MASONRY: FROM CULT RELIGION INTO A CULTURE MODERN

Declaring that masonry offers a non-secular option to faith has wrapped the Craft in a lingering, misguided myth.  Think about it. If Freemasonry is the epitome of Renaisance thinking, would it not have a bearing on the masonic mind?   Saying that masonry is complicated doesn't take much effort.  Yes, it's a mess. Yes our writings are disorganized.  Yes, we don't know how to locate the best Masonic mentors  scholars. Yes we lack bone fide readings. Yes the disorder is growing.  When we decide it is important to ensure that the basic core learning is available to a Brother we will get around to it. Or will we?  We should probably do more than wait.  We should probably build accessible study rooms, organize collections and a place to gather, to read, to learn, to contemplate meaning.  

 Andrew Hammer published a thoughtful little book- Observing the Craft, in which he extols us to be forthright about our obligations and stay active in Lodge. He said we  were straying off in all directions.  Some truth in that as far as he took it.  Rather than describing a problem, I thought he gave us a list of symptoms.  Everything is secondary to our primary goal, enlightenment. Searchers are looking for options going through the versions of masonry. Maybe masonry is essentially about exposing bright minds to great ideas. What Br Hammer didn't consider was the next path opening in front of us.  If bricks and mortar masonry can't deliver, the internet will.  Colloquial no more, masonry has evoled on its own, into a network built to convey ideas using a network built to communicate ideas. Can I resist that gravity?