seeking further light
last night, i went to lodge for the first time NOT as someone who was to undergo an initiation. instead, i got to be part of two candidates' first degree ceremonies. it was most enlightening. and i mean that in many ways.
one of the things that went through my mind was "this is really mine. this lodge, these brothers, this spirituality, these mysteries--they are all mine and i am theirs." like being in a circle, i had the feeling that i belonged and that it was right.
what's more, i got to see how that degree happens without "participating" in it. it shed new light on the ceremony i underwent to become a Mason. it deepened the experience. it gave it more breadth and depth--not because my initiation was weak or lame or ineffective, but because when i am in experiences like that, much of the details are absorbed by emotion and the chance to go through the rite again without that heightened emotional sense allows for a new richness to be added to my prior experience.
free and accepted mason. that's me.
i'm free. i'm free from so many bonds that have kept me down. and, even more, i know how to free myself of even more of them.
and i'm accepted. i'm accepted for who i am. i'm accepted as one of the fraternity--as a brother. i never had brothers when i was growing up. between the Masons and the Minoans, i have so many wonderful brothers now.
i'm a mason. we work to build our own lives and souls in light and love to strive for a better world.
now it's time to get to work.
one of the things that went through my mind was "this is really mine. this lodge, these brothers, this spirituality, these mysteries--they are all mine and i am theirs." like being in a circle, i had the feeling that i belonged and that it was right.
what's more, i got to see how that degree happens without "participating" in it. it shed new light on the ceremony i underwent to become a Mason. it deepened the experience. it gave it more breadth and depth--not because my initiation was weak or lame or ineffective, but because when i am in experiences like that, much of the details are absorbed by emotion and the chance to go through the rite again without that heightened emotional sense allows for a new richness to be added to my prior experience.
free and accepted mason. that's me.
i'm free. i'm free from so many bonds that have kept me down. and, even more, i know how to free myself of even more of them.
and i'm accepted. i'm accepted for who i am. i'm accepted as one of the fraternity--as a brother. i never had brothers when i was growing up. between the Masons and the Minoans, i have so many wonderful brothers now.
i'm a mason. we work to build our own lives and souls in light and love to strive for a better world.
now it's time to get to work.