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 we are back once again Chris how’s it going man it’s good good uh it’s early as always when we’re here recording it’s but I slept well last night and I was up early and we got a surprise visitor in the office from another Mason who just saw us recording
In our new studio here on bidge that’s right that’s because our our old landlord kicked us out but our new landlord’s pretty awesome pretty pretty awesome yes and uh and we have video starting this episode we were with our new setup we’re able to actually have video so we’re shouting out to the
People on YouTube that are watching not sure how I feel about that Chris I uh I have a face for radio so it’s uh this is going to be a new thing and I did forget my hat typically when I make appearances I like to wear a hat for obvious reasons
I’ve got a wish Master’s hat in my car you want to wear my Master’s hat I got it can’t do that in the headphones at the same just put it over the headphones hey guess what Hightech Cowboy we have uh some emails man to read and uh as
Promised as promised um and we got a bunch of them actually but um I want to start off I want to read this one um just because it’s uh it’s it’s just super encouraging so this is from uh Campbell Tui who’s from Canada uh our brothers uh up in the great white North
What a hoser um and uh he says he says uh greeting Brethren greeting Brethren from Canada I’m a past master who enjoys ritual work done to perfection man after my own heart uh one of the parts I do is the junior Warden charge the other night
I was curious if there was a podcast that may provide education on the EA degree and I newly discovered your podcast great job thank you sir appreciate that I’m thoroughly enjoying your episodes I was even more excited when I learned that Sarasota lodge number 147 was doing an EA degree on
February 21st the day I arrive in Sarasota for vacation are you kidding me how awesome he’s coming we’re going to meet him yeah yeah looking forward to that Campbell big time I enjoy visiting different lodges while on vacation and plan on attending the mighty 147 on February 21st I’m contacting your
Secretary to arrange a visit nice keep up the good work and stay on the level and Campbell you absolutely we absolutely will he’s from Rising Sun number 85 St Lawrence dist District under the Grand Lodge of Ontario so uh Campbell can’t wait to see you Brother come on down that’s awesome I’m the
Tyler so I will be the one greeting you and uh yeah isn’t that awesome I’m not in that degree but I think I’m going to do the lectur so he’ll get to see both of us in action in one shape or form but and I’m curious what the junior Warden
Charge is we don’t have that in Florida we’ll have to ask him about that yeah okay right Junior ward in charge yeah it’s so it’s so cool that we are a Global fraternity you know from different countries and stuff and it’s it’s kind of cool to think you know the
That is crazy it the basics the foundations are the same but there’s all kinds of cool different you know um nuances to it so yeah that’ll be fun don’t you got one well I just have to make a comment rabbit holes uh I glanced up and I could swear that I was looking
At a shirt that had Ewoks with guns and now as I’m looking at it I see it’s actually bears it’s you got bears with guns it’s Alaska man it’s my Alaskan t-t I thought you were a nerd and had like a Star Wars Ewok shirt one of my goals in life is to
Go to Alaska for an extended period of time so well you can make a pit stop in Canada inada this brother’s Lodge well you will if you’re driving you definitely will make a pit stop in Canada I do I have I have uh an email we
Received from Jared D Valdez nice and he is from Pennsylvania and he says Brothers Fred and Chris wanted to drop a note and say that I’m loving the podcast excellent choice in topics and production audio quality props and shout out to Fred thank you sir is really dialed in now
You guys have been my workout companions this week you you two make a good team I really appreciate the podcast that you did that touched on marketing and Outreach would love to see you go deeper on that topic in the future and perhaps on ideas for socially events both inside
And outside the lodge keep up the good work fraternally Jared so that’s interesting this is a another state Pennsylvania Pennsylvania is still north you know we are in Florida so everything is north to us he’s uh probably just a few hours drive from the last brother that sent us an email but that’s
Interesting because uh that particular podcast is one of the lowest listen to ones that we have yeah I thought there was an interest in it but it sounds like there is so we’d be more than happy to go into more on that topic absolutely yeah that’s one of our passions man
Believe that you if you go to Grand Lodge this year you might see us that’s right possibly at Grand Lodge in multiple uh functions yeah we weren’t going to bring this up but since Chris has brought it up said might we might have a booth Grand Lodge uh this year at
The convention and trying to do some live simal casting and stuff so uh stay tuned stay tuned we’ll see we’ll see how that goes yes I’m excited about that we’ve also also been uh rumored that uh we are asked to say some things on the big stage possibly we’ll see how that
Goes of course give me the stage you know me I will take the stage and it’ll be my stage particularly this J what Jared’s asking about which is the marketing and Outreach yeah that’s I me uh in Florida this is the second year that the grand lodges got a official
Program which started at the mighty 147 147 grown throughout the state and uh so I’ve been on a committee at Grand Lodge to try to get the word out about this and help lodges increase their membership and uh reached out to our current Grandmaster who said they have a
Light schedule so he might let us present the program to everybody at Grand LOD this year so please uh even if you weren’t going to come any member of uh Florida that’s a Master Mason is allowed to go to the Grand Lodge session so it’s not just for Masters and wardens
Come out that’s right out and you know what you’ll get to see us podcasting out there probably uh and you might see us on the big stage ruining our reputations inbody in Florida AB absolutely okay so getting back to business uh last episode we talked about fellowcraft we said that
That was part one this being by default part two lessons it is early I’ve either had too much coffee or not enough coffee uh so yeah uh uh lessons from the fellowcraft uh part two we left off on um The Plum uh as one of the three working tools of
A fellowcraft Mason being the plum let me read from the uh the manual mentor’s manual uh and see if we can’t kick off a decent conversation uh concerning that okay uh I keep forgetting that we are actually being filmed as well so um it’s not really film it’s digital so but we
