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
Master Mason Degree: Whispers from King Solomon's Temple Unearthing Masonic Sagas and Virtues
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Ever wondered about the ancient tales woven into the fabric of Freemasonry? Fred and I embark on an illuminating exploration of the legend of Hiram Abif, the master builder whose story forms the crux of Masonic tradition. We delve into the essential teachings found within the pages of the Florida Masonry Mentor's Manual and discuss how these lessons underpin the growth of every Mason. But it's not all solemn tradition; we candidly navigate the balancing act between virtuous living and enjoying life's finer pleasures, such as a good cigar or whiskey.
Our conversation takes you on a historical odyssey, revealing Freemasonry's indelible mark on America's founding and the construction of societal cornerstones. We unravel the rich tapestry of King Solomon's era, the craftsmanship of Hiram Abif, and the moral and esoteric lessons that resonate in the shaping of personal character. Listen as we also share personal updates, divulge insights into making informed health choices in line with Masonic values, and tease the exciting content lined up to pique your intellectual curiosity.
As we wrap up our session with Fred, we underscore the paramount importance of continued Masonic education and the transformative journey from Entered Apprentice to Master Mason. We discuss our own Masonic journeys, the impact of mentoring within the brotherhood, and the legacies we hope to leave behind. Finally, we lift the veil on the upcoming events and future plans that promise to deepen your Masonic understanding and enrich your experience within the fraternity. Join us for an episode that promises enlightenment, camaraderie, and a shared quest for wisdom.
Masonic Legend of Hiram Abif Exploration
Speaker 1Hey Chris .
Speaker 2Yeah , fred .
Speaker 1What'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 , once again we are back on the level with Fred and Chris . How are you ?
Speaker 2If you keep that up , that's going to be your signature intro man , what do you do ?
Speaker 1I'm good . I've been a little sick this week , just getting over it , employed all of my natural cures and , of course , as I always do , I'm good to go for a couple of years .
Speaker 2You get that once a year .
Speaker 1My two year . Little thing that comes through every once in a while and I'm good to go . I don't do medicines , I don't do medicine . Doctors , hospitals , I don't do any of that stuff . So I don't need it because I'm healthy .
Speaker 2You , know man , you do a lot of healthy eating and exercise .
Speaker 1Yes , you do a lot of other stuff . Yes , I do .
Speaker 2That people don't want to do , which is why you don't get sick , right ?
Speaker 1That is correct . You have to get sick about every two years , because that is the design feature of the human body , is to re-up all those immunities that are out there and it re-ups and resets them and sets you going in your environment for the next couple of years . If you maintain your health , that is . But if you eat garbage and don't exercise and smoke cigarettes , hang out in bars and you know , cigars are okay , though , right , cigars are fine , there is no problem with cigars , let's not get too healthy .
Speaker 2Whiskey is okay .
Speaker 1Once in a while . I'm a big fan of a premium whiskey . Life is too short to drink cheap whiskey , in my opinion , and smoke cheap cigars , I think . That is the defining line , in my opinion .
Speaker 2That is okay . That is the unhealthy , unhealthy , acceptable boundary , correct , correct , fine . Cigars and whiskey are okay for you , that is right .
Speaker 1So master Mason , degree number four , wow , I don't know . Number four . We are not even halfway through the manual , so I don't know how far this thing is going to go .
Speaker 2Well , we are getting into the second half today , I think .
Speaker 1I think so .
Speaker 2How would , a guess , have as many on the back half it ?
Speaker 1is not really broken into halves like that . No , but if you break it into quarters , which is what I did part one , because I figured we'd do four parts and of course part one became part one and two . Part two became part three .
Speaker 2And now here we are . In part , four Plans are for other people .
Speaker 1That is right . We don't plan this we wing stuff . We would have to hire actual professionals to be able to plan this too far out .
Speaker 2Yes , we don't do that . Based on the income of this show , that will not be happening .
Speaker 1No , sir , and thankfully so , we bravely plow into the future Not knowing what we are doing or where we are going .
Speaker 2We don't mean no stinking professionals , that's right .
Speaker 1Perhaps it might be talk like a pirate day .
Speaker 2I thought it was Irish in the beginning and it turned pirate .
Speaker 1Most pirates were Scottish and Irish . So we are on 5.12 in the Florida Mentors Manual . So this is GL 217 , revised in 2008 . Florida Masonry Mentors Manual , which is a publication that every Mason should know . Every Mason should have a copy of it and it should be dog-eared , it should be highlighted , it should be written in . There should be tons of notes in it , and I'm not just saying that because mine is , I'm saying that because it's worthy of your time To get into , because it does give you the basic foundation of what it is you're doing here as a Mason .
Speaker 1So I encourage every brother out there and and thank you for all the emails From the brethren out there saying , yes , I I've never opened it up and now I have . And you guys are right , this thing is answering a lot of questions that I've been wondering about and the darn thing has been in my drawer for the past Umpteen years . So good on you , brother , if you're out there and you're Pulled it out and you're in there doing the study , because you know what I say . I say it all the time . Know what you believe and know why you believe it . Otherwise why bother ?
Speaker 1Agreed , yes , sir so do you want to just dive right in , brother ? Do we want to continue our clever banter ?
Speaker 2No , let's do this are you sure ? People need master Mason .
Speaker 1And they need it now . And they need it now Just real quick . We we have been asked to put together a esoteric teaching night which is going to take place this Saturday at Chris's house in his beautiful backyard A palatial and stylish backyard .
Speaker 1Obviously , his wife put that together . Yes , and I'm pretty excited about that too . And and just real quick , when we say Masonic , esoteric teaching , this is what we're talking about right here , guys , this is it , this is what we're doing . This is , you know , a lot of people want I think I said this in the last episode , but it's worth reiterating A lot of people want to add to the esoteric , masonic , esoteric teaching .
Speaker 1But really all it is is the , it's teaching , those , those parts of Masonry that you can only get as a Mason within Masonry . That's what esoteric means . It's a , it's a source of knowledge that you can only obtain Through a specific person or group . So that's the esoteric teaching . You can only get it as a master Mason . You can only get master Mason teaching within the lodge , because it's those are our secrets , and our secrets are , in fact , the esoteric teachings . So that's what it is nothing , nothing way out there , and that's . You know , the Alex Joneses and Glenn Beck's of the world . They love to speculate on what our esoteric teachings are and they always add goats and blood and and kind of weird crap . But as a man , if you're sitting out there and you're a , you're an EA or a fellow craft or a master Mason .
Speaker 2Please know that when we say esoteric teaching , we're talking about Masonic teaching within the guidelines of our craft Yep , esoteric in Freemasonry , specifically divine , defined as anything in three degrees , anything within the three degrees right and and much of it is secret , and I've said it , I've said it before I love that fact .
Speaker 1that is what makes it kind of special and kind of fun . So , anyways , that alright . So we did banter , we did helpful , helpful words of wisdom and palatial word of the day . That's right . If you saw Chris's backyard , it has a waterfall , just so you know .
Speaker 2Resembling a palace and being spacious and splendid Wow .
Speaker 1There you go , there you go .
Speaker 2That's a huge compliment .
Speaker 1To your wife , indeed , who obviously put that thing together , obviously .
Speaker 2Yes .
Speaker 1Yes , okay , alright , so 512 , page 22 of the Grand Lodge , florida Grand Lodge mentors manual . The higher , the higher . Why do I have a problem ? Hieremic , the hieremic legend . I don't know why I have a problem reading that , pronouncing that word every time I go to pronounce it . The hieremic legend is the title of this particular paragraph . It's three paragraphs . I'm just going to go ahead and read the whole thing and then we'll go back paragraph by paragraph , which is kind of our way , okay .
Speaker 1The hieremic legend is woven around Hiram Abif , the skilled artisper , who was the son of a widow of the tribe of Neftali . There is no character in all of Freemasonry whose life story is so dependent on tradition as this celebrated architect of the temple . The earlier accounts of this artisan and builder will be found recorded in the first book of Kings , chapter 7 , verses 13 and 14 . His coming to work on the great temple at Jerusalem is mentioned in a letter written to King Solomon by Hiram , the king of tire , and recorded in second chronicles , chapter 2 , 13 . Chapter 2 , verses 13 and 14 . Each of these references will enable the new brother to have a clearer understanding of Hiram Abif as a figure in history . Freemasons refer to him in several ways , as Hiram the builder , as the widow's son , but most often as Hiram Abif . The word Abif means his father or my father , and the name would be correctly translated as Hiram my father , the my father being a term of great respect . He was regarded as the father , in a patriarchal sense , of all his workmen on the temple .
Speaker 1A dramatization of this legend is done to teach the magnificent lessons of fidelity . It should be understood that it is a legend and not factual . Both Hirams are recorded in Holy Rift , but one cannot find any trace of the legend which is used in our master Mason degree . So that's an inch . Let's not get caught on that . On that bottom paragraph , let's go back to the beginning . It's woven . The legend itself is woven around Hiram our father .
Speaker 2Yes , he is the main protagonist of the story . He's the one that is being represented through our candidate in much of this degree , and I think it's important that last little bit at the end is important to Masons Everywhere , because this is a legend . We're not trying to say . This is historically accurate .
Speaker 2Correct , you don't have to go on a pilgrimage to Israel to try to find the lost documents of Hiram Abif's presence there , or whatever . I think it was Mackie that said we start to look insane when we try to prove that any of these stories are true .
Speaker 1Right .
Speaker 2So don't waste your time with that . These are meant to teach us moral lessons . Well , the characters might be familiar . Hiram Abif is a name you might have heard in the New Testament .
Speaker 1Old Testament . Old Testament Sorry .
Speaker 2The Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles . Yes , it's mentioned in Chronicles and Kings who he is . Everything that you just mentioned came directly from the Old Testament .
Speaker 1Yeah , I read it this morning . It's a brief description of a man that was hired by King Solomon , and he was known throughout the region as a man who knew how to work in all manner of temple building , so this was a man who was clearly up for the job .
