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 once again
W we are thank you thank you that was awesome uh as promised uh this particular show is going to be about the fellowcraft lecture um and we’ll do we’ll do a couple of them and then maybe we’ll do Master Mason one a couple of them then we’ll go back and finish up EA
We didn’t want to just blast you guys with eight episodes of the EA lecture we just kind of want to mix it up also we learned that with the Master Mason we learned that with the master like 12 episodes 12 episodes a little tired after three everybody was like you know
Writing us come on guys come on enough let’s move on so uh yeah so we’re GNA we’re going to jump into the fellowcraft degree now for many of us this is this is clearly our favorite degree yes um and uh if you are a Mason you know
Exactly what I’m talking about even the name of it uh the Winding Stair lecture uh it just it just provokes such you know such great imagery it’s a great representation of the system of masonry because that winding stairs is very public uh some lodges actually have winding stairs and they have symbols and
They have letters on the stairs that everyone can see right right uh Hillsboro Hillsboro Lodge um they have the those winding stairs and if you look they’re fifth they’re they’re they’re the stairs they are the stairs it’s amazing it’s absolutely cool I got to tell you something tell uh the warshall
Master of Hillsboro Lodge reached out to me and they’ve asked me to do a lecture there nice next month on on the day of the District picnic here in District 23 so I won’t be at the District picnic neither will I I have to do this lecture
At Hillsboro lot nice I cannot pass this opportunity up thank you worful Rich uh really really looking forward to that that is awesome I that it’s and that’s G getting opportunities to go speak uh at different lodges because of the podcast is just such a privilege that we have we
Are we are blessed we’re going to get to see a Master Mason degree in Hillsboro Lodge and potentially be small part of it woo woo exciting I can’t wait I’m there I’m right there beside you brother Google Hillsboro Lodge yeah in Florida and just look at that place guys it’s
Amazing it is amazing I any chance that that uh comes up to go there I’m going right I’m there I mean because we just love that place and the worshipful master shout out um we we just love the worful master there and everything that he’s done uh uh worful Rich um so
Anyways I know he’s listening he listens to us um regularly he’s everything he didn’t know he needed about Freemasonry what a great line right what a great line right everything I didn’t know I needed man I love that’s exactly right man so okay well good uh and um Shall We
Begin uh in the fellowcraft now now you’re you’re looking in the red book I do have the red book with me yeah so you’ll know you’ll know exactly what can and can’t uh what is is and isn’t published I’m going to follow along in our Blue Book which is the monitor I’m
Going to monitor through the monitor I have this open I’m not going to read out of it I just want to see where it ends so that I don’t say anything that I shouldn’t say yeah and I’m gonna I’m going to back you up on that definitely
Don’t want to do that the first 10 pages uh I’m always amazed how much of this is written out yeah so you don’t have to worry about anything until you get to speculative masonry wow okay so we’ve got we have some things to talk about
Here so the first is uh the SE senior Deacon lecturer yes typically the senior Deacon gives the lectures in The Lodge correct and so uh I mean I don’t know if all lodges do this but if the senior Deacon isn’t giving the lecture the lecture wears the Deacon’s Jewels oh he giving
The lecture and gives it back to the Deacon when he’s done so that he’s symbolically the senior Deacon as he does it right right okay all right well uh worshipful Burns again my brothers Freemasonry being an allegorical system all of its parts points and secrets must partake of its
Symbolic construction every ceremony has its mystical reference and every Landmark its legitimate explanation it is consistent in all of its parts which points to one and the same object kept prominently in view in all of the degrees now I guess we won’t say what that is but Masons I think generally
Know what that’s for referring to uh every landmark and every mystical ceremony constitute a plain type of some great event which appears to be intimately connected with our best and dearest interests conveying instruction by symbols has been a means made use of among all nations in all parts of the
World dating back in its history to the first teachers of man all the wise men of the East including Solomon the great and wise king of Israel as well as those from the humbler walks of life have veiled their discourse in allegory and illustrated by symbols I think that’s
Uh this is an important section because people that aren’t Masons think that we’re really shady and bad because we use symbols and that we’re hiding the true meaning of things but um as we talked about the fellowcraft lecture deals with history and science and um what we’re
Saying here is that all nations from the beginning of our recorded history have used symbols to convey ideas from pre- Egyptian times uh which was uh at least 3,000 years ago even before then they were using symbols right as a means of communication right because most people couldn’t read so Sim
The can look at something everyone that’s not blind can look at it right right yeah so um when when the the landmarks uh can we we can talk about the landmarks of masonry correct or is that the tenants am I thinking of the the three tenants or or is it the three
Landmarks um I got to look there are more landmarks um right so the three tenants I’m thinking we’ll talk about that later the principal tenants I think it comes up are in The iner Apprentice lecture correct correct my bad sorry that’s okay so the first degree in
Masonry is symbolic and moral the second Embraces history in science the allegory of Freemasonry is the building of King Solomon’s Temple at Jerusalem and our Legends date from that Epoch the working tools they used furnish us with many of our symbols and many of our ceremonies were practiced by
Its builders in order to facilitate the work of building and prevent confusion in the payment of wages the craft were divided into classes or as we designate them degrees and to each class was assigned methods of recognition the second class or fellow crafts received their wages in corn wine and oil in the
Middle Chamber hence we say a lodge of fellow crafts represents the Middle Chamber of King Solomon’s Temple as does that of the Entered Apprentice the ground floor we term advancement to this degree passing and we say past to the degree of fellowcraft for in going from the ground floor to the Middle Chamber
Of King Solomon’s Temple One necessarily passed between two beautiful Brazen pillars I um gosh it’s it just starts off so good doesn’t it do and and this is so I think this is a great idea because you know we had a uh disc esoteric Discussion Group um just the
Other day shout out that was a great group 20 of us there yeah thank you Kevin for opening up your home um that was awesome and for everybody to come out and share their time with us yeah and one of the we we we did a little bit
Of of discussion about um degree stuff and then we did a little current event kind of discussion that that broke out and the current event was you know was talking about all of this um persecution if you will uh of Masons and masonry around the country this move towards uh
Unstable people people of unstable uh mental health in my opinion uh going after Masons because of this massive amount of misinformation that’s out there it always stems from misinformation people uh grabbing misinformation and then taking you know you know taking action uh against others because of their ignorance you know and
And this right here what we’re doing today and and doing this work and we did not plan it this way but I think that this this is telling the world we’re we’re showing you uh Hey World we’re showing you there’s nothing nefarious uh there’s nothing uh we are
Not taking over the world we don’t own the government uh we don’t own any of that stuff what we are is uh a a group of lodges fraternal lodges around the country uh underneath a state uh headship uh of of a Fraternal Order um trying to make ourselves and our
Communities better men yeah and and these lectures and what we’re doing here uh is is that’s that’s what we’re trying to to convey to the world you know hey Alex Jones uh listen up man we’re not nefarious uh we’re not not up to anything shut up man we don’t want to
Hear from you anymore okay because he’s out there advertising for us you know he’s advertising for us because hopefully people are are listening to this idiot yes I did say idiot uh oh and and then and then they’re thinking well this is you know that guy’s a whack job