Call it film just like we call it radio this is not radio video recorded it’s being video recorded that’s right all right so here you go this is from um gl27 which is the mentors manual uh from from Florida from Grand Lodge in Florida and it says the plum is
A symbol of uprightness of Conduct in Freemasonry is associated with the plum line which the Lord promised Amos he would set in the midst of his people Israel symbolizing his standard of divine righteousness the plum line in the midst of a people should mean that they will be judged by their own sense
Of right and wrong and not by the standard of others Mason Freemasons understanding the plum are to judge each brother by his own standards and not and not those of another when the plum line is thought of in this way it becomes a symbol of upright life and of the
Conscience by which each must live now it’s a little that’s a little wordy there but there’s a little something in there that I think is worth discussing and that is that the plum line in the midst of the people should mean that they will be judged by their own sense
Of right and wrong and not by the standard of others Freemasons understand the plum Freemasons understanding the sorry guys I don’t know what’s going on here free Freemasons understanding the plum are to judge each brother by his own standards and not by those of another so for me I’m thinking
That each we all have a standard uh that we set uh you know that we set ourselves it’s the the square of virtue right and then and then which is which is a set of a set of actual virtues right here’s here’s how I and I think I’ve said this
In a plum line before this is the way I look at it you tell me if I’m crazy and if It lines up with that or not you’re crazy thank you um so the square is the St U sorry the plum is the standard that
I set okay and that standard is uh for me as a Christian the standard is obviously the scriptures so for me it’s pretty simple um my standard is already set um and that’s the standard that I live for and then the square of course is that standard applied so um for me um
That sense of righteousness or a right living so don’t be afraid of that word righteousness it means right living um that’s my standard that I have is set and I do my best to live by that standard of right living what do you think about that so
Do you think it means that each of us individually should make our own see now that’s that’s the conversation I think right or is it saying that Masons should live by their own moral code right so is respective of like maybe the morality of the age that we live in well here’s what
It doesn’t say I don’t think it says that masonry as a fraternity has a standard that has a standard that it issues to Masons when they come in necessarily right um but but but I guess it has many standards you know uh we’ve got this digest of masonic law that’s
800 billion words long right you’ve got a mentors manual which you know there’s an etiquette book that tells you how to act properly so it tells us a lot about how we’re supposed to behave and act as as men in society so I’m torn on that
Because I think maybe maybe I could see both sides of that sure of the individual because you’re saying you you’ve got your own morals that you’ve got from your personal religious that’s right beliefs and uh and then you know brother Wade has his own set of morals from his personal religious beliefs and
So uh each of you should live according to the what you said there the standard that you set for yourself correct I also see that masonry has a minimum kind of expectation for us as Masons it does tell us how we’re supposed to behave towards each other towards the weak
Towards the infirm towards the sick the kind of Charity we’re supposed to do for other people it does have a lot that is directing us to do and behave so maybe it’s talking about us behaving like masons in the world and maybe you live
In a in a in a country or in a town or a city where uh there’s a lot of crime maybe there’s a lot of uh immorality happening and so it’s telling you to live like a Mason regardless of the situation around you uh but I think
Behaving like a Mason and behaving like a Christian or behaving like a Buddhist aren’t at odds with each other in fact it could be the same thing well I think that um right so we’re brushing up against the you know the the argument of relative truth you know my truth is my
Truth your truth is your truth well yes however um it’s always wrong to torture 5-year-olds for fun okay that’s always wrong I don’t care what religion you come from not for fun right there needs to be a reason you’re torturing a so that statement is Extreme I use an
Extreme statement to prove a to prove a point but the point is that there is a standard yeah there is a universal standard right now we can argue about where it drops and where it rises but there is a standard right me taking your lunch from you because I’m bigger than
You is always going to be wrong yeah right but now there could be a guy that comes in and says well you know my standard says that that’s okay it’s survival of the fittest that’s where I get a little you know with the individual standard thing that’s where I
Get a little scared about that because yeah right sure who knows what people’s individual you know it tends to be low right by default people don’t want to live up to a high standard so uh and and people are lazy and some of them are masons so I’m a
Little scared about what somebody’s personal morality is yeah and and having to respect that sure and that’s why I was uh somewhat relieved when I came into masonry and I saw that if you if you dig in a little bit you’ll find that the the virtues um the Seven Virtues Of
Masonry um which came from um well it comes from some of it comes from scripture the first three are certainly found in the book of Corinthians uh but anyway uh and the and the vices as well are known as the seven deadly sins that’s what they were that’s where it
Derives its original meaning from so for me the standards were already kind of familiar to me and set in place and I don’t know anybody who’s going to disagree with those um I’m going to I’m going to have to look at them a little little cross I’m GNA say well hold on
Man what part of you know don’t steal or or you know uh what what part of any of this uh is a problem for you right I mean so that there is a standard for right living Loosely defined as you know the the vices and the the and super
Fluidities and the virtues that’s a standard yeah and what you read There is a passage out of the Old Testament that talks about God giving Amos this uh the prophet explanation that I God will set a plum line so in reality he’s saying I’m giving you the standard and now
You’re going to have to live by this and you guys are going to have to make sure that you focus on this and not any other stand standards correct so in reality I guess you could say that you know the standard came from God that we’re all