Speaker 2Yes , and his integrity and honesty make him a good example or exemplar for Freemasonry .
Speaker 1Correct .
Speaker 2And about how your personal integrity and reputation should come above anything else , including the defense of your own life .
Speaker 1Yeah , that's right .
Speaker 2But your integrity first , because that will last forever . Your life is going to be short anyways , but your integrity and your honesty and your legacy should last forever , which is a good moral lesson to teach us . But as far as Hyramabith himself you know , all we know is really what Freemasonry is telling us , and most of it is coming out of the Old Testament , so he's still kind of a vague figure , yeah .
Speaker 2We don't get much history or background on his life or education or any experiences he's had . He's just kind of an object that's put in to fill this role so that we can have these experiences and discussions around this drama that's going to happen around him .
Speaker 1Right , so we don't know who his mother was .
Speaker 2We know that she was from the tribe of Nathali Nathali , correct .
Speaker 1One of the twelve sons of Jacob .
Speaker 2Right , but she doesn't get a name . She does not get a name .
Speaker 1He's known as the widow's son .
Speaker 2Right . So obviously his mother was in the widow Right .
Speaker 1So did Hyram . King of Tyre is the one who recommended him , or is that his supposed father ?
Speaker 2I think both .
Speaker 1Both Okay .
Speaker 2According to this story . We're told that it is his father .
Speaker 1Okay .
Speaker 2He comes from the tribe of Tyre , because that's who his father was .
Speaker 1So he would be Hyram Ben Hyram , that means Hyram , son of Hyram .
Speaker 2I think you're right , yeah , yeah .
Speaker 1That's pretty cool .
Speaker 2Yeah , and they like to keep it in the family , just like today .
Speaker 1They always did . That was very , very strong . All the trades , if you will I don't know if they called them trades back then , probably but no matter what your father was , you were to be that you and your brothers would be raised up . If you came from a fishing family or a fisher , your father was a fisherman , you would be a fisherman , ie most of the apostles , for instance , because of that time frame , artisans , carpenters , which were actual .
Speaker 1We think of carpenters as guys that work in wood , but actually in ancient times carpenters were mostly actually worked in stone and wood and all manner of building . And actually when I started out in my career , I was a carpenter . I started out as a carpenter and back then the carpenter was the general contractor . So I was , I apprenticed to be a carpenter who was in charge of the entire building . So that's the way it used to be . We would work , the carpenter would work for the architect or the owner and he would be in charge of all of the wood construction of a building , but he would also be in charge of all the contractors that would come in and he would he would see the building to the very end . It's not that way anymore . It's not that way anymore . Now we have to have state licenses and insurances and all this garbage that ruined the trade completely , but that's a different story .
Freemasonry's Historical Significance
Speaker 2I guess these people answered to one person , and that was God .
Speaker 1Yeah , well , my point is is that there was a time when the guy in charge was in in the 80s , so long ago . There , there it was . The guy in charge of the building was skilled in all manner of the building . We used to have a designation known as a master builder , and that master builder , most , most of the time , started out as a carpenter and he was skilled in all manner of the building . He knew what he was looking at . You know , he wasn't a plumber , but he knew how it worked . He could see it when it was wrong , you know , and that that made him the the one person that could see the building from beginning to end . Today that is not the case , unfortunately .
Speaker 1Anyways , getting back to our text , hiram Abif was such a man , yeah , the building that he built . Nothing today can compare to it only because of the technology . We build buildings today that look like that building that he built , but it's nothing like it . It's nothing like . It's a facade of it , using modern materials that made made it very easy for laborers to do what used to be have to be done by skilled craftsmen . You know , it's a whole different type of building , but this was a man who was skilled in all manner of the building trade for the building of King Solomon's temple ? No small , no small feet .
Speaker 2No , but he was a skilled worker . He was obviously capable of managing large projects , because the number of people that worked on this was pretty intense , right , and they used some of the best materials that they could gather , and they did it in a very difficult way . It wasn't done in a way that was meant to be quicker , easy . It was they . They harvested the materials and prepared them in a way that would have taken probably three or four times as long to actually construct the temple because of the way that they did it , and they were doing it out of respect for their God .
Speaker 1Right , right . Yeah , there was a here in Second Chronicles , chapter two , like it said in the in the book . There it says Solomon King Solomon assigned 70,000 . What what they call here is is bearers , burden bearers , but that would be EA's Correct . So there were 70,000 and then no , no , gonna go backwards 70,000 , 80,000 and 3600 , right , right , so the 80,000 fellow , crafts were fellow crafts , right .
Speaker 1So we had 70,000 EA's , 80,000 fellow crafts and 3600 overseers . Master Mason's . That's pretty cool , and and I just I want to get off of the actual literalness and get to the that . You know that esoteric side of it , of what it means . You know what's the story behind the story here ? Right , because For me it's , it's we're . The temple that I'm building is the temple of my body and life , that's the , that's the construction project that I'm currently working on within the confines of masonry .
Speaker 2That's the allegory of free masonry right . And you use working tools to build your right temple .
Speaker 1Yeah , yeah , and I just I , you know , I once you start getting into all the ramifications of that and you start studying it , it really for me , it really got my interest , because I'm a practical person like that . I need , I give me , give me a set of rules , right , give me a blueprint , give me something to work from . This gives me something to work from . But the thing is is , once you take it to the next level and Actually start applying it into your life through memorizing what the tools mean , studying what the tools mean , and then memorizing them , and then when situations come up in your life and you begin to use it , it's pretty , it's pretty amazing .
Speaker 1It really . I just find that this , our craft , you know , being very prevalent , the speculative side of our crap being very prevalent at the founding of this nation , makes sense to me because I'm I mean , there there were men who were , you know , sea captains at 17 year old . At 17 years old . Yeah you know these . These were young boys , but they had the intellect , the training , the integrity and strength and Courage to tackle , you know , things that 60 year old men have trouble with in this day . You know what I mean .
Speaker 2Yeah , absolutely . You know , I was talking Sunday night with my son and his friend . So these , these are like 18 year old kids , okay , and we were just talking about life and we got to George Washington and they were saying he's the greatest president . And my wife said you know , he's a Freemason , right ? Wow , kids were like what ? And she's like yeah , like we , Chris and I went up to Arlington . We went to the Masonic National Museum for right for him .
Speaker 2It's like an entire museum in you know , just outside of DC , dedicated to his Masonic life , and they were like they don't teach that in school . No and then she started naming all the other Freemasons that were involved around George Washington's time with the foundation of the country . And she's like don't you realize that you're living in a Masonic experiment ? And I was just like who is ?
Speaker 1this . Who is this woman ?
Speaker 2I should marry her , rubbed off on her somehow , or she's done her own research , I don't know hey , she's smart lady , I wouldn't doubt it .
Speaker 2She was blowing these kids minds because they'd never been told this right they had no idea of how Tied into our country Freemasonry really is and the people that they worship in esteem , as these great people were Hardcore , lifelong Freemasons absolutely in this time and you can't say it wasn't prevalent , because if you look at the way the streets are even laid out , and in DC , where the monuments are , which monuments are , where it's all . Sonic bro , an episode on the Formation of the country and Freemasonry's ties .
Speaker 1Yeah , I , I think there's a couple of guys out there who have done some extensive study on it and I'd really love to get them on the show and just really just get them to . You know , go deep with us on that and I'm sure everybody listening saying , yeah , do it , do it , we'll , we are gonna do it . We are getting after Grand Lodge Coming up . Here's a little informational break after Grand Lodge coming up , in Towards the end of May 28th , I think May 28th . We have a booth there and we're gonna do some interviews of the Grand Line Folks who are gracious enough to agree to let us interview them and some of the state chair and some of the state chair and , yeah , a lot of great , great men in our craft here in Florida We've been privileged to be able to interview .
Speaker 1After that's over , we'll have the tech Set up and we'll be . We'll be set up to go into season two Of the on the level with Fred and Chris show and we'll be able to bring on more guests and begin to develop that side of the show , this being season one and season two in season two coming up , that's right , probably June .
Speaker 1I think we'll call June season two here coming up . Anyway , back to Hyrum Abiff , that last paragraph , man , let me read it again and let's , let's talk a little bit about that . All right , the dramatization of this legend is done to teach the magnificent lessons of Fidelity . It should be understood that it is a legend and not factual . Both hyrums , both hyrums are recorded in holy writ but one cannot find any trace of the legend which is used in our master mason degree . So none of the . Now we're talking about the actual degree , the second part of the master mason degree , correct ? That's what they're referring to , which we can't really go too deeply into here on the show , because that's , you know , part of our degree work . But None of that can be found anywhere and according to the manual here it is legend .
Speaker 2Right , it is legend , it is not fact
King Solomon and Hiram Abif's Legacy
Speaker 2. Yeah we're telling people , you know , I guess they're getting this education after their master mason . But we're telling them hey , we aren't silly . Okay , this is a story we get it . Don't don't try to go telling everybody . You know that you know some Information they don't have about the history of their Bible .
Speaker 2Right , they're not gonna like it and you're gonna look like a silly person , and really the morals are just for you . As a mason too , you're supposed to keep the whole world of mankind in darkness . Regarding them Correct , right ? Yeah , I get them .
Speaker 1The same way that you're getting them here .
Speaker 2So this is just for us , even though this is published and you can read it , and if you go on Wikipedia you can get all the stuff about higher of a biff , that that you know we talk about . But again , that's our obligation not to talk about these things in public . But we what we can talk about is higher of a biff Road with kings , really yeah , I mean you're talking about Solomon , the wisest king right .
Speaker 1The wisest and most wealthy and most monarch in world history .
Speaker 2You have more wives too , isn't he pretty ? Yeah , that wasn't a good part . No , yeah , that wasn't the wise part , that was the unwise part .