He’s the one who said the thing about frogs and all this weird crap that he goes through over and over again and maybe they’re looking I need to know the truth let me look into masonry and and if you’re that guy if you’re listening right now and you need to look into
Masonry just call your local Lodge go down there and talk to these people they’re going to tell you everything they’re going to give you a tour of a lodge there are no secret rooms there is no secret nefarious plot it’s a Fraternal Order of men who are trying to
Make themselves better for the benefit of the world and the doozy is they’re going to say it’s a religion or it’s uh satanic and you know this came out in our esoteric Discussion Group this weekend somebody uh I think we had an enterpren who is uh was it Pagan he’s a neopagan
Something it’s something unique I don’t think he I I don’t think he says I am no he says that he’s he’s he’s kind of he’s studying it he’s looking into it I believe I think is what it is and and I think his his uh he is the Universalist
Church he goes to the Universalist Church here in Sarasota so we had that brother who said this is only strengthening his uh belief in whatever that religion is to him whatever Road he’s going down we had a Jewish brother there yep who confirmed that being part of masonry has
Strengthened his relationship with the temple and his religion and we had many Christians who yourself included who said this has actually strengthened my belief in Christianity and my place in it yeah it’s it’s funny that you know I sit in a group I sit in a group uh of men who represent
If I’m sitting at the bus station though I don’t know the people around me it’s the same thing only these men that I’m sitting in this group with I know I know their religious backgrounds I know their opinions but it’s just a it’s a microcosm of the World At Large it’s
It’s and and the difference of course is we as men can discuss our differences with gentleness and respect for others and maybe for goodness sakes learn something from each other for the betterment of our fraternity and going forward for the benefit of our community you can ask my wife it’s made me a
Better husband why because it has pointed me back to the origins of my faith it has reminded me of something that I forgot and uh and it has pushed me towards this this direction back to something in my life that is is extremely meaningful and helpful and the
Symbolism uh the work that we do the degree work the fellowship the love uh you’re not going to find that anywhere else bro if you’re out there looking for something like that get down to your local Lodge and ask them some questions or email Fred on with Fred and chris.com
He’ll tell you everything you need to know yes and I want to apologize I I I set up my mail client so that all my emails would download to one source and for some reason Fred at onth level with Fred and chris.com did not get on that
Mail client so I was feeling really slided guys you guys out there I was feeling slided it’s like gosh you guys are not emailing me and then one day I opened that thing up and I was like whoa okay you guys are emailing me I will get
On those emails and I will answer you back some guys are also instant messaging me oh great um which is great and I have got to get that on my computer so that it notifies me because I don’t have the notification set up for that so you guys that are shooting me
Stuff um instant messaging me I will be responding back to you I will get that going I’ve got a I I’ve got a lifechanging life-altering uh thing that I have to do this weekend are we not discussing that we can we can if you want um and uh and when I get
Back i’ I’ve decided to make a few changes in my life because this if anything uh this would be a good marker for turning uh turning some things that I’m not happy with in my life to things that I am happy with so this Saturday um
I talked about it with uh just a few guys but I’ll I’ll share a little bit with you um on uh uh on July 16th uh this this last month uh my eldest son Brian uh committed suicide and um I I’ll spare you the details uh of of how it
Happened and um he suffered greatly for the last two decades he was a homeless addict on the streets of Denver Colorado um very much tied and bound uh by the the system the so-called justice system uh we’ll talk about that some other day uh and and he was he was just held there
Captive so he was either incarcerated um where he was actually safe uh but then they would kick him back out on the streets load him up with ssris and then kick him back out on the streets and this went on for a decade uh he just struggled greatly in his mind
With mental illness by that time uh and finally could no longer uh keep up the fight um it and there’s just so much here um and if you’ve gone through anything like this in your life um I’d love to hear from you and I’d love to uh
Talk about you know how can we bring a better awareness of what’s going on out there uh my my youngest son I have four Sons uh my youngest second to youngest son technically uh only because three two of my sons are uh stepsons and two of my sons are biological Sons but
They’re still my sons but my youngest son Eric um and uh I forgot where I was going with that so anyway it’s a needless we thing to talk about needless oh right so my youngest son and I we are looking for a way to honor the memory of of uh Bri um by
Bringing awareness to this issue that’s going on out there I learned a lot of stuff did you know you know when I when I my checkered background is I’ve talked about it on the on the podcast before but there was a time in the 80s drugs were expensive and hard to get
Um and that was somewhat of a barrier um not not for for many of us not an unsurmountable barrier unfortunately but it was a barrier it slowed you down uh today uh one day’s worth of fentanyl cost you $3 and it’s everywhere in Denver Colorado you can go anywhere and
With3 to10 get an entire day of fentol um is and and our country is flooded with this this reality uh every Big City uh in this country is flooded with this substance uh it’s everywhere fentol fentanyl which is what well I believe it’s we started out as oxycodone which
Is a synthetic form of heroin so same effect same idea but it’s a synthetic it’s a man-made type of heroin so fentanyl was originally created by the ghouls in the uh pharmaceutical industry as what they termed it an end of life drop drug so only if you’re terminally
Ill and dying do they give this to you because of it’s so dangerous and so utterly potent uh that you can only like a grain of sand worth uh is really all that it takes um so it it obviously like every other uh drug that they ever
Created uh it gets out into the streets uh and it becomes uh you know it floods over our border um it’s produced out of country and it’s it’s smuggled into the country and sold on our streets it is it is the ultimate form of a heroin-like substance extremely powerful extremely unstable
And extremely hard to administer correctly therefore that’s why people are dropping Dead all over the place from overdosing from it all over the country I’m reading the effects of taking this drug yeah and it’s all about escaping pain physical physical probably was the intention but it looks like symptoms such as euphoria
Um are people probably trying to escape emotional pain are taking this drug absolutely not feel it absolutely have to live with this right and and I know that my son also um methamphetamine was also an issue uh for him as well uh which is a very very bad drug um and I
Can tell you that um I can tell you that personally uh it is it is a in my opinion uh if the devil was selling drugs drug uh that’s the one he would sell uh because it is so nefarious it causes heroin makes you pass out and
Throw up on yourself um you know uh methamphetamine makes you steal cars uh and hurt people um and so it’s a it’s a totally different a you know it’s a totally different drug with a totally different reaction set and and so all of these issues all of these things that
That they our kids are getting dragged into them at a young age you know my son um took his life at 37 um he’s been out on the streets for 20 years man so do the math bro uh he was a young man when we started to lose
Him and we did all we could uh I will tell you on the on the good news part uh his dad me uh is an ordained minister and I had I have spoken to him um many many times on the phone while he was in jail in person over and over again about
Faith and life uh and Eternity and I am very much convinced I know where where my son is today and I will see him again so that is that is my hope uh and that is the hope of Faith sure you know and the the Christian faith has that what we
Call Eternal hope um that we will see those those members of our family again um but anyway um I’m sharing this with you guys uh because of the amount of Love uh the masana community has shown me um is amazing I have brothers all literally all over the world who would
Abs absolutely stand up with me uh and stand next to me and cry with me and and uh and hug me it’s difficult because you can’t stop or fix or help really in any way right and so you don’t know how to help now it’s it’s really strange I’m
