guests coming in we’ll have some other parties but you know absolutely absolutely we’re we’re just having too much fun talking to you guys right now right keep you all to ourselves all right well that’ll do it
For episode seven man uh we will see you next time where hopefully we’ll have the uh lessons of the EA degree part two uh thanks Chris I’ll see you next time man all right Fred a
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