Question 1: According to what is written about Ritual, what is the purpose to which Candidates Enter Masonry?
Even though I am rather bashful, I will dip my toes in the water here ..... getting our passions under control and improvement....????
To learn how to learn. If we have done this the foundation is properly prepared and the work can be square.
I like Buckeyes answer too.... Remember, Coach said what is written about ritual..... not what we as masons know the real purpose is.....
To rephrase Coaches question; What did you come here to do? Answer; To learn. But first, you need to learn how to do that.
I agree 100% but I offer this; is learning how to learn the purpose the candidate enters masonry for??? OR is learning how to learn part of the work once the candidate has been obligated and now is a Brother and no longer a candidate....
Some do not want to learn , but merely go through the motions . Here we find men who have no idea what it is to be Masons , their foundations weak , their Temples are flawed. And we have all seen some who should have never made it through the West gate , as hard as we try , some slide in .
I advance that the kind of people attracted to Freemasonry are those with a sense of curiosity and wonder. They are more typically the kind of people who would drop rocks into a still pond, not to scare the fish but rather to watch the concentric waves and who they interact with other objects. The more esoteric of us might even have a zen garden to create those waves statically.
Well, the generic answer is: "A peculiar system of morality, veiled in allegory, and illustrated by symbols." I know that's not what you are looking for, but I don't have your book here with me at the moment..
In the past (and present too), it has been defined but I would say it is more of a description but here is what I have heard it defined as: "Taking good men and making them better" Edit note..... not my definition, just one I have heard and threw it into the mix for discussion sake Mackey????..... Bobby Mackey????......
Sorry....... I guess it is a northen thing, I know you Brothers from the SJ put more into Al Mackey than we do in the NMJ
