My dear Brethren:

As a child, I played with a Rubic's Cube for ages, and was never able to solve it. Recently, I acquired a new one, and found tips and tricks on the Internet on how to solve it, and now, within a few months, the puzzle is solved. No longer do the little colored cubes intimidate or elude me.

On some level, the magic is gone. As frustrating as it was not being able to complete the cube on my own, it still held a certain mystery for me. Once reduced to a series of memorizable patterns and a finite number of logical steps, the mystery died.

Or did it? Sure, I can solve it with some fumbling and cursing, in about 20 minutes or so. But, there are others who can solve it in 12 seconds. Some, with their eyes closed. Some, by describing the moves to others, not even holding the cube themselves. For each of my simple victories over the cube, there are many deeper layers of understanding and mastery which, yet again, seem out of my grasp, at first.

The cube reminds me of the mysteries of Freemasonry. At first, they seem mysterious and incomprehensible. Then, once initiated, there are all sorts of new tools to learn to manipulate one's life. Then, as a Fellowcraft, and with new tools in hand, one gains a certain proficiency in understanding and applying principles that alter one's life experience. Later, as a Master, one might rest contentedly on his laurels, having accomlished a great purpose, and even go so far as to grow complacent. How often have you or a neighboring brother yawned during ritual, thinking you've heard it a thousand times before?

And yet, for each word you know, there is a secondary possible meaning, a new inflection, a deeper understanding to be discovered. Once we understand the ritual for ourselves, then there are even broader applications to master: being able to present it to new brothers such that they are left awestruck and inspired; being able to explain, defend, and elaborate it to skeptical non-Masons; being able to teach young and eager Masons how to use it in their daily lives. For each level of proficiency, there is yet another, deeper expertise awaiting he who seeks to master it.

Keep twisting and turning. When you finish, do it again. This time, better.

David Sylvester
Master

slyman007@aol.com