Study
Continuing the Study
The study of Masonic teaching does not end with a single reading. Each member returns to the same texts at different stages of life and finds new questions in them.
The study of Masonic teaching does not end with a single reading. Each member returns to the same texts and symbols at different stages of life, and finds new questions in them. Continued study is part of the work, not an extra to be set aside once a degree has been received.
A useful habit is to keep a short record of questions as they arise, and to bring them to a meeting or a mentor rather than settling them alone. Study done in company tests each reading against the experience of others, and it protects the member from mistaking a private conclusion for the teaching of the lodge.
Example: a member who has studied the first degree for several years asks a new question about its symbols. He writes it down, raises it at a study meeting, and hears three different answers. He leaves with a better understanding of the question itself, and with an invitation to continue the discussion at the next session.