Master Mason Degree: Whispers from King Solomon’s Temple Unearthing Masonic Sagas and Virtues

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 once again uh we are back on the level with Fred and Chris brother Chris how are you hey if you keep that up that’s going to be your signature intro man yeah how you doing woo uh I’m I’m good I’ve been a little sick uh this week

Just getting over it um employed all of my natural cures and of course as I always do I’m I’m good to go for a couple of years oh you get that that was your your uh my twoe little little thing that comes through every once in a while

And and I’m good to go I don’t do I don’t do medicines I don’t do medicine Doctors Hospitals I don’t do any of that stuff so I don’t need it because uh I’m healthy you know man well you do a lot of healthy eating and exercise you do a

Lot of other stuff yes I do that people don’t want to do which is why you don’t get sick right that’s that is correct you you have to get sick uh about every two years because that is the design uh feature of the human body is to reup all

Those immunities out that are out there uh and it re it re-ups them resets them and sets you sets you going you know in your environment for the next couple of years if you maintain your health that is but if you eat garbage and don’t exercise and you know smoke cigarettes

Hang out in bars and you cigars are okay though right cigars are fine there’s no problem with cigars let’s not get too healthy whis okay once in a while I’m I’m a big fan of a of a premium whiskey Life’s too short to drink Cheap whiskey

In my opinion and smoke cheap cigars I think that’s the that’s the defining line in my opinion well that’s okay that’s the healthy unhealthy acceptable boundary correct correct Fine Cigars and whiskey are okay for you that’s right so uh Master Mason degree number four wow yeah I don’t know we’re number four

We’re not even halfway through the manual so I don’t know how far this thing’s going to go uh well we’re getting into the second half today I think I think so yeah uh so how would I guess we’ll have as many on the back half it’s not really broken into halves

Like that but if you if you break it into quarters which is what I did part one because I figured we’d do four parts and of course part one became part one and two part part two became part three and now here we are in part four

Plans are for other people that’s right that’s right we don’t plan this we Wing stuff we would have to hire actual professionals to be able to plan this too far out yes um we don’t do that based on the income of this show that will not be happening that will not be

Happening no sir no sir and thankfully so we bravely plow into the future not knowing what we’re doing or where we’re going we don’t need no stinking proffe that’s right that’s right my brother uh perhaps it might be Talk Like a Pirate Day Oh I thought it was Irish in the

Beginning and it turned pirate at the end well most pirates were Scottish and Irish uh so um we’re on 5.12 5.12 in the Florida uh mentors manual so it’s the uh this is GL 217 revised in 2008 uh masonry Florida masonry mentors manual which is a which

Is a publication that every Mason should know every Mason should have a copy of it and it should be um it should be doged it should be highlighted it should be written in there should be tons of notes in it yeah um and I’m not just saying that because mine is I’m saying

That because uh it’s worthy of your time uh to get into because it does give you the basic Foundation of what it is you’re doing uh here as a mason so I encourage every brother out there and and thank you for all the emails from the Brethren out there

Saying yes I I’ve never opened it up um and now I have and you guys are right this thing is answering a lot of questions um that I’ve been wondering about and the darn thing has been in my drawer for the past een years so good on

You brother if you’re out there and you’re pulled it out and you’re in there doing the study because you know what I say I say it all the time know what you believe and know why you believe it otherwise why bother agree read yes sir

So um do you want to just Dive Right In brother or do we want to continue our clever banter oh no let’s do this are you sure people need Master Mason discussion and they need it now and they need it now uh just real quick we we

Have been asked to put together a uh esoteric uh teaching night um which is going to take place this Saturday at Chris’s house in his beautiful backyard palatial and stylish backyard obviously his wife put that together obviously yes and uh I’m pretty excited about that too

And and just real quick when we say Masonic esoteric teaching this is what we’re talking about right here guys this is it that’s what we’re doing this is um you know a lot of people want I think I said this in the last episode but it’s worth

Reiterating um a lot of people want to add to the esoteric Masonic esoteric teaching but really all it is is the it it’s teaching those those parts of masonry that you can only get as a Mason within masonry that’s what esoteric means it’s a it’s a source of knowledge

That you can only obtain through a specific person or group so that’s the esoteric teaching you can only get it as a Master Mason you can only get Master Mason teaching uh within the lodge um because it’s uh those are our secrets and our secrets are in fact the esoteric

Teachings um so that’s what it is nothing nothing way out there and that’s you know the Alex Joneses and Glenn Becks of the world they love to speculate on what our esoteric teachings are um and they always add goats and blood and and kind of weird crap but as

A if you’re sitting out there and you’re a you’re an EA or a fellowcraft or a Master Mason please know that when we say esoteric teaching we’re talking about Masonic teaching within the guidelines of our craft yep esoteric in Freemasonry specifically Divine defined as anything in 3° anything within the 3°

Right and and much of it is secret uh and I’ve said it I’ve said it before I love that fact uh that is what makes it kind of special and kind of fun um so anyways uh that uh all right so we did banter we we did helpful uh helpful

Words of wisdom that’s right uh if I do say so myself palacial and word palacial word the Dayal that’s right uh if you saw Chris’s backyard it has a waterfall just so you know policial resembling a palace and being spacious and Splendid wow there

You go pal there you go that’s an a huge compliment huge compliment to your wife indeed who obviously put that thing together obviously yes yes okay all right so uh 512 uh page 22 of the uh Grand Lodge um Florida Grand Lodge mentors manual the the

H why do I have a problem hamic the hamic legend I don’t know why I have a problem reading that uh pronouncing that word every time I go to pronounce it the hamic legend is the title of this particular paragraph it’s three paragraphs I’m just going to go ahead

And read the whole thing and then we’ll go back paragraph by paragraph which is kind of our way okay the hamic legend is woven around ham ath the skilled artier who was the son of a widow of the tribe of Neftali there is no character in all of

Freemasonry whose life story is so dependent on tra on tradition as this celebrated architect of the temple the earlier accounts of this Artis and Builder will be found recorded in the first book of Kings 7: 13 and 14 his coming to work on the Great temple at Jerusalem is mentioned in a letter

Written to King Solomon by hyam the king of Ty and recorded in 2 Chronicles chap 213 uh chap 2: 13 and 14 each of these references will enable the new brother to have a clear understanding of ham ath as a figure in history Freemasons refer to him in several ways as hyam the

Builder as the Widow’s son but most often as hyam abff the word ath means his father or my father and the name would be correctly translated as hyam my father the my father being a term of great respect he was regarded as the father in a in a patriarchal sense of

All his workmen on the temple a dramatization of this Legend is done to teach the Magnificent lessons of fidelity it should be understood that it is a legend and not factual both hyams both hyams are recorded in holy RIT but one cannot find any trace of the legend

Which is used in our Master Mason degree so um that’s an i i let’s not get caught on that on that bottom paragraph let’s go back to the beginning the it’s woven the the The Legend itself is woven around ham Our Father yes he is the main

Protagonist of the story he’s the one that uh is being represented through our candidate in much of this degree and I think uh it’s important that last little bit at the end is important to Masons everywhere because this is a legend we’re not trying to say this is

Historically accurate story uh you don’t have to go on a pilgrimage to isra or try to find the lost documents of hman Biff’s presence there or whatever uh I think it was Macky that said we start to look insane when we try to prove that any of these stories are true right yeah

So don’t waste your time with that uh these are meant to teach us moral lessons well the characters might be familiar hyam abff is a name you might have heard in the new testament old testament old testament sorry the book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles yes

Um it’s mentioned in Chronicles and Kings um who he is everything that you just mentioned came directly from the Old Testament yeah I read it this morning it’s a it’s you know it’s a brief description of a man that was hired uh by King Solomon um and uh he

Was known um throughout you know the region um as a man who who knew how to work in all manner of temple building so this was a man who was clearly up for the job yes and his integrity and honesty make him a good example or examplar for Freemasonry correct um and

About how um your personal integrity and reputation should come above anything else including the defense of your own life put your integrity first because uh that will last forever your life is going to be short anyways but your in your integrity and your honesty and your uh your legacy should last

Forever um which is a good moral lesson to teach us but as far as ham abff himself you know all we know is really what Freemasonry is telling us and most of it’s coming out of the Old Testament so he’s still kind of a vague figure we

Don’t get much history or background on his life or education or any experiences he’s had he’s just kind of a object that’s put into fill this role so that we can have these experiences and discussions around this drama that’s going to happen around him right so um

So we don’t know who his mother was we know that she was from the tribe that neali neali correct one of the 12 sons of Jacob right right but she doesn’t get a name she does not get a name he’s known as The Widow’s son right which obviously his mother wasn’t a widow