Supposed to live by and uh and those standards are going to include not doing those seven deadly sins and it will include the principles of Faith morality charity brotherly love all of these things that masonry has in it that it gets from God correct so the ultimate
Standard of course is uh if you believe in God as Creator um and grand architect of all things and sustainer then all of that does have to originate with him because he was the first and as you know as Christians from a theological uh standpoint um it’s more
Of who he is not what he demands of us he is simply he is simply uh conveying to us his his person his Essence and his being you know he uh God never ever murders you know and uh he doesn’t steal uh he doesn’t gossip he you know these
Are things this this is who he is and as his creatures uh he he wants demands uh in some cases us to live according to that way now we all know that we cannot perfectly live that way and that gets into some theology there that we’ll
We’ll we’ll uh we’ll uh skip that for now and move on to something else but um when when we go to the great catechism in heaven there you go hopefully it’s proficiency and not Perfection that they’re looking for yeah yeah that and there’s a great conversation right there
As well um but again um I think this is probably um the beginnings could be the beginnings of a great debate and conversation uh going forward the plum line I mean I think it’s we all need to as Masons we need to sit down and talk about you know what what are these
Standards of right living and and how do we we uh how do we live them because you know at bottom masonry is a a system of morality uh veiled in allegory and taught or illuminated through um symbols through through symbolism so that it’s a system of morality well morality speaks
Of a standard yes there has to be a standard so where is that standard that is the Crux of the debate that I think healthy Masonic lodges should sit down and have well we are not a healthy Masonic Lodge we are a podcast and so
Correct I think what we should do is get a couple of Brothers in here to represent various faiths that would be awesome and I’ll represent the Masonic values and we can bring up the Masonic values and then discuss them amongst the different representatives of the yeah
That would be powerful well what what do you think what do you think yeah anybody out there who’s listening man does it really conflict with Freemasonry really let’s let’s get them together and see yeah I would say that anybody who’s listening uh who would want to uh be a
Part of that conversation man just shoot us an email I don’t have no idea how we’d set that up at this point well but I could figure it out so many good purposes I mean right one we we had the conversation of should you talk about
Religion at all as Masons and I think we determine both of us absolutely absolutely you should as long as you handle the conversation masonically with gentleness and respect for all correct and if you can’t do that don’t come to the show yeah right you’re not going to
Last long oh we have an email from that guy so yeah we’ll talk about that later that guy is an idiot the other purpose I think it can serve is there’s so much uh stuff on the internet about how Freemasonry is evil and satanic and you
Can’t be a Christian and a Mason and be those things don’t two things don’t Jive so uh it serves as an opportunity for us to really put what are the values of Freemasonry up against the values of of religion publicly see see what people think about that we’re not giving away
Any of the secrets no we are not we’re not giving away any secret guess you could sit there and say well they didn’t talk about the secrets and that’s where the bad stuff is right they can’t do anything about that that’s where they go and here’s a good rabbit hole I my my
Youngest son came down from North Carolina with his wife uh they are uh they got married less than a year ago and I just I just love them to death especially my my daughter-in-law is awesome man she is the perfect woman for myself it couldn’t be a a more suitable
Spouse for this young man yeah yeah yeah she keeps him in line keeps him in line big time and I love it I love it but um so uh my my youngest son Danny um he he was concerned when he heard that I had become a Mason oh really oh yes yes and
He’s a and he said Christian he is he’s a Christian he’s a he’s a youth pastor and he does music in churches as well uh up in North Carolina and very Evangelical um and we’ll we’ll leave that for another conversation anyway um as a calvinist and he’s an Evangelical
It’s a interesting conversations but um good good healthy conversations but interesting indeed um but he his first comment was you know it’s just like well I mean I’m just concerned about this Illuminati thing what what’s going to happen to Mom and I’m like what are you
Talking about man what did he mean well he when he was in the Navy he just he got honorably discharged from the Navy he’s a Submariner and um he had a buddy uh there who claimed to have gone through um Freemasonry up to some sort of
Mythical um you know level of Free Mason they all have that one person they know that got to the top I was 15th degree they lizard people I saw them once I got to that level and he’s he’s all of 20 23 years old he’s a 13th degree whatever
Okay fine and he’s talking about all this crazy stuff you know and so my son is like well so he looks it up on the internet and goes right to Alex Jones you know the genius Mr Alex Jones on everything Alex Jones is simply a stopped clock he’s right you know like a
Like a stop clock is right twice a day that’s Alex Jones you know every once in a while he’s right but only because he just keeps talking and talking and talking eventually something’s going to be right but he’s co completely wrong completely backwards about free and everybody gets their information
From guys like him you know where it’s the Illuminati it gets it gets listeners and viewers when baby it gets click interesting but I can tell you this here’s here’s the funny part and this is what I ended up saying to him at the end you’re willing you’re concerned about
What you heard on the internet from people you don’t know right you’re concerned about something you heard from a buddy of yours who claims not to be in masonry any longer and now you’re sitting here face to face with your dad who is a Mason and is telling you he’s
Been through it I’m a third degree Master Mason I’ve been through it and I’m telling you there’s nothing contained therein that conflicts with any of my religious duties or pract at all it does not it absolutely does not conflict and I looked at him and I said
Son you know me right you you learned the scriptures from me for the laugh for your entire life so you tell me would I be LED astray uh by anything and that are you gullible does he know you to be an easily fooled man he knows quite the