I’m finding that to be true people that I thought were going to just like like at my work for instance these these at my work no one in my work is Masonic no one in my work is has any kind of Faith to speak of they don’t know how to deal
With this they have not said a word to me either way to Avid about they they totally avoid the conversation in every single way and the reason why is because they don’t know how to deal with it right and and I don’t put anything on them I don’t put anything on I don’t
Blame he’s here he must be okay so I don’t want to bring it up or cause any more pain I’ll just ignore it yeah and and it’s just they have no they have no um mechanism they have no no mechanism no reference point for something like
This this is what you see on TV this doesn’t actually happen to people I know I I don’t know how to deal with this but you know as Christians or or whatever Faith you are or as a Mason we have a we have an we we’re able to look at this
And we’re able to understand this not not fully understand it no one’s going to fully understand um a 37y old young man hanging himself behind a dumpster in Denver Colorado uh no one’s going to truly understand understand the Dynamics that happened there that’s not possible
But a little bit of empathy goes a long way a little bit of empathy imagine the pain oh it’s we’ve all had pain in our lives and we’ve all gone to Dark Places you understand yeah where that could lead if you didn’t check it no that’s
Right follow that path as far down as you could go yeah yeah it’s going to lead to that place my wife lost a same age early 30s her cousin same thing drugs his whole life escaping trying to escape the pain and all his family did was make it worse yeah shame
Him make him an outcast no one tried to understand where what he was trying to escape what that pain was right uh and he would probably wasn’t even capable of communicating to anybody so it was this horrible thing right right the Christian Community is
Is and I’ll say it and I and it’s true and I’ll back it up is just terrible at this um if you suffer from mental illness that’s a lack of faith right and they put that on on you you know well you just need to believe more you need
To trust more you there are chemical there are it’s it’s just scientific uh that there are chemical imbalances that happen in the brain that cause us to shift reality if you add to that drug use powerful dangerous drug use uh like uh methamphetamine extended periods of time over extended period of times you
Are just you’re you’re harming your brain in such a way that reality begins to slip from you and for the past eight years my son’s ability to reason he told me about voices that he would hear and he could he could go into great detail as to what these voices were saying who
They were when they showed up I mean it was real in his mind and in his heart and uh eventually he could no longer he just could no longer uh deal with it you know and he he his only way out he saw we reached out to him our our Christian
Community Family was not that way uh I would not have that uh we reached out to him he was not an outcast cast our family we loved him yeah he knew that we loved him he knew he could rely on us we never gave him money um because that
Would be wrong because this would have happened sooner if you did it would have happened much sooner correct so but we but he always knew that he could call any of us and we would stay on the phone with him for as long as we had to uh my
Daughter in Colorado God bless her uh his older sister uh would bring him food would take care of him when he was just so totally broken she devoted a lot of time and a lot of love to that young man and uh it has absolutely uh enriched her
Life and crushed her uh big time so I’m I’m I need to get out there and sit with her and talk with her but uh if you’ve ever gone through any of this um reach out to me man I would like to bring awareness somehow and I’m not I’m not
Going to go you know fullon crazy with it U but I would like to know uh your story uh if you have one I’d like to I’d like to see if there’s something we can do to to just bring more awareness to it’s what I’m finding is this I it’s
They talk about it on TV all the time you know that it’s an epidemic this and they politicize it and blah blah blah and they ruin it they they take away its power because they politicize everything for for gain right uh in the in the
Media but when it hits home uh and when you when you when you see it feel it uh and begin to look into it you realize this is really bad man it’s it’s really bad out there and it’s getting to the point point where every single human
Being uh like you just said you’ve been touched by it your family’s been touched by it this is a this is a huge problem in 2021 almost 100,000 people died from preventable overdose wow which is an increase of 781 J from 1991 wow so a decade these deaths represent 92% of the
Total 107,000 drug overdose deaths in the us annually yeah oh my God right I I would have to say those numbers are massive problem it’s a massive problem yeah and no one you know this is the problem with our society we’re we’re segmenting ourselves to the point where
If it doesn’t affect us directly we really don’t care we really don’t care we can talk about we care and pretend to care but no one’s doing anything about it in reality right and we’re so busy with such Hollow Pursuits until a president or a senator has a son do this
No one’s going to care this is how it is in this world if it doesn’t impact me directly uh sure we feel bad but we’re not really going to pay attention to it yeah that’s right man that’s right and and you know it that’s called empathy empathy caring about something that doesn’t directly
Impact you and making it stop right yeah and that’s have a little empathy empathy putting yourself in the position of that person you know compassion is the action of empathy right empathy is the realization putting yourself in that position compassion is the actual putting shoes to it and getting out
There and doing something showing compassion so I that’s and that’s where I’m at um sorry to drop this heavy heaviness on everybody uh it is a a major obviously a major issue that’s going on in my life and my family’s life right now and uh I I will definitely be
Talking more about it but I will be talking more about doing um about it once I understand yeah once I understand it as best I can um you need help you need some people to help you with this so I hope people answer the call that have been through
This or are struggling with it if you’re struggling with it yeah you don’t you should not try to struggle alone even though you if you get to the point where my son was you will not you will not come out of it without help you can’t
Get out of it without help you will get stuck in there the government um has set up this judicial system that pretends to be helping my son was involved in what they call drug court which is a multi- multi-million doll government operation in Denver Colorado that does nothing to
Help these people I’m sorry they just don’t in my opinion it is a gigantic uh government jobs program it’s massive and my son I’ll just give you a a clue he he had been in and out of the Denver an rapo County Jail system for for a decade
And a half okay the last time he got arrested he had already had three DUIs okay he he had he was on what’s known as a felony diversion program for drug use and possession um he led police on a chase in a stolen car while intoxicated
Uh with his fourth which would be his fourth DUI you would think that a man with this with that record uh committing that crime would go to prison where he probably would have been able to receive some help going a couple of years or three or four years maybe even that
Would have been probably five years uh without any kind of drug use whatsoever um probably would have cleared him up but you know what they did they let him out 30 days later they let him out on on on drug court diversion and sure enough uh he went from the drug court diversion
House where he was in lockdown for the 30 days and he was supposed to go to a halfway house in Denver Colorado and he never made it he never made it back there he didn’t make it one day jeez 14 to 20 days later about 20 days later he
Was gone he was gone the fin he just couldn’t he just couldn’t now these are the people that pretend to be in charge of the compassion industry uh and I think they’re getting it wrong man I think they’re getting it really really wrong and if you want to find a source
Of the problem we could probably start there but that’s a leviathan on that will not go easily uh and they’re not going to give up their grip here I go with my my soap box I’ll give up on it but if you want if and I know there’s
People out there shaking their heads yes right now I know you I know if you’ve been through this you know exactly what I’m talking about they put themselves in a position of Guardian of Helper and they just suck at it man they just really suck at it for-profit country
