On The Level Podcast
Some people think Freemasonry is on the decline, not if we have anything to say about it! Join On the Level Podcast as we explore that Esoteric side of Freemasonry. We talk about the inner workings of our Fraternity, how to apply it's teachings to your every day life to become a better man, and general current events. Join our host and guests as we explore Freemasonry together and bring our ancient craft into the modern age!
On The Level Podcast
From the Eye of the Storm to the Heart of Brotherhood
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When Hurricane Ian swept through Sarasota, it left more than just physical devastation in its wake—it stirred deep emotional currents within us. As Fred and I sift through the remnants of our routines, we uncover the unexpected ways in which resilience and community knit us together in the face of adversity. Our conversation mirrors the path of the Entered Apprentice in Freemasonry, where obedience, humility, and industriousness are the cornerstones of a transformative journey.
Approaching a milestone birthday has me contemplating the Masonic wisdom of treasuring time and embracing life's transience. With the 24-inch gauge as our guide, we discuss how to best allocate our days for rest, work, and serving a greater good. It's a poignant reminder of the pursuit to become our best selves, as we tackle personal health challenges and revel in the joy found in serving others—a testament to the enriching power of generosity of spirit.
Finally, we cast off the misconceptions and shine a light on the charitable heart of Freemasonry. Through the lens of faith, hope, and charity, we reveal how the fraternity molds men into empathetic, community-driven individuals. My own experiences in construction offer a parallel to the importance of mentorship—the right guidance can profoundly shape our understanding and practice of any craft. Join us as we navigate a world of self-improvement, spiritual awakening, and the enduring mentorship that forges the path of a true Mason.
EA Degree in Freemasonry Lessons
Speaker 1Hey , chris , yeah , fred , what's a Mason ?
Speaker 2That's a really good question , fred .
Speaker 1You've reached the internet's home for all things masonry . Join Chris and I as we plumb the depths of our ancient craft , from the common gavel to the trowel . Nothing is off the table , so grab your tools and let's get to work . This is On the Level . Well , welcome to episode 7 of the On the Level podcast with Fred and Chris . Chris , how's it going ?
Speaker 2I'm good . Yeah , we've survived a hurricane .
Speaker 1Oh yeah , that's right .
Speaker 2Yeah , we had some destruction here in our area of the corner of the earth . But we , I did all right . How about you ?
Speaker 1You know , I live in a villa , as you know , and they're kind of like little concrete bunkers . They're all real close together in low roof profiles so nothing happened to the buildings whatsoever . We lost a couple of giant trees here and there , but other than that we were good . But I'll tell you , I'll give you a little bit of a little inside baseball on Fred's head . I'll tell you , man , I went through this little bit of postpartum kind of depression thing . I know that's not possible postpartum , but I kind of went through this kind . I don't know what it was , but you know , after my entire the devastation from Hurricane Ian for me was that my routine was completely devastated .
Speaker 2And .
Speaker 1I am a major routine guy , man . Without my routine I'm a mess . And I guess after several weeks of no electricity well , we had electricity and everything , but several weeks of us as a community not having everything and me not having to go into work and do all this other stuff , the way it went down I just went through this three day funk man . It was just like all right , you know . So I just had to . I just had to get up and grow up and suck up and because that's what we do and I'm better now , so anyways , I don't know why I went on about that , but I am better now , folks .
Speaker 2So we're all good . You , what you experience is probably everyone's out there shaking their head . Yep yeah , me too , I think it was a lot of people felt that and your rhythm is broken . You're not exercising like you usually do , your eating stuff .
Speaker 1You don't normally eat .
Speaker 2I didn't be drinking . Maybe it's a little more stressful than you .
Speaker 1Yeah , just a little bit .
Speaker 2And you know you're worried . You're worried about not maybe not even yourself , but your friends . We were all cut off . We had no phone service . We couldn't even tell people we were all right . We were just in the dark .
Speaker 1That's right , you had to . You had to drive down towards the highway .
Speaker 2About five miles from my house to get to get cell phones . Yeah , we'd make trips once a day just to tell people everything's all right .
Speaker 1Wow , we're here we're .
Speaker 2We're living the high life . I'm eating like all the meat in my fridge tonight , right .