Speaker 1He had 600 concubines 600 now you got to keep in mind that it wasn't like he . You know , tuesday was number one , wednesday number . It wasn't that he visited them .
Speaker 2See each one here .
Speaker 1Here's the , here's the brutal truth . If the king had an indiscretion with a woman , there's one of two ways it could go for her she could be brought into the king's home and made part of the harem and or the , you know the the part of the king's house , or she could be rejected , which would mean death and or poverty for her . So King Solomon , being a good king , brought them in . So this is possibly one reason why he had so many of them . But King Solomon did not go and , you know , visit let's do that an air quotes visit these women on a regular basis . He had one encounter most likely with them and in order to protect them from society , branding them and , you know , ruining them their lives , he brought them in . That it's , that's that's one opinion On why it was like that back then . That is not to say that King Solomon was in the right here .
Speaker 2What he ?
Speaker 1did was wrong . He's a man . He's a very powerful , very wealthy man . So anybody out there thinks they could do it , go ahead and give it a try . I think all of us would struggle in that area . But he did also have wives , actual wives that he married , and there were a lot of those two , and Obviously the difference between a wife and a concubine would be the wives had children , possibly , and or he would visit them and have intimate relationships with them on an ongoing basis , which probably would have frustrated the daylights out of his original and or first wife , whoever she might be . So obviously King Solomon went the way of his father David when it came to family relationships . He , his father David , did not do well in that area either , but Solomon was born out of an adulterous relationship that went terribly wrong between his mother , bethsheba , and His father , king David . So let's just move on from there .
Speaker 1But yeah , it's it . But you know it used to concern me . The Old Testament , biblical accounts of these men , these , these leaders of , of the faith , you know that thread that runs through the entire thing , from beginning to end , of these men . It used to , it used to concern me and now that I'm older and , looking back it , it's a source of great comfort to know that these men David , samuel , abraham , they were all flawed men just like us , and they , they appealed it to the mercy and grace Of God . You know , that's that's . That's what it's always been about is crying out , calling out For grace and mercy and being honest about you and me being men , and I kind of like this deep voice , as cold as giving me man sounds a little Michael Keaton Batman-ish .
Speaker 1Yeah , Until Christian Slater ruined the Batman character . I think Keaton did a great job .
Speaker 2No , I don't think he was ever Batman .
Speaker 1Oh , sorry , not Christian Slater , who is the last one ?
Speaker 2Oh , the last one was Val Kilmer , I think no , val Kilmer did a great job .
Speaker 1Oh , you liked him yeah .
Speaker 2Oh , you're talking about Jeez , the guy with this tequila brand .
Speaker 1Yeah , yeah , yeah yeah .
Speaker 2Yeah , George Clooney .
Speaker 1No , no , george Clooney as Batman , that would be really bad .
Speaker 2Well , most recently got Ben Affleck , so you're talking .
Speaker 1I don't know . I'll think of it so many that let's move on the one . He really ruined it . I'm sorry there's been so many there's been so many Batman's maybe never mind , all right , so whole book on .
Speaker 2Like the philosophy of Batman , I'm sure you can live your life by his teachings .
Speaker 1You know what interesting stuff . You know what . Let's move on . He's a little like I'm a bit .
Speaker 2Segway from Batman , the hire of it . Of course , Of course but no , this guy , this , this craftsman right , he wasn't necessarily holding any office anywhere , he was just a skilled craftsman that was really good at managing workmen is Working with the wisest , greatest , richest King definitely that was alive at the time , and Hiram of Tyre , who was the king of the Phoenicians , basically right and man , that would have been some incredible company to be a part of for sure and that's not a political person .
Speaker 2He didn't grow up , you know , spoiled and rich . Maybe he did , but as a craftsman you would think that he had to have had a life of labor .
Speaker 1He absolutely did , because if you look in the ancient ruins of that region , those cities and the temples Especially the temples were massive man , and these were huge feats of work . And Hiram Abif , hiram Ben Hiram , would have been commissioned by his father , the king , to to build these things . So that , it's no accident , you know that this guy Rows in prominence as an expert artisan and builder , so much so that the , the greatest king , the most wealthiest king in the entire realm of men , recognized him and called for him to come , come and do this work , this very important work . You know that my father originally commissioned me to do so .
Speaker 1Whoever the real Hiram Abif was , he was a badass man , he was . He was well known , very successful , and I know we're kind of beating this one to death , but the the man was certainly . I Don't know what comparison we could , any comparison to there are there aren't a lot of great men or institutions left To compare things to anymore but there was a time when , you know , you got called up by a president you know , of the United States . It'd be a high honor .
Speaker 1I don't , I don't know if that's true anymore but there was a time there was a time , you know let's just say , like Eisenhower , president Eisenhower , I I think he was a great man , yeah , and a great president , you know , and if you were somebody of notoriety and you got called up to do a work for him , you know , that would be a high honor , you know , and that would that would show that you were a man of great integrity and of great skill you know , yeah , Most have excited people of the time .
Speaker 2Right , it's like hey , we've asked Michael Jordan to be the coach of this new basketball team right , I'd be like what , what ?
Speaker 1this is gonna be incredible . This man is a legend right , right , there you go , that's , that's , that's the analogy , right there . So , so who is , without giving away any trade secrets , who is Hiram Abif today ? Can we talk about that ? Or every master Mason out there should know the answer to this question . So , let's not say it .
Speaker 2Well , there are things that are written in the Old Testament that talk about who he is to an extent , but to you and I . But he means something more
Exploring Freemasonry and Brotherhood
Speaker 2right .
Speaker 1So today I was when I first became a Shriner . One of the one of the men Down at the shrine Asked me that question . He did mm-hmm .
Speaker 2Who is Hiram Abif ?
Speaker 1He said , because he he is , he's one of the Shriner guys answer . I am Hiram Abif , I did yeah , I said I am , you are , we are , we are Hiram Abif , and I was kind of trying to keep that a little bit of a secret , but you let you let the cat out of the bed .
Speaker 2Well , no one's not a secret . Taught me to say that that's not anything I received in the ritual .
Speaker 1No no .
Speaker 2But it seems like a logical answer .
Speaker 1It is a logical answer . We are . That's , that's who we are . We strive to be a man of integrity , yes , who would give his life to maintain his own integrity . Yeah , you know that's .
Speaker 2That's the man we strive to be , when you know , being raised to the degree , the sublime degree of Master Mason is about raising up Right and we're we're touching very close to yes for the learning online , but yeah , it is about Making yourself something Different than you were before right like passing through a really physical experience that leads to a very spiritual state of being sure . I'm doing good .
Speaker 1You're doing great and .
Speaker 2I think that's a really powerful part of the degree work is Transitioning from the physical to the spiritual , which is really a lot of what this section of the degree is trying to get our minds focused on . Right is that particular part of your life which we're all going to have to experience sooner or later the transition from the physical to the after whatever that is right right .
Speaker 2So what's important during that transition is the content that we're covering . Your little works you've done on this earth , the decisions you've made , the impacts that you've left behind on other people's lives these are the things that concern us . While we're here , have we left a positive impact on the world and on other people's life ? That's charity . Have we done things for the world that we'll be remembered for when we're gone , or did we waste our time just Spitting many cigars and drinking too much whiskey like Fred and and not handling our Responsibilities as men , and I think that's the you know we were .
Speaker 1We were put here for a specific purpose , you know , and that is we're . We are providers , protectors , we are . You know we're supposed to be leaders , and of course that's lacking in the male side of the equation in this country anymore .
Speaker 1And I think worldwide , and I think Masonry has a lot to say about that and I I was at an event on for Saturday and I was standing next to the worship of master , the Venice Lodge , and I just really liked this young man and he gives me hope . Men like him , there's a lot of young men like him .
Speaker 2Yeah , it's only in his 20s .
Speaker 1Yep and and I believe he's D Malay Came up through D Malay and I think that if you're out there and and you have an opportunity to support your local D Malay , do so . I get involved . I am seriously considering that myself To get involved , because I think that it , masonry has something to say About . You know , raising up young men , young men of courage and integrity . You know of of that , that quiet warrior . You know that , that , that dangerous .
Speaker 2The rock in the sea that you can cling to right .
Speaker 1Yeah , yeah because , because that's what we need we won't make it With that . I'm not trying to be misogynistic or chauvinistic or anything like that . Don't don't get me wrong . We all have our role to play in this world , but it is obvious that when , when men fulfill their role as leader , as as the one and when I say leader , it's , it's , you know , the true . We've talked about this before . The the true , the true aspect of manliness , of being a man , is being one who's willing to sacrifice his own desires For the benefit , you know , of his family or his community or his nation .
Speaker 2Well , that time abiff was the manliest man .
Speaker 1He was the manliest man because he put aside Everything in his life to be the one the king needed him to be . You know , to build the temple he was useful to the master , you know , completely useful to the master , and his integrity and courage Went before him and it went after him and it it ended up . Well , we can't even go there right now but . If you're a master Mason , you know exactly what I'm talking about .
Speaker 2Oh , it ended . I Mean martyrdom is something that Every great story or tragedy has in its literature right Sure every , every right beer any kind , of any kind of great story has Right the tragedy and the tragedy coming out of the tragedy .
Speaker 1You know the , the overcoming the odds .
Speaker 2Yeah right , yeah yeah so we're telling the story , and it does include some bit of tragedy to help illuminate the point of the story , which is , you know , with great responsibility , sometimes you have to make great sacrifices . That's right to maintain integrity , and that doesn't matter who you are , what station you have .
Speaker 2This person in our story has one of the most valuable things at the time that you could have had , which is the secret word of a master Mason right and you know it's well known that he does not give the secret word of people that try to extract from him in an illegal manner and so it's lost to time . And Other degrees in Freemasonry try to resolve that part of the story . In the , I think , both the Scottish right , in the York right , you can be conferred degrees where they claim to have recovered the lost master's word right . And so you get it , and they both go around telling people well if you want to get the lost master's word , join our Appendate body .