It’s for Everything Everything is for-profit Everything is politicized yeah your health is for profit yeah wow your ability to think clearly is for profit of somebody it’s crazy all right so how on Earth are we going to transition from that back to operative masonry which is part of the fellowcraft
Lecture well thank you first of all for sharing that I was contacted by people asking me what was going on with you right I I had that episode people wanted your contact info I didn’t want to tell people since I don’t know if you want to
Tell people uh but people care they do in in this fraternity people really care there is empathy um at least for each other which is a good start at least if we can keep it right you know like I always say Freemasonry is training wheels for life
So if you can have a little empathy for someone in the fraternity that means you’ve learned hopefully you can learn to have empathy for people that aren’t Masons yeah that’s that’s right yeah it’s good training wheels it’s good I love that I love that analogy it really
Is it’s it’s good training wheels for life and uh and I appreciate that so anybody who does want to reach out to me on this issue just just email me or instant message me I don’t know how you how you were able to figure that out but
I’m getting them um I’ll I’ll set up the notifications so that I can answer them but yeah it’s Fred onthel withth frand chris.com just shoot me an email anytime um I’ll do my best to uh to answer back and and maybe we can bring some kind of
It some kind of a awareness some kind of consensus and maybe actually do something about it masonry has answers uh for this hurting Society we have answers uh we have something here that young men uh could use to better their lives uh and I i’ I’d like to see that
In action so let’s move on well on a more personal note real quick all right we’re not moving on real quick last thing I’ve gotten to know you well I would say yes yes brother I do we have we’ve had ups and downs we we’ve had fights we’ve had times we’re pretty
Close yeah and everything’s led me to understand you better and I’ve seen you dealing with this uh extremely in a way in which you’re extremely strong outside to others um and so I really hope people do contact you because I think that really can help you uh I think it’s
Probably hard I’ve witnessed it’s difficult to talk to people that don’t know what you’re going through and we want we want to be there for you but it’s not the same as somebody that understands no that’s that’s true I really believe that’s true so I think if someone that’s been through something
Very similar to you could talk to you it would be helpful to you um so I hope people do reach out to Fred um I know him I think it’d be good for him you’d be doing a huge service to us absolutely so uh and and you know that could lead
To a good outcome for everybody because we are a idea guys we are idea guys yeah that’s right even if it’s just on a small level come up with a way to try to make a small difference and maybe save somebody else’s life down the road here
That’s right or at least prepare those in families who are going through it yeah there are there is a right way and a wrong way to approach this and uh we we started off doing it the wrong way and we learned uh to do it the right way
The out was still tragic yeah but um you know we we can look back as a family and say that we we left no stone unturned uh we did all we could we can as and I think that’s one of the Reas why I feel
I’m not breaking down now keep in mind I am responsible for doing the service I am doing the the message of hope uh at his service on Saturday yeah the hardest times are still in front of you the hardest times are in front of me and I
Know when I get back from Denver on Monday night um I got a feeling things will be a little different for me but uh I have my brothers all around the world I I have my brothers all around the world who have uh who have stood with me and
The thing is the thing is is that Brothers come up to me all the time you know who have who have who know about this situation and they put their arm around me and they hug me and some of them don’t say anything I know what they’re doing and I know what they’re
Saying to me um it’s better than words it’s better than words and and the reason why that is is I know that literally all around the world there are brothers who have the same attitude towards me they don’t even know me but they are my ma m brothers from around the world it’s
Crazy huh it’s it’s we have where are you going to get that I say it all time explain it to people it’s impossible to use words to make somebody that’s not in the fraternity understand this right right you have to experience it to truly understand it where other than a close
Like military unit I’ve talked to military guys that say that that they they they Forge uh friendships and and they bond there but other than that where you going to find a group of men world wide who can cry with you who can laugh with you uh who can do life with
You regardless of what their background is what the color of their skin is what what any any any Factor does not matter together as as as masons in this Fraternal Order we we do life together man and and it’s all over the world and for that I think that’s an answer that
This country needs I’m going to pound that on the table for the rest of my life we have something that the world needs that young men need and uh we need to get together and we need to we need to be stronger we need to make Masons
Hey worful Masters out there make new Masons your it’s your Charter you’re required to make new Masons let’s do it let’s do it together you want to you want some help go to Mason app.co gmrp you’re going to have to repeat that Mason app.co lmrp you’ll find answers you’ll find
Answers and uh and if you need explanations if you need us to come to you and we can we will wow that went in an interesting Direction it certainly did well it was an interesting moment let’s thank for sharing I appreciate it let’s let’s not finish on that even though we’re we’re
Deep into this but let’s go to operative masonry unless there’s anything within that first part that you wanted to kind of dig into that’s a pretty exp like plainly explaining what the fellowcraft degree is right why we call it passing right what the second degree represents yeah but actually Freemasonry as a whole
Is class and there two denominations right operative and speculative so let’s hear about some of us are both but not many not many Yeah by operative Mason we we allude to the proper application of the useful rules of architecture when the structure will derive figure strength and beauty and whence will
Result a due proportion and a just correspondence in all its parts it furnishes us with dwellings and convenient shelters from the vicissitudes and inclemencies of seasons and well it displays the effects of human wisdom as well in the choice as in the arrangement of the sundry materials
Of which an edifice is composed it demonstrates that a fund of Science and Industry is implanted in man for the best most salutary and beneficient purposes well there’s some big words in there there’s some real big words in there we’re going to have to break that
Down a little bit and this is why people learn this lecture first it just feels good to say these words right yeah right when you’re standing there and you say it and people think you know what you’re talking about as a lecture it’s it’s a good feeling uh makes you feel smart but
Uh for me I had to Google about half of that paragraph to really understand what the heck that’s saying um and it’s really simple um operative masonry was the building of beautiful things that’s right yeah it was the actual physical work all the tools all the techniques
All the materials that go into building something as part of the office and these were known as guilds they were the the the different building guilds right the uh that they uh today you would call it like a a general contractor right a general contractor is a gigantic company
That builds giant buildings like a company that the general contractor for a skyscraper for instance yeah right and and that that entity right is operative they actually do the work yeah right they use the tools the materials right right and and some of them do it good
And most of them do it very poorly what I like the most about this paragraph these days mostly poorly let’s be honest let’s be totally honest it demonstrates that a fund of Science and Industry is implanted in man right there this didn’t come from us it was implanted in man
This fund of Science and Industry yeah and and that is so true because in Mason we refer to God as the grand architect right of the universe and and if you look at the universe if you look at this Earth and you look at the world around us there’s architecture there man
There’s engineering there it’s very clear and like you just alluded to it’s in US implanted has been implanted in us and everybody knows this you take I remember I remember my kids when they were little giving them erector sets and Legos and these things and watching them build stuff yeah they’re building stuff