Speaker 1And just so . Just so everybody knows , we live in Sarasota , florida , which is just below Tampa Bay . So we , as Sarasotians , we did not suffer nearly as bad as Fort Myers did . Fort Myers got crushed . My home office is down there Not home office , the home office of the corporation I work for is down there and they got absolutely flattened and they're still digging out . There are still power issues down there . There's still all kinds of trouble . I was reading a piece the other day . It is there's a massive amount of looters coming in on boats into the channel ways and breaking into the you know the exclusive , you know expensive homes there on the coast by boat . And this is happening all over the place now . So this is , this is well , this is Florida . We're a weird place . You know , like they say and I'll cut it off here Every nut eventually rolls downhill to Florida . Never forget that , brothers .
Speaker 1Never ever forget that .
Speaker 2So anyways this is a lot out of towners here .
Speaker 1Oh my gosh , it was bad , it was all right , let's cut off this , this hurricane , in conversation .
Speaker 2Yes , yes , we're here to talk about what ?
Speaker 1Well , we're here to talk about the , the EA degree , and the heading is lessons of the EA degree . So that's kind of where we're , where we're going to start , not kind of , but for sure we're going to start . And I thought that maybe I would just read the , the , the , mentors manual on the EA degree .
Speaker 1It's chapter three of the Florida , the Florida mentors manual and it's the the degree of entered apprentice , chapter three , three , point one , and the heading is the candidates first step in the Masonic process , and I'll just read this and then maybe we can get a get a conversation going . Well , not , maybe , I know we can . That is definitely going to happen . That's definitely going to happen . The candidates first step in his Masonic process . The candidate has now received the first degree in Masonry and has thereby opened the door to another area of education and inspiration , which marks the first step in his Masonic indoctrination and progress .
Speaker 1He should have impressed upon his mind the three qualities which each entered apprentice must possess if he is to attain full benefit and enjoyment of free Masonry . These are obedience , humility and industriousness . He must obey those who are appointed to teach him if he would learn what is required of him before he progresses further . He must have a sense of humility so that he will not develop a belief that he knows more than those who are assigned to teach him . He must also develop a spirit of industry , for free Masonry requires those who would know her treasures to labor for them , and that last one means a lot to me . But , chris , start us off here , start off our conversation .
Speaker 2Jeez , where do you go ?
Speaker 2I know right To your apprentice degree , your first step in free Masonry . I guess , symbolically , we talk about your first step in free Masonry being born again , reborn as a man , into free Masonry . We talk about coming from the darkness of the outer world to the light of free Masonry . And what do we mean by light in free Masonry ? We don't mean physical light right Right Comes from the sun or from an artificial light bulb . We mean knowledge and understanding and information that comes from only one source , and that's somebody that we call the great architect of the universe or the grand artificer of the universe , or the supreme architect of the universe , or God .
Speaker 2That's our creator . And so you're instilled from the very beginning with the idea that free Masonry puts a lot of weight on putting your faith in a Creator or God . And in the very beginning of the degree we tell people , before they're even obligated and made into apprentices hey , before we get started we're gonna pray because this is important to us . And you're taught from the very beginning that anything you do that's important to you , you should go ahead and invite the blessing of God into that thing , whatever it is , if it's important to you . So right from the get go , before we even entered apprentices , freemasonry is telling us what's important to Freemasonry which I find interesting .
Speaker 2And that's a belief in a higher power and a respect for that higher power and a subservience to that higher power that you need to invite it into any , because you can't succeed on your own in life . Yeah .
Speaker 1I totally agree with that , and the lodge itself is , in my opinion , it's the only place where men can congregate together from all different faiths , all different walks of life , A belief in God . In other words , you cannot be an atheist , you cannot believe there is no God . It's in there , man , you make a profession that you do believe in a creator and even in some places and I've read it in a lot of different places we believe in the fatherhood of God , In other words , that God is the supreme leader , the supreme creator and founder of all things . And I just find , as a Christian , I moved right into that . That just totally got my attention . Yeah well , I get that part completely .
Speaker 1But as an EA , what I like about the entire EA fellowcraft , master Mason , the ceremonies we do , the allegories , everything that goes to it is the symbolism behind it . And the symbolism for the EA , the entered apprentice , is birth , coming from darkness to light , breaking the womb and coming into light . We groped about . It says that we were groping in the dark , but then we came to that place where we tasted light , if you will , and now we desire further light , and that's really what the progression really is EA , fellowcraft master Mason and on is feeding that desire for more and more of God's light .
Speaker 2Yeah . So I agree that first degree is about starting over , starting from ground zero . And where do you start ? If you're gonna start from ground zero , if you were building a system , what would you make the first lessons you're gonna teach somebody that has agreed . I'm gonna empty my cup . I'm not gonna bring , like you just read from the Mentor's Manual , I'm not gonna bring my ego into this . I'm not gonna bring my preconceived notions or ideas about anything into this . I'm just gonna come in with an open heart and mind and let Freemasonry wash over me . What would you wanna put into that system and tell these people right away ?