Right so did hyam King of Ty is the one who recommended him or is that his supposed father I think um both both okay according to this story we’re told that it is his father comes from the tribe of Ty because that’s who his father was so he would be hyam Ben

Hyram that means hyram son of hyram I think you’re right yeah yeah yeah that’s pretty cool yeah and they like to keep it in the family just like today they they always did that was very very strong all of the all the trades if you will I don’t know if they call them

Trades back then probably but no matter what your father was you were to be that you and your brothers uh would be raised up if you came from a fishing family or a Fisher your father was a fisherman you would be a fisherman I.E most of the

Apostles um for instance um because of that that time frame um Artisans Carpenters which were uh actual we think of Carpenters as guys that work in wood but actually in ancient times Carpenters were mostly actually worked in stone uh and wood and all manner of building

And actually when I started out in my career I was a carpenter I started out as a carpenter and back then the carpenter was the general contractor so I was I I apprenticed to be a carpenter who was in charge of the entire building so that’s the way it

Used to be we would work the carpenter would work for the architect or the owner um and he would be in charge of all of the wood construction of a building building but he would also be in charge of the subcontractors that would come in and he would he would see

The building to the very end uh it’s not that way anymore it’s not that way anymore now we have to have state licenses and insurances and all this garbage that ruined the trade completely but that’s a different story I guess these people answered to one person and

That was God yeah well my point is is that there was a time when the guy in charge was ski in in the 80s so long ago there there W it was the guy in charge of the building was skilled in all manner of the building we used to have a

Designation known as a master builder um and that master builder most most of the time started out as a carpenter um and he was skilled in all manner of the building he knew what he was looking at you know he wasn’t a plumber but he knew how it worked he he

Could see it when it was wrong you know and that that made him uh the the the one person that could see the building from beginning to end today that is not the case unfortunately anyways getting back to our text hyam abff was such a man yeah the building that he built um

Nothing today can compare to it only because of the technology we build buildings today that look like that building that he built but it’s nothing like it it’s nothing like it it’s a facade of it using modern materials that made made it very easy for Laborers to

Do what used to be have to be done by skilled Craftsman you know and it it’s a whole different type of building but this was a man who was skilled in all manner of of the building trade for the building of King Solomon’s Temple no small no small uh

Feat NOP but he was a skilled worker um he was obviously capable of managing large projects because the number of people that worked on this was pretty intense right and they used some of the best materials that they could gather and they did it in a very difficult way

It wasn’t done in a way that was meant to be quick or easy it was they they harvested the materials and prepared them in a way that would have taken probably three or four times as long to actually construct the temple because of the way that they did it and they were

Doing it out of respect for their God right right yeah there was uh here in 2 Chronicles chapter 2 like it said in the in the book there it says uh Solomon King Solomon assigned 70,000 uh what what they call here is is bearers burden bearers but that would be

EAS correct so there was 70,000 uh and then no no going to go backwards 70,000 8,000 and 3600 right right so the 80,000 Philip crafts were were fellow crafts right so we had 70,000 EAS 80,000 fellow crafts and 3600 overseers Master Masons Master Masons that’s pretty cool and and I just

I want to get off of the actual literalness and get to the that you know that esoteric side of it of of what it means you know what’s the story behind the story here oh right because um for me it’s it’s we’re the temple that I’m building is the temple

Uh of my body and life that’s the that’s the construction project that I’m currently working on within the confines of masonry that’s the allegory of Freemasonry right uh and you use working tools to build your right Temple yeah yeah and uh I just I you know I once you

Start getting into all the ramifications of that and you start studying it um it really for me it really got my interest because I’m I’m a practical person like that I I need I give me give me a set of rules it’s like oh yeah I do this give

Me a blueprint give me something to work from this gives me something to work from but the thing is is once you take it to the next level and actually start applying it into your life through memorizing what the tools mean studying what the tools mean and then memorizing them and then

When situations come up in your life and you begin to use it it’s pretty it’s pretty amazing it really is um it really I I just find that this our Craft um you know being very prevalent uh the speculative side of our craft being very prevalent at the

Founding of this nation uh makes sense to me because um I mean there there were men who were you know sea captains at 17 year old at 17 years old yeah you know these these were young boys but they had the intellect the training the integrity and strength and courage to tackle you

Know things that 60-year-old men have trouble with in this day you know what I mean yeah absolutely you know I was talking it was Sunday night with my son and his friend so these these are like uh 18-year-old kids okay and um we were just talking about life and we got to

George Washington and they were saying he’s the greatest president and my wife said you know he was a Freemason right and the kids were like what and she’s like yeah like we Chris and I went up to Arlington we went to the Masonic national museum for him it’s like an

Entire Museum in you know just outside of DC dedicated to his Masonic life and they were like they don’t teach that in school no they don’t and then she started naming all the other Freemasons that were involved around George Washington’s time with the foundation of the country and she’s like don’t you

Realized that you’re living in a masonic experiment and I was just like who is this person who is this woman woman I should marry her wow rubbed off on her somehow or she’s done her own research I don’t know hey she’s smart lady I wouldn’t doubt it she was blowing these

Kids Minds cuz they’d never been told this they had no idea of how tied into our country Freemasonry really is and the people that they worship and esteem as these great people were hardcore lifelong Freemasons absolutely active in this time and you can’t say it wasn’t

Prevalent because if you look at the way the streets are even laid out in in DC where the monuments are which monuments are where it’s all Sonic bro an episode on the formation of the country and Freemason re ties yeah I I think there’s a couple of guys out there who have done

Some extensive study on it and I’d really love to get them on the show and just really just get them to you know go deep with us on that and I’m sure everybody listening saying yeah do it do it we’ll we are going to do it we are

Getting after Grand Lodge um coming up here’s a little informational break uh after Grand Lodge coming up in uh towards the end of May 28th I think May 28th we have a booth there and we’re going to do some interviews um of the grand line uh folks

Who are gracious enough to agree to let us interview them and some of the state chairman and some of the state chair and yeah a lot of great great men in our craft here in Florida we’ve been privileged to be able to interview after that’s over we’ll have the tech

Um set up and we’ll be we’ll be set up to go into season two uh of the on the level with Fred and Chris show and we’ll be able to bring on more guests and begin to develop that side of the show this being season one and season two in

Season two coming up that’s right probably June I think we’ll call June season two here coming up anyway back to uh Hyrum aiff um that last paragraph man let me read it again and let’s uh let’s talk a little bit about about that all right the dramatization of this Legend is done

To teach the Magnificent lessons of fidelity it should be understood that it is a legend and not factual both hyams both hyams are recorded in holy RIT but one cannot find any trace of the legend which is used in our Master Mason degree so none of the now we’re talking

About the actual degree the second part of the Master Mason degree correct that’s what they’re referring to which we can’t really go too deeply into here on the show um because that’s you know part of our degree work but none of that can be found anywhere and according to

The manual here it is Legend right it is Legend it is not fact and we’re telling people you know I guess they’re getting this education after their Master Mason but we’re telling them hey we aren’t silly okay this is the story we get it don’t don’t try to go telling everybody

You know that you know some information they don’t have about the history of the Bible right they’re not going to like it and you’re going to look like a silly person um and really the morals are just for you as a Mason too you’re supposed to keep the whole world of mankind in

Darkness regarding them right until they get them the same way that you’re getting them here so this is just for us even though this is published and you can read it and if you go on Wikipedia you can get all the stuff about h a Biff

That uh um you know we talk about but uh again that’s Our obligation not to talk about these things in public but we what we can talk about is ham a Biff um rode with Kings really yeah I mean you’re talking about Solomon the wisest King right the wisest and

Most wealthy and most monarch in world history didn’t he have more wives too wasn’t he pretty yeah that wasn’t the good part yeah that wasn’t the wise part that was the unwise part he had 600 concubines 600 now you got to keep in mind that um

It wasn’t like he you know Tuesday was number one Wednesday number it wasn’t that he visited only see each one twice a year here’s the here’s the brutal truth if the king had an indiscretion with a woman there’s one of two ways it could go for her um she could be brought

Into the king’s home um and made part of the herum Andor the you know the the part of the King’s house or she could be rejected which would mean death and or poverty for her so King Solomon being a good king um brought them in so this is possibly one

Reason why he had so many of them but King Solomon did not go and you know visit let’s do that in air quotes visit these women on a regular basis he had one encounter most likely with them and in order to protect them from society branding them and you know ruining them

Their lives he brought them in that’s that’s that’s one opinion on on why it was like that back then that is not to say that King Solomon was in the right here what he did was wrong he’s a man he’s a very powerful very wealthy man so

Anybody out there thinks they could do it go ahead and give it a try I think all of us would struggle uh in that area but he did also have wives actual wives that he married and there were a lot of those too and obviously the difference