They don’t they didn’t need to be taught this my one son uh Troy he’s just like you give him the most complicated toys that for building stuff and you come back and he’s built the tajma hall for goodness sake look what I did like wow right it’s in
Us it’s absolutely in US yeah um and it’s it’s implanted in us for the best most salutary and beneficient purposes meaning we’re supposed to use this drive that we have given to us by our creator for the good of mankind yeah that’s right that’s right H there you go this
Is how Freemason reviews operative masonry well the interesting part the part most of us live in is the speculative masonry right of today that’s and and just so for those who don’t understand operative being those those guilds those those people that originally actually built speculative Is
Us free and accepted masons who take the concepts and ideas of the physical building Builder and translate them into that system of morality um that is illuminated by symbolism right and that that’s that’s the difference between operative and specul we are speculative Masons we don’t build physical buildings none of
Us are slinging uh mud not in the lodge not in the lodge not usually not usually we are speculative and and I just think it the Brilliance of this fraternity is found in in in the way I don’t know who did all this but whoever whichever group
Did this if it built up over time even we don’t know who did this even we don’t know who did this but it’s brilliant in that it speaks to men uh on our on on the symbolism and the way the symbolism is used and the way you dig into it and
And and take it and put it into your own life it just speaks to men it speaks to us like you said it’s in us and and the way the speculative the the working tools uh the square the compass the level all of it the way you can apply
These things into your own life and the way the system of degree work helps to reinforce it in your mind you can’t sorry I’ll say it again where you going to get that man where you going to get that you ain’t going to get that anywhere else rare in the world that’s
Right well let’s see what uh the system of Freemasonry in Florida says speculative masonry means shall and I’m going to stop you at some point so go okay by speculative speculative masonry we learn to subdue the passions act upon the square keep a tongue of good report mean maintain secrecy and
Practice charity it is so far interwoven with religion as to lay us under obligation to pay that rational homage to the deity which at once constitutes our duty and our happiness it leads the contemplated to view with reverence and admiration the Glorious works of creation and inspires him with the most
Exalted ideas of the Perfection of his Divine Creator gosh I love that wow W so there’s a lot there that’s just one par that’s the first paragraph right so we learned to subdue the passions Y in The ined Apprentice degree we learned to sub do the passions right in the fellowcraft
Degree we learn to act upon the square right keep a tongue of good report so that means don’t do anything that is going to allow people to say something bad about you is how I take that yeah keep a tongue of good report uh to me it would be mean don’t say bad
Things about right don’t gossip don’t don’t be a a gossip don’t run people down but build people up use your tongue for what it was intended for to build people up so I I failed at this recently you did uh I did I uh are you confessing
Right now I made a masonic error okay I was correct in my actions but I went too far okay and I did not keep a tongue of good report and oh I know what you’re talking about yeah I got myself in some hot water because uh I’m a zealous Mason
He is he is folks if you know him that is a true statement I really believe in the Fraternal values and tenants of Freemasonry and when I see Masons not uh adhering to them I want to call it out because to me they hurting my reputation is a Mason it’s hard enough
To keep a good reputation as a mason in the world but to have Masons out there acting UNM Masonic does not help any of us so uh all right so let’s talk about that for a minute I won’t say the name we won’t say the name because that’s how
I got myself into trouble yeah no we’re not we’re not going to say names we’re going to keep we’re going to use our tongue I I I did not wisdom and a good report I think I was correct in calling out the action uh but I should not have
Called out the name that was the part that wasn’t correct on my part well we we won’t do that now but one of the things we’ve said on the show before and one of the standards that we have for on the level with Fred and Chris the
Podcast is that we we do not charge no no Mason should have to pay for the the learning and the teachings and the education that they’re supposed to get naturally through their Lodge right we pay annual dues to our lodge and our lodge gives us education uh through our degree work if there’s
Anybody out there that’s trying to charge money to do this on the side I don’t care how many books they write I don’t care how many seminars they do it is not Masonic I’m sorry it’s just not and I think Florida Grand law just backs
Us up on this I think they also would agree with us and if I’m getting myself in trouble here no I don’t I’m sure I’ll hear about it you’re allowed to have an opinion and I have a strong opinion about that because masonry we’re you know we’re
We’re on the ascendency in my opinion masonry is growing again uh and and stuff like this can only slow that down if you’re a Mason and you’re paying somebody to teach you the truths about masonry I would encourage you to stop immediately because you’re not you’re not acting within the within the
Structure of your Lodge and then they’re going to say well Fred but my Lodge doesn’t offer mentoring and they’re not doing a real good job of this they’re okay then we’ve said it before brother you’re the you’re the solution you see mentoring you want it uh you desire it
Uh and you see it that makes you that makes you the change man you got to go out there and do it what you don’t want to do is lay down a chunk of money to have somebody uh teach you uh it for pay right what should be given freely what
Should be given freely within your lodge because your Lodge won’t grow uh until you get in there and actually begin to make the change we were talking to uh brother Bob down in uh Englewood Bob Gaton Bob Gaton the the the amazing bicyclist the man rode a bicycle from
California from Venice California to Venice Florida and raised something like $8,000 raised a bunch of money for for our Charities and accomplished a lifelong you know challenge to himself I I got to tell you man I just love that guy I just do a leader Bob is a leader B he’s
Already a leader but I mean as he ascends through the Masonic ranks absolutely absolutely shout out to you Bob you’ll see this guy’s going to be yep important yeah yeah he’s he’s he’s got he’s just got that focus and we like him because he’s about masonry he’s not
About Bob that no that’s right that’s right and and also um worshipable for Dawn who who started a uh catechism class um teaching people wanting to create a class um to bring guys in from all over the district and sit down and teach how to do catechism yeah which can
Only lend itself to how to do mentry we we at our lodge uh shout out to brother Wade uh and brother Cliff um who are working towards creating a modules within uh the mentoring program this is all part of of paying your annual dues and being plugged into your local Lodge
This is not an opportunity to create a side business it isn’t and it it should never be and it should never be sanctioned by you know by any official um free and accepted Masonic order at all and uh you know people will say yeah but you’re doing this and you’re making
Money right that’s what they’re going to say to us we’re making money wait really I mean in theory it could make money I guess but I mean the difference for us is we’re you know know we’re not charging any Masons for anything that we say if we made any money it would be
From advertisers that want to be able to talk about themselves and and we have been approached by several advertisers who would like to get on the show which we feel is an honor you’ll hear ads in our show occasion I mean that is how we’re trying to cover the expenses of
Doing this thing but we’re not charging Masons directly for stuff that they should get for free right right yeah that’s a line that we’re not going to cross no we will not cross that and and I just think that there should be some kind of sanction eventually for or some
Kind of official statement saying hey here’s here’s where you go to get educated in in Grand Lodge website where the mentors manual resides and you can read it for yourself you can read it for yourself we read it here on the show uh and in your Lodge if you don’t have a
Mentorship program that’s that’s good well then well then brother you’re the solution if you’re seeing that there’s a reason why you’re seeing that deficiency is because you’re supposed to step up and make that change and I and I I hope we all would and it is it is our goal on this
