A Mason's Work

Brian
00:01

There is a distinctly real chance that as I go through this process, I'm gonna be creating three or four videos or more on this same working tool, as my knowledge of it increases as I get feedback from other people. With that in mind, I want to start with one of the very first working tools that we have in the craft, and that is the 24 inch gauge. Now, the 24 inch gauge yields pretty easily to modest inquiry, but we'll start with the kind of highest level description, and you can find the descriptions of this tool and how it works in everything from Freemasonry for dummies, all the way up through including, you know, Mackey's. There'll be mention of it in a bunch of different sort of Masonic texts, as it were. And so anything we're gonna be talking about here in regards to the Masonic tools themselves should be fair game as the information there is all public.

Brian
01:04

Now, if you're uncomfortable with this conversation about the working tools in a public setting, feel free to let me know. I don't know that's gonna change anything, but I'm still interested to hear how many of us, I guess, having a, a perhaps more old school interpretation of how this stuff works. With that in mind though, the 24 inch gauge as a working tool is designed to remind us of the 24 hours of the day. And in our, in the lectures for this tool, when we talk to it, and there are tons of those, they'll talk about how those 24 hours, the 24 parts that are emblematic of the 24 hours a day should be divided into three equal chunks. Eight hours for your rest, eight hours for your usual vocation, however you, you know, earn your living and eight hours for the relief of worthy and distressed brethren.

Brian
02:03

Now, how that specifically lays out and all of that kind of stuff, while the script, the scripture is not really a scripture, while the, the explanation of what the tool is is pretty prescriptive, right? It says eight hours for this, eight hours for that hours for everything else. What the, what the tool really speaks to is self-regulation and management of your time at the lowest level, right? The very easiest interpretation of this tool is watch your time. You've only got 24 hours in a day. Spend them well, but if you think about that just a little bit further, that spend them well in a structured approach, also implied in that mandate is to make sure that you're not spending it doing frivolous stuff. So it's not just create a schedule and stick to it or keep a balanced

Brian
02:59

Time. It is also about trying to make sure that the things that you do are of value. That the time you spend is worth the outcome you're creating or the process you're building or what have you. So beyond just like the, you know, how do you get better at managing your time, and there's tons of self-help books on this, how do you determine what's important and what's not is, is implicit in that tool? Now there's gonna be deeper interpretations and there's gonna be more stuff with the 24 inch gauge as you go. Some of it's going to describe, you know, some of the old adages, right? Pearls before swine, for example. Don't waste your best stuff on folks who can't appreciate it is all kind of the, the by proxy, the interpretation of a 24 inch gauge. So when you are doing your work, when you sit down and reflect on how you're currently spending your time, how you, is that time that you're spending being used for maximum leverage?

Brian
04:06

Are you creating the most good you can? Are you doing the best things you can for your family, for the world, for the, you know, your community? Those kinds of decision making processes. As you use that 24 inch gauge, you will find that they reveal even more information as you go. So if you have additional insights on 24 inch gauge, I'd love to hear 'em. Please make sure to reach out, hit me on the contact us, the webpage, we a comment below, all that kind of stuff, and we'll see you in the next one. Thanks.

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