Speaker 2Yeah , you'll get it in one of these degrees should I be skeptical or should I investigate further ? I don't stories are you know ? I think , like everything in Masonry , the other degrees that you get aren't meant to be taken literally or Historically right .
Speaker 2So if you just receive them in the spirit that they're meant to be given , it's awesome experience sure I get that really does leave an impact on you and Really like kind of enhances the points that you got in the first three degrees , which is the morality and you know right responsibility . So it's all . It's all kind of just a continuation of the same thing , but it's fascinating to hear the you know the sequel . You don't hear part two and part three of the movie . If it's good , keep watching .
Speaker 1Yeah , and , and if you do remember it's , it's a commitment , it's a major commitment , and I'm thinking about our Right Worshpahl heart out there , who has His , his Masonic journey has taken him to the very pinnacle , yes , of our craft , and We'll have Worshpahl heart on , yeah absolutely , and it's taken him his entire life to do so . It was . This did not happen overnight for him , I don't know how long he's been at it two-time Worshpahl master from two different lodges , right twice district deputy District Instructor three times right 33 , he's been president of everything and I know he's in many of the important degrees in the Scottish right in the valley of Tampa .
Speaker 2Yeah , and honestly , he's been invaluable to me this year .
Speaker 1Yeah , absolutely Valuable to me .
Speaker 2Yeah , and what I'm doing in the Scottish right club and the master Mason Association and in our lodge , I mean he just has been a huge asset .
Speaker 1Well , I think he's , he's , he's come alongside you as your mentor and guiding you through this . It seems to me like I don't see it that way .
Speaker 2No , I think he'd do this for anybody in my position .
Speaker 1Oh yeah , no , I agree , I agree , but .
Speaker 2I think he's taken me under his wing like you're gonna be the next very hard kid .
Speaker 1No , no , no . I don't think that's what mentorship means , though that's not what that means . I think he's willing to , you know , be available to you whenever you need him . Yeah , which is part of the deal , and you couldn't have a better .
Speaker 2Person .
Speaker 1I mean I'm just pretty neat of that too right and I think , I think just that's what makes him , that's probably what got him that 33rd , which is conferred upon a person .
Speaker 2It's not about that ?
Speaker 1Well , it's that attitude . You know he always says the same thing . Just call me brother . You know you shake his hand . Yeah and I'm always trying to say right where , I'm always trying to get it all right .
Speaker 1You know , because I'm like that , you know we're yeah of course , and he said just call me brother , man , you know because , and I think it's that attitude , with that willingness to serve , here we go Talking about a brother Over talking a brother here , but yeah , I don't know if you can over talk this brother , but anyway , I think that's probably what got him to where it is . Is that attitude of humility , yeah , you know . And and dedication , you know , and I I started in masonry much , much older in my life . I don't think I'll ever be able to get that far , you know but I never say never .
Speaker 1I'm never gonna say never , but For me and I've said this before I'm gonna grow where I'm planted right now . I there's so much to learn where I am . I'm not going anywhere until I know this stuff , what I'm supposed to know , before I go ahead and go any further . You want to go to the next one ?
Speaker 2You have a huge advantage on a lot of people your age in masonry . Yeah , no , that's right because you sit and talk and think about this often . So right , you're probably it . Like I always tell people in masonry day at the years , it's the miles and you're putting some miles on yeah , no , that's right , that's right quickly , and it's like anything else .
Speaker 1You know , if you , if you like it , if you love it , then that was interesting , if you like it . Oh , your watch is talking . Your watch just said I'm sorry , your business watch , don't worry folks , those , those devices don't listen to you , they don't listen at all .
Speaker 2Oh , I've totally given up on that . I have an astro robot at home .
Speaker 1Oh yeah , he's listening .
Speaker 2Oh God , looking at me recording everything I say yeah , and then reporting it back to .
Speaker 1Police , obviously yes , in China .
Speaker 2Yeah , but I can watch Netflix while I clean my house , okay , he follows you around showing you Netflix .
Speaker 1Take it all . You know , because that is so important .
Speaker 2I've been thinking about that for a long time . How do I watch ? Everyone has .
Speaker 1Yeah , how do I watch B-Ray television ?
Speaker 2show your shower .
Speaker 1I'm showering , yeah it's , it's so difficult . You know you can have yeah . Yeah , you know , that's the thing about technology . It's really really made life so much better for us .
Speaker 1Yes , solving , solving mysteries of life 5.13 the three grand masters now I am not very familiar with this , so I'm gonna , and it's it's three pretty big Paragraphs , so I think I'm gonna read the first paragraph and then we'll discuss it , and then I'll read the second one . I'll read the third one . What do you think about that ? Perfect paragraph number one of 5.13 in the master Mason's mentoring manual .
Speaker 2Here we go .
Symbolism and Beliefs in Freemasonry
Speaker 1The three grand masters , the three mentioned so frequently in our ritual concerning the building of the temple , are the building of the temple are Solomon , king of Israel , hiram , king of Tyre , and Hiram Abith . These are recorded in the biblical account of the temple building . The coupling of the three names together may have a Symbolism inherited from nearly all of the ancient religions . In most of these , the deity was regarded as a Triad of Trinity by whom , acting co-joinly , only could anything be done that was done . Let me try that again . In most of these , the deity was regarded as a triad of trinity by whom , acting conjoinly , only , could anything be done that was done . So the point here is that the three of them together .
Speaker 1So we had King Solomon , who was the overseer of the entire thing , the most powerful king and wealthiest king of all other kings . Then we had the king of Tyre , and then we have Hyramabib , his son , and the three of them together . So if you look at the Solomon as the initiator and authority , you look at King Tyre as the actual . I don't know . Tell me , I was going somewhere with that , but I'm going to stop myself because it requires ?
Speaker 1I think it requires a little more thought than that , so I'm going to go back after and kind of think that through . I like where it's going though .
Speaker 2Well , three is an important number in everything that involves numbers , and now they're talking about the trinity , which also has religious connotations to it .
Speaker 1Absolutely .
Speaker 2Because that definitely defines certain religions when you talk about the trinity , right .
Speaker 1Right Father , son and Holy Spirit would be the trinity of the Christian faith .
Speaker 2And so the ties to that faith are obvious , the ties to geometry , and the numberology of the number three is important to geometry , which is basically the same thing as Freemasonry , and so these are three different aspects of the same person . Potentially , you could look at it that way as well . There's a lot to dig into in this , the symbolism of what these things are .
Speaker 1You were going in a direction that would have been more towards my faith , towards your faith , because that's the way I see the world . Everyone's in the world , right yeah .
Speaker 2Yeah , I think it's okay to go there because it's mentioned in the mentors manual , so it almost requires you to talk about it .
Speaker 1Yeah , right , right , when it's mentioned in writing in the mentors manual it does say here , though , that it , the coupling of the three names together , may have a symbolism inherited from nearly all of the ancient religions , and you're right , I think the number three I mean it is , if you think about the number three , right we are , we are , we are mind , body and soul , right , right , so there's three Now , and technically , in Christian doctrine , we are a body soul entity . So we are bodies and souls . We will retain our bodies throughout eternity is a is part of the Christian doctrine , but that's not not all beliefs have that you retain the physical body .
Speaker 1Yes it's resurrected to a physical , as it was originally intended . So we have a one to one correlation . It is said , but this is not a a theology .
Speaker 2show this is a sonic show .
Speaker 1But , and anybody out there who's who's no , understands Christian doctrine knows exactly what I'm talking about . But but I don't have a problem looking at the human condition as mind , body and soul , you know . So the mind is that that man , and behind your forehead , right , that man behind your forehead is the one who controls the body that you're in , and that soul speaks of that afterlife , the life after we are gone . We are three , that's the three entities of the human experience .
Speaker 2Because you're making a distinction between the mind and the soul .
Speaker 1I am making that distinction for the purpose of this conversation , correct I ?
Speaker 2think Freemasonry makes that distinction to agreed and .
Speaker 1I have no problem with it .
Speaker 2Yeah , I mean , that's part of what was brought up to me when we were having the conversation about resurrection , right ?
Speaker 1Right , oh , right , oh that conversation .
Speaker 2Yes , was that ? It's a distinction that's made in . The immortality is of the soul , not in , not of you , the mind , the consciousness right personality . It was brought to my attention that we talk about the immortality of the soul , which is different thing , and the body is left behind right in the Masonic tradition .
Speaker 1Right , and that was Plato Right . That's where that belief that the body is of no use yeah , it's evil , it's , it's no good . Do what you want Doesn't matter , it's going back to the dirt . It's the soul that matters , and that's very Eastern religions speak of that as well , and this is just the differences between the various religions that find themselves within Masonry .
Speaker 2And also of like just linguistics , like the meaning of a certain word and what was meant when it was used in one religious reference , and the same word could be used in another religious reference , in a different doctrine , and have a slightly different meaning . So it gets very complicated and easy to offend . Unfortunately , in minds that people hold on to really tightly and so , to say a word , they're taking it in their context and not in the context you meant it . So the offense comes pretty quickly . Yeah , it does , intentional .
Speaker 1And that's unfortunate . You know , I think and and again I'll go back to what I always say that one of the reasons why there's so much problems with discussing these things is because most people don't know what they believe and why they believe it . So they get , they get offended by words and stuff just by having conversations with somebody who doesn't believe what they believe , because they're not really able to articulate what they believe , or maybe they don't know , they haven't really thought it through . And that's why I tell everybody if it's worth believing , then it's worth fully believing . You know the go and study what you believe and why do you believe it . Ask the question why ? Why do ?
Speaker 1Why do I Fred the guy talking right now hold to the Christian faith ? You know the reformed Christian faith . Well , I can tell you why . I'm not going to tell you why here , but I can clearly articulate it because I've thought it through , I've studied it , I've taken the time to know what I believe and why I believe it . And and I'm comfortable because of that knowledge , I'm comfortable discussing any religion , any faith , anything with anybody at any time , without offense .
