Grand Master’s Musings: August 2023

Continue the Work

Greetings Brethren,

The summer months are a little bit more relaxed, and the time is used by many lodges to plan for the coming Masonic Year, as well as to rest, relax and recharge. However, once we have gotten some relief, we must continue the work.

The first working tool placed in the hands of the workman is the 24-inch gauge. This tool is explained as a symbol to teach us about spending our time wisely. When we properly allot our time with the four cardinal virtues in mind, particularly Prudence, we can accomplish many of our goals and ambitions.

The book that I am highlighting this month, should you with to read it or get a summary about it from YouTube or Blinkist, is George S. Clason’s The Richest Man in Babylon. In this book he dispenses wisdom and advice about creating and growing one’s financial stability through a series of short stories. The book begins with a story of a man named Arkad recounting his humble beginnings and his journey from being a poor scribe to becoming the wealthiest man in Babylon. Arkad shared his wisdom with a group of eager listeners, including principles such as saving at least 10% of one’s income, investing in profitable ventures, and seeking advice from knowledgeable individuals. He stresses the importance of financial discipline, proper budgeting, and the power of compound interest. Each with a single sentence, to summarize the story, creating a very easy to follow six-step approach to financial freedom. The first lesson is simply to invest in yourself.

There are also various fictitious stories on the internet of people who have a bank account which refills each day with $86,400. However, there are a few rules attached to this magical bank account. They must spend all of the money deposited within it before the next day. Also, they cannot keep any of the money or anything in the form of a tangible asset. The twist of course is that we are the people with the magical bank account, and our magic bank is the daily gift of time. There happens to be 86,400 seconds in a 24-hour period. We all must spend that time. We have no choice in the matter. However, we do have the choice of how we spend this precious gift and resource.

If we follow the ideas laid out in George S. Clason’s The Richest Man in Babylon and apply those lessons to our use of the 24-inch gauge, we can see that the very first thing we should do is invest in ourselves and our own development. The author suggests investing a minimum of 10% of your purse into yourself. Therefore, slowly growing your personal value.

As Masons, we are charged with daily advancement. I believe we cannot properly advance if we are not investing in ourselves, our loved ones, and our communities.

As individuals, we are given examples or where to invest our time for self-improvement in the Charge of the newly initiated candidate. Among other things in the Charge, we are told what is expected of us in terms of our living relationship with God, our neighbour and ourselves. For ourselves, we are told to observe “a prudent and well-regulated course of discipline as may best conduce to the preservation of your corporeal and mental faculties in their fullest energies; thereby enabling you to exert those talents wherewith God has blessed you, as well to his glory as to the welfare of your fellow creatures.”

In short, we are told to invest our time into the improvement of ourselves, physically and mentally, so that we may be better able to provide assistance to ourselves, our loved ones, and our community.

We have examples of where our lodges are investing their time. The Masonic Youth Leadership Camp from July 30 to August 4 or when a local lodge (Avonlea-Rouleau Lodge No. 156) invests its time to help their community with events such as their Friendly Neighbour Breakfast which is designed to help a community member in need.

These are great examples of Masons in our province investing some of their previous time into the Youth and overall community of Saskatchewan.

Thank you, Brethren, for all that you do, and Please “Continue the Work.”

Fraternally,

MW Bro. Jonas Cossette
Grand Master 2023–24