Between a wife and a concubine would be the wives had children possibly and or he would visit them and have intimate relationships with them on an ongoing basis which probably would have frustrated the Daylights out of his original Andor first wife whoever she might be so obviously King Solomon went

The way of his father David when it came to family uh relationships uh he his father David did not do well in that area either but Solomon was born out of an adulterous relationship that went terribly wrong between his mother Beth Sheba uh and his father King David so

Let’s just move on from there but yeah it’s uh it but you know it it used to concern me the Old Testament biblical accounts of these men these these leaders of of the faith you know that thread that runs through the entire thing from beginning to end of these men

It used to it used to concern me and now that I’m older and looking back it it’s a source of great comfort to know that these men uh David uh Samuel um Abraham they were all flawed men just like us and uh they they appealed to the mercy and Grace uh of of

God you know that’s that’s that’s what it’s always been about is crying out calling out for grace and mercy and being honest about you and me being men and I kind of like this deep voice as cold as giving me men sounds a little Michael Keaton Batman is yeah I’m

Batman uh until Christian Slater ruined the Batman character I think Keaton did a great job man yeah Christian Slater yeah no I don’t think he was ever Batman oh sorry not Christian Slater uh who was the last one oh the last one was uh Val

Kilmer I think no Val Kilmer did a great job oh you liked him oh you’re talking about uh uh geez the guy with this tequila brand um yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah George Clooney no no George Clooney as Batman that would be really bad well most recently you got Ben afflick is that

You’re talking about I don’t know I’ll think of it so many Batman let’s move on the one he really ruined it anyway sorry uh there’s been so many there’s been so many Batmans maybe never mind all right so whole book on like the philosophy of Batman I’m sure how you can live your

Life by his teachings and you know what interesting stuff you know what let’s move on he’s a little like H aiff seg away from Batman to H aiff of course of course but no this guy uh this this Craftsman right he wasn’t necessarily holding any office anywhere

He was just a skilled Craftsman that was really good at managing workmen is working with the wisest greatest richest king definitely that was alive at the time and ham MRE who was the King of the Phoenicians basically right um and man that would have been some incredible company to be

A part of for a person that’s not a political person he didn’t grow up uh you know spoil and Rich maybe he did uh but as a Craftsman you would think that he had to have had a life of Labor he he absolutely did because if you look in

The ancient ruins of that region those cities and the temples especially the temples were massive man and these were huge Feats of work and hyam abff hyam Ben hyam uh would have been commissioned by his father the king to uh to build these things so it’s no accident you

Know that this guy Rose in prominence as an expert artisan and Builder so much so that the the greatest King most wealthiest King uh in the entire realm of men uh recognized him and called for him to come come and do this work this very important work you know that my

Father originally commissioned me to do so whoever the real hyam abff was he was a badass man he was he was well-known very successful and we I know we’re kind of beating this one to death but the the man was certainly I I don’t know what comparison we could any comparison to

There AR there aren’t a lot of Great Men or institutions left to compare things to anymore but uh there was a time uh when you know you got called up by a president you know of the United States it’d be a high honor I don’t I don’t

Know if that’s true anymore but there was a time there was a time you know let’s say like Eisenhower president Eisenhower I I I think he was a great man yeah and a great president you know and if you were uh somebody of notoriety

And you got called up to do a work for him you know that would be a high honor you know and that would that would show that you were a man of of great integrity and of great skill you know yeah most have excited people of the

Time right right it’s like uh Hey we’ve asked Michael Jordan to be the coach of this new basketball team be like what what this is going to be incredible this man is a legend right right there you go that’s that’s that’s the analogy right there so um so who is without giving

Away any Trade Secrets who is hyam abff today can we talk about that or every Master Mason out there should know the answer to this question so let’s not say it well there are things that are written in the Old Testament that talk about who he is to an extent

But to you and I but he means something more right so today I I was uh when I first became a Shriner um one of the one of the men uh down at the shrine um asked me that question um he did who is H AIT he said

Because he he is he’s one of the Shriner guys did you answer I am ham ath I did yeah I said I am you are we are we are hyam abff and I was kind of trying to keep that a little bit of a secret but

You you let you let the cat out of the bed well no one it’s not a secret taught me to say that that’s not anything I received in the ritual no no but it seems like a logical answer to it is a logical answer we are that’s that’s who

We are we strive to be a man of integrity yes who would give his life to maintain his own Integrity yeah um you know um that’s that’s the man we strive to be when you know being raised to the degree the sublime degree of Master Mason is about raising up right and

We’re we’re touching very close to yes to the skirting the line but yeah uh it is about uh making yourself something different than you were before right like passing through a really physical experience that leads to a very spiritual state of being sure I’m doing good you’re doing great and uh I think

That’s a really powerful uh part of the degree work is um transitioning from the physical to the spiritual which is really a lot of what this section of the degree is trying to get our minds focused on right is that particular part of your life which we’re all going to

Have to experience sooner or later the transition from the physical to the after whatever that is right right um so what’s important during that transition is the content that we’re covering your The Works you’ve done in this earth the decisions you’ve made the impacts that you’ve left behind on other people’s

Lives these are the things that concern us while we’re here have we left a positive impact on the world and on other people’s life that’s charity have we done things for the world that will’ll be remembered for when we’re gone or did we waste our time just SP to

And drinking too much whiskey like Fred and and not handling our responsibilities as men and I think that’s the you know we were we were put here for a specific purpose you know and that is we’re we are providers protectors um we are you know we’re supposed to be

Leaders um and of course that’s lacking in the male side of the equation uh in this country anymore and I think worldwide worldwide and I think masonry has a lot to say about that and I I was at an event um on Saturday um and I was standing next to the worshipful master

Of the Venice Lodge um and I just really like this young man and um he gives me hope men like him there’s a lot of young men like him yeah he’s only in his 20s I think yep and uh and I believe he was deay came up through deay and I think

That if you’re out there and and and you have an opportunity to support your local deay do so uh get involved I am seriously considering that myself uh to get involved because I think that masonry has something to say about you know raising up young men young men of

Courage and integrity you know of uh of that that quiet Warrior you know that that that dangerous the The Rock in the sea that you can cling to right yeah because because that’s what we need we won’t make it with that I’m not trying to be misogynistic or or chauvinistic or

Anything like that don’t don’t get me wrong we all have our role to play uh in this world but um it is obvious that when when men fulfill their role um as leader um as as the one and and when I say leader it’s it’s you know the true we’ve talked

About this before the the true um the true aspect of of Manliness of being a man is being one who’s willing to sacrifice his own desires for the benefit you know of his family or his community or his Nation well that means HFF was the manliest man he was the manliest man

Because he put aside everything in his life to be the one the king needed him to be you know to build the temple he was useful to the master you know completely useful to the master and his integrity and courage uh went before him and it went after him and it it ended

Up well we can’t even go there right now but if you’re a master you know exactly what I’m talking about oh it ended um I mean martyrdom is something that uh every great story or tragedy has in its literature right sure every every Shakespeare any kind of kind of great

Story has right the tragedy and then the coming out of the tragedy you know the overcoming the odds yeah right yeah yeah so we’re telling the story and it does include some bit of tragedy to help illuminate the point of the story which is uh you know with great

Responsibility sometimes you have to make great sacrifices that’s right to maintain Integrity um and that doesn’t matter who you are what station you have this person in our story has one of the most valuable things at the time that you could have had uh which is the secret word of a Master

Mason right and um you know it’s well known that uh he does not give the secret word of people that try to extract it from him in an illegal Manner and so it’s lost to time and um other degrees in Freemasonry try to resolve

That part of the story uh in the I think both the Scottish right and the York right you can be conferred degrees where they claim to have recovered the Lost Master’s word right and so you get it and they both go around telling people well if you want to get the Lost Masters

Word join our appendant body yeah you’ll get it in one of these degrees should I be skeptical or should I investigate further I don’t stories are um you know I think like everything in masonry the other degrees that you get aren’t meant to be taken literally or historically right so if you just

Receive them in the spirit that they’re meant to be given it’s awesome experience sure I get that I get awesome experience really does leave an impact done you and really like kind of enhances the points that you got in the first three degrees which is the morality and the you know

Responsibility so it’s all it’s all kind of just a continuation of the same thing but it’s fascinating to hear the you know the sequel you don’t want to hear part two and part three of the movie if it’s good keep watching yeah and and if you do

Remember it’s a it’s a commitment it’s a major commitment and and um I’m thinking about our right worshipful heartt out there who has his his Masonic Journey has taken him to the very Pinnacle yes uh of our craft and um we’ll have right worship a hard on absolutely and and it’s taken

Him his entire life to do so it was this did not happen overnight for him I don’t know how long he’s been at it two time worshipful master from two different lodges right twice District deputy District instructor three times right 3 degree been president of