Opposite so I think that’s really um that’s really where he and I kind of came to agreement he’s good with it he knows me and he knows I would never be taken in by anything but on the on a grander scale that’s that’s really what I want
People to come away with look if you’re out there and you think masonry is some kind of crazy lizard people satanic goat worshippers why don’t you go down to a lodge they have open houses we have one every Sunday at 2 p.m come on down and
Talk to us and ask us you know questions it’s not we don’t have any sensationalism for you no we don’t have any clickbait for you we’re just regular guys y uh that meet regularly to to hold each other up um and and like we talked about in a standard of living in in
Right living to be better husbands better fathers better Patriots in our community whatever it is man better uh employees um that’s what we do it has re the the secrets oh and that’s the other thing he was just then why Secrets why Secrets yeah they are obsessed with the
Secrets being bad and I told him what I tell everybody because we like it well you know so I have a similar situation my my wife’s Ukrainian okay her her parents left Russia when it was still the Soviet Union said they lived in communism right right and they’re now clinging to their
Religion because it’s their right and they’re very obsessed with their right to their religion so I understand why they’re so zealous about it get it totally get it right um they think exactly the same way as your son did did yeah he no longer thinks that mine still
Do because I guess I’m I’m the in-law so I’m coming into the family as The Outsider already and I’m bringing this baggage of masonry into it and uh they know so little about it that uh I was there this s Sunday yeah Sunday I was there and her sister’s in in town from
Out I won’t say your name she doesn’t listen to this podcast it’s fine uh she’s only like 25 guessing and they they live in Portland and uh I wasn’t there it was before I got there cuz I was at an open house so my wife went early and they the topic of Freemasonry
Came up and her sister was like oh yeah yeah I know those guys they come into our chur church sometimes and my wife said I doubt it I doubt that’s true how do you know they’re Freemason and she said oh they wear their um proud boys
T-shirts oh jeez and she said my wife is now losing it on her family like they’re not the proud boys but that’s how little people know about us they don’t even know the difference between they don’t even know about the proud boys various organizations that exist in the world
And how desparate the ideologies are and uh so my wife’s trying to tell her the difference is and she’s not buying it she’s like no no no no these are Christians they’re good people and she’s like no I understand that but they’re not Masons don’t conflate those two
Things because you’re going to have a very wrong opinion about when when you do Google broud boys yeah when you get around to that right and it’s just like anything else they got in the way of the political machine and became something that they’re not I’m not I don’t support
The proud Boys in any way don’t get me wrong that gets involved in the political machine is going to come out bad yeah unless you’re towing the line they’re going to paint you as something you’re not and I don’t believe party you’re in doesn’t matter what you believe politics ruins everything
Everybody that get especially American politics today is such a broken yeah machine it doesn’t really matter and and luckily I what I see is more and more people out there are beginning to see that and I don’t know if that’s going to end up you know crashing the whole
System or Revival liing the whole system I don’t care but at at least it’s positive change you would hope it’s cyclical and that we we’re kind of going off the reservation and someday it’ll swing back and we’ll yeah be a little more levelheaded and hopefully yeah I
Mean it get bad enough we realize dude we really do need to sit down and talk to each other this is getting a little crazy yeah that’s right that’s right and and you know there really are only two political classes there’s the the national uh politicians who are
Extremely wealthy and Elite and then there’s the rest of us right and they like to pit us against each other so that we don’t focus on them but I think that’s I think that’s becoming more harder and harder for them to do you know so and I know that um you know I
Was I’m an ex political junkie man you know 10 years ago man I was a political hardcore and I knew it all man you know I worked precincts I did it all but I can tell you right now it all of it every bit of it having studied it for a
Decade it’s all a lie but I don’t know how we got down this ra this this Rabbit Hole well yeah so the other point I was going to make is please do rescue me from this tell me uh his concern was secrets and yeah okay that’s right that
Also my wife’s father one day we sat down and I asked him point blank what is your issue with free that what you know about it what’s your issue and he had two things he said do you worship Jesus and I said yes and he said oh you say Jesus and I said
No and he said then you don’t worship Jesus and I said wrong uh a lot of people do and they are Freemasons but when we pray we don’t say names specifically and that that’s his problem that we don’t say that name that particular name and that is a problem
That people have with Freemasonry that are Christians it is a thing there’s a book out there called 32 degrees of Lies oh wow which I read and this book is written by an ex- Mason who’s a Christian he’s a born again Christian so he made it through uh he’s a 32nd degree
Scottish right Mason and apparently at some point converted uh to Christianity and then he wanted to say Jesus in all of his prayers right blue lodin in Scottish right and somebody told him please stop doing that right and you and I had this situation happen where we
Were at a degree practice and I uh always observe the traditions of Freemasonry and one of our Traditions is before any great or important thing that you do you should pray right so I asked Fred to pray and he prayed his way and he ended it with in Jesus name we pray
Amen and I looked at him and said hey just be careful with that and he was like don’t ask me to pray right that’s right and I respect that and anyone should respect that like you are totally entitled to pray however you want but
Now I know if we’re in a lodge I won’t tap you to do it because I don’t want to put you in that position yeah because Christians are not allowed to we’re not really permitted to offer generic prayers to generic Gods so it is there is some you see where the conflicts