Speaker 2I think that's a good citizen of the world . Right , I agree , you know yeah , because your faith largely is determined on your geography , where you were born . You know , you can , you can tell somebody a place of origin of that person and you could . You guess , and you probably don't even need three guesses , you could get it within two what their faith is going to be based on where they were born .
Speaker 1Yeah , no , it's sure it happens , it's the same thing with sports .
Speaker 2I was born in Buffalo . I was raised a Buffalo Bills fan .
Speaker 1I'm so sorry , I know , you see how luck of the draw .
Speaker 2It's like geez , I had to be born in Buffalo , but it's the same thing with religion , and so all I'm saying is that it's wise of us to realize that people don't often choose these things . It's just an inheritance of their birthright . As to what you know tradition , they are not always because , for instance , our brother Wade , we know that he wasn't born in a region where you would say , oh , this guy is a Buddhist . That's a shock . We got a guy from Florida , that's a Buddhist huh Right .
Speaker 2But that's because he's educated himself , which is a rare thing .
Speaker 1Most people don't do that , and Wade would tell you that he started out in a Christian faith . I've talked with him before and he's moved from that to something different . You know , and he and I have had that discussion and again there's it Allowing someone to have their faith doesn't invalidate yours . No , it shouldn't . If you don't know what your faith really is , then that could be a problem for you personally .
Speaker 1Right , you need to go back and take the time to understand it and dig a little deeper into what it is you believe , because if you don't know why you believe it , then you know . I don't know if you can believe it because you don't know why . You know . It's just like you said , you could have been raised in it .
Speaker 2Yeah , you know or it's regional or there's been around like background noise in your life .
Speaker 1Yeah , or there's some personal benefit . You know , I know people that go to church a big churches because there's personal benefit to it . They don't really have a faith necessarily . They go there because they benefit personally and and that's you know , that's unfortunate , in my opinion , for them . They should dig deeper . We should all dig deeper , especially masons . Come on , guys , we're masons . We're supposed to be into educating ourselves . We're supposed to be into going down rabbit holes , digging deeper , asking questions and learning . You know , I'm I , you know , and people say that you know , christianity is very narrow because we claim to have the truth right .
Speaker 2But every faith makes its own claims , sure .
Speaker 1And and . But you know , every , everyone is searching for the truth . Yeah right , that's what spirituality literally means the search for truth . That's what spirituality means in search of truth . But but you know , it's it's , it's time to move on to a different discussion .
Speaker 2Well , I think that was a fun , good one to have .
Speaker 1Yeah , I think so , I'm not , I'm not afraid of it , that's for sure . But I think we've we've made our point .
Speaker 2Everybody's like move on , move on , that's that's a Masonic point that is not possible to understate how important it is to have tolerance for the good of humanity and the harmony of us being able to work together as people . You've got to be able to let people be who they are , and whoever they are doesn't affect who you are . So those two things can be together and exist . You can be 100% confident who you are , what you believe in and respect the guy next to you Absolutely .
Speaker 2Completely different than you , Yep , that you might not fully understand at all . Yeah , and just respect that . He's living his life and you know . Encourage him and support him in his journey . Yeah .
Speaker 1And it's , you know , for me , the the point I was going to finish with is for me , it was a search for what is the most plausible explanation for why we are here , and I came to find that ancient aliens ancient aliens for Chris and for me it was it was the resurrection , and for me , everything , and that's a very deep , everyone's problem .
Speaker 1Some people who don't understand what I just said are probably thinking well , that's too simplistic , that's dumb , it's not simplistic , it's very , very deep . We're not going to go into that here , but for me the point is what is the most plausible explanation ? And if you begin to study that now I spent over 30 years studying that concept , that idea but if you , if you go into that , then you're , you're going to find out , you're going to find in I'm using air quotes here the truth . But are you open to learning ? And I think that's the question , and I am open to learning , I'm open to sit and listen to somebody to convince me . Otherwise , I have not , as of yet , found anything that does convince me otherwise .
The Importance of Stories in Masonry
Speaker 2I think that's important to say , because Hiram Abif and the legend or the story of Hiram Abif isn't meant to take the place of the legend and the story of Jesus Christ .
Speaker 1It's amazing .
Speaker 2Isn't saying you got to put this story in this guy above what you right learned .
Speaker 1It's supposed to make you better at everything that you do and endeavor to do in your life .
Speaker 2Yes , it is not meant to replace your religious beliefs . No no this isn't a real thing . We say it right here in the mentors manual this is just a legend that was made up to teach a moral lesson and so being a believer in Jesus , who has a similar story right , and also the Egyptian creation myths have similar stories , and the Jewish and the Muslims have similar stories too , the stories that Masonry is telling , but these aren't meant to be real .
Speaker 2Or , you know , worshiped these are stories to be told so that you can say and think about what that man did and think about what you would do in that situation .
Speaker 1That's the purpose of these stories .
Speaker 1All good lessons throughout history have been told through story and we , as we , as created beings , we love story . Story is what , what makes learning and makes life good , and that's why we were just talking about the Batman series . You know those stories , you know that story of justice and imperfection . Batman is not a superhero like Superman . He's a man , you know , and he has all this technology , but he has this conflict within him the dark night . We love that stuff . Shakespeare , I mean . Look at , look at all the writings of Shakespeare and all of the things , the stories of life , and that's how you know . Even a long time ago , that was the own . They had no digital media .
Speaker 2Right .
Speaker 1And everything was conveyed through story . I mean , cs Lewis is one of the greatest storytellers in my opinion ever , and his best friend , jr Tolkien . Tolkien who wrote Lord of the Rings . You know he was a Roman Catholic and he was his epic , you know don't don't just watch the movies , read the books . And if you're into , I have a hard time reading novels myself . Yeah , I'm a manual guy , I like reading manuals but , because I'm weird like that .
Speaker 1But my wife is an amazing novel reader . She can read through novels , you know , because that's she loves doing it . But the genius of taking moral lessons and applying them to fictional stories is , you know . A great master of that is is you know . That's just . It's just how we learn , it's how we convey truth .
Speaker 2He had the huge advantage of being a linguist . When you understand the language you can manipulate it masterfully .
Speaker 1Yeah , and he did . Those stories are absolutely amazing . All right , how about ? How about we go to paragraph two ? The secrets known only to our three grandmasters typify divine truth known only to this Trinitarian deity and not to be communicated to man , the fellow craft and and workmen . All right , can I start over please ?
Speaker 1The secret doing so well known only to our three grandmasters typify divine truth , known only to this Trinitarian deity and not to be communicated to man , the fellow craft and workmen , until he , by industry and steadfast purpose , has completed his spiritual temple , then , according to divine promise , if his temple has had so nobly built is a fit dwelling place for for divine truth , the secrets will be communicated to him . With these , the rewards of a well spent life , the craftsmen can travel into that foreign country toward which each of us is journeying . That's a great . That's a great paragraph . Sorry , I missed it up .
Speaker 2Sounds like they're telling the Christian story there .
Speaker 1Well , really there's a lot of similarity to you know . One of the reasons why , of course , is because the story of Solomon comes out of the scriptures . That's why it keeps referring back to that . I had people ask me all the time how come , how come Masonry ? Is Masonry a Christian religion ? Because it sure refers to the Bible a lot . It's like , no , it's not a Christian religion , but it uses Old Testament and some New Testament scriptures to paint this picture . You know , to tell this story that free Masonry tells they find it's found within the old . Mainly the Old Testament is the story of Solomon and his life , and his father , david Boaz , is in there , and all of us you know they're all in there .
Speaker 1It's a beautiful story . But the story of Boaz is found in the book of Ruth is a beautiful story and that story conveys so much truth . I could get off on a tangent on that particular book . A small little , what some people think obscure book tells so many beautiful lessons .
Speaker 2Well , if you want to delve into that , come to the Southeast Masonic Education Symposium , where Brother Rich Nagy will be talking about the widow's son in the book of Ruth .
Speaker 1Brother Nagy yes .
Speaker 2Yeah , that's what he's talking about . Is that story where the widow's son came from and how it relates to the book of Ruth ? Yeah , the meaning of the one shoe Right . Yeah , that kind of .
Speaker 1I'm really looking forward to it . Man , he tells a good tale . I mean , he tells a good story and he , he's one of those guys that's thought everything out all the way through , from beginning to end , which I really enjoy . I'm totally looking forward to that , and I want to apologize to him right now , because we just messed up his first name and when you called him Rick , his first name went right out of my head John John Nagy , thank you , why don't you say Richard Nagy ?
Speaker 2I don't know , I don't know , sorry about that . No , it's all good , it's all good , I remembered it .
Speaker 1So we're all good . So , um , yeah , so none of this is to be conveyed to the fellow craft or EA until he , by industry and steadfast purpose , has completed his spiritual temple , then , according to Divine promise , if this temple he has , he has so nobly built , is fit for dwelling place for the for the divine truth , the secrets will be communicated
The Importance of Continued Masonic Education
Speaker 1to him . What secrets ?
Speaker 2First of all , that whole process that's mentioned there , that's , you know , takes a person from the ages what ? Seven , maybe , when he becomes an interdifferentis and an operative masonry . To what ? When he's in his late teens , maybe a young manhood , he might be a master , maybe .
Speaker 1Well , if he started , if he was brought in at seven years old and went through the process of seven years , he'd be 14 years old . Okay , yeah , which is typically , what I've been told is kind of how it went .
Speaker 2Makes sense Seven years .
Speaker 1It took seven years to build the temple , physical temple and according to right , according to the stories and the free mason story .
Speaker 2they tell the same time and in reality we're taking six months to get from the entered apprentice to the master mason .
Speaker 1Correct .
Speaker 2Right , you're losing something in the translation . Modern and modern times in the United States . I know in other countries it does take longer and they do work harder and I'm sure it's far more meaningful when they get there . But for us we have to realize that .
