A definition of Freemasonry

Today I read something about the fraternity that hit home with me and I would like your feedback. The statement is: "Freemasonry is neither a thing nor a ritual. It is not a lodge nor an organization. Rather is it a manner of thought, a way of living, a guide to the City on a Hill." This reminds me of what my father always said about Freemasonry. He would say that Freemasonry is neither a place nor a group of people. He said that Freemasonry is work, it is something Masons do. Your thoughts on this idea are hereby requested.

If you wish to read the whole quote it is on this site http://www.masonicworld.com/newsletter/nl/nov2001.htm#Masonic Education under the heading Spurious.

i agree with your father - freemasonry is work - for many it may be more - but it certainly is - for me - work....

streeter said:

i agree with your father - freemasonry is work - for many it may be more - but it certainly is - for me - work....

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But very pleasurable, very enjoyable work.

Warrior1256 said:

But very pleasurable, very enjoyable work.

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yes it is - perhaps i should have wrote that the work i was referring to is that of the ritual....
i am well aware that each of of has the personal choice to determine his own interpretation of the ritual in his own way...
learning ritual in three differing jurisdictions has completely changed the way i understand life and the universe...
it has been one wonderful and marvelous journey for me and i am extremely grateful to have discovered freemasonry many years ago...

I take a different approach and have a different view. I see Freemasonry as Organizational efforts to Introduce men to Masonic Work, but it is not Masonic Work itself. I equate it to the Instruction Set, as in a road map, that is preserved and handed down to each new generation in the hope that some of those who it was handed to will actually take it and apply it toward Making Good Men Better. In this respect, Freemasonry does an outstanding job. But, it is all that Freemasonry can and should do. It is up to each man who receives these instructions to Recognize them for what they are, Study them, Understand them and Apply them toward making himself a better man. A man can invest all his time in preserving ad handing down these instruction and never become a better man, OR he can do the Masonic Work that these instruction direct him toward and better himself as a result. Both Freemasonry and Masonry take work. The former preserves the organization that provides instructions. I see the later as the actual Bettering of men.

Coach reminds me of an old quote: The purpose of ritual is to allow those who do not understand the truth, to pass on the truth, until it reaches someone who can understand it.