On Service

I have a little girl basset hound named Ginny. Most of the dogs I've owned in my life have been hounds, and quite a few bassets. Actually, I guess she's a woman basset hound, because she's about six years old. Middle age for a basset. Ginny came to us when she was five years old. She had been part of a hunting pack, and had been engaged in field trials all of her life to that point. She has a great voice and a good nose.

Ginny lived outside in a kennel all her life until she came to live with us. She lived with a guy-dog named Phantom, because he looked like the Phantom of the Opera, with 1/2 his face white. Phantom, due to a bad experience with surgery, became somewhat neurotic. He was afraid of adults, and took out his frustrations on Ginny. Domestic violence got so bad that she had to be spayed. She has a shredded ear and a scar on her nose as well.

Well a spayed dog is of little value to a breeder, and there is a belief that neutered dogs don't hunt as well as those that are intact. So Ginny was to be disposed of, and we entered the picture at the right moment. And Ginny came home with us.

No one at my house was totally happy with this arrangement. The boys wanted some big manly dog, and my wife wanted a little cute dog, and Ginny ain't either of these. The cats weren't very happy either. Ginny had never lived in a house, and hadn't even been beyond the basement in her whole life.

Long story short: Ginny has a new job. She isn't chasing bunnies or dropping litters. Her job now is protecting the family from the evil sofa. She holds it down all day, so it can't get to us and do us damage. This is a picture of Ginny at work. She even has a Myspace account. Life is very different for Ginny now. I think we have made her more comfortable, and that she's enjoying life better. I think we have served this little critter in a way it would be good for all of us to be served.

What do we want in life? Security, friends, a bit of comfort. And the opportunity to serve. You know, by allowing ourselves to be served, we are serving.

Brother Joseph Smith, Jr. said that friendship is one of the most basic principles of life and religion. It is one of the most excellent tenets of our institution as well. "I do not dwell on your faults, and you shall not upon mine. Charity, which is love, covereth a multitude of sins, and I have covered all the faults among you."(Documentary History of the Church, 5:401). We don't dwell on Ginny's faults and she doesn't on us. The prettiest thing would be to have no faults, but until then, forgive.

Feelings

Feelings are slippery things. Do they mean anything? Are they worth consideration? Do we have anything else?

As a test, poll a room full of people about the temperature in the room. The more people, the better. You'll probably find that their feelings about about the temperature will fall out in three areas: about 1/3 will feel it's too hot; about 1/3 will feel it's too cold; and the final 1/3 will feel it's just right. The actual temperature doesn't matter, but how people feel about it does. To them.

This dichotomy between the truth and what we feel is the truth is present in all areas of experience. Or, rather, interferes with experience. We rarely actually experience reality, but construct ways to make it fit our feelings.

Another amusing test is to get on a crowded elevator and, politely, non threateningly, face the rear of the car rather than the front. Don't make eye contact, or compose you face in any way that may be thought aggressive. I guarantee that most of the people in the elevator will will feel very uncomfortable. Possibly to the extent that will get off the elevator.

So what does this have to do with us as Freemasons?

Well, everything we see and hear, everyone we meet, and every lesson we're taught is filtered by how we feel. We bring a boatload of stuff into each conversation These feelings influence what we see and hear. This affects our relationships and friendships, and even if we want to enter into friendship, and they even affect our floor and ritual work. We may feel unable to learn so much; we may feel that this guy is too old or too young to be teaching us; we may even feel jealous of those in office.

Feelings may be powerful and scary, but they are a paper tiger, like a hoop a football team runs through to open some games. They are convincingly printed, but they are only a couple of microns thick. We can break through them when they are obviously holding us back. Freemasonry is about continual progress. I suggest that we should develop tools to help us recognize feelings that are interfering with our progress, and with our relationships, and deal with them responsibly. This is not to say all feelings are bad, but that we should be aware of them, and where they fit in our lives. It's part of our growth and progress.

Do we have anything else? Yes. There is reality out there. Can we access it? Of course. Sometimes you just have to sit with reality like a brick in your lap. Each experience will bring up feelings, and we have only to sit there and notice our reaction to it. Experience the feeling, and it's power will be reduced.