Show to to make the need for an outside uh education product that you can buy online not necessary and obsolete that is our goal we don’t want to see that anywhere we’re not we’re not mad at anybody don’t get us wrong we ain’t mad at anybody we are not trying to harm
Anybody definitely but but in our opinion in this show this podcast opinion that’s that’s off limit and that should not be so that was first strike in my book okay this is one thing that I was already in my mind and then the same individual doing the first strike we
Just talked about right that is a public figure in masonry who purports to be a knowledgeable person about the fraternity who is literally giving answers to questions about Freemasonry uh as if they’re truths when sometimes their opinion don’t begrudge anybody that however the second strike for me is this public person who’s a
Representative of Freemasonry to the outside world is now publicly saying political things which also I don’t have a problem with but in such a way as to be derogatory and negative to people that he doesn’t agree with yeah and and that’s just bad form that’s not Masonic
That’s not Masonic it’s bad form you’re free to have an opinion and you’re free to express your opinion but as Masons we don’t we keep the tongue of good report that’s right you keep right what we just read don’t be negative we don’t call names we don’t try to disenfranchise
People for me when I’m out in the uh the marketplace of ideas I’m more talking about what I do believe not what you don’t believe or I’m not talking negatively about what someone else believes I’m not trying to highlight someone else’s belief structure in a negative way ever I’m simply trying to
Explain myself yeah and what I believe and if there are differences if if you keep it to that level and I have found this to be true and I think a lot of people have seen it in my life if you keep it to that level people will come
To you with their belief structures and you can have great conversations sure but to just get out there and throw all these daggers and axes political level daggers and a you know it’s the I don’t know what it is the left versus right thing or the the guess the simplest way
To quantify it is you’re this side that side and if you’re on that side you’re bad yeah and and you have just and and you have just cut yourself off from 50% of the people in this country who does that who who is serious about education who is serious about life and community
And and doing better in this world and cuts 50% of the people around you off from any intellectual conversation to me that is not wise and it’s certainly not Masonic no no and uh this this individual is not alone no no no no we’re not picking on one indiv this
Isn’t even a one side or other side problem personally there are people that I have had to block and unfriend on Facebook right that are on both sides because either way if you’re going and saying really negative throwing those daggers it’s not right it doesn’t matter if you’re talking about politics
Birthday cakes whatever it yourself right out of the game you’re you’re you’re off you’re off the field as soon as you start doing that you are off the field we’re supposed to have like real discourse about things and you should share your opinions and ideas 100%
Absolutely but you should do it in a masonic way right right you have a conversation don’t don’t be hateful to anybody publicly and that’s the we’re we’re in the fellowship uh Fellowship we’re in the fellowcraft uh lecture which in that lecture talks about the Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences one of
Those Arts and Sciences is rhetoric and R rhetoric is the ability to share your ideas in such a way as to bring another person into it yeah uh and educate them whether they agree with it or not is not your job through persuasive argument persuasive argument through fact-based persuasive argument with and we’re
Masons so we’re supposed to do it with love in our hearts with gentleness and respect to help somebody else see more light so and and again if you’re just bloviating that the the party line um you’re not even on the field man you’re not even on the field not really helping
Anybody you’re not helping anybody well you might be helping yourself and you might draw to yourself some people that are like-minded and that’s a crowd that’s a crowd of people that I call a mob that’s what that is you’re cultivating a mob you’re cultivating a cult you’re bringing together uh people
Under false pretenses to to foist an an idea not your idea for positive change but what’s wrong with somebody else’s idea for negative opinion and it’s just it just it just doesn’t work I’ve been there man I’ve been there okay I I was I was the the right side guy of right side
Guys man 20 years ago I I worked for uh I I’ve worked for political campaigns um I’ve done it I’ve knocked on doors I’ve I’ve done the email I’ve done it all and I can tell you right now I it it for me it was a losing it was a losing
Operation it it absolutely made me miserable it it it separated me from people who could have been uh friends of mine uh and and it got us nowhere listen you want to talk politics here try this one on for size for the for my entire voting lifetime okay think about the presidents that
We’ve had we had George Bush then we had Bill Clinton for for two terms we’re skipping Reagan uh yeah well I voted for Reagan his last term um as a as a kid you know starting off with that that good uh High School Republican bull crap whatever it was but
Anyways I voted for him because I was told to but um so we’ll skip Reagan but Reagan’s Reagan’s man the director of the CIA and one of the wealthiest family family dynasties on the planet uh George Bush won went one term then we had Bill Clinton for two terms then we had his
Son Bush George Bush Jr for two terms then we had Barack Obama for two terms then we had Donald Trump and now we have Joe Biden let me ask you a question brother if you’re looking back on all of that how you doing how’s that going it’s not
Going great it’s like a crazy pendulum going it’s w this radical left severe left to severe right radical pendulum but all the while those people keep getting more powerful and more wealthy yeah and we become more and more separated and we become more and more uh poorer uh with less influence uh and
With less love and community so for as far as I’m concerned I think we need a better way I think we need a better way and I think it starts with not throwing daggers not throwing axes at people you disagree with but putting your arms around them shaking their hand and
Saying okay we disagree on this but what do we agree with how can we better agree and work sounds familiar don’t it how can we get together or how about try to make a log logical argument for your point in of making an illogical accusation at the other guy while you
Don’t make any point on your own yeah yeah that’s not useful it’s not useful and frankly I have no time for it and if you do it around me you’re you’re gonna get you’re gonna get a full-blown argument and if you want one come on it
Happened good I did it publicly and uh went up to my District Deputy who uh you know I had to apologize and uh I regret uh that I I did say that brother’s name that was dumb and this is you know a learning process no it is it is I’m
Generally a good person uh you are you are a good person and you are a great Mason but this is the thing I’m I’m zealous about Mason and you’re hurting something I love and so I overreacted uh I need to tack the idea not the person no that’s right I that’s
The lesson I learned from that so I just wanted to say I am not perfect and I apologize publicly to anybody uh that might have seen anything I did that was inappropriate I am not claiming to be perfect no no we’re not we’re not perfect um but but we are dedicated yeah
It’s always with good motivation and the motivation is is that this is a fraternity that we love you guys know how passionate we are about it we want to see it succeed and and you know when you attack the fraternity uh or you you you bring disrepute in our opinion theat
Yeah we’re going to have some opinions and our reactions well we need to work on those and me it’s me it’s me not well you know what it’s it’s it’s this show this show is on the level with Fred and Chris so whatever Chris says Fred says
And whatever Fred says Chris says I smelled the smoke with this situation pretty quickly yeah yeah right it it it we didn’t want to think what we thought and then just repeated confirmation confirmation it’s hard not to see it right right yeah all right let’s keep
Going let’s keep going okay we work in speculative masonry but our ancient Brethren rotten both operative and speculative wow they’re calling you an ancient brother I’m ancient they worked at the building of King Solomon’s Temple and many other sacred and Masonic edifices they wrought for six days and
Rested on the seventh this section also refers to the origin of the Jewish sabbath as well as the manner in which it was kept by our ancient Brethren wow in six days God created the Heaven and the Earth and rested upon the seventh the seventh day therefore our ancient
