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A ramble about the charity and the future

BryanMaloney

Premium Member
The proposal sounds laudible, but it also sounds like part of the problem--further institutionalization of what should be personal. The charitable impulse given fruition through the Shrine doesn't spring untended. The Shrine charities arose among men already well-groomed by the Blue Lodge and York or Scottish Rite. Good iron to begin with, but first forged, sharpened, and tempered before entering grand battle against the harsh things of the world. Perhaps some were already fully-formed when they first entered a Blue Lodge, but is it the proper place for the Blue Lodge to presume all men are already swords when so many of us are still just ingots or ore. And if the smith takes on the duty of the soldier, what time does that leave him for smithing? In crisis, a smithy can certainly be used as a rally point and makeshift hardpoint, but humanity is better served by the smithies remaining smithies, their good supplying the armories and fortresses. If the armory is divorced from the smithy, it ultimately ends up becoming a procurement center, wherein acquisition becomes a goal in and of itself.
 
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