Speaker 2You know , we have to work hard to see the , the meaning behind these things and right the journey from entered apprentice to master mason is supposed to be a profound one in your life and you really are supposed to be making drastic changes in your life and to yourself as a person , but in reality you just spent six months doing a bunch of memorization , so right , right .
Speaker 1Yeah , you didn't do the work yet you didn't build that thing that we're talking about yet .
Speaker 2So it might not connect with you in modern times when they talk about these things , but this is why it's so important to sit and think about it .
Speaker 1Right .
Speaker 2Because now you have the rest of your life to think about what that journey should have been for you and to start taking it in reality yourself .
Speaker 1Yeah , because in reality , the , the fellow craft is , is raised . He's raised to the sublime degree of master mason far too early .
Speaker 2Yeah , to really tops Right yeah .
Speaker 1I was even less than that .
Speaker 2They just , and you know , because everyone's so excited at that point , You're like you just went through this disastrously boring section where you're like banging your head against the wall like oh God , so boring . And you're like wait , wait , now you get a new book . And you're like wait , I got this , I got this , and you're just so excited you want to go , go , go .
Speaker 1Right .
Speaker 2And everyone else wants you to go , go , go too .
Speaker 1And that's why I encourage and a lot of people have taken . My advice , which I'm very happy about , is go back , go back , go back to EA , because you know if you're , if you go to an EA degree and you're sitting in the sidelines at an EA degree , what is the worst for a master ask he asks is everyone in the room ?
Speaker 2an entered apprentice ?
Speaker 1And the answer is yeah , everyone is . Well , that's because , even as a master mason , you're still an entered apprentice , you're still in that place and you should still be willing to go back and learn what it means to be an entered apprentice . And then for me , I've left my year long study of entered apprentice and I've gone to getting into the fellow craft now and I've been raised a master mason for quite some time now . But I'm not claiming to know all the truths and all the things that are in there , but I feel like I got a pretty decent grasp on the EA side of it and now .
Speaker 1I'll go into fellow craft and try to understand that . I think that's a lifelong study , that one , in my opinion , especially the last well , all of it . It is that time in your mason career where you should be . It's the time of education . It's the time of being imparted knowledge and education and I know it's an outline that you're given so that you can take those tools into the next degree and into the rest of your life . And I think the summation of master mason kind of does that . That's the trial and that's the impartation of the working tools of a master mason are all the tools , all the tools that you already have been given , some you know , some you don't know , but all of them you will be learning . You must be continued through industry . You must be continuously learning and understanding how to apply them to your life .
Speaker 2Couldn't agree more .
Speaker 2And like we were just saying , most of the average guy is gonna go from an apprentice to master mason in six months or something very close to that . It would be impossible for you to really learn much of what we're talking about in a timeframe . So once you're made a master mason , that's when the journey starts . So what Fred's doing is what I recommend everyone try to do go back to the beginning and spend as much time as you need to working your way through these things until you feel that you have some working , real working , proficiency and understanding of them Deeper not just what we got in the lectures and in the catechism , but really understanding them for yourself through conversations like this for the brothers .
Speaker 1That's what I have found to be the most helpful is the conversations and real world application Applying them . You know the square of virtue Well . What does that mean ? Well , it means that the square represents virtues . What are the virtues ? There's seven of them . Go find them . Go find them , seven masonic virtues , and study each word and apply them . See where they apply or don't apply to your lives and you will never forget it . Once that becomes ingrained in your mind and in your practice , you will never forget it and it will benefit you greatly .
Speaker 2Yeah . The other thing is , maybe don't , and everyone will push you once you become a master mason , to join the attendant body they hang out in the most . Oh , you gotta join the shrine or the grotto or the York writer , the Scottish writer , whatever it is . If you can resist the urge for a little while to continue to drink from the fire hose and maybe step back and digest a little before you do , I would recommend it . But most people don't . They just keep going . And when you just keep going you're getting so much more information . But you didn't really build the foundation , so you're not ready to receive all that extra information , in my opinion .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2So quickly . They all need members , so join . I'm not saying don't , but just think about that . Just think about that . You're a master mason in title , but you're not a master mason in experience yet .
Speaker 1Right right .
Speaker 2And the only way you're gonna be that way is to learn it . So for me , fred's doing it in an intellectual way and go back and reading and studying . For me , I started the memorization , so I was like if I memorize all this stuff , I'll know it better .
Speaker 1It's true .
Speaker 2And it helped because lectures especially goes into great detail about the things in the degree and I didn't understand much of it so I had to Google things and went down many rabbit holes in the process of memorizing that stuff . So for me that's how I dug into it all was memorization . And then when I went to the next thing , I started doing the same thing there and the Scottish Rite . I got into degrees and started learning about the Egyptian mystery myths , because I was in the Egyptian degree and you learn about how they measured the soul in the afterlife and the moral lessons around the Egyptian myths and also the chivalric myths and all the other stuff that happens in those appended bodies and you really are becoming a well-rounded person at that point . But if you go too fast I feel like you lose the force for the trees a little bit .
Speaker 1Right .
Speaker 2Recommendation is to try to slow down slightly and if you're gonna become an officer in the Blue Lodge , that you're basically guaranteed five to seven years , which is plenty of time to delve into this stuff and become really proficient before you're the master of the lodge .
Speaker 1Yeah , that's right . That's right because being active in Blue Lodge is being active in learning the degrees , is learning the craft , is learning what it understands . It's not . It's a social club . We have a lot of social fun and I absolutely enjoy hanging out with my brothers and all that entails . But if you're not doing the work within the Blue Lodge , then I think you're missing out . I was gonna say you're making a huge mistake . I don't know if that's true maybe you are but you're certainly missing out on all the benefits that you could be getting from it . There are appended bodies for having fun . Man , we're grown men and we're masons . We know how to party baby .
Speaker 1We know how to do it and our appended bodies are evidence of that . But the Blue Lodge and a lot of the appended bodies will tell you that's a place where we're serious . We're more serious there . That's the place to be more serious , to be more thoughtful and to educate yourself .
Speaker 2Let's try this last paragraph . You ready ? Yeah , all right last paragraph .
Speaker 1The rich symbolism outlined will make the frequent mention of the names and references to their office in our ritual understandable . Man is ever reaching outward and upward , seeking for a further knowledge of God and man's relationship with him , which is divine truth . There you go . So the symbolisms we're currently in the section called the Three Grand Masters and the symbolism of Solomon , hiram , king of Tyre , and Hiram Abiff that's the symbolism outlined will make the frequent mention of the names and references to their offices in our ritual understandable . Man is ever reaching outward and upward , seeking for a further knowledge of God and man's relations with him , which is divine truth .
Speaker 2That's a heck of a statement , man . It's kind of what we were just saying , like everybody wants to get to the mystery here . They just want someone to give them the answer . But the unfortunate fact is you've gotta dig and find it for yourself .
Speaker 1Yeah , that's right , you're not gonna . No one can give you the answer . I think if I could , I probably would impart some sort of knowledge bang right into your head . Download a bunch of knowledge into your head .
Speaker 2That's not possible , though . Right like assimilating the board like boom , there you go . Now you're one of the collective .
Speaker 1It doesn't work that way , yeah , that's Star Trek . Yeah , yeah , you can't do that Next generation .
Speaker 2You've gotta actually study and experiment and make mistakes and grow as a person and use the tools , the working tools , to try to help you along the way , and your brothers and their experience . But even if you do the same things at the same times at the same age , you're gonna have a different outcome than another brother because he's a different person than you and you have a different people in your life . So there's no one way , there's no right way , but the only given constant is study and educate yourself . That will lead to improvement , whether it's big or small in your life . Doing the things we're doing right now will help you get better .
Speaker 2So if you're not having these esoteric discussion groups , which is kind of what we call a podcast here , or like what we were trying to do in our lodge or we're gonna try to do in my house , like keep trying and keep going to support other people that are trying . This is like really the highest work that you can do . This is us working in the quarry together .
Speaker 1Yeah , that's right . That's right , we're building the temple .
Speaker 2Sharpening our tools , learning how to use these things . What they are , what they mean Working together towards a common goal , which is the betterment of ourselves , in our lodge and our communities .
Speaker 1Yeah , that's it . That's the practical application of the craft within our lives , outside the walls of the Blue Lodge . Is it changing my life ? Am I a better husband today Because of masonry ? My wife would say yes . Am I a better employee ? I don't know . I'm not a great employee .
Speaker 2I'm a little too independent .
Speaker 1I've owned too many of my own businesses , but I'm working on it . I'm getting better and better . I have my own ideas and employers don't like that , but anyway . But again , the tools of masonry are helping me to realize that and to make some changes thereof . One of them is well , we'll talk about that later at another podcast .
Speaker 1But anyway . So next week I think it's a good place to stop is the temple of Solomon and the significance of the symbolism with the temple of Solomon . It's a pretty robust chapter . It's actually two chapters the physical chapters , the physical temple , and then the symbolism of the temple , and then Solomon , the king of Israel is all kind of one whole episode , the way I see it here . So that's gonna be next time , and then it breaks us out into the different aspects of the actual degree and a lot of it is real short little blurbs because there's not a lot you can talk about on a podcast about that we can find a way to talk about it .
Speaker 2We can find a way .
Speaker 1Yeah , there's always a way , that's right .
Life Updates and Health Scare
Speaker 1So , brother , what's going on in your life , man ? How is things going on in Chris's palatial world ?
Speaker 2My world is in palatial . It's going . I feel like I'm caught in a tempest . I'm the master of our lodge . I do own my own business here . I've got like 19 employees and 190 clients . I'm the president of the Scottish Right Club , I'm the president of the Master Mason Association and I did this to myself , so I'm not looking for sympathy . I did it to myself , but I'm being tested this year .
Speaker 1I can feel that I can feel that .
Speaker 2And I am doing my very best .