Brethren consecrated as a day of rest from their labor thereby enjoying frequent opportunities to contemplate the Glorious works of creation and to adore the great Creator and we’re going to stop there yeah um yeah so that’s interesting so uh this is a reference to the fact that the great architect of the
Universe built it in six days right this is in most holy scriptures right all the major ones well I’m yeah the the idea of a of of the six days of creation is yes it’s it’s Universal in the major religions yeah uh for sure I I am not
I’ve said this before on the show I am not a six- day creationist well listen everything can be symbolic in nature yeah no I I do believe that that God created the heavens and the Earth make no mistake AK about that I do believe a mind a superior vastly powerful mind is
Responsible for all of this design and Engineering that’s all around us and in us there’s no doubt about that in my mind um the Book of Genesis from my perspective gives a six day uh and seventh day of rest uh allegory uh that is first thing it’s if you look at it in
The way Moses wrote it it’s easy to memorize it’s really easy to memorize and that’s what they that’s what they did back then they memorized things right and and it also it it isn’t it it was never given um and you can see it in the writings even if you study Hebrew and
You understand the way the Hebrew language works and how it all works it was not given to figure out dates and times right that’s not what it was for so when you try to apply that when zealous Brothers try to apply that to the the scriptures and say six days only
Six day creation only otherwise you can’t be this or can’t be that they make a huge mistake uh in my in my opinion um the evidence just isn’t there I’ve said it before there’s uh uh sn1 1985 which is a supernova that we’ve been tracking for many many years the light signatures
Um that are that are seen in the sky that reach this planet are 275,000 years old that’s a mathematical fact that’s not that old that’s not that old but it’s it’s more than six well yeah the web telescope is able to look so far into space they’re trying to
Find the first light right the first light from The Big Bang or whatever you want to call the creation of this right Universe we live in Big Bang doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me it doesn’t make sense CU it’s a point in time let’s talk about prior was before
That come on like but like anything we’re limited by our ability to understand at this time and so this is the concept we’ve created right right and so the but it is a fact that we now have a telescope far enough away from the light of our own Sun that we can see
A little bit deeper into space than we ever have and we’re seeing light that is many millions of years old now coming from Deep reaches of space right right and and those are those are mathematical equations um that are that are being that are being done mathematical
Equations like when we sent Gemini into space um and we said that in 12 years it’s going to pass by Jupiter on this day at this time guess what happened it passed by Jupiter on that day and on that time why because it mathematics right advanced mathematics and as
Geometry and astronomy and algebra those are empirical facts that have to be dealt with uh so when you when you uh you you when you when you take it out of its context uh when you take the the first two books of the Book of Genesis
Out of its context for the reason it was given then you come up with all this wacky crazy stuff and you lose your credibility and that’s what’s happened you know and you you lose your credibility that’s why you know that’s why Christians are looked at as simpletons with this childlike faith
That can’t enter the scientific debate well you know what a lot of these guys can’t because they’ve misappropriated the the uh the truth of it you know and anyways I’m going we were just talking about that prior to uh recording here oh we were what was that that conversation
Exactly this we were talking about the fact that uh we really don’t know anything for sure uh and uh we just keep learning more and more and it’s really challenging our understanding of reality uh and I think religious institutions fear that because they fear that they’re going to lose control
They’ll they’ll lose the the Paradigm they’ll lose that group right but the people that prescribed to those particular faiths should should not fear this because it’s just revealing further proof of what they believe yeah that’s right and and honestly it is uh science is only helping us better understand our own
Creation and uh and the more we look into it the deeper we see and now at the quantum level uh there’s more order than we ever imagined right right more symmetry than we could have ever imagined in reality and um you know how can you not see a Creator in that
There’s there’s a mind the more you see the more you should believe absolutely absolutely the book of creation that book that you see every day go to the mountains watch I’ve said it before the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen is seeing a horse being a live birth of a
Horse that gets up and feeds you know from its mother immediately and the gestation period and all of that stuff it is it is not it is not uh by accident none of it can be by accident all of it is designed there’s a pre-program to
Every bit of it I mean it’s it’s just it’s like it’s like Sir Isaac Newton said a calvinist by the way like Sir Isaac Newton said he said it’s as if I’m thinking God’s thoughts after him that’s that that’s what he said he would he he’s he’s the father of the calculus I
Mean and when he was when he was developing a system for understanding uh understanding gravity and the gravitational pull and the the equation of figuring out terminal velocity he he he said he said he he can figure out how how it does what it does
And he can track it and he can create a mathematical equation for it but he still doesn’t know why it’s there yeah how it continues how does gravity continue to work some people want to say it’s magnetic it’s this it’s that but when you every science every fancy
Scientist ever who has contemplated this thing still must admit at the end of the day we don’t know what it is you we don’t know what it is things that people take for granted in our everyday life that we use all the time like uh I just
Had surgery not just but I had surgery for the first time and as I was about to go out the anesthesiologist was there and he had the vial in his pocket and I was like oh boy that’s the good stuff huh and he’s like yep and I said hey can
You explain how this works to me and he’s like no actually I can’t we really don’t know I’m like what you’re the expert you’re about to do this and he said yeah we observe we record we know what it does and we know how manipulated but we don’t fully understand how this
Works right but we all trust it we all trust it with our lives constantly so just because we don’t understand a thing doesn’t like there’s a saying in business that success leave tracks and so you want to see the patterns and then following the footsteps of the success
And this is what science is success in life leaves tracks and so we’re trying to follow the footprints of creation to try to understand uh and we observe and this is what science is we observe we record we experiment we try to replicate things so that we understand it and even
If we do understand the effect of something it doesn’t mean we fully understand the cause the cause and that’s what it comes down to is causality what what caused all of this and uh for us uh it is in the beginning uh would be one explanation because
Prior to the we know there was a beginning right so Edwin Hubble um postulated it and then uh Bole and the other scientists I don’t know if we know that anything that’s the thing I don’t know anything for sure we don’t know there was a beginning well we we do
Because of the red Shi the red light shift we can assume that based on our understanding of things you’re right you’re totally right and that’s that’s why I always say what is the most plausible explanation for why we are here what is the most plausible explanation but even here what
We’re talking about um where it says God created the Heaven and the Earth that doesn’t mean there was nothing before that there was God there was something there a mind a very powerful fast intelligence mind that’s right there is and and that’s the the theory that I
Hold to is known as intelligent design for that reason um that it is it is not in an age of scientific enlightenment uh natural selection through random variation just simply isn’t plausible anymore and I found these guys uh Dr Mar uh Dr Steven Meyers uh who started a
Organization 20 years ago called the the uh intelligent design Institute and and he’s just a brilliant man and and some of them are Christians some of them are not but they’re all scientists and it is it is something we were taught in high school or in in in school that some that
