YES WE HAVE AGENCY. AND YES WE HAVE ORDER

Our community continues to grow. Masonic values are proving their worth each day. Not as an afterthought but realizing Masonry began long before it was written and global. Long before we were taught secrets in ritual code, the underpinnings, values and principles were being examined. After trying the obvious, control by fear, men were separating opinions and truths about that and found one lacking and another incomplete. Before you and I set foot on a path of life, the path was being blazed by earlier generations. The handoff was precarious, which made us wonder if we could improve outcomes by clarifying ideas. We find points in global history where men organized forums and invited thinkersto share their work with other like-minded types. It happened in different cultures at different times which tells us something about humanity generally. Curiosity is not a right. It is a fact. Facts and opinion became distinct. Knowledge and understanding we distinct. Subjective and objective told us about perspective. Physical and metaphysical observations of forces that push and draw in. Not to forget the fates; we have spots in the YinYang symbol-order acknowledging that randomnness. Masonry provided remarkable references; a universe interconnected- Pythagoras; compassion as power- Solomon; integrity that defines us- Hiram.  And then there are alchemical references, that for now I leave to you. Thought experiments, it leaves to those with eyes that see. The rest are what they are. Occult elements are there for people on pilgrimage and for them Aristotle and Plato entertain their imagination. If it is not our own genius, we acknowledge those who display it. As we learn humility as respect as we learn about confidence.  Life as a Mason is making better choices because we understand. And that doesn't begin to scratch the surface.