Speaker 2And I think Freemasonry has clearly done it right . You know , okay , you need to be a pious man , you need to be a spiritual man . Yes , that's a given , and we were told that before we joined , because it's on the petition . We saw the questions that we answered . But you know what didn't we see We'd talk about ?
Speaker 2The working tools in the EA degree are a pretty big indicator of what they think is gonna be important to start with a good base that you can grow from for the rest of your life . And they give you the working tools of an operative Mason , which are the 24 inch gauge and common gavel . First lessons you're probably gonna remember from your inert apprentice degree . We're talking about the 24 inch gauge and common gavel . So we're telling them okay , hey , listen , here's your life . You only have 24 hours in your day . First thing you should probably do is figure out how to use that time wisely . If you wanna be a better man , let's look at your life and are you dividing the time of your day into these productive buckets which are gonna lead to you being a better man , a better father , a better citizen of this country ? And that means you should be dedicating time for other men and women and people of society that are in need of help and worthy of help and service to God . You need to divide part of your time into your job so that you can make money for your family , and you need to take time for yourself because you need to be able to relax , refresh yourself , you need to be able to get enough sleep that you're gonna be a productive person and a happy person .
Speaker 2I think those are pretty common sense things that you would wanna put into a system to try to explain to somebody how to start to think about changing yourself and changing your life in positive ways . Really easy , really simply . Just start from the beginning . What do you do all day ? What are you gonna do tomorrow ? Let's talk about that . How much time are you gonna spend playing video games and at the bar and wasting your life ? And if you're gonna go ahead and invest into those things , you should be prepared for what the outcome of that is gonna be in your life . But if you wanna change , they're giving you a pretty simple roadmap Do this , do this , do this , and this is the basis for how you're gonna be a happy guy and a productive guy .
Speaker 1Yeah , I agree , it's no accident that the very first of our working tools and there's many working tools , but the main ones , of course , are the gavel sorry , the 24-inch gauge the common gavel , the plum , the square , the level , the trowel and , of course , the compass . And it's no accident , in my opinion , that the 24-inch gauge is the first one out of the box , because it represents your time and life and it ties right into the level , walking on that plane , that level of life .
The Importance of Time and Service
Speaker 1We , as Masons , are taught to value our time and to , with introspection , look at how much time do I have left ? We're in America . Here , most Americans are taught and or desire to deny their death , to ignore their death , to ignore their time , to fill their time with all kinds of trivial pursuits that keep them numb to the fact that if you look at a clock with 12 hours in it , where are you in terms of your age ? Where are you ? Well , I'm gonna turn 60 next month . Well , I guess I'm at a quarter till maybe Am I 10 till .
Speaker 1I don't know . Where are you In Masonry ? The first thing that we are , the first working tool we're given , forces us to look at that and say where am I on this clock of my life , man , and how much time do I have left ? We don't know the time , the day or the hour of our death . Only God knows that . But we can look at it and then find not fear , not stress , but urgency .
Speaker 1We can find an urgency to do those things that God is calling us to do in our lives and do them well , do them with excellence . That's just the way I see it , and I'm not saying I do , but I am saying that I need to you recognize it's important .
Speaker 1It's really important . And turning 60 , maybe some of that depression the other day that I was talking about earlier . What are you ? A month away from that ? Now I'm November 9th . I turned 60 , 60 . Less than a month now . Less than a month now , and my own story , of course , this journey that I'm completing started when I was 55 . So I've been on a five year journey to hit this number , so I guess coming . Why am I on this rabbit trail that makes sense At 55, .
Speaker 2your five year plan was to get to 60 .
Speaker 1Hey that's a good goal . Get to 60 at a certain health level .
Speaker 2Health , to be able to live your life still at 60 .
Speaker 1To be able to live to 75 as a 60 year old . That was my goal and I beat type two diabetes and I changed my diet and I'm working on some other things right now to try and step that up . Anyways , that's a different podcast entirely .
Speaker 2And this guy is . You'll see his picture . He's in great shape . He's in better shape than most of the guys I know that are 30 .
Speaker 1Yeah , well , like I told you the other day when we were talking , I make it look like that , but I don't look like . I feel you feel your age . I can feel that age man .
Speaker 2It's just .
