[Jason]

Some people say it is a hobby. Others may tell you it is a way of life. Still others may say it is a charitable activity, or a philosophical exercise. A few may say it is something else completely.

What do you consider it to be?

[wes]

A way of life!

[Ashlar521]

All of the above . If all would apply what is taught in Freemasonry to life the world would be a better place .

Without Freemasonry I would have never learned to subdue my passions (I'm still working on that). At one time I had a very bad temper , now I am mellow , took years to break off that corner from my rough ashlar . *just one example

Philiosophy is an on going study/discussion of knowledge . We search for knowledge as Freemasons and we are now having a philosophical discussion on what Freemasonry is . So yes , Freemasonry is a philosophical excersie .


Freemasonry has taught me to be charitable to all men . Not only monitarily but with my heart , being open and excepting of all men .

I wouldn't say it is a hobby per se , but I derive much pleasure from reading about Freemasonry , studying the esoteric and putting ritual to memory (exoteric) . That's what a hobby is , deriving pleasure from an activity of some sort .

And for the "other" part , I enjoy the fellowship with my brothers , the knife and fork part of it , the light hearted comaraderie .

[zumaechtenfeuer]

Freemasonry has become a way of life for me, although I didn't realise it until quite recently!

[Ashlar521]

Originally Posted by zumaechtenfeuer

Freemasonry has become a way of life for me, although I didn't realise it until quite recently!

I know a few Masons who were Raised and never took it to heart for years , they took the degrees and was never seen again (I'm not saying this what you did mind you) . Then one day showed up to lodge and kept coming back , started studying and really put the teachings of Freemasonry to heart . I had one tell me he wished he would have taken Masonry more seriously when he was a younger Mason , it may have changed some of the wrong choices he made in life , tempered his passions . So it's never to late to learn that Freemasonry is a way of life .

[zumaechtenfeuer]

The realisation struck me whilst I was giving the Instruction recently. I was asked, in general discussion, wha Freemasonry meant to me and didn't need to think about it at all. I realised that in the last five years I had attended my Lodge every single week but two, and on those two evenings I was in other Lodges. In the last five years, as EA and as FC as well as MM, I've attended several hundred Workings (I assume this to be the English term for our Tempelarbeit), and made literally hundreds of excellent friends. I find it hard to imagine a life without the Masons now, and let my daily life be influenced by the teachings I have taken into myself, and those which I give on to others. The fact that Freemasonry is a way of life for me has been there since I was Initiated, only the realisation came later.

I see in other Lodges that some join, and then seem to vanish into the air rarely to be seen again. Perhaps this is a fault of the Lodge, perhaps a fault with the Brother himself and his ideals of Masonry. In my Lodge we have a 90% attendance rate every single evening we come together - once a week - of which we are very proud - justifiably I believe. recently an EA told me he had felt something missing from his life when he couldn't attend one evening; something that I can only too well understand.

[Ashlar521]

A 90% attendance rate of your members is outstanding , I mean wow , that IS something to be proud of ! We have anywhere to 20 to 26 regulars out of 150 , give or take , members at our meetings . These are the men who can be counted on . We have anywhere from 10 to 15 regular visitors from other lodges who makes every one of our meetings , which is not to bad . Now that it is getting warmer we should see better turn outs , this is when I start getting out and visiting lodges other than my own regularly .

[zumaechtenfeuer]

We have a slight advantage in the manner in which we choose our members, and the amount of public work we do: such as visiting other Lodges; press reports and similar. My Lodge is very active indeed and has brought other, younger Lodges out of the woodwork and back into active life.

That said, we are a small Lodge in a very small town.

[Ashlar521]

We go out and visit also . I am a regular in many of my local lodges to the point that I no longer introduce myself as a visitor , as a matter of fact I am an honorary member of quit a few . We do quit a bit in our community , we give out an annual scholarship to students , we cater special dinners for free to people that are raising money for someone in need (this weekend we will be catering a dinner for a young girl in need of a liver transplant) , we have special things we do for veterans etc; etc; , but most of our efforts outside of lodge is spent taking care of our widows .

[cemab4y]

Freemasonry is many things. Sometimes, I think Freemasonry is like the "ink-blot" test, you take in the psychologist's office. You see in Freemasonry, what you want to see.

Freemasonry is a brotherhood, a system of morality, a charitable enterprise. Freemasonry is instruction, self-improvement, camaraderie. I like to think of Freemasonry as a "cafeteria", where participants can receive from the "serving line", what they wish.