Everything and uh I know he’s in many of the important degrees in the Scottish right in the valley of Tampa Y and honestly he’s been invaluable to me this year absolutely valuable to me yeah and what I’m doing in the Scottish R club and the Master Mason Association and in our

Lodge uh I mean he just has been a huge asset well I think he’s he’s he’s come alongside you as your Mentor uh and guiding you through this it seems to me like I don’t see it that way I think he’d do this for anybody in my position

Oh no no I agree I I agree but I think he’s taking me under his wing like you’re going to be the next Berry heart kid no no no I don’t think that’s what mentorship means though that’s not what that means I think he’s willing to you

Know be available to you whenever you need him yeah which is part of the deal and you couldn’t have a better mean I’m desperate need of that too right and and I think I think just that’s what makes him that’s probably what got him that 33rd which is conferred upon a person

It’s to ask him about that well it’s that attitude what he got there you know he always says the same thing just call me brother you know you shake his hand and he’s like and I’m always trying to say right wor I’m always trying to get

It all right you know because I’m I’m like that you know I’m weird like that course and he’s like just call me brother man you know because and I think it’s that attitude that willingness to serve here we go uh talking about a brother uh overt talking a brother here

But I don’t know if you can overt talk this brother but anyway I think that’s probably what got him to where he is is that attitude of humility yeah you know and and dedication you know and I I I started in masonry much much older in my

Life I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get that far um you know but never say never I’m never going to say never but for me um and I’ve said this before I’m I’m going to grow where I’m planted right now I there’s so much to learn

Where I am I’m not going anywhere until I know this stuff uh what I’m supposed to know before I go ahead and go any further you want to go to the next one you have a huge advantage on a lot of people your age in masonry yeah no

That’s right because you sit and talk and think about this often so right you’re probably it like I always tell people in masonry it ain’t the years it’s the miles and you’re putting some miles on yourself that’s right pretty quickly and it it’s like anything else

You know if if you like it if you love it then uh uh that was interesting if you like it oh that’s my watch oh your watch is talking your watch just said I’m sorry mind your business watch sheesh always talking but don’t worry folks those those devices don’t

Listen to you they don’t listen at all oh I’ve totally given up on that I have an astro robot at home oh yeah he Astro oh God looking at me recording everything I say yeah and then reporting it back to the motherland State Police obviously yes in China yeah but I can

Watch Netflix while I clean my house so okay he follows you around showing you Netflix take it all take you know because that is so important I’ve been thinking about that for a long time how do I watch everyone has how do I watch bate television shows while I’m

Showering yeah it’s it’s so difficult you know you can have yeah yeah you know that’s the thing about technology it’s really really made life so much better for us yes solving solving mysteries of life that improve our quality 5.1 three uh the three grand Masters now I am not

Very familiar with this so I’m going to and it’s it’s three pretty big um uh paragraphs so I think I’m going to read the first paragraph and then we’ll discuss it uh and then I’ll read the second one then I’ll read the third one what do you think about

That perfect paragraph number one of 5.13 in the master Mason’s mentoring manual uh here we go uh uh the three grand Masters uh the three mentioned so frequently in our ritual concerning the building of the temple are the building of the temple are Solomon king of Israel hyram king of Ty

And hyam abith these are recorded in the biblical account of the temple building the coupling of the three names together may have a symbolism inherited from nearly all of the ancient religions in most of these the deity was regarded as a Triad of Trinity by whom acting cooly

Only could anything be done that was done let me try that again in most of these the deity was regarded as a Triad of Trinity by whom acting conjointly only could anything be done that was done so the the point here is that the three of them together so we had King

Solomon who was the overseer of the entire thing the most powerful King uh and wealthiest king of all other kings uh then we had the king of Ty uh and then we have ham ath his son and the three of them together so if you look at the the Solomon as the the

Initiator and Authority uh you look at King Ty as the actual the I don’t know tell me I was going somewhere with that but I’m going to stop myself because um it requires I think it requires a little more thought than that so I’m going to

Go back after and and kind of think that through I like where it’s going though well three is an important number in everything right that involves numbers and now they’re talking about the Trinity which also has religious connotations to it mhm absolutely that definitely defines certain religions

When you talk about the Trinity right right Father Son and Holy Spirit would be the Trinity of the Christian faith and so the ties to that Faith are obvious the ties to geometry and the numberology of the number three is important to Geometry which is basically the same thing as

Freemasonry um and so these are three different aspects of the same person potentially you could look at it that way as well um there’s a lot to dig into in this the symbolism of what these things are you were going in a direction that would have been more towards my

Faith toward your faith so because that’s the way I see the world everyone sees the world right yeah I think it’s okay to go there because it’s mentioned in the mentors manual so it almost requires you to talk about it yeah when it put it in writing in the

Mentor’s manual it does say here though that that it uh the coupling of the three names together may have a symbolism inherited from nearly all of the ancient religions and you’re right I think the number three I mean it is uh if you think about uh the number three

Right we are we are we are mind uh Body and Soul right right so there’s three now and technically in Christian doctrine we are a a body Soul entity so we are body bodies and souls we will retain our bodies throughout eternity is is part of the Christian doctrine but

That’s not not all beliefs have that you retaining the physical body yes it’s resurrected to a physical as it was originally intended so we have a onetoone correlation it is said but this is not a the theology show this is a masonic show but and anybody out there who’s who’s

Know understands Christian doctrine knows exactly what I’m talking about but um but I don’t have a problem looking at The Human Condition as mind body and soul you know so the mind is that that man in behind your forehead right that man behind your forehead is the one who

Controls the body that you’re in and that Soul speaks of that afterlife the life after we are gone we are three that’s the three entities of of The Human Experience cuz you’re making a distinction between the mind and the Soul uh I am making that distinction for the purpose of this conversation correct

I think Freemason Reed makes that distinction too agreed um and I have no problem with it yeah I mean that’s part of what was brought up to me when we were having the conversation about Resurrection right oh right oh that conversation yes was that uh it’s a distinction that’s made and

The immortality is of the Soul not in not of you the mind the Consciousness the right personality it was brought to my attention that we talk about the immortality of the Soul which is different thing um and the body is left behind right in the Masonic tradition right and

That was Plato right that’s where that belief that the body is of no use yeah it’s evil it’s it’s no good do what you want doesn’t matter it’s going back to the dirt it’s the soul that matters and that’s very Eastern uh religions uh speak of that as well and this is just

The differences uh between the various religions that find themselves within masonry and also of like just Linguistics like the meaning of a certain word and what was meant when it was used in one religious reference and the same word could be used in another religious reference in a different

Doctrine and have a slightly different meaning so it gets very complicated and easy to offend because there’s plan Minds that people hold on to really tightly uh and so to say a word they’re taking it in their context and not in the context you meant it so the offense

Comes pretty quickly intentional and that’s unfortunate you know I think and and again I’ll go back to what I always say that one of the reasons why there’s so much problems with discussing these things is because most people don’t know what they believe and why they believe

It so they get they get offended by words and stuff just by having conversations with somebody who doesn’t believe what they believe because they’re not really able to articulate what they believe or maybe they don’t know they haven’t really thought it through and that’s why I tell everybody

If it’s worth believing then it’s worth fully believing you know go and study what you believe and why do you believe it ask the question why why do why do I Fred the guy talking right now hold to uh the Christian faith you know the reformed Christian faith well I can tell

You why I’m not going to tell you why here but I can clearly articulate it because I’ve thought it through I’ve studied it I’ve taken the time to know what I believe and why I believe it and and I’m comfortable because of that knowledge I’m comfortable discussing any

Religion any faith anything with anybody at any time without offense I think that’s a good citizen of the world right I I agree you know yeah because your faith largely is determined on your geography where you were born you know you can you can tell somebody a place of

Or origin of that person and you could you guess and you probably don’t even need three guesses you could get it within two what their faith is going to be based on where they were born uh yeah no sure sure it happens it’s the same thing with sports I was born in Buffalo

I was raised a Buffalo Bills fan oh I’m so sorry I know you see how the luck of the draw it’s like geez I had to be born in Buffalo uh but it’s the same thing with religion and so all I’m saying is that

Uh it it’s wise of us to realize that uh people don’t often choose these things it’s just a uh an inheritance of their Birthright as to what you know tradition they are not always because uh for instance our brother Wade we know that he wasn’t born in a region where you

Would say oh this guy is a Buddhist that’s a shock we got a guy from Florida that’s a Buddhist huh right U but that’s because he’s educated himself which is a rare thing most people don’t do that and Wade would tell you that he started out in a Christian faith

Talk with him and moved from that to something different you know and he I had that discussion and again there’s it it allowing someone to have their faith doesn’t invalidate yours no it shouldn’t if you don’t know what your faith really is then then that could be a problem for