Speaker 1I cannot lift the weight that I used to lift . I cannot run the hill the way I used to , but I can run it and I can lift it and I do it . I do it well as a 59 year old . That was the goal . I don't want to be somebody else , I want to be me , the optimal me . What does the optimal Fred look like ? How does he act and how does he behave ? So , bringing it back to the 24 inch gauge , the 24 inch gauge .
Speaker 1It's a representation of my time and my life and it's just so important that we all encourage EAs , and ourselves as well , to evaluate each time . It says that it breaks it out into three eight hour periods . Now , those are not to be followed strictly , but what it means is that there are three ideas behind the breaking down of the 24 hours . Obviously , eight of it is for sleep . There's no way around that one . If you don't sleep good , then you die young . That's just the way it is . But the other one is for our vocation . And help me out on what the third one is .
Speaker 1It's for the service of God and a brother and a fellow brother , yes , the service of God and a fellow brother , service to man , basically , and a God Right .
Speaker 2So serving other people and that's an important part , I think , of every system of personal growth is getting outside yourself and building upon your empathy and thinking about other people and thinking about their problems and how enriching that is to your personal growth as a man . Interesting lesson that it's stuck into that 24 inch gauge and it's the first thing I talk about when you start dividing your time is service to other people and you'll find that lesson throughout the inner to apprentice degree .
Charity and Personal Growth in Freemasonry
Speaker 2The principal tenants faith , hope and charity . And we tell them that's all great to have faith in God and it's all good to hope for eternal life , but you have control over charity , right , and it's in the 24 inch gauge . And then again they put it into the tenants of the fraternity . So that's how important the service to other people and charity towards mankind is to free masonry and to your own personal growth .
Speaker 2And so when I do these meetings with certain members of my lodge , with new candidates or interested parties that want to potentially join , they point out , hey , free masonry is not a charity , just so you know . And I can't help myself but jumping in and saying , ok , I agree , we're not registered as a charitable organ , we're not a 513C , you're not going to get a tax deduction if you donate to the lodge . I get that . But , boy , you , look at anything we talk about in free masonry and try to tell me charity is not embedded in who we are as a fraternity . And I'll call you out every day of the week and twice on Sunday , because you're not going to find almost anything in free masonry that doesn't tell you over and over again how important charity is and that this is something that you have control over , that you can make your mark on other people's lives and on the world and be remembered in history for the acts you do in life of charity .
Speaker 1Yeah yeah . You take a young man who by nature is selfish and self-centered and it kind of makes sense . A young man needs to be a little bit selfish , needs to be a little bit hardworking and dedicated and focused on his own life and the things that he wants to do in his life . But you take a young man like that and you put him into our system and he learns how to have empathy for others and to serve other people and to get his focus off himself and onto other people . That is charity . We are doing charity when we send that young man back out to his home , his wife , his family , his work , a better man , able to serve the community . And that's I mean , that's , that is charity . And the word charity , which means love , it's a specific word love . It comes from the Greek phileo , phileo or phileo , which means brotherly love , or it is the act of love , the type of love that I have for my brother , like , for instance , philadelphia is known as the city of brotherly love phileo , that's .
Speaker 1Philadelphia . So that's what that means , that's where that comes from . So when you hear the word charity , we're not talking about agape love , which is God's supreme love for us , or arroyos love , which is the love between a man and his wife , but we're talking about a love that is active , a love that is working , faith , hope and charity . Or love , active , caring love . And it makes sense back to the gauge , right , the gauge tells us to serve other people , to serve the community and to serve a brother , mason , and to give of yourself . That's the whole idea , and I think it ties back into the three qualities that are to be impressed upon the candidate , which I read in the beginning there , which is obedience , humility and industriousness .
Speaker 1And I love that statement on industriousness . Listen to this , for free Masonry requires those who would know her treasures to labor for them . And it just makes me think of the brother who comes in and says he wants to do the floorwork , he wants to dress and find suits . And I love all that stuff . Don't get me wrong , man , I love our rituals , I love what we do and the way we do it , striving to always do it better . But if that's all you do , if you don't do the studying , if you don't read it and study it and let it come into your mind right , you're not being industriousness . You're not being industrious and you will miss out on the treasures that free Masonry offers us . It offers us treasures , but we must work for them .
Speaker 2Wow , that's powerful stuff Right , it sure is .
Humility and Willingness in Freemasonry
Speaker 1All right , so let's go on to the gavel . Talk about the gavel . What is the gavel ?
Speaker 2Actually , before we get to that point . I wanted to propose we go back .
Speaker 1Okay , yes .
