I was discussing the concept of balance with a friend today. Many people seem to be searching for this elusive state of being in their lives. Yet, most people seem to have a skewed idea of it.
Most people think of the Justice scales when thinking of balance. Where each side is equal. Yet, not all aspects of life should necessarily be equal.
In Masonry, we are taught to divide our time into three parts; service, labour, and rest. Service to God, or others, is a purely selfless gesture, where the recipient is the beneficiary of our actions. Labour is a give and take, where we trade our efforts for compensation, and where both parties receive benefits. There is room for all three of these parts in our life, but it is up to us to decide the amount of our time spent on each category of activity.
Many people mistakenly assume that there should be equal parts. Why? In the Bible, it is suggested that even God laboured for six days, and rested on the seventh. A six to one ratio doesn't sound necessarily balanced, yet it has become the archetypical work week for most of society.
Many people choose to work for 30 years, and then rest for as many years after a career as they have available before they die. Is this balance?
Masonry teaches us, indirectly, that we must be the masters of our own lives. Conforming to sterotypical work weeks or society's predetermined vacation and tithing schedules gives away the power we have to choose the proper allocation of our time, abilities, and resources. Consider how you can best work and best agree. Consider how you can best share your abilities with the hive of mankind, and add to the common stock of knowledge. Consider how you can best lend a hand to a fallen brother, or perform service to your God. And, then create the schedule which allows for all these to occur. If you are stressed, perhaps one area is lacking. If you are bored, perhaps another is. Your conscience will guide you, if you but take the time to reflect and evaluate how you divide your time. Balance comes when, fulfilling your duties in all three areas, you are able to reflect with pride and joy the time you've spent in a day.
Fraternally,
David Sylvester
Senior Warden