You personally you need to go back and take the time to understand it and and dig a Little Deeper uh into what it is you believe because if if you don’t know why you believe it then you know I don’t know if you can believe it because you

Don’t know why you know it’s just it’s just like you said you could have been raised in it yeah you know or it’s regional or been around like background noise in your life yeah or there’s some personal benefit you know I know people that go to church a big churches because

There’s personal benefit to it they don’t really have a a faith necessarily they go there because they benefit personally and and that’s you know that’s unfortunate in my opinion for them they should dig deeper we should all dig deeper especially Masons come on guys we’re Masons we’re supposed to be

Uh into educating ourselves we’re supposed to be into going down rabbit holes digging deeper asking questions uh and learning you know I’m I’m I I you know and people say that you know Christianity is very narrow because we claim to have the truth right but every

Faith sure um and and but you know every everyone is searching for the truth yeah right that’s what spirituality literally means the search for truth that’s what spirituality means in search of Truth um but but you know it’s it’s it’s time to move on to a different

Discussion well I think that was a fun good one to have yeah I think so I’m not I’m not afraid of it that’s for sure but I I think we’ve we’ve made our Point everybody’s like move on move on that’s a that’s a masonic point that is not possible to understate how

Important it is to have tolerance for the good of humanity and the harmony of us being able to work together as people you got to be able to let people be who they are and uh whoever they are doesn’t affect who you are so those two things can be together

And exist you can be 100% confident in who you are and what you believe in and respect the guy next to you completely different than you that you might not fully understand at all and just respect that he’s living his life um and you know encourage him and support him in

His journey yeah and it’s you know for me the the point I was going to finish with is is for me it was a search for what is the most plausible explanation for why we are here and I came to find that Ancient Aliens Ancient Aliens for

Chris and for me it was it was the resurrection and uh for me the everything and that’s a very deep everyone’s Pro some people who don’t understand what I just said are probably thinking well that’s too simplistic that’s dumb it’s not simplistic it’s very very deep we’re not going to go

Into that here but for me the point is what is the most plausible explanation and if you begin to study that now I spent over 30 years studying that concept that idea but if you if you go into that uh then you’re you’re going to find out you’re going to find in I’m

Using air quotes here the truth but are you open open to learning uh and I think that’s the question and I am open to learning I’m open to sit and listen to somebody to convince me otherwise I have not as of yet found uh anything that does convince me otherwise I think

That’s important to say because ham a Biff in the legend or in the story of ham a Biff isn’t meant to take the place of the legend and the story of Jesus Christ it it’s being a Mason isn’t saying you got to put this story in this

Guy above what you learned over here it’s supposed to make you better at everything that you do and Endeavor to do in your life yes it is not meant to replace your religious beliefs no no this isn’t a real thing we say it right here in the mentor’s manual this is just

A legend that was made up to teach a moral lesson um and so being a believer in Jesus who has a similar story right and also the Egyptian creation myths have similar stories and the Jewish and the Muslims have similar stories to the stories that masonry is telling but

These aren’t meant to be real or you know worshiped these are stories to be told so that you can say and think about what that man did and think about what you would do in that situation that’s the purpose of these stories all good lessons throughout history have been

Told through story and we as we as created beings we love story story is what what makes you know learning and makes life life you know know good um and that’s why we were just talking about the Batman series you know and those stories you know that story of

Justice and imperfection Batman is not a superhero like Superman he’s a man you know and he has all this technology but he has this conflict within him the dark KN and we love that stuff Shakespeare I mean look at look at all the the writings of Shakespeare and all of the

Things the stories of life and that’s how you know even in a long time ago that was the only they had no dig media right and everything was conveyed through Story I mean CS Lewis is one of the greatest storytellers in my opinion ever and his best friend uh J.R to

Tolking who wrote uh Lord of the Rings you know he was a Roman Catholic and uh he was um his epic you know don’t don’t just watch the movies read the books and if if you’re into I have a hard time reading novels myself yeah I’m a manual guy I

Like reading manuals but because something weird like that but my wife is an amazing novel reader she can read through novels you know because that’s she loves doing it but the genius of taking moral lessons and applying them to to fictional stories um is you know a great master of

That is is you know that’s just it’s just how we learn it’s how we convey truth he had the huge advantage of being a linguist when you understand the language you can manipulate it master yeah and he he did those stories are absolutely amazing all right how about

Um how about we go to paragraph two the secrets known only to our three grand Masters typify Divine truth known only to this trinitarian deity and not to be communicated to man The fellowcraft and and workmen all right can I start over please the secrets you’re doing so well known only

To our three grand Masters tip ofi divine truth known only to this trinitarian deity and not to be communicated to man The fellowcraft and workmen until he by industry and steadfast purpose has completed his spiritual Temple then according to Divine promise if his Temple has had so

Nobly built is a fit dwelling place for for divine truth the secrets will be communicated to him with these the rewards of a Wells spent life the Craftsman can travel into that foreign country toward which each of us is journeying that’s a great that’s a great paragraph sorry I messed it up sounds

Like uh they’re telling the Christian story there well really there there’s a lot of similarity yes to uh you know one of the reasons why of course is because the story of Solomon comes out of the scriptures that’s why it keeps referring back to that I had people ask me all the

Time how come how come masonry is is a Christian religion because it sure refers to the Bible a lot it’s like no it’s not a Christian religion but it uses Old Testament and some new testament um um scriptures um to paint this picture you know to tell this story

Uh that Freemasonry tells they find it’s found within um the old mainly the Old Testament is the story of Solomon and his life and his father David Boaz is in there and all the you know they’re all in there it’s a beautiful story but the

Story of Boaz is found in the Book of Ruth is a beautiful story and that story conveys so much truth I could get off on a tangent on that particular book um a small little what some people think obscure book tells so many beautiful lessons well if you uh if you want to

Delve into that come to the southeast Masonic education Symposium where Brother Rich ngi uh yes will be talking about the Widow’s uh son in the Book of Ruth and brother Nagi yes yeah he’s that’s his that’s what he’s talking about is that story where the Widow’s

Son came from and how it relates to the Book of Ruth yeah the meaning of the one shoe all that kind of I’m really looking forward to it man he tells a good tale I mean he he tells a good story and he had he he he’s one of those guys that’s

Thought everything out all the way through from beginning to end which I really enjoy I’m totally looking forward to that and I want to apologize to him right now because we just messed up his first name and when you called him Rick his first name went right out of my head

John John neie thank say Richard N I don’t know I don’t know sorry sorry about that no it’s all good it’s all good I I remembered it so we’re all good so um yeah so none of this is to be conveyed to the fellowcraft or EA until

He by industry and steadfast purpose has completed his spiritual Temple then according to Divine promise if this Temple he had has he has so nobly built is fit for dwelling place for the for the Divine truth the secrets will be communicated to him what Secrets first of all that whole process

That’s mentioned there that’s you know takes a person from the age he’s what seven maybe when he becomes an ed Apprentice in operative masonry to what when he’s in his late teens maybe Young Manhood he might Master well if he started if he was brought in at seven

Years old and went through the process of seven years he’d be 14 years old okay yeah which is typically what I’ve been told is kind of how it went that makes sense seven years it took seven years to build build the Temple Physical Temple and according to right according to stories and the

Freemason story they tell the same time and uh in reality we’re taking six months to get from the Entered Apprentice to the Master Mason correct right you’re losing something in the translation modern in modern times in the United States I know in other countries it does take longer and they

Do work harder and I’m sure it’s far more meaningful when they get there but for us we have to realize that uh you know we have to work hard to see the the meaning behind these things and right the journey from ented Apprentice to Master Mason is supposed to be a

Profound one in your life you really are supposed to be making drastic changes in your life and to yourself as a person but in reality you just spent six months doing a bunch of memorization so right right you didn’t do the work yet you didn’t build that thing that we’re

Talking about yet so it might not connect with you in modern times when they talk about these things but this is why it’s so important to sit and think about it right because now you have the rest of your life to think about what that Journey should have been for you

And to start taking it in reality yourself yeah because in reality the the fellowcraft is is raised he’s raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason far too early to we tops probably yeah I was even less than that they just and you know because everyone excited at that

Point you’re like you just went through this disastrously boring section where you’re like banging your head against the wall like oh God it’s so boring and you’re like wait wait now I get a new book and you’re like wait I got this I got this and you’re just so excited you

Want to go go go right and everyone else wants you to go go go too and that’s why I encourage and a lot of people have taken my advice which I’m very happy about is go back go back go back to EA because you know if you’re if you go to an EA

Degree um and you’re sitting in the sidelines at an EA degree what is the worst for master ask he asks is everyone in the room an Entered Apprentice and the answer is yeah every everyone is well that’s because even as a Master Mason you’re still an Entered Apprentice