Really start to come in there it’s not like an ideological it’s just like a technical thing of how you do something and the words use if everybody accepts everybody on at face value okay like like our buddy Wade who who practices Buddhism I accept him for what he is um
I I think about it this way uh my kids used to play a lot of sports uh on sports teams you know take for so a soccer team for instance and all of us came together um to to do soccer as a soccer ER Community within that Community there were Muslims there were
Christians there were Buddhists there were people of all and and we could sit on the sideline and talk about it all day long as long as it was with gentleness and respect but it did not affect the mission of soccer in any way right it’s the same idea here I I’m I’m
I’m a Christian I’m I am commissioned you know go ye therefore and Make Disciples of all the nation because you know all authority in Heaven and Earth has been granted to me okay that’s the Great Mission that’s been given to Christians and I am fully able and
Willing and and ready to speak those words when asked inside of inside the lodge but I do not prze inside the lodge because that’s not my mission that’s it’s not my mission I I come to this fraternity uh for fellowship with you know with brothers
Who want to hold each other up to a moral standard you know and I don’t have to and I just want to say real quick um about your father-in-law when he says do you worship Jes Jesus as a Christian what he means is are you trusting Christ
For salvation that’s what he meant um and that’s the issue that with that’s why in Christianity When anybody like for instance well he’s he’s a Christian but he’s a born again Christian well technically if you’re not born again you’re not a Christian so all true Christians are born again so there’s all
These theological words and Christians are very bad at at explaining clearly what they mean when they throw out Christian e they’re speaking a different language and they expect everybody to understand it I don’t think a lot of them understand it unfortunately that is true the pulpit is
Lacking in education big time like like most organizations it is like more like you know a lot of Freemasons they they understand the basic concepts if that but they haven’t gone down the as far as we are into analyzing this stuff correct correct so of course we’re going to be
Better Masons than they are because we’ve studied Mas Henry more that’s right that’s right and it’s the same for religions I think there are perfectly good Christians that don’t really you know think too hard about it and then there are really good Christians that think really hard about it Y and the
Harder you look at it um I think the more you see the similarities and the good things between the the other uh religions and organizations of the world I I like what you just said I mean what what are the similarities um you know and so many similarities the
Similarities are based in in in living a moral life we care each other yeah we right us first family first and then if if everyone there is protected let’s start to car about other people right we all age on that yeah we have each other’s best interest at heart in the
Things we do and say And as far as I’m concerned in this in this world um that’s lacking and masonry offers that to the brothers that commit at least at the at the mighty 147 there’s a real Spirit go of Brotherhood growing there and tightness uh and pride um in in our
Lodge ownership and pride in our lodge man and people are really starting to respond to it and that’s just lacking in this world and it’s funny because these stories keep coming perfectly we’re on such a rabbit Trail I think we just keep just roll with it roll with it run Bunny
Run here we go so uh I was there Sunday my wife’s house and uh I get some texts from a brother who literally says I’m in great distress and uh might need some help with something and um I’m not paying attention to them anymore I’m in
My phone now I’m like right and my dad goes what’s going on you got a problem and I’m like one of my brothers is in trouble so I’m just I’m worried and he’s like oh you have to do something don’t you you have to because and I said hold
On I don’t have to do anything I care about this person I want to I care about this person he’s in trouble if you texted me that you were in trouble I’d pay just as much attention to the text even though you’re not a Mason right I
Had to like break it down because they just automatically think negative thoughts about about it right yeah like it’s a cult like you know I have to put I have to put my Masonic Brothers before everything else otherwise I’ll get you know I’ll get swatted 25 times and and
And bled out or something weird you know right yeah I think that’s a common misconception about Freemasonry that people have is that you have to put your brothers above all else or you know even if they’re committing a crime you have to cover up for them and uh that’s just
Not the case in in reality uh but it’s hard to without having an in-depth conversation explain that to somebody uh and like I said anything from the outside can look scary I had the experience of seeing communion as a kid that look scary to me right right uh and
I know it’s not a scary thing and it’s a beautiful thing but at first glance it can look scary if you don’t take the time to understand it or if it’s not explained to you correctly you know the church I attend they explain what it is
To to the children they know what it is good you know they’re very good at that that’s right um and we live in this in a state that is predominantly Christian so very much it happens a lot I was at another organization the Master Mason Association and I asked brother Robert
Leonard to pray oh yeah I was there y you were there and he he let it slip in Jesus name we pray and he said he knew he wasn’t supposed to do it no one in that room cared no and he made a really
Cool he made he made it uh he made not a joke but he kind of like made it humorous the way he did it but I could tell he was glad he did it but it was a mistake you know I just like whoops uh oh sorry not sorry and so why and
Everybody was cool with it right nobody’s upset about it because we’re predominantly Christian right if you were in our lodge and I asked a Muslim guy to pray and he said Allah makma whatever probably the room is going to get a little different they’re going to
Be like whoa whoa whoa whoa I just because they don’t understand you know what that means it’s not the predominant thing they don’t hear it a lot it’s very foreign to most of us uh and so you know especially if you’re a Christian masonry in Florida is super not scary we have
The Christian Bible on the altar right we say prayers out of it constantly yeah and even part of the obligation has scripture in it we talk about Christian symbolism and this St John’s and St John the Baptist so those are our patron saints that’s right if any religion