Speaker 1He's doing a great job , folks , just gonna say that out loud .
Speaker 2Rise to the occasion in each individual circumstance and hopefully make it through the other side . But that's the world . I'm in this year and we're doing this , and now we're doing public speaking which , as you know , is basically the kryptonite to my Superman .
Speaker 1Well , it was .
Speaker 2It is something that I struggle with , and so that pressure on top of everything else is just making for a fantastical year . This weekend we'll be at my house , hopefully with brothers from at least three , maybe four , lodges , maybe more .
Speaker 1I'm being told it's gonna be quite a crowd .
Speaker 2Whether it's big or not .
Speaker 1I'm just excited to have at least one guy for me to place .
Speaker 2We can go back to our lodges and share this stuff . That's kind of why we're doing it . But we have events in the lodge . We've got like six charity events we're doing this year , which is crazy . We've already done two with a Phoenix Lodge and they're planning another one with them .
Speaker 1So it's marxing . Can we call Phoenix Lodge our sister lodge , because we're in the same town ? You could throw a stone over to their place , or as close as they are .
Speaker 2Technically they're our little brother . Little brother lodge yeah .
Speaker 1Okay , they're gonna appreciate that one .
Speaker 2Well , it is just like we came from Manatee Lodge . That's true , that's true , but Venice and everyone south of us came from us .
Speaker 1Okay , all right .
Speaker 2And Phoenix and Builders Lodge came from us .
Speaker 1Send your emails to Chris . It's true story . True story , it's totally true .
Speaker 2We had to give permission for them to get their charters from the Grand Lodge .
Speaker 1Well , what I see in going back to what you're talking about in your life and you certainly are I see all that you're doing and I see how you're doing it , and you do have this head down working attitude , I can tell I don't really have time for anything else , and I appreciate that . Here we are . We're middle of April , so we're in the middle of your three and a half months as Worshipful Master . I think it's going really well . Four and a half now , yeah , four and a half .
Speaker 1Well yeah , four and a half months . Grand Lodge is coming up and Grand Lodge is coming up here next month , five solid months after that That'll be five solid months . So I think you're doing really well with all that you've got going and we're not halfway through it yet Nice of you to say thank you . Well , I watch people and I pay attention to that kind of stuff . You see a lot more than most . Yeah , I do , I do , I agree , I agree .
Speaker 2So I'm sworn to secrecy on most of it .
Speaker 1Just kidding .
Speaker 2Kinda sorta . What's odd is because Fred is the Tyler in our lodge , so this year I'm the master and he's the Tyler and we spend a lot of time together here talking about stuff . And it's funny because in Lodge something will happen during a stage meeting which triggers a thought about something we talked about in the podcast , and I can't even look at you for acknowledgement that I recognized it because you're not in the Lodge room .
Speaker 1I don't like that . I don't like it . I've said it before . I serve as Tyler because I was asked , but I don't love it .
Speaker 2I don't love it . That's my fault .
Speaker 1I asked him to be my Tyler this year and I serve at the pleasure of the Warchief O'Master , and I do it gratefully . But I don't love it because I love being in there . I love being in there and technically I'm really not supposed to be . Tyler Tyler's are supposed to be past masters .
Speaker 2We have a shortage of those in our Lodge .
Speaker 1Well , we have a shortage of those in our lodge who are willing to take it on .
Speaker 2Correct , we don't have a shortage of past masters .
Speaker 1in our lodge We've got lots of those .
Speaker 2Yes , we didn't have any past masters that wanted to serve Right , right .
Speaker 1So , so I stepped up . I don't mind , I don't mind , I'll do it . I don't love it . I want to be in there with my brothers , but I do it as an act of service .
Speaker 2You know a lot of lodges just lock the door and let the Tyler come in because no one can get in any way .
Speaker 1Well , that's what we do , I mean I but but you can't .
Speaker 1We should do that more . You can't be in from beginning to end , Right , you know you can't because that you have to be out to be called in and you have to be . You know you got to get out of there when they close the lodge and stuff . So we have the cues , Me and the senior D can have all the cues correct so I can come in at the right time . Sit in my Tyler's chair . We , we put a Tyler's chair in the in the lodge .
Speaker 1It's pretty epic it's pretty epic chair and and then I can , I can excuse myself properly and masonically at the right time for him to do his job , to close out the lodge .
Speaker 1So it works out good . I get to be in for most of it , but you know a lot of memory stuff that you go through the the line and you know this stuff because you've heard it so many times and you sit in there and you hear the openings and you hear everything over and over again and after a while you just know it , you know , you study it , you hear it , you you kind of participate in it . And that's one of the reasons why , by the by five years in , you know all this stuff so well . And I feel like as a Tyler who's who shouldn't be a Tyler , because I have not done all of that for years and years . It's a bit of a disadvantage for me and the lodge , but I do it to serve the Worshipful Master , whom I have great respect for , and I do so diligently . So , as for me , in my life I've had some interesting things go on of late . Yes , do you want to ?
Speaker 2talk about any of it .
Speaker 1Briefly , briefly , and I want to end . I want to kind of end with this Now . Some of you out there may know , and and and most of you don't know , on Friday morning at about 4 am I was woken up to my wife sitting at the edge of the bed just having trouble breathing , and she'd not been feeling well the entire week , you know . So we were kind of watching . I figured she was sick , because I currently have the cold she had , so I just figured she was sick . Well , she was complaining of pressure , chest pain pressure and indigestion . And then she said the magic word and I feel major tingling down my left arm . I was like you got to be kidding me , man . So I rushed her to the emergency room at the hospital right up the street from us , and it turns out that she was having a heart attack , and not just a small one . It was the prelude to a major one and I was like you know we .
Speaker 1We got in the hospital , they did the quick AKG thing that they do and the next thing I know , two of the two of the top cardiologists in the hospital were in the room anxiously getting the information to us so that they could get her upstairs into the operating room . So that's exactly what happened . They found that her main , the main artery in her heart , which is called the widow maker this would have been the widower maker Was ninety nine point four percent blocked , with a 60 percent blockage about an inch down from it . So she was five hours from a massive cardiac event which there's probably she would not have come back from . So it was absolutely so . It was absolutely shocking in every way to me . And it was just , it was just like and I'm a health nut and I drive my wife crazy with my health escapades , make no mistake special diets and and supplements and exercise and it goes on and on . I've been doing it for about 10 years now and I know it , I know my stuff and it shows . I can show you my , my blood work . I have the blood work of a 35 year old and I'm 60 .
Speaker 1But anyways , so shocker to the max . She's home now , she's stable , all is good . She's got to change her life and part of it was because , you know , she's a singer , a professional singer , in a , in a , in a musical group , and they spend a lot of time in bars and in night , you know , doing nightlife and smoking and drinking and eating bad food and stuff and and when you're pushing 58 years old , you can't do that , man , you can't do it , and it came to a head for her . So I bring it up to say a couple of things very quickly . One Anybody out there who is taking for granted the time they have on this earth , I recommend you quit that shit right now and take a good look in the mirror , like what I did and like what my wife is currently doing , and and figure out what's important to you , what what really matters to you and because if you think you're going to be here tomorrow to get that thing done , you have no guarantee of that man , you just don't . You don't have a guarantee . Anything can happen to you .
Speaker 1If you would have looked at my wife a month ago , you would have thought she was a picture of health . You would have thought , man , there's somebody who's really got it going on . You know she sings in a band and everybody loves her . Tons and tons of friends , high energy , high , high energy . Just looking great , feeling great , looking good A month later , five hours away from dying of a heart attack . So that's , that's the one thing I want to share with my brothers out there . You don't . You are not promised another day . You are not promised another day . You have today . So , whatever it is that you want to do , whatever it is you should do , do it , get it done , get it started and and and get on it .
Health Choices & Masonic Principles Impact
Speaker 2So this just happened to you guys this last Friday , Last Friday last Friday .
Speaker 1last Friday Yep .
Speaker 2And today's . We're recording this Tuesday morning , tuesday morning . I've had three days to sit with this .
Speaker 1I've had three days .
Speaker 2How has it impacted you guys ?
Speaker 1Well , she's learning that , I mean she's . I think the . The reality is setting in . You know , having to come to terms with a , you know , a pack a day smoker who can now never , ever smoke again for any reason has become a major issue for her . But you know , it just is what it is smoke and die or live . You know we've got grandchildren she's got . You know we got children six children . So you want to live , then you're going to have to change all these things . So that's the impact for her . For me , I started out kind of angry . You know I went through the .
Speaker 2I was a little angry because it was because it was like this is completely , I don't know .
Speaker 1It's completely preventable .
Speaker 2But this was preventable . This didn't have to happen . Steps could have been taken in your mind , like you didn't take multiple steps that could have potentially Right .
Speaker 1And I had to be careful not to be a jerk about it too , because I'm I'm the sergeant when it comes to good health . You know , I'm captain good health here . So , and you know well , I told you you should have listened to me . I told her that stuff , but I didn't do any of that . That's not helpful . But then I've come , I've come to realize that , you know , the human , human creatures are odd . You know , you can , you can be shown very clearly that if you continue this behavior you'll die . So stop , and they don't . It happens all the time .
Speaker 1So , we're an odd creature , so I don't know . I guess I could bring this back to you . Know the principles of Freemasonry , you know virtue and of industriousness and of being a good man and making yourself better and doing all of these things and the . The other thing that I want to share , and I'll close out with this , is health and fitness matters , guys , and I know a lot of Masons out there that are not healthy . You know . You and I know because we travel .
Speaker 2We traveled other lodges . We've been outside our district . You're going to now see a lot of Masons from all over the state soon . Right , we generally are in not in good shape .
Speaker 1No , it's true , it's really true , you know , and we joke about it .
Speaker 2We're like , ah , get the gravy and mashed potatoes , get them donuts Give me more donuts Right . But in reality at our age because we are generally old , we're not going to get older we should definitely be talking a lot more about eating , Right ? I mean , this has to be part of being a good person is respecting your own body , Right ?