Speaker 2In the beginning of the degree we're divested of a bunch of stuff .
Speaker 1Right .
Speaker 2But we're removed from our worldly clothes and possessions .
Speaker 1Right . The Armani suit is not allowed Taking off .
Speaker 2right , right , we ask you to wear it . Well , you came with a suit and tie . That's awesome . Yeah , go take it off and put this on now , go take it off and wear it in this specific way , and so you put somebody in a position where they're off kilter , you've removed the vestiges of their whatever they imagine themselves to be in real life , Right yeah .
Speaker 2Take it all away , and they may even be going through this experience with other people . And now they're just like them . They're clothed just like them . They're feeling the same feelings they're feeling Doesn't matter if they're a president of a company or they're the gardener or the plumber or the president of the United States they're having the same experience .
Speaker 2They're feeling the same feelings . They look exactly the same . At this point , what have we done ? We've shown them right from the beginning , before they even started . You ain't any better than the guy next to you Hate to tell you , right , when you take away all that stuff , that's not real your jewelry , your fancy clothes , your idea that you have control over this world and you're sitting there half naked , that's how we leave . This world is naked and afraid . And now you're about to enter a new world , essentially naked and afraid and being leveled to the point where your preconceived ideas about your importance in the world is taken away from you . Man , we're sending some powerful messages before we even got started .
Speaker 1Yeah , that's right . That's right , and when you brought it up and I'm glad you did it just brought me right back to that .
Speaker 2You felt it In that out-in-our-world man's stand there , A visceral feeling of confusion . You're scared . You're like what's happening to me ? I have no control over this situation .
Speaker 1Right and to come in , I had my suit on , I was looking good , feeling good , and they said , here , do this . And I was like what , wait , hold on , hold on , I'm doing what ? And then , like you said , cold and way out of your element and even , dare I say , hoodwinked . For goodness sakes . And for me that was a real struggle . I've studied self-defense for a long time and situational awareness . So to put that on and to be led about in a compromised state you're right , total humility .
Speaker 2Total humility Total humility and obedience .
Speaker 1The first two obedience , humility and industrious as well , you have to give up .
Speaker 2At that point you got to give up . Somebody's going to hopefully take me around carefully and tell me what to do , because I don't know what's happening .
Speaker 1I know you just got to trust .
Speaker 2Yeah , I just got to put a little faith that this is going to be OK , and it was , and it was more than OK and the way it's laid out and if it's done correctly and in my case for my EA degree .
Speaker 1it was done very well , I thought , and it's so funny that when you go through it it seems like you're being led around for hours and hours and hours . And afterwards you become a master mason and you go and you participate in an EA degree as one of the participants . You realize , man , it's just not that long at all .
Speaker 2It goes by pretty quick , but 20 minutes felt like two hours , two hours . Man , I was just like when will this ?
Speaker 1end . This is crazy , but anyway , we're beating that one to death . No , but I mean .
Speaker 2I'm sorry for going backwards .
Speaker 1No , I'm glad you did .
Speaker 2I thought I'm sitting here thinking you know what ? There were some really important lessons even before that , because we are divested of everything , we're shed of all the trappings of the world . It's all gone and we're put in a state of material and spiritual poverty . Before we even step through the door , powerful lessons being taught and you're not going to realize it at the time . But that's not the point . The point is to experience that and feel the feelings at the time , because you're going to go back and analyze it later . That's the way we teach in Freemasonry . Yeah , that's right .
Speaker 1We claim to you know that the great architect , you know the fatherhood of God , who is creator , and we are attempting to know him . So you have to think about the difference in beings here . You know , this is a being who claimed to have created everything from nothing , ex-nilo and it's a big universe man . So you know , I'm thinking he's a being that is far , far surpassed than anything we can really understand . Therefore , it is incumbent upon him to reveal himself to us , Because on our own , apart from his revelation , his light and us seeking that light , we're really not going to understand and truly know him . You know , so I think you know , I just , I just that that is so comforting to me , to know that if he is who he says he is , then he's already got a plan .
Speaker 1He's already got a plan . He has to because I know in myself I mean , I'm a being that if he doesn't correctly clean himself , we'll get sick and die . So At some point we have to just humble ourselves and cry out and say , okay , okay , show me , I .
Speaker 2Don't have a master plan , I sure hope somebody does right .
Speaker 1Yeah , that's right .
Speaker 2Surrender to the idea that that plan exists .