Should be not scared of Freemasonry it should be Christians yes but again um most Christians and I say this as as a Christian they don’t know what they believe and they don’t know why they believe it so they’ve honestly most of them have joined a club um and and to
Them it’s a Civics Club more than you know a um an identity and a way of life because they don’t study it they don’t take the time all right let’s get off this kick let’s get on to this was the plum We were finishing up conversations
And there you go there’s the plum so there’s a whole episode on something not related to what we were talking about boom you’re welcome I hope you’re are you still there hello is this thing on hello um so go with the plum the simple explanation is we’re supposed to walk uprightly in our
Several jobs that we have as men in the world we’re supposed to be a good dad not just a good husband to your wife but a crappy employer where you like you know demean and debase people but you’re supposed to be good here good there good there you need to really think about
What you’re doing in all of the different interactions you have and the responsibilities you have in this world and act morally and good and also offer help to everybody that you can with whatever limited power you have in each of those stations in that’s right and
That’s the power of the plum the plum right act in in in the in all of your dealings with man why why so you can look good so you can get Advanced no because it’s right yeah it’s the right thing to do do what is right because it’s right for no other
Reason uh so next the next thing it talks about in the in the in the book is the jewels now it cautions us here diamonds uh no the rubies sapphir the jewels of the fellowcraft um and what here’s what here’s what it says don’t say it okay uh
These These are named in the ritual and need not be repeated okay they remind the Craftsmen that the time-honored method of instruction is By Word of Mouth the secrets of Freemason are always deposit deposited in the hearts of faithful Brethren these Jewels should signify the necessity to learn to
Utilize good Masonic instruction and develop a Devotion to the tech to the teachings of the crafts so I don’t know is it telling us not to talk about um uh the jewels uh of masonry it’s uh I mean okay I’m going to say let’s not just
Because it kind of of says it say specifically what the jewels are but it did explain in a broad sense that the purpose of the jewels is to teach the candidate or the brother that uh there are a lot of great moral lessons in Freemasonry and they’re for us they’re
For Freemasons because people that haven’t gone through the initiation haven’t taken the time to like learn the basics that we got in the inter Apprentice degree right now you’re a man here’s uh here’s something that’s important keep this crap to yourself okay right because uh other people
Aren’t prepared to hear this uh to make yourself a good person is hard it’s a hard way of life people don’t like to do things that are hard they like to do things the easy way the easy way which is no way sometimes quite often it is no way
And we as Masons are always looking to do the hard things the things that deal with the issues we don’t want to face uh look at the ugly parts of of ourselves that we don’t want to show anybody um right yeah that’s right give money to somebody that I don’t want to
Necessarily part with but I can it’s hard things but you have to do hard things if you’re going to improve as a person and um Masons should be prepared to do hard things by the time we’re in the fcra degree and you’re getting an explanation at the end of this degree
About what the precious jewels are to a fellowcraft uh but it is a time for a man to realize you’re different you’re being held to a higher standard and this isn’t for everybody uh and so just focus on the training wheels just focus on the people here that want to be better for
Now because later on when you’re a Master Mason you can deal with the outside world but right now you’re not prepared for that you need to deal with Masons and people that are like-minded and people that are trying to understand the same things you’re you’re trying to
Understand so I think that’s the the purpose of the jewels and and and all the jewels do is give you the basic framework to say okay uh I’ve learned a lot uh this is meant to be communicated to me and only me as a Mason and I need
To be mindful of not telling trying to go evangelize the world about Freemasonry I need to focus on just talking to Masons for now about this stuff because no one else is going to Care um I’m wasting their time I’m wasting my time it’s not going to do any
Benefit to go like a Jehovah’s Witness to Door hey I just wanted to tell you about the wonders of freem mry today like no they slam the door in your face and sick the dog on you you know the other thing that I that stands out to me
On this is the time-honored tradition of hand to mouth of mouth to ear sorry of of teaching through the spoken word you know and I I find that to be one of the most enjoyable aspects of what we do uh especially the catechism you know which
Is you know that catechesis is just it’s just a fancy word it just means teaching um but it is the connotation to it in masonry is hand uh is is mouth to ear yeah or ear to mouth it’s it’s it’s that’s how we learn is is through is
Through one man helping another man to memorize um you know the secrets so to speak uh of masonry and they’re they’re transferred from my mouth to your ear right and then from your mouth to another ear and they’re you know and then they’re they’re stored away in the
Minds you know of masonry you know and that’s and hopefully they make their way down to the hearts and that’s exactly right that’s exactly right uh and um and I just I just I remember when I first was in Entered Apprentice you know you go through your degree and then you’re
Handed a little white book uh with letters in it and it’s called the Masonic code book and you’re like what is this and that’s where you really feel cool that’s where secret code book you kind of want to leave it out for people to find you know like what is this oh I
Can’t tell you I can read everything in there you can’t read anything I’ve completely memorized all of it uh and and so but but then you at first I resisted it only because it was it it was just hard you know it was really
Hard to to learn and um I was told that there’s websites out there where you could just get it all downloaded on cards and and you can read it all and stuff like that and from what I understand those people who do that in the long run there’s no
Advantage um if you sit with a brother and he he dictates it to you and you dictate it back to him and you learn the way you’re supposed to you know mouth to ear or you you take uh you take the written somebody wrote it out on the
