My response to that would be (NOTE: I always try to write my responses ahead of time because I am not quick enough to come up with them on the spot) Masonry teaches that a man has to do lot of work on himself, before he is prepared to become a part of something bigger than himself. Are you prepared to work on improving yourself?
I think that a feeling of alienation is one of the driving forces of this generation (if not youth in general). I think that we need to work with the forces that are already shaping young people. We need to offer the idea that their feelings of disconnection are fueled by their unpreparedness. We need to ask them if they are ready to prepare themselves for the journey that they desire to take. One of my early mentors used to ask me if I was ready to begin, to start, to begin. I found this question to be very confusing and ultimately very instructive. YMMV.