Speaker 2Yeah , man , and that , whatever you're doing , if you're working hard and you're trying the best you can , that you're , you're just Doing what you were created to do . You can't help it . So , yeah , you're prepared , lessons , lessons already coming at you , and then you want to get in there and get this degree done , but you can't because something's in the way . So you discover right away that there's things blocking your path to light . You're in the state of darkness , clearly , literally in a state of darkness , trying to get into this place to get this information , and you can't because something's blocking your path . And so we're taught right from the very beginning that you have to overcome these obstacles .
Speaker 2Right , there's a door , it's . Can you get through it ? Maybe not initially . You've got to wait for help . Help comes and you do pass through the door . There's another lesson I think right there , that you're gonna face opposition to your spiritual growth , because that's what you're seeking when you come to Freemasonry , right , and you're gonna be naked and afraid , and then a brother's gonna come and give you some help and he's gonna show you the light .
Speaker 1Yeah , yeah , I mean , that's just like . That's it , man right there , that's a beautiful thing , and and ? And how many men in this country right now are searching for that ?
Speaker 2You know a brother to not enough , not enough , not enough , not enough .
Speaker 1But we're working on it . We're working on it . That's right . So the the common gavel .
Speaker 2Yes , let's go there .
Speaker 1Back to the common gap back to the common gavel . So the common gavel was used by operative masons .
Speaker 2Well , you hit stuff with it , right , hit stuff with you chip away .
Speaker 1You take a rock , a large rock , most likely granite , and and you chip away at it with this gavel , until you , until it's Suitable for the master's use . Right , and I love that , I love that analogy , you know it . You chip it away , but but that's , that's the practical use of a common gavel . What is the meaning of the gavel ? And we all have our own kind of interpretations of it . For me , the gavel represents my willingness to work , because if I show , I've been in construction my entire life . So Gavels , hammers , levels it all . It all makes sense to me .
Speaker 1But if I , if I'm on a job site and I got an apprentice who comes in and I hand him a gavel when he first comes in , he's not going to know what to do with it and he's probably gonna hurt himself with it . But if I give it to him and he takes it and puts it in its proper place and then looks up at me with a willingness to learn how to use it , well then then I understand the concept of this working tool as an EA . The common gavel represents , in my mind , my willingness to do the work With that gavel , my willingness to learn how to use it , first and foremost .
Speaker 2You're coming back to the industriousness part .
Speaker 1Yeah , exactly , yeah , beginning right right .
Speaker 2This is a tool that's gonna help you have an industrious purpose If you can use it . The this is a kind of it . Like all the tools , it's got layers . It can be pretty deep the more you think about it . But okay , let's start at the beginning , from an operative standpoint . We're gonna break off Whatever you don't need of this hunk of stone to try to shape it into whatever the master workman says this needs to be . So , whether it's a square , or maybe it's an arch , or maybe it's a sphere , whatever it is , you're gonna have to shape it , and it's rock , so it's not like clay . You know , I'm just gonna mold it . You've got to shape it with hard work , so you've got this tool to do it .
Speaker 2Now we're what we call speculative mason , so we're not physically gonna do anything , physically gonna do anything , but spiritually we are trying to lay our foundation as an internet apprentice , the foundation of a spiritual building . An Operative mason is gonna lay the foundation of a physical building with these perfect Squares or blocks that they're creating out of hunks of stone . And If the foundation is not perfect , if it's not strong , you know what's gonna happen to the building ? Right , it's gonna crumble . It's never gonna last . Through time , it will fall , and so the foundation is literally the most important part of the building . It's not the sexiest part , it's not the part everybody sees right , but it is probably the most important part of the building , because nothing of that structure will survive time If it's not got a solid foundation . So we're talking about how to build a solid foundation for our spiritual building that we're gonna build in freemasonry . We're gonna build this temple to God inside of us , out of our mind , right .
Speaker 2And how do you make a solid foundation ? Well , here we go . You're gonna have to shape your life a little bit . You're gonna have to break , you're gonna have to lose some of the things you don't need that are getting in the way of a strong foundation . And in freemasonry they tell you that's most of the vices in your life , right , yeah , and all the crap that you're wasting your life on . They have a big word for that that I had to Google and I had to do that a couple times because I have a bad memory , but essentially , what they're telling you is okay , excessive drinking , smoking , gambling , you know , spending too much time on trivial things , whatever that may be . These are all things getting in the way of building a solid spiritual foundation for yourself right , and that word is .
Speaker 1What's that ? The word is a super flu super fluities of life
The Importance of Mentorship in Freemasonry
Speaker 1. Yeah , the excesses , needless excess . Yes , right , yeah , that's that's the definition of the word according to Webster's needless excess .