Speaker 1It absolutely is gluttony Exercise would be one of those negative vices , right , and the superfluidities excessive gluttony , laziness these are . These are the vices and superfluidities we're supposed to be taking away . And look , if you're out there and you're struggling with your weight and you're struggling with your health , do not take this as me beating you over the head . I am not brother . I know how hard it is . I was a type two diabetic 10 years ago . I was dying man . It was bad and I overcame it through diet and exercise and it took me a long time to do so and to discipline myself in doing it . But I would encourage everyone listening to take a look at your health . Where you're at your health . Look if you're 25 years old and you're pounding donuts , so what ? Go for it .
Speaker 2I mean it's going to catch up to you it will catch up to you .
Speaker 1But if you're 25 , you can . You can do it . If you're 35 and you're still doing it , well then we need to talk , but once you're 35, .
Speaker 1I guess go ahead and do it , I would say , if you're 35 years old or older , it's probably time to start setting some habits in place that you don't have to struggle with . The older you get , the harder it is to change these things . And one of the things if you , if you smoke , if you're smoking cigarettes every day , I have a brother who used to be Tyler in our lodge . He'll tell you to quit right now , and that would be Brother Dan . So quit smoking , whatever you got to do , if you've been thinking about it give it a smoker .
Speaker 1He was give it out . He is , or he was , a smoker but he still is .
Speaker 2I didn't even talk about him in the past , right , but the habit I didn't know he had to stop .
Speaker 1He had to stop , he has . He has lung cancer .
Speaker 2So yeah , I thought it was bone .
Speaker 1Well , the cancer ? Let's not talk about him .
Speaker 2Gotcha that's not fair .
Speaker 1But anyways , quit if you can find a way to quit , find a way to get healthy . Take an assessment of your status currently with regard to your health and make some decisions . Make some small steps , small decisions , get some help . There's a lot of helps out there Apps you could get , counseling , you could , whatever it takes , but get healthy man , get healthy and live and live your life in optimal health .
Speaker 1I do and I don't regret it . I don't regret any of it and it's been a long , hard journey for me , but I don't regret it at all and I hope that everybody within the sound of my voice will just take a minute to evaluate when am I at ? Do I want to be around for my grandchildren ? Do I want to be healthy ? Can I do ? I want to be the grandpa that's vibrant and healthy and cogent . You know if that's the guy you want to be , you know I asked myself at 50 years old what do I want to look like at 60 ?
Speaker 1And I got this advice from Dr Peter Atea , who does a health assessment , and that's one of his big things he said . He said if you're 40 years old , ask yourself what do I want to look like when I'm 50 ? And what do I have to do for the next 10 years to make it happen ? And I said to myself when I'm , when I'm 60 , I want to look like I'm 50 . I want to look and feel like I'm 50 . And I went ahead and I did those things that were necessary to get to that point . And people ask me all the time when I tell them I'm 60 years old , they don't believe me . They absolutely don't believe me because I don't believe it .
Speaker 1It's true , I am lying to me this whole time 1962 .
Speaker 2I still haven't seen the driver's license or a certificate to prove it .
Speaker 1So , anyways , that's my spiel . My brothers , I tell you this because I love you , I care about you , I care about our craft . I wanted to , I wanted to keep going and I want you to be a part of it keeping going . And I want everybody to take that assessment . I'm not trying to offend anybody or depress anybody . I'm trying to encourage you .
Speaker 2It's another part of being a good . You know working on yourself .
Speaker 1Yeah , we're going to be an example .
Speaker 2We want people to look at us and want to be like us . This should be part of the discussion .
Speaker 1Right , and there's there's . There's just something good about getting on the other side of a of a health issue or getting on the other side of a vice . You know that you've got to give up . If you can get on the other side of it and enjoy it , the fact that you don't do that anymore . For me , working out and and being , you know , out there , doing a workout , whatever it is , whether it's weightlifting or doing some of the ruck , outdoor ruck runs that I've developed , all that kind of stuff , man , it is a joy and I love it , and you could too . Anyways , I'm going to stop beating the heck out of that , chris . You got anything else as we go out into our week .
Speaker 2No , I'm you're . You're going to be listening to this on Wednesday , hopefully . Morning we're going to be just one month outside of Grand Lodge .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2And what we just want to remind you if you can make it to the Southeast Masonic Education Symposium at Hillsborough Lodge on April 29th on the level of Fred , and Chris will be there . Fred and Chris are speaking in the position . The . The other speakers are doing a lot of historical fun . Interesting speaking . Yeah , it's gonna be a day and we're gonna come in at the end with free masonry
Upcoming Events and Future Plans
Speaker 2. What now ? What now , baby ?
Speaker 1What do I take back to my lodge to make my lodge go further ? What do I do to make this happen ?
Speaker 2We will be trying to talk about the things that are preventing you from growing and the things that you can do If you , if you , have active participants to help you grow . Some of what we've talked about on this podcast probably all of it we have Probably , and then there's going to be a Q&A and I think there's going to be a panel where we'll sit down also and and you can ask us anything . That'll be fun , if you .
Speaker 1Doesn't mean we're going to answer everything , but yeah , you can ask us anything .
Speaker 2Chris will answer literally anything , especially if it's about Fred , and tell you the truth .
Speaker 1So the first question I'm gonna have for Chris is are you wearing clean underwear ?
Speaker 2And the answer will be no . I am commando Today . Probably that day that'll be a different answer , but literally you can ask us . Anything will be there . We're gonna have a little table . We do have some shirts and hats now that we're starting to help .
Speaker 1Got a little merch . Got a little merch going . Man Pretty excited about the merch .
Speaker 2Podcasting bills here for us .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2And then we'll be at Grand Lodge , hopefully Sunday night we'll be doing some interviews , definitely Monday .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2The legislation is happening Tuesday , so I imagine Tuesday is going to be pretty busy and then I have to get out of there after . But if you can find us , you can email us , actually at Chris , on the level of Fred and Chris or Fred .
Speaker 1on the level of Fred and Chriscom .
Speaker 2Email us , let's schedule something . If we can schedule in advance , we can guarantee it'll happen .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2But if you aren't thinking ahead or don't want to schedule , just come by the booth and if we have the recording gear out and we haven't been recording , you might be able to just jump on with us .
Speaker 1Yeah , we'd like to get a couple of spots of just listeners and just get your thoughts , get and find out who you are , where you're from , why you listen to the show and all that kind of stuff . We'd love to get a bunch of that B-roll onto our server so we can use it going forward . Yeah for sure .
Speaker 2Yes , so we have a lot going on in the next couple of months and we're real excited . This Saturday at my house , we're doing a little esoteric discussion Esoteric discussion group . Wow , honestly , if that goes well and it lends itself to doing this , we could bring in some recording equipment and potentially record those kind of discussions as well . Yeah , and I Future .
Speaker 1I find that the need and the desire and need for that is huge . So I'm not opposed to putting together some kind of easy format and getting it out there to all the lodges .
Speaker 1You know , you could just email us and we can just send you our format and you guys could , we could help you to host your own and to how to do it and the topics and how to keep it moving forward and stuff , and we'll record a few so you can see how we do it .
Speaker 1I guarantee you that Saturday night is going to be a lively discussion . There is no doubt in my mind that we are going to have an absolute riot and it's going to be a lot of fun and people are going to want more and more of it because , like we said during this podcast and other podcasts , we've all been kind of rushed through the degrees these days . It just happens , it's the way it is , and therefore a lot of people , even worshipful masters and people who are way up in the line , are hungry for this stuff , and I don't blame them , I am too . So that's what this kind of stuff is about . That's what this podcast is about . That's what we do every week here . So and that's what you guys are saying you want more of , so bring it on , let's get it on .
Speaker 2You know what else happened this past week . I we got some comments from brother on Facebook who said he keeps going back over and over and listening to the episode where you talked about your personal stuff .
Speaker 1Oh , the baggage , yeah , baggage .
Speaker 2And then he saw the YouTube video . He was like whoa , his mind was blown . People like to learn more about you .
Speaker 1About me .
Speaker 2Oh , yeah , yeah , I think that guy connects and he's listened to it over and over again . So that's that . See , we don't get much feedback , so that kind of feedback is incredibly helpful .
Speaker 1Yeah , that's real helpful and I just I just responded back to that brother this morning just to encourage him going forward , and I'm trying to respond back to the emails as quickly as I can , and I generally at this point it's like a once a week thing I open it up and there's 20 of them on there and I , you know , answer them accordingly . So that's it , my brother Worshipful Burns . This is episode . I guess this will be episode four . Lessons of Master Mason , episode four . Pretty excited about that I'm . We started out thinking there would be four total . I'm thinking there's going to be six .
Speaker 1Yeah , but we're just going to keep going Until we know what it is , and , and after that we'll probably lead right into Grand Lodge , and then , after Grand Lodge , look for season two . We'll do some upgrades to our intros and the way we do things , hopefully probably have some sponsorships or some people lining up that want to , that want to sponsor . I'm pretty excited about that . Don't know how to do that yet , but we'll get it done . And then we're going to have a merch store and we're bringing on a partner , an associate producer . His name is John Schaefer .
Speaker 2And .
Speaker 1I'm pretty excited for John to come on board and help out with the podcast . He brings a lot of really strong back end help so he can . He thrives on that back end kind of work and stuff so and we need that because Chris and I are big thinkers and big thinkers don't like doing back end work , so that's going to be helpful .
Speaker 2I'm a big thinker , I don't know . That's right . Yeah , okay , I can't do them dishes . I'm a big thinker , right yeah .
Speaker 1So anyways , all right , my brother , I think we're out . I know we're out . We're at a minute 45 . So hour 45 . So that's , that's our longest show ever . You guys have been asking for long shows . Well , here you go . So , my brother , until next time I will . I will see you then , Huh . See you all . See you on the level .
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