You’re still in that place and you should still be willing to go back and learn what it means to be uh an Entered Apprentice and then for me I’ve left my year-long study of Entered Apprentice uh and I’ve gone to getting into the fellowcraft now and I’ve been a you know

Raised a Master Mason for quite some time now but I’m not claiming to know know um the you know all the truths and all the things that are are in there but I I feel like I got a pretty decent grasp on the EA side of it and now I’ll

Go into fellowcraft and try to understand that I think that’s a lifelong study that one in my opinion especially the the last you know the last uh well all of it it is that time in your Mason career where you should be uh Ed it’s the time of Education it’s

The time of being you know being imparted um you know knowledge and education um and I know it’s an outline that you’re given so that you can take those tools you know into the the next degree and into the rest of your life and I think the summation of Master

Mason kind of does that that’s the trial and that’s the impartation of the the the working tools of a Master Mason are all the tools all the tools that you already have been given some you know some you don’t know but all of them you will be learning you must be Contin

Through industry you must be continuously learning and understanding how to apply them to your life couldn’t agree more and um like we were just saying most the average guy is going to go from ENT Apprentice to Master Mason in six months or something very close to that right it would be

Impossible for you to really learn the much of what we’re talking about um in that time frame uh so once you’re made a Master Mason that’s when the journey starts so what Fred’s doing is what I recommend everyone try to do go back to the beginning and spend as

Much time as you need to working your way through these things until you feel that you have some working real working proficiency and understanding of them right deeper not just not just what we got uh in the lectures and in the catechism but really understanding them for yourself through conversations like

This with other brothers that’s what I have found to be the most helpful is conversations and real world application yeah applying them you know this the square of virtue well what does that mean well it means that the square represents virtues what are the virtues there’s seven of them go find them go

Find the seven Masonic virtues and study each word and and apply them see where they apply or don’t apply to your lives and and you will never forget it once once that becomes ingrained in your mind uh and in your practice you will never forget it and and it will benefit you

Greatly yeah um the other thing is maybe don’t and everyone will push you once you become a Master Mason to join the appendant body they hang out in the most oh you got to join the shrine or The Grotto or the orc ride or the Scottish

Or whatever it is if you can um resist the urge for a little while right to uh to continue to drink from the fire hose and maybe step back and digest a little before you do I would recommend it um but most people don’t they just keep

Going and when you just keep going you’re getting so much more information but you didn’t really build the foundation so you’re not ready to receive all that extra information in my opinion yeah that quickly um they all need members so you know join I’m not saying don’t but just think about that

Just think about that uh you know you’re a Master Mason in title but you’re not a Master Mason in experience yet right and the only way you’re going to be that way is to learn it so for me Fred’s doing it in an intellectual way and go back and reading and studying for

Me I started the memorization so I was like if I memorize all this stuff I’ll know it better right it’s true and it helped because like lectures especially goes into great detail about the things in the degree and I didn’t understand much of it so I had to Google things and

Went down many rabbit holes in the process of memorizing that stuff so for me that’s how I dug into it all was memorization and then when I went to the next thing I started doing the same thing there and the Scott of Shri I got into degrees and started learning about

The Egyptian mystery myths because I was in the Egyptian degree and you learn about the you know how they measured the soul in the afterlife and and the moral lessons around the Egyptian myths and also the shivari myths and all the other stuff that happens in those appendant bodies and

You really are becoming a well-rounded person at that point but if you go too fast I feel like you lose the force for the trees a little bit so right recommendation is to try to slow down slightly and if you’re going to become an officer in the blue Lodge

That you’re basically guaranteed 5 to seven years which is plenty of time to delve into this stuff and become really proficient before you’re the master of the lodge yeah that’s right that’s right because it being active in blue Lodge is being active in learning the degrees is

Learning The Craft is learning what it understands it’s not it’s a social club we have a lot of social fun and and I absolutely enjoy hanging out with my brothers and all that all that entails but if you’re not doing the work uh within the blue Lodge then you know

You I think you’re I think you’re missing out you know I was going to say you know you’re you’re making a huge mistake I don’t know if that’s true maybe you are but you’re certainly missing out on all the benefits that you could be getting from it you know there

Are app pendent body IES for having fun man we we’re grown men and we’re Masons we know how to party baby we know how to do it and our appendant bodies are are evidence of that but the blue Lodge uh and and a lot of the penod will tell you

That’s a place where we’re serious we’re more serious there that’s the place to be more serious to be more thoughtful and to educate yourself let’s try this last paragraph you ready yeah all right last paragraph the rich symbolism outlined will make the frequent mention of the name and references to their

Office in our ritual understandable man is ever reaching outward and upward seeking for a further knowledge of God and man’s relationship with him which is divine truth there you go so the symbolisms we’re currently in the section called the three grand Masters and the symbolism of Solomon um uh King uh hyam

King of Ty uh and ham a Beth that’s the the symbolism outlined will make the frequent mention of the names and references to their offices in our ritual under understandable man is ever reaching outward and upward seeking for a further knowledge of God and man’s relations with him which is divine

Truth that’s a that’s a heck of a statement man it’s kind of what we were just saying like everyone wants to get to the the mystery or they they just want someone to give them the answer but the unfortunate fact is you’ve got to dig and find it for yourself yeah that’s

Right you’re not going to you’re no one can give you the answer I think if I could I probably would impart some sort of knowledge bang right into your head download a bunch of knowledge into your head that’s not possible though right like assimilating the Borg like boom

There you go now you’re one of the collective doesn’t work that way yeah that’s star Star Trek yeah yeah you can’t do that you’ve got to actually study and uh experiment and make mistakes and grow as a person and use the tools the working tools to try to

Help you along the way and your brothers and their experience uh but you know even if you do the same things at the same times at the same age you’re going to have a different outcome than another brother because you he’s a different person than you and you have a different people in

Your life so there’s no one way there’s no right way uh but the the the only given constant is study and educate yourself that will lead to Improvement whether it’s big or small in your life um doing the things we’re doing right now will help you get better so if

You’re not having these esoteric discussion groups um which is kind of what we call a podcast here yeah or like what we were’re trying to do in our lodge or we’re going to try to do in my house like keep trying and keep going to support other people that are trying

Right this is like really the highest work that you can do this is us working in the Quarry together yeah that’s right that’s we’re we’re building the Temple sharpening our tools learning how to use these things what they are what they mean working together towards a common goal which is the betterment of

Ourselves and our lodes and our communities yeah that’s it that’s the practical application of The Craft you know within our lives outside the walls of the blue Lodge is it changing my life am I a better husband today because of masonry my wife would say yes um am I

You know am I a better employee I don’t know I’m not a great employee I’m a little independent I’ve owned too many of my own businesses but I’m working on it I’m getting better and better you know I I have my own ideas and and employers don’t like that but anyway but

But again you know the tools of masonry are helping me to realize that and to uh to make some changes you know thereof uh one of them is well we’ll talk about that later at another podcast but anyway um all right so next week I think it’s

It’s a good place to stop is the Temple of Solomon and the significance of the symbolism uh with the Temple of Solomon it’s it’s a pretty robust um chapter it’s actually two chapters the the physical chapters the physical Temple uh and then the symbolism of the temple uh and then

Solomon the king of Israel is all kind of one whole episode the way I see it here so and that’s that’s going to be next time and then it breaks us out into the different uh the different aspects of the actual degree um and a lot of it

Is is real short little blurs because there’s not a lot you can talk about on a podcast about that we can find a way to talk about it we can find a way yeah there’s always a way that’s right so brother what’s going on in your life man

How how uh how is things going on in in Chris’s palatial world my world isn’t palatial uh it’s going feel like I’m caught in a tempest um I’m the master of our lodge yes I do own my own business here I’ve got like 19 employees and 190 clients

And uh I’m the president of the Scot Ray club I’m the president of the Master Mason Association and uh I did this to myself so I’m not I’m not looking for sympathy I did it to myself but I’m being tested this year I can feel I can

Feel that yes and I am doing my very best he’s doing a great job folks just going to say that out loud rise to the occasion in individual circumstance and hopefully make it through the other side but that’s the world I’m in this year and uh and we’re doing this and now

We’re doing public speaking which as you know is basically the Kryptonite to my Superman well it was it it it is something that I struggle with and so that pressure on top of everything else is just making for a Fantastical year uh this weekend will’ll be at my house

Hopefully with brothers from at least three maybe four lodges Maybe yeah I’m being told it’s going to be quite a crowd um whether it’s big or not I’m just excited to have at least one guy from each place we can go back to our lodges and share this stuff you know

That’s kind of why we’re doing it yep um but we have events in the lodge we’ve got like six charity events we’re doing this year which is crazy right uh we’ve already done two with uh a Phoenix Lodge and they’re planning another one in with them can we call Phoenix Lodge our