Internet uh and and you read through it there’s really in the long run since masonry is a long-term lifelong thing there’s really no advantage you might be able to memorize it faster than all your companions um but at the end of it what you’re missing out on is that
Relationship you’re building with the person across from you that guy is taking time out of his day out of his life to share with you a hard thing uh that he had to do in the future and you’re you’re missing out on the Heritage uh that masonry offers you know
Actually I think you’re you’re failing the first test in masonry because uh you know we take obligations to do things a certain way because it’s good for us doing hard things is good for us that’s right it’s a lot easier to go online and have it 24/7 access I can learn so much
Faster that way for sure and uh I can blow up my ego when I return and it looks like I’m smarter than everybody else and everybody knows what you did yeah yeah and you’re only robbing yourself because the purpose of the catechism is one yes you’re supposed to
Be proficient about knowing what happen but the the main purpose of it I think is develop relationships with people that’s correct that’s what and that’s what it does it cements that relationship bond with a Mason right and you’re going to get a strong bond with your other uh companions that you might
Be doing that with like really strong bonds over time and and that is the point of the catechism that’s why it’s supposed to be mouth to ear so that those relationships can be formed um and this is uh tough it was tough for me when I first joined because I I brought
All of my uh profane ideas into fre basry of I’m going to go faster I’m going to be the smartest I’m going to set records I’m going to show these guys right that competition Spirit I’m going to mering I’m going to win seriously like I brought that in and it was literally the
First lesson I learned because the guys I was going through weren’t studying as hard as I wanted them to my catechism instructor broke rules and gave me an audio file that I could listen to at home and at the beginning I was doing that because a Mason told me to do it I
Didn’t know how wrong it was at the time right but going through the experience I see what I missed because I was in that situation I was so much more advanced than everybody else in my class but I hadn’t formed bonds with any of them
Exactly none of them and so it it took me going to uh another brother that I respected because I observed him and said hey I can I just do this on my own because I’m so much better than these people and uh the advice I got was
Changed my life he said this is your opportunity to learn the first lesson of Freemasonry if you’re more advanced than your brothers your job is to lift those Brothers up not to pass them by right so you need to go back and spend your free time helping those Brothers
And I didn’t want to do that I was like what they’re not even trying like come on uh but you know what great what a great lesson that was for me that it’s not about me right it’s about us that’s right and if I’m a strong part of the
Group my whole group should be stronger right I can help them yeah I can help them do better yeah uh and that was literally the first lesson I learned in Freemasonry that it’s not about me I wanted it so much to be about me but um
You have to erase those those it’s not a good tendency you know uh all the time I mean sure it’s good to have a competitive spirit and uh all that but masonry is about us uniting as men together that’s right yeah and so um I think it’s important to form bonds with
People and that mouth to ear is the quickest way to form a bond with somebody that’s a Mason and you not being a Mason um and we have to trust the system a little bit in the beginning uh because it’s hard it’s hard to go against our natural tendencies well and
And just think about how this this really appeals to the The Man Child man in us right can’t you just see a bunch of boys you know in their tree fort with with their secret code yeah and telling each other you must never write this
Down if you write it down we have to plunge a a a sword through your heart yeah yeah you know and uh that’s not the actual that doesn’t actually happen by the way that’s in the Illuminati uh so um but it it really appeals to you
Know that sense that men are looking for of being part of something greater than ourselves yeah and the fact that I can learn this from a brother who learned it himself and he speaks it to me and then I memorize it and speak it to another through through our our secret code if
You will um is just it just absolutely lends itself to what men desire uh you know and and what what we want I love it I absolutely love it um and you know our our the the secrets that masonry hold um you know yeah they’re out there I’ve
Said this before they’re out there but you know if you’re the kind of guy that wants to you know wants to broadcast that out there and put that out there that’s the thing that kills me it the truth is out there people can get it get
And yet they still think they know stuff that’s not out there well because they want that sensationalized you know the click baity Sensational thing it’s it’s boring you know if you if you you come to masonry thinking it’s the Illuminati and there’s B Global billionaires you
Know that call us on the phone hey Chris I got a job for you you know you know it’s like no it ain’t like that it’s just a bunch of guys trying to be better husbands oh well that sucks I don’t want to do that that sounds hard that’s hard
I don’t want to do that what do you memorization that’s like school I don’t want to go to school right I don’t know where I’m going with that but um yeah so true we started off with the jewels yes on this one and we ended up talking
About the uh the mouth to ear uh tradition our time honored tradition the next the next in the book is the wages now do we want to go into that we’re already 50 minutes o so but are you suggesting a part three I don’t I think
So a part three minus the gigantic 30 minute Rabbit Trail we put in the middle of this one so we’ll be more focused in part three part three promise guys we’ll be much more focused in part three uh what else man what’s what’s been going on lately with you in masonry I’m full
Swing into my year now um as worshipful master worful master as president of the Scottish W Club as president of the Master Mason Association and involved with the Grand Lodge marketing reimbursement program I’m I’m just in full swing man I’ve uh I did a lot of
Planning and now I’m just trusting in my calendar so I am get it all planned out let’s see how how it goes so far so good I I think you’re doing a great job worful master I I absolutely do um and for those of you who think that our worshipful master has
Um has left his uh his 24-inch gauge uh and is uh not not doing what is right I would I would um refer you to the episode of Fred interviews Chris our lowest yes yes listen no one wanted to hear no one wanted to hear me interview Chris as the upcoming worshipful master
