THAT RUDE INTRODUCTION TO SELF

Who really knows himself? We understand archetypes but the life we live is so much more dynamic, our understanding coming in fits and spurts. Living with our own reputation, leds men into some very interesting understandings.  We aren't as we appear. Others have knowlodge of us that we do not. If we listen we benefit. If we watch we learn. The world isn't a fairy tale. There are dark forces but there are also men who have learning how to survive. They pass their knowledge on to their children. We may live in a jungle where danger lurks, but once we understand danger, we can protect and survive, even against bigger more vicious creatures, none more sinister than man himself. We can be defeated by letting doubt grow. We can be overbearing and conceited, which extracts a price. Lonely men know it well.  That man, that man striving to live well is also prone to learning. What separates him from his cynical neighbour who can say? We know exposing humans to healthy ideas influences them in ways no one has yet to fully grasp. We are not born perfect, and completely on our own most of us find ways to accommodate learning complications.  We tease ourselves thinking a machine or AI could emulate even a small part of the capacity of a human mind,  The Craft has been welcoming men into an atmosphere of enriched expectation and values. Accountabiltiy and finding our place in the Order are as uncomplicated as our ethic.  The Craft teaches nobel aims by metaphor and symbol. It even talks about the destination- enlightenment, self-awareness.  What it doesn't tell is how; how to we progress along that metaphoric path of life?  Wearing the apron is a lifetime commitment to the self. As we experience life, our thinking changes. People like me have a sense that our answers to life's questions change throughout life. With time we acquire truth. In the fullness of time. When we draw our last breath they become the most accurate.