PERFECT INCLINATION

Damned interesting stuff, this masonry. It is a bookcover so interesting it is worthy of study by itself. With all the conditions and antecedents that were finally put in writing, early designers came to terms with cost/benefit of writing for us. Something had to be sacrificed. So much had happened in the decades leading up to a legendary meeting of London lodges intent on giving us form. It raises a question.  Are the philosophical and historical inferences of 18th century still valid, still in play today?  What we take for granted today was treated with suspicion by the estates. Rebellion was in the air. People in Britian and Europe were reaching the breaking point. Rebels told us they wanted stability, but stability that contained rights and protections so everyone knew where they stood. When men were fighting for rights, they were treated as life/death truths, worth dying to perserve. Are we living the consequences? It seems values come with a "fresh by date" after which they need to be renewed. Another way of saying, is there a fresh-by date for obligations? I think we can agree, values are vital in our lodges, but how? How are values kept current? Masonry allows us to enlist all manner of sources, from arts and sciences, to personal conduct and reputation.  All it requires is a desire and enough curiosity to turn attention ever slightly, being told by our guides the fishing is best at X time of day, on this section of the river. Since we each experience reality through a unique set of eyes, we might agree, we can't know your misery but we know our own. If they are a similar weight on the heart and mind then we understand human nature. If not the transactions repeated through time, then the mental experiences are always unique.  We are fortunate, knowing the fates are in play, that unexpected things happen that test our convictions, but in the meantime, we can live well and be aware.