Nothing created everything for no apparent reason and for me that never sat well nothing honestly didn’t do anything it does still this day doesn’t make sense to me it makes no sense nothing can do nothing that’s all nothing can do if nothing can do something then nothing is something it’s
Just not possible we know that the Universe had a be had a beginning the most plausible explanation according to Albert Einstein uh Hubble and boil these brilliant men of science uh down Through the Ages that that it did have a beginning that it’s all moving away from
Each other that it’s all continuing to move uh and therefore it must have had a beginning prior to that beginning was there what was there something was there that’s a great conversation uh it just stimulates the mind so well I don’t care what persuasion you’re from what
Religious background you’re from it is a great I have had that conversation a hundred times with men uh and women um and it has all it has done is sharpened my mind and caused me to think deeper and deeper about why we are here in our
Origins you know it can only help if it’s done with gentleness and respect and the book that you currently prescribe all your belief to is full of moral lessons absolutely and if you just are willing to get past the idea that you’re memorizing facts and start learning the lessons of the stories
Right you’ll probably have more fun and be a better representative of your faith well and and that’s right that’s right because at the end of the day uh we all enter the marketplace of ideas uh and and all of us should be willing and able to give our 15 minutes uh in the
Marketplace of ideas here’s what I believe here’s why I believe it and somebody else says well here’s what I believe and here’s why I believe it and together we can all go down this path together talking uh and reasoning uh and coming to some conclusions It’s My Hope
And prayer that every man will come to a definite conclusion uh will come to what is the most plausible explanation based on your on your search I know you want me to but I still can’t do it what is the most plausible don’t know no that’s okay
That’s all right but I’m open I keep listening and I’m still searching for more more things that I can say this makes sense this makes sense I love that that’s absolutely cool that’s absolutely awesome okay we are an hour and a half in and we have done half a paragraph no
Come on we got a couple Pages done gosh we got a couple pages I think we probably end it here sorry that’s okay I think it was a really great episode um we did get a few things in operative speculative Mas we started in the beginning talking about you know the uh
The first part of the lecture I would say that anybody who’s amazing go back to the Blue Book if you’re Florida Mason the Florida Masonic monitor uh and read that first paragraph uh and kind of contemplate it and think about it it really does give a great explanation of
Our craft uh and the symbolism that we use and and why we do what we do and in my opinion I am real big on this right now I keep thinking that this is what people need to hear from masonry we’ve been very we’ve been too I’m going to
Get in trouble for this we’ve been too secret uh that which we can tell the world we should let me say it that way that those things that we can share we should start sharing so that people will have an understanding of what we do because there’s a lot of people out
There who are under the wrong impression about what we do I agree with that um we have secrets if you’re not a Mason and we love them and you are afraid of the fact that masonry has secrets and I had this conversation with my wife’s father
I would ask you do you have secrets do you have secrets do you have secrets you’re keeping from anyone in your life I’m thinking you might you do of course you do does that make you horrible satanic bad maybe but probably not probably not I mean if you killed somebody and that’s
Your secret you probably yeah that keep that one that’s bad yeah definitely keep that to yourself we don’t want to hear that most of you don’t but you do have secrets you do and it doesn’t make you bad our secrets don’t make us bad and
And the only thing we can say is our secrets make us better because it’s it’s part of who we are as a fraternity and one of the things we talked about in the lecture today was secrecy being maintain secrecy maintain secrecy which is huge you know we we
In this who can keep a secret who can keep the mouth shut it’s tough uh because you really know when you when you tell someone something you don’t want everyone to know I think there’s always a part of you that’s like man how many people is that person going to tell
Yeah right right I might have just embarrassed myself you know right we were having a conversation with somebody the other day and he said to us look this is on Our obligation and we all three of us knew exactly what that meant no no other soul may know what we are
Saying no other Soul other than the three people in that car no other soul may know what was said that’s what that means and and that’s an important part of who we are yeah yeah it doesn’t mean it’s bad uh because someone wants to tell you something that’s not meant for
Everyone to hear uh it just means it’s sensitive especially to that person yeah that’s right and so out of respect and love we keep it um private for that person that’s right that’s right but it’s an honor to be told something like that because you now have a deeper
Relationship with that person and you can talk about that thing with them that’s right and it it Fosters that Brotherhood you know I I’m Brothers with men all around the world who know the same Secrets I do uh and I can I can confide in them you don’t confide in
Every person you meet in the world you know you have to have a person has to earn the right you know to be in your life in that way but we we are bound together by by an obligation uh and by by this fraternity that that holds these
Secrets sacred amongst us here’s another thing extremely grateful that what you just said brings up in The Counter Culture they say a Masons support each other even through rape and murder they’ll support each other like a judge will support a Mason who’s at trial for
Murder okay it’s not true that is so not true we are bound to obey the laws of the government that we live in as Masons right absolutely and and a higher standard in my opinion masonry holds itself to a higher standard you’re not a Mason if you’ve done that bad thing in
Fact we’ll expel you from the order if you’ve done that that’s exactly right that’s exactly right it’s a misconception about masonry that we stick together no matter what that we cover each other’s tracks that we uh conspire together to break the law 100% not true yeah no that’s that I
Would not be a part of an organization like that it would be it would be counter do we help each other yeah yes sure do you come to the need of somebody that needs you yes absolutely that’s what we mean but uh let the truth is is
That if there’s somebody in our lodge who has committed Grand Larsen to the tune of a couple million dollars against their employer you’ll be expelled from masonry and the reason why is because we love you you you need to be exposed for what you did you you need to face uh you
Know the Justice uh of for what you have done and we will expel you and we will turn you over to the to the authorities why because we do love you and we don’t want you to live under that we want restitution to be made to those who have
Been harmed we want the Fraternal Order to maintain its respectability in this world and we that is done out of love we we do not cosign anyone’s bad behavior no it’s just not done in our order it’ll get you k out of our order does it
Happen I would bet it does I would bet it does only because humans humans are involved is the government supposed to do the things it’s doing no is it doing them yes yes happen in masonry I would bet it does but it’s not Masonic and uh if the right person catches you they’ll
They’ll call you out so hopefully we can generate more good people that won’t tolerate things and we’ll hold each other accountable so we can be proud of the fraternity that we’re part of right on all right man well this was this was a great episode we didn’t get far but
Next time we’ll focus more oh I say that all the time next time we’ll try to focus more yeah on the work I know that’s what you guys want from us um and we are glad and honored to provide it yeah uh you got anything for us before
We go out Chris no I appreciate you sharing what you did and um I want to remind people to contact you at Fred at on the level with Fred and chris.com I I would appreciate that it would be it would be a great joy to be able to sit
Down and answer emails and and messages for sure and we’ll be thinking about you this weekend yeah thanks man all right guys um like uh like I’ve been trying to have a parting uh a a parting saying for the show that I’ve been working on uh
And it goes like this now that you’ve heard what you’ve heard go back to your Lodge and build build it Strong
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