Speaker 2It's great , you know , because that's the last thing people want to do .
Speaker 1Oh yeah , absolutely , Absolutely . I love my need to come for you kidding me , I'm an American . Come on , I .
Speaker 2Want to eat all the red meat . I want to drink all the whiskey .
Speaker 2I want to smoke all the cigars , that's right , yeah , and you know , okay , drink , have , have one occasionally because you need some relaxation in your life . Yes , but excessiveness is what we're talking about . These things will get in the way of your relationships , your vocations and your connection with your creator . They're they're inhibiting your spiritual growth . So , you know , I Think it's a good idea , right out the gate of a person that's in a state of Recognizing , they need to humble themselves , recognizing they don't have all the answers . Okay , you're not . We're not gonna give you all the answers , but we're gonna give you the tools to find the answers for yourself . And that's what you haven't been able to do right with your life up to this point . And so now you're a new man and you're armed with tools to be a better man , but it's up to you to use them . And so , in order to use the tool properly , as you know , you have to really understand it right and you have to practice it and you have to be taught and then practice Correct fail .
Speaker 2I get it . I get it after a while , you're gonna understand it . But you have to use the tools , and so doing work is the only way that you can actually use those tools Operatively and it's the same spiritually . You have to do exercises that require you to think about these things and enact them and use them in your life , and I think that's a great lesson . That's a Genius way to take somebody into a system and try to Continue to help them empty their cup , continue to say hey , just open your ears and maybe talk a little less at this point and look around at what you see , look at the other guys that have been here longer than you , and hopefully those guys are an example of yeah what's gonna happen if you do those things ?
Speaker 1Well , I mean , I was as you were talking about that . I was just thinking about the . You know they , the , the quality of , of the mentor , is just as important as the willingness , you know of the EA , that openness that they have , you know , of understanding what it is that they're they're getting into . And you know , I remember being on cruise In Arizona years ago .
Speaker 1We , we used to build houses very differently in Arizona than they do here , but we would have different crews that would be responsible for different phases of a framed house and I would , I would run joicing crews or a trust crew or a framing crew , blah , blah , blah . But you always had , you had a foreman , you had two carpenters and two helpers and that was a crew . And as a foreman I would have to meet with other foreman's on the crew and there'd be just a whole gaggle of us this is back in the day a gaggle , a whole big gaggle of us know it all and , and you could tell the difference between a foreman who was good because all of his men were always working they're very few mistakes but they always knew where they were at all times .
Speaker 1Everything was flowing and moving . Everyone knew their role because the mentorship that he was providing , the leadership he was providing , was based on sound practice . And then you had the formins that were in it for ego and in it for themselves , and they're yelling at people . Back in the day , in the construction industry , yelling at people was a way of life and I've seen people just absolutely just throw their tools down and beat the crap out of each other on a job site because of ego . And those kids whoever those laborers were on his crew learned nothing .
Speaker 1They learned absolutely nothing and I made it my mission because I was taught very well . I was taught by a very seasoned carpenter and I learned carpentry hand to hand from this man , joe Johnson , who's probably long gone by now . But the guys that don't . I guess the point I'm trying to make is that , as an EA , it is incumbent upon you to understand the people that are mentoring you , and it's your responsibility . Don't be afraid . If you're an EA and you're working through everything here and you've got to mentor in your life that you don't feel right about , do not be afraid to move to a different way . Be polite , be respectful , because you're a Mason now . So that's what we're supposed to do Supposed to do , yes , but move to and look for a man in the lodge who knows his stuff , who isn't loud , who isn't constantly arguing and bickering with other people , isn't saying no to every new idea that's out there . But find a mentor who knows his stuff . Anyways , I'm beating that one to death too , but that's so important .
Speaker 2That's a we kind of . After the degree is over , we link you up with a mentor and a catechism instructor and those are basically gonna be your tethers to free Masonry for the rest of your degrees that you're going through . So you have a catechism instructor and his job is to help you memorize the questions and answers so that you better understand the physical things that happen in the degree and the basic symbolism of what that meant . And then you've got a mentor who is a different brother that is gonna explain in greater detail the esoteric thinking and reasoning of free Masonry and has nothing to do with memorization work . So that's supposed to be two different people . Mentors , according to the system of free Masonry , are supposed to be the most seasoned members of your lodge , the ones that have done the most and experienced the most and really understand it on a baser level than most . And the catechism instructor is supposed to be the one that has demonstrated his proficiency in memorization and accuracy with that memorization so he can impart that to you , Because free Masonry's got this crazy system of inculcation and repetition being the way that we learn and memorizing things , because when you memorize it you're forced to think about it .
