A Mason's Work

Brian
00:01

So today I wanna talk about the plumb. And to be quite candid, the plumb is one of the tools that I have the hardest time with in the craft. And the reason I have the hardest time with it is because it is difficult to reconcile some of the concepts that the plumb brings to the table with the balance of the tools. But I want to speak first and foremost while we talk about the plumb. I want to talk about how the second degree tools differ significantly from the first, the first degree tools are a lot about self-regulation and self-management. And I think that the second degree tools are very much more about placing the work relative to the rest of the environment that you're in. It's about doing the right work in the right way at the right time. Whereas the first degree is about doing, you know, managing yourself as a workman, you're find that the secondary tools move the conversation to a different place.

Brian
01:09

And so the plumb about, you know, in the catechism at the end of the degree when you're, you know, given the, the plumb as a working tool, talks about walking uprightly through all your stations of life before God and man. And so when we talk about walking uprightly, we're talking about a couple of things, right? The plumb itself is used essentially to determine a, a vertical line towards ground, basically towards the center of gravity. And that uprightness that essentially comes as a result when you align something to that ground of being, or that ground of understanding is, would, would essentially give you a sense of pride in your work. It would give you the, the sense that your work is, is true in many ways to, to that reality. The, the difficulty there, of course, then is, you know, that's a very hard, hard thing to figure out. And since all of these tools are relative towards, essentially towards the work and space and time, you, you kind of have to start somewhere. And so the plumb gives you a good sense of understanding about how, how you're, you should endeavor to conduct that work in that upright manner. Now, I've talked about this at some length with some of the, the brothers in the craft and my lodge, and there's, you know, a range of conflicting ideas about what

Brian
02:58

That means. But, you know, the very first thing that that comes to mind for me again, is the notion that by walking uprightly, you can hold your head high, you can look at what you're doing and be proud of your work. Even if it's the, even if you make mistakes or it's got errors in it, it qualifies as the right work in terms of is it grounded in reality? Does it make sense? Is it, is it good upright work? But, you know, in many ways, I'm trying to be sensitive to the fact that defining what it means by using its definition is cheating.

Brian
03:46

I don't wanna, I don't wanna be self-referential here with this. I'd love to hear what your thoughts are on the plumb and how it can be used in a sort of functional way. It's one of the tools to be honest with you, that, you know, the, the further I try and figure it out, the more confusing it gets. But I think it's important to have conversations about this stuff because, 'cause it's very likely represents an opportunity for growth and development. So we'll be talking to the rest of the week through some of the other tools that are out there, and we will be coming back to each and every one of these as we go through and learn more or explore more, as I find out stuff from other masons out there and get for deeper and further insight.

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