But you talked very clearly in there about how you had sat down with your wife sat down with people in your lives and laid this out that this year is about this yeah and that next year will be a different Focus so uh yeah yeah
Right this is my time to do what I’m doing and yeah it thought it through you have purposely and it’s working planned it out it’s happening and things are getting thrown like and that was part of the plan like you know things are going to happen and so you have to accommodate
That so so far so good for me how about you I’m I’m enjoying every bit of it um I was over there yesterday under a sink replacing faucet I got it done and uh the uh men’s room um couple of valves in the men’s room went bad so I fixed those
And we can flush the Ural now and the Ural flushes now it doesn’t work perfectly because it’s 180 years old it needs to be replaced but I got new parts for it and put it in there being a plumber nice thank you so I got I got
All that working we’ll see how it goes we may have to replace it but what I love about it is that um I pop in there after work I do a little bit of this a little bit of that you know and and I’m I’m appreciated by my brother’s for what
I do not that I’m looking for uh that but I I was before I came to freemasony looking for a place to to just serve to just do something uh to help out to be a part of you know doing something for it doesn’t have to be a big grandiose thing
I’m done with that I don’t I don’t need grandiose anymore I just want to be part of something bigger than myself that needs my help needs my expertise and um you know uh that’s that’s just one of them so yeah I’m enjoying it as Tyler I
Guess I like Tyler I really miss not being in the lodge I don’t like that and you our worshipful master Chris Burns was gracious enough to put a Tyler’s chair uh just inside the door so I can lock the outer I can lock up the house
And come in yeah during the C the middle of uh of of you know our meetings and stuff which is great I really appreciate that but um yeah I’m ready to move in the line or or ready to move to to whatever’s next I shouldn’t say that I’m
Will to serve right um as Tyler for as long as is required of me for sure no doubt about that but I’m enjoying it I think that’s why it’s it’s a great role for a pmas to serve in because a person who’s not been through the line yet like
Yourself does need to be in the LOD room yeah and that’s how I learn too I learn a lot there for sure do you see how everything’s going you see the relationships you see the politics you get a better sense of the lodge and and the system of Freemasonry right so I
Think a past Master who’s already been there on that is kind of happy to be outside the lodge and not have to hear some of that stuff that makes sense to me you know what I’m saying and he knows everybody too so you struggle sometimes
Probably like is this a new guy is this an old guy is this not a member I’m not sure right fake it till you make it baby but a past Master would know it’d be like no I’ve been here I know I know you’re not a member of the lodge so
There’s a lot of benefits to having a past Master there but it tends to be a place where new Masons are put these days and I’m sorry that that you know that that’s where you’re at this year but you’re doing a good job and for it
It for me was a uh a selfish thing because I know how like how much a strong Tyler can benefit the master and how if they’re working together how much easier his job is right you know bringing them in when it’s like help me get these guys and
Like the Tyler can do that if he’s good that’s right and uh making sure the firsttime visitors have all been vetted in stuff like if the Tyler’s not doing it the Master’s got to do it it right I trust you know the system you know what
To do and if you need my help you’ll call me yeah and my OCD helps out a lot in that area too so I I can’t let anything not be done to absolute perfection you know I just have to you know I’m inspecting people at this point you know I’m checking their garments
They’re walking in I’m watching I’m looking I’m catching people all the time hey hey hey get that apron on buddy hey hey yeah you know let’s let’s uh let’s do this right you know so I have not worn anybody out yet so so so far so
Good I will eventually I always do but so far everyone still acts like they appreciate it no and and the main thing for me is I appreciate it I could have put a pmas there who’s just going to be like sleeping um but you’re a new zealous brother and so it really
Benefited me to have someone like you there so sorry that you had to do it I appreciate I serve at the worshipful Master’s pleasure it really is a huge benefit to me man so this was a this was a interesting podcast I hope you guys
Out there enjoyed it um you know send us some tell us give us some feedback man you know if you if you didn’t like it if you absolutely hated it we need to know that we’ll read that on the air too we’ll read that one on the air too as
Long as it’s done with respect and gentleness we don’t need um any references to the Illuminati will be immediately thrown in the trash but uh yeah obviously we’re done with that but uh yeah we we really appreciate you guys we have seen a lot of uh a lot of
Positive response um and we’re looking forward to kind of taking it to the next level so we’re going to start our YouTube channel uh we’ll start up we’ll start doing some inserts and different things forgot we’re recording this we’re recording this right now so for YouTube
So uh and and we’ll just we just want to grow next time we’ll wear hat appropriate we’re not going to dress up in suits so you’re still going to see bears with guns but yeah right we’ll definitely put our makeup on next time now that we know yeah right camera yeah
Okay but there’s so many ways you can go with this like we’ve talked to other podcasters that are masons they’re like I need to clip out every uh I wanted to sound so professional and in my mind I’m just thinking wow that’s that’s not how
We’re going to do this no no we’re just going to have a conversation man and that’s what a lot of the feedback we’re getting from you guys is that uh one guy said you know you it feels like I’m there with you uh and you guys are
You’re with us you guys are totally with us and and we’re not going to polish it you know and and overdo any of that stuff it’s going to be what this is going to be what it is it’s a free flowing conversation about Freemasonry we’ll find a topic we’ll stay on topic
As best we can good luck with that uh and and see where it goes are going to relate to the topic that’s some way that’s right right it’s not going to be totally off the rails all right worshipful master uh it has been an absolute pleasure and uh I will see you
Sir in Lodge all right bye guys n
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