FRANKLY SPEAKING

Overstating concerns is not what the Brotherhood needs to hear. Outlining issues has done little to strengthen our resolve. If we had a shared understanding of the Craft perhaps the dialogue needed to share ideas would have encouraged us to talk about those annoying free radicals that have in the c21st crept up on even the most autocractic administrator. Responses are many. Solutions, few. It brings to mind explanations of three types of patience offered in the Quran; ...endurance, restraint and acceptance. And Ecceliastes 3,1-8, ...to everything there is a time. And Prashat ki tisa ...patience is a companion of wisdom. Even with patience, the Brotherhood could use a frank sit-down about what the hell is going on!  Never let it be said we were unaware.  Returning to the cloister is no longer a perrogative. The amount of gossip, wearisome forgettable buildings and the collapse of business solutions have taken us to the point we are at today. Are we each convinced the antient wisdom ever had or still has merit? And are we convinced it is worth the 'work'?  Even our fondness for history doesn't cloud our thinking. There is an orthodoxy and we've been ignoring it. Why? doesn't matter. Some attention to communication is needed which is why this article begins with echos from monotheastic religions about the presence of a contemplative mind. Let the debate rage as it must. If our beliefs are accurate/true they will prevail. Question them of course, but also consider the ancients may have been on to some genuinely transformative ideas. Look. Holding a tool does not work it.  Working a tool creates callouses. Too many hands are baby soft. But wait.  Proselytizing, thinking one is capable of rehabilitating the mind of another is too close to narcissim for my comfort. One mind at a time. Find the beauty. Enjoy the silence. Let yourself be discovered.