Sister lodge because we’re in the same town we’re right you could throw a stone over to their place or as close as close as they are so technically they’re are little brother I think little brother Lodge yeah okay they’re going to appreciate that one well it is just like

Uh you know we came from manity Lodge that’s true that’s true but Venice and and everyone south of us came from us okay and and Phoenix and Builder LOD came from us that’s send your emails to Chris it’s true story true story it’s true it’s totally true you had to give

Permission for them to get their Charters from the Grand Lodge well what I see and going back to what you’re talking about in your life and you you’re certainly are um I I see all that you’re doing and I see and I see how you’re doing it and you you do have this

Head down working uh attitude I can tell I don’t really have time for anything else and and I I appreciate that here we are what we’re we’re uh middle of April so we’re in the middle of your of your three and a half months as worshipful master I think it’s going

Really well four and a half now uh yeah four and a half well yeah four and a half months yeah um Grand Lodge is coming up and Grand Lodge is coming up here next month solid months that’ll be five five solid months so I and I think

You’re doing really well with all that you’ve got going um and uh we’re not we’re not halfway through it yet nice of you to say thank you well I I I watch people and uh and I I pay attention to that kind of stuff you see a lot more

Than most yeah I do do I do I agree I agree so I’m I’m sworn to secrecy on most of it uh just kidding kind of sort of uh what’s what’s odd is because Fred is the Tyler in our lodge so this year I’m the master and he’s the Tyler and we

Spend a lot of time together here talking about stuff and it’s funny because in Lodge something will happen during a stated meeting which triggers a thought about something we talked about in the podcast right and I can’t even look at you for acknowledgement that I recognized it because you’re not in the

Lodge room I don’t like that I don’t like it I don’t I’ve said it before I serve as Tyler because I was asked but I don’t love it I don’t that’s my fault I asked him to be my Tyler this year I serve uh at the pleasure uh of the

Worshipful master and I do it gratefully uh but I don’t love it because I love being in there I love being in there and technically I’m really not supposed to be uh Tyler Tyler Tyler are supposed to be Past Masters have a shortage of those

And we have a in our lodge well we have a shortage of those in our lodge who are willing to take it on we don’t have a shortage of Past Masters in our lodge we’ve got lots of those yes we didn’t have any Past Masters that wanted to

Serve right right so so I stepped up I don’t mind I don’t mind I’ll do it I don’t love it I want to be in there with my brothers but I I do it as an AC of service you know a lot of lodges just

Lock the door and let the Tyler come in because no one can get in anyways well that’s what we do I mean but but you can’t we should do that more you can’t be in from beginning to end right you know you can’t because um that you have

To be out to be called in and you have to be you know you got to get out of there when they close the lodge and stuff so we have the cues me and the and the senior Deacon have all the cues correct okay so I can come in at the

Right time sit uh in my Tyler’s chair we we put a Tyler’s chair in the in the lodge pretty epic um it’s pretty epic chair and uh and then I can I can excuse myself properly and masonically um at the right time for him to do his

Job to close out the lodge so it works out good I get to be in for most of it but you know a lot of memory stuff to to you go through the the line um and you know this stuff because you’ve heard it so many times and you sit in there and

You hear the openings and you hear everything over and over again and uh after a while you just know it you know you study it you hear it you you kind of participate in it and that’s one of the reasons why by the by 5 years in you

Know all this stuff so well and I feel like as a Tyler who’s who shouldn’t be a Tyler because I have not done all of that for years and years it’s a bit of a disadvantage for me and the lodge but I do it to serve uh the worshipful master

Whom I have great respect for and I and I do so diligently so uh as for me in in my life I’ve had some interesting things go on of late yes do you want to talk about any of it briefly briefly okay uh

And and I want to end I want to kind of end with this um now some of you out there may know um and and and most of you don’t know um on Friday morning at about 4:00 a.m. I was woken up to my wife sitting at the edge of the bed um

Just having trouble breathing and she’d not been feeling well the entire week you know so we were kind of watching I figured she was sick um because I currently have the cold she had so uh I just figured she was sick well she was complaining of a pressure uh chest pain

Pressure um and indigestion and then she said the magic word and I feel major tingling down my left arm I was like you got to be kidding me man uh so I rushed her to the emergency room at the hospital right up the street from us and

It turns out that she was having a heart attack and um not just a small one it was the Prelude to a major one and I was like you know we we got in the hospital they did the quick a AKG thing that they

Do and the next thing I know two of the two of the top cardiologists in the hospital were in the room um anxiously getting the information to us so that they could get her upstairs into the operating room so uh that’s exactly what happened um they found that her main the

Main artery in her heart which is called the Widow Maker uh this would have been the widower maker um um was 99.4 4% blocked with a 60% blockage about an inch down from it so she was 5 hours from a massive cardiac event which there’s probably she would not have come

Back from so it was absolutely shocking in every way to me and um it was just it was just like um and I’m a health nut um and I drive my wife crazy with my health escapades uh make no mistake special diets and and supplements and exercise and it goes on

And on I’ve been doing it for about 10 years now um and I know it I know my stuff and and and it shows I can show you my my blood work I have the blood work of a 35y old and I’m 60 but anyways

So uh shocker to the max she’s home now she’s stable uh all is good she’s got to change her life and and part of it was because you know she’s a singer a professional singer in a in a in a musical group uh and they spend a lot of

Time in bars and in night you know doing night life and smoking and drinking and eating bad food and stuff and and when you’re pushing 58 years old you can’t do that man you can’t do it and and it came to a head for her so I I bring it up uh

To say a couple of things very quickly one anybody out there who is taking for granted the time they have uh on this Earth I recommend you quit that [ __ ] right now uh and take a good look in the mirror like what I did and like what my

Wife is currently doing and and figure out what’s important to you uh what what really matters to you and uh CU if you think you’re going to be here tomorrow uh to get that thing done you have no guarantee of that man you just don’t you don’t have a guarantee anything can

Happen to you if you would have looked at my wife a month ago you would have thought she was a picture of Health you would have thought man there’s somebody who’s really got it going on you know she sings in a band and everybody loves her tons and tons of friends high high

Energy just looking great feeling great looking good a month later 5 hours away from dying of a heart attack uh so that’s that’s the one thing I want to share uh with my brothers out there you don’t you are not promised another day um you are not promised another day you

Have today uh so whatever it is that you want to do whatever it is you should do um do it get it done get it started uh and and and get on it um so this just happened to you guys last Friday last Friday last Friday yep and today’s we’re

Recording this Tuesday Morning Tuesday Morning you’ve had uh three days to sit with this I’ve had three days how’s it impacted you guys uh well she’s learning that I mean she’s I think the the reality is setting in um you know having to come to terms with a you know a pack

A day smoker who can now never ever smoke again for any reason uh has become a major issue for her but you know it just is what it is smoke and die or live you know we’ve got grandchildren she’s got you know we got children six

Children so you want to live uh then you’re going to have to change all these things so that’s the impact for her for me I started out kind of angry you know I went through the a I was a little angry because it was because it was like

This is completely I don’t know if it’s completely preventable but it this was prevented this taken in your mind like you didn’t take multiple steps that could have potentially right and I had to be careful not to be a jerk about it too because I’m I’m the sergeant when it

Comes to good health you know I’m captain good health here so and you know well I told you you should have listened to me I told la la la all that stuff but I didn’t do any of that that’s not helpful um but then I’ve come I’ve come

To realize that you know uh the human human creatures are odd uh you know you can you can be shown uh very clearly that if you continue this Behavior you’ll die so stop and they don’t it happens all the time so we’re an odd creature so I don’t know

I guess I could bring this back to you know the the principles of Freemasonry you know of virtue and of industriousness and of being a good man and making yourself better and doing all of these things and the the other thing that I want to share and I’ll close out

With this is uh health and fitness uh matters guys and I know a lot of Masons out there that are not healthy you know you and I know cuz we travel we traveled other lodges we’ve been outside our district you’re going to now see a lot

Of of masons from all over the state soon right we generally are not in good shape no it’s true it’s really true you know and we joke about it we’re like ah get the gravy and mashed potatoes to get them to come to and donuts give me more

Donuts right but in reality at our age because we are generally older we should definitely be talking a lot more about eating right I mean this has to be part of being a good person is respecting your own body right it absolutely is Glutton would be one those negative uh

Vices right and the the super fluidities excessive gluttony uh laziness um these are these are the vices and superfluities we’re supposed to be taking away and look if you’re out there and you’re struggling with your weight and you’re struggling with your health do not take this as me beating you over

The head I am not brother I know how hard it is I was a type 2 diabetic 10 years ago I was dying man it was bad and I overcame it through diet and exercise and it took me a long time to do so and