Speaker 2You have to think about it over and over and over again to memorize it . So it's genius to me that they made memorization a part of this and you will learn that and it'll stick with you forever once you drill that into your head . But those are two supposed to be good brothers of the lodge that are gonna be good representatives of free Masonry to you , because you at this point don't really fully understand You're just a baby in free Masonry . You're drinking mommy's teat . Still , You're not a big boy at this point and it's tougher guys to think of themselves as not the big guy or not the most knowledgeable , most experienced guy in the room . Humility is important in anything you do in life and it's funny because some of the people that I look up to in free Masonry are the most humble guys .
Speaker 1Right , yeah .
Speaker 2You can ask them anything and whatever they tell you they're gonna say and brother , that's just my opinion . You need to look here for the right answer . You need to talk to that guy for the right answer Right , yeah , they don't come off as the authority .
Speaker 2I only know what I know and I'm gonna give you my best , but I know that I'm not the most knowledgeable and these are guys that have been around and done everything . And so I see that the system of free Masonry ingrains that humbleness into you as you really make it part of yourself as a man . And when you can carry that humbleness out into the world , that attracts attention of people . When they see a quiet , strong man doing good things , never partaking in these negative things , not being the guy to gossip and bitch and just trying to get things done and work together , that's gonna attract attention of people . People are drawn to light and you have become the light for them because they're walking in the darkness and they're naturally gonna be attracted to the light and they're gonna want what that person has in their life . And that's how you grow the fraternity just by being a Mason in the world , walking around in the darkness , being a pillar of light . But it takes a lot of hard work to get . It's hard to kill your ego , man . Oh , it is .
Speaker 2Pretty much every major religion and every real endeavor of mankind is trying to kill the ego .
Speaker 1Yeah , well , there's that old man inside that doesn't want . He really doesn't want the good , the true and the beautiful . It's not natural to him he must work towards it to find that and that's a good . We're 43 minutes in .
Speaker 2I told you this was gonna be a long one .
Speaker 1Well , I'm thinking maybe a part two , I think so .
Speaker 2Because we have a lot left to talk about .
Speaker 1I'm flipping through my notes here and I'm telling you right now we could probably do another one . So why don't we maybe tentatively don't quote me on this but tentatively commit to a lessons of the EA degree part two ? I love it and we'll do that one next time when we come back together . Chris , as always , man , it's just a pleasure to do this , to sit here and do this , and I hope you guys listening are getting a lot out of it . Let us know .
Speaker 2Yes , just so you know , we're guys that have full time jobs .
Speaker 1Yep .
Speaker 2We're both real active in our lodges and other lodges and our district and the grand lodge . We're very , very active guys . We get up at five , four , 30 in the morning . We're here talking with you and , to be honest with you , this is something I look forward to all week .
Speaker 1Yeah , me too To get to sit here and talk about this stuff .
Speaker 2I don't view this as a oh , gotta get up . I'm like , yeah , I'm set my alarm , I'm waking up before my alarm , I'm excited to get here . Yeah , so you know , this is us at the as Crack a Dawn , talking to you guys , and we dedicate hours so that we can do this in the morning before our real lives get going , and that's what we do in free masonry .
Speaker 1Yeah , that's right man , that's right and the learning curves and everything that it takes to put this together . I absolutely look forward to learning it , to getting better at it and to producing a podcast that does masonry proud . That's our goal , and Chris and I are the kind of guys that once we get onto something , especially something we like , we're not gonna let it go man so we will be here . We will continue to produce these shows and they will get better and better . Please , please , please , leave your comments .
Speaker 2Yeah , we need that feedback .
Speaker 1Good bad indifferent , it's okay . While we're big boys , we can take it . Constructive criticism is always welcome . It'll get you to the front of the line around here , man .
Speaker 2So absolutely not a problem and we'll get some guests coming in . We'll have some other parties , but you know , absolutely , absolutely we're just having too much fun talking to you guys right now .
Speaker 1Right , yeah .
Speaker 2We're trying to keep you all to ourselves . Ha , ha , ha ha ha , all right .
Speaker 1well , that'll do it for episode seven , man , we will see you next time , where , hopefully , we'll have the lessons of the EA degree part two . Thanks , chris , I'll see you next time , man .
Speaker 2All right , fred , I'll see you next time .
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