To discipline myself s in doing it but I would encourage everyone listening to take a look at your health where you’re at your health look if you’re 25 years old and you’re pounding Donuts so what go for it I mean it’s going to catch up to you

It will catch up to you but if you’re 25 you can you can do it if you’re 35 and you’re still doing it well then we need to talk but uh once you’re I guess go ahead and do it I would say again I would say if you’re 35

Years old or older it’s it’s probably time to start setting some habits yeah uh in place that you don’t have to struggle with the older you get the harder it is to change these things and one of the things if you if you smoking if you’re smoking cigarettes every day

Um I have a brother who used to be Tyler uh in our lodge who will tell you to quit right now um and that would be uh brother Dan so quit smoking uh whatever you got to do if you’ve been thinking about it uh give he a smoker he was give

Give it out he is or he was a smoker but he still is talk about him in the past tense the habit I didn’t know he he had to stop he had to stop he has he has lung cancer so yeah I thought it was bone well the

Cancer let’s not talk about him gotcha that’s not fair uh uh but anyways quit if you can find a way to quit find a way to get healthy take an assessment of your status currently with regard to your health and make some decisions uh make some small steps small decisions

Get some help there’s a a lot of uh helps out there apps um you could get counseling you could whatever it takes but get healthy man get healthy and live and live your life uh in Optimal Health I I do and I don’t regret it I don’t

Regret any of it and it’s been a long hard journey for me but um I don’t regret it at all um and and I hope that uh everybody within the sound of my voice will just take a minute to uh to evaluate where am I at you know do I

Want to be around for my grandchildren do I want to be healthy can do I want to be you know the grandpa that’s you know vibrant and healthy yeah and and cogent you know um if that’s the guy you want to be you know I asked myself at 50

Years old what do I want to look like uh at 60 and I got this advice from Dr Peter Peter Atia who does a health assessment and that’s one of his big things he said he said if you’re 40 years old ask yourself what do I want to

Look like when I’m 50 and what do I have to do for the next 10 years to make it happen and I said to myself when I’m when I’m 60 I want to look like I’m 50 I want to look and feel like I’m 50 uh and

And I went ahead and I did those I did those things that were necessary uh to get to that point and people ask me all the time when I tell them I’m 60 years old they don’t they don’t believe me they absolutely don’t believe me because

I don’t believe it it’s true I am lying to me this whole time 1962 that was still haven’t seen a driver’s license birth certificate to prove it so anyways that’s my Spiel my brothers uh I tell you this because I love you uh I care about you I care

About our craft I want it to I want it to keep going and I want you to be a part of it keeping going um and and I want everybody to take that assessment I’m not trying to offend anybody or depress anybody I’m trying to encourage

You it’s another part of being a good you know working on yourself if we’re going to be an example we want people look at us and want to be like us this should be part of the discussion right and and there’s there’s there’s just something good about getting on the

Other side of a of a health issue or getting on the other side of a vice you know that you’ve got to give up uh if you can get on the other side of it and enjoy it the fact that you don’t do that anymore for me working out and and being

You know out there doing a a workout uh whatever it is whether it’s weightlifting uh or doing some of the Ruck outdoor Ruck runs that I’ve developed all that kind of stuff man it is a joy and I love it uh and you could too anyways I’m G to stop beating the

Heck out of that Chris you got anything else um as we go out um into our week um no I’m you’re you’re going to be listening to this on Wednesday hopefully morning um we are going to be just one month outside of Grand Lodge yeah and

What we just want to remind you if you can make it to the southeast Masonic education Symposium at hillsbor lodge on April 29th um on the level with Fred and Chris we’ll be there um Fred and Chris are speaking in the keyote position uh the

Uh the other speakers are doing a lot of historical fun interesting speaking Yeah it’s going to be that day and we’re g to come in at the end with Freemasonry what now what now baby we what do I take back to my Lodge to make my Lodge go further

What do I do to make this happen happen we will be trying to talk about the things that are preventing you from growing and the things that uh you can do if you if you have active participants to help you grow some of it we’ve talked about on this podcast

Probably all of it we have probably um and then there’s going to be a Q&A and I think there’s going to be a panel where we’ll sit down also and and you can ask us anything that’ll be fun if you’ve ever doesn’t mean we’re going to answer

Everything but yeah you can ask us anything ch will answer literally anything especially if it’s about Fred and tell you the truth so the first question I’m going to have for Chris is are you wearing clean underweare and the answer will be no I am commando today probably that day that’ll

Be a different answer um but literally you can ask us anything we’ll be there um we’re going to have a little table we we do have some shirts and hats now that we’re selling to help got a little merch got a little merch going man pretty excited about the merch podcasting bills

Here for us yeah uh and then we’ll be at Grand Lodge um hopefully Sunday night we’ll be doing some interviews definitely Monday yeah um the legislation is is happening Tuesday so I imagine Tuesday is going to be pretty busy and then I have to get out of there

After but um if you can find us um you can email us actually at Chris onth level with Fred and Chris or Fred at on the level with Fred and chris.com email us let’s schedule something if we can schedule in advance we can guarant it’ll happen yeah um but if you aren’t

Thinking ahead or don’t want a schedule just come by the booth and if if we have the recording gear out we happen to be recording you might be able to just jump on with us yeah we’d like to get a couple of spots of just listeners um and

Just get your you know get your thoughts get find out who you are where you’re from uh why you listen to the show and all that kind of stuff we’d love to get a bunch of that that b-roll um onto our server so we can use it going forward

Yeah for sure yes so we have a lot going on in the next couple months and we’re real excited this Saturday at my house we’re doing a little esoteric discuss esoteric Discussion Group wow honestly if that goes well and it lends itself to doing uh this we could bring in some

Recording equipment and potentially record those kind of discussions as well yeah and I fut I find that the need and the the desire and need for that is huge so I’m not opposed to putting together some kind of easy format um and getting it out there to All The Lodges you know

You could just email us and we can just send you our format and you guys could we could help you to to host your own and to how to do it and the topics and how to keep it moving forward and stuff and we’ll record a few so you can see

How we do it um I guarantee you that uh Saturday night is going to be a lively discussion there is no doubt in my mind that we are going to have an absolute riot uh and it’s going to be a lot of fun uh and people are going to want more

And more of it because uh like we said uh during this podcast and other podcasts we’ve all been kind of rushed through um the degrees these days it just happens it’s the way it is and and PE therefore a lot of people even worshipful Masters uh and and people who

Are way up in the line are hungry for this stuff and I don’t blame them I am too so that’s what that’s what this kind of stuff is about that’s what this podcast is about uh that’s what we do every week here so and that’s what you

Guys are saying you want more of so bring it on let’s get it on you know what else uh happened uh this past week I we got some comments from a brother on Facebook who said he’s keeps going back over and over and listening to the episode where you talked about your

Personal stuff oh the bag the baggage and then he saw the YouTube video he was like whoa and his mind was blown um people like to learn more about you about me oh God yeah yeah yeah I think that that guy connects and he’s listened to it over and over again so uh

That’s that see we don’t get much feedback so that kind of feedback is incredibly helpful yeah that’s real helpful and I I just I just uh responded back to that brother uh this morning uh just to encourage him uh going forward and I I’m I’m trying to respond back to

The emails as as quickly as I can um I generally at this point it’s like a once a week thing I open it up and there’s 20 of them on there and I uh you know uh answer them accordingly so that’s it my brother uh worship worshipful Burns yes

Um this is EP this I guess this will be episode four lessons of Master Mason episode 4 um pretty excited about that I’m we started out thinking there’d be four total I’m thinking there’s going to be six yeah but we’re we’re just going to keep going until we know what it is

And uh and after that uh we’ll probably lead right into um Grand Lodge uh and then after Grand Lodge look for season two uh we’ll do some upgrades to our intros and and the way we do things um hopefully hope probably have some sponsorships there’s some people lining

Up that want to uh that want to sponsor I’m pretty excited about that don’t know how to do that yet but we’ll get it done uh and then we’re going to have a merch store and uh we’re bringing on a partner uh an associate producer his name is

John schaer and uh I’m pretty excited for John to come on board and help out uh with the podcast he brings a lot of really strong backend um help um so he can he’s he thrives on that backend kind of work and stuff so and we need that

Because Chris and I are big thinkers and big thinkers don’t like doing backand work so that’s going to be helpful say I’m a big thinker I don’t uh that’s right yeah okay I can’t do them dishes I’m a big thinker right yeah so anyways all right my brother I think

We’re out uh I know we’re out we’re at a minute 45 so hour 45 so that’s that’s our longest show ever you guys have been asking for long shows well here you go so my my brother until next time um I will I will see you then huh see you all

See you on the level

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