Identity is the story we tell ourselves and others. Belief is revealed by how we act. In this episode, we explore the tension between expressed identity and lived belief, and how Masonry challenges us to move beyond social labels toward a truer alignment. The conversation invites us to reflect on where our behaviors speak louder than our self-concepts.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Identity is often expressed through stories and social tags, but may not reflect lived reality
• Beliefs are demonstrated through behavior, not just declared in words or symbols
• Masonic work demands aligning identity, belief, and action within the circle of integrity

💬 Featured Quotes

• 0:00:00 – “I want to start today’s episode with some insight into the relationship between our identity and our beliefs and our behaviors.”
• 0:00:08 – “Identity is expressed… a narrative of a story we tell ourselves about the way we are or the way we appear in the world.”
• 0:00:20 – “That identity oftentimes will get shorthanded by social tags… the political tagging of liberal, conservative, Democrat, Republican.”
• 0:00:33 – “That shorthand, that tagging that we use as identity politics is oftentimes used to help us identify where we fit in a crowd.”

🔗 Explore Related Episodes

• The Hoodwink: Confronting Our Blind Spots
  — Challenges us to look at what we fail to see about ourselves, especially the gap between self-story and behavior.
• The Square: Aligning Action With Virtue
  — Explores how to measure actions against values, ensuring beliefs are lived, not just professed.
• Beyond the Apron: Living Freemasonry Outside the Lodge
  — Discusses carrying authentic identity and values into the world beyond Lodge walls.

Creators & Guests

Advice often seems contradictory: focus on the work, but don’t ignore the results. This episode explores the paradox between process and outcome, using the Masonic lens of building a temple never truly complete. Through reflection and analogy, we consider how to balance patience with accountability—trusting the process without surrendering our responsibility for impact.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• The Craft teaches us to focus on process without becoming outcome-obsessed
• Results emerge in their own time, like seeds planted before harvest
• True balance lies in holding tension between patience and responsibility

💬 Featured Quotes

• 0:00:00 – “Something that comes up, particularly when you’re trying to figure things out, is that there seems to be a conflict between the different types of advice and guides you might get out there in the field.”
• 0:00:15 – “One of the notions we’ve discussed is to not be focused on the outcomes in terms of how you execute.”
• 0:00:30 – “That doesn’t mean to disregard your impact on the outcomes you’re creating.”
• 0:00:42 – “When you plant a seed, it’s important to understand that results come in their own time.”

🔗 Explore Related Episodes

• When Willpower Fails: Rethinking the Virtue of Struggle
  — Challenges the belief that sheer effort guarantees results, echoing the need for patience and perspective.
• The Ashlar and the Question of Growth
  — Reflects on process, refinement, and the difference between effort and outcome.
• Beyond the Apron: Living Freemasonry Outside the Lodge
  — Explores how symbolic lessons of work and patience carry into everyday life.

Creators & Guests

Fear is often painted as an enemy, but in truth it serves as one of our most vigilant protectors. In this episode, we explore fear as the Tyler’s Sword—standing guard at the threshold, sharpening our awareness, and signaling danger when it matters most. The challenge is learning when to let fear guide our vigilance and when to step past it into growth.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Fear heightens vigilance and awareness, preparing us for the unknown
• Left unchecked, fear can become paralyzing rather than protective
• Mastery comes from discerning when fear is a guardian and when it is a barrier

💬 Featured Quotes

• 0:00:00 – “Today I want to talk a little bit about fear. Fear is a thing that we talk a lot about, again in the negative context, but fear is outrageously useful.”
• 0:00:15 – “If you sit with fear for a few minutes, you’ll begin to realize that fear does some really interesting things.”
• 0:00:22 – “When you’re afraid, your awareness, your cognitive process goes on high alert.”
• 0:00:30 – “Fear executes things like anxiety as a function, it executes things like alertness as a function, that sort of vigilance.”

🔗 Explore Related Episodes

• The Hoodwink and the Unknown: Learning to Trust Yourself (Ep. 126)
  — On risk-taking and learning to trust yourself in the face of uncertainty.
• The Rough Ashlar and the Burden: Making Sense of Challenge and Suffering (Ep. 127)
  — Explores how unchosen adversity can refine us, much as fear forces vigilance.
• Depression, Endurance, and Growth: How to Know Which Is Which (Ep. 128)
  — Distinguishes between states that paralyze us versus those that propel us, paralleling fear’s dual role.

Creators & Guests

Desire is not inherently hedonistic or destructive—it is a force, like a line waiting for form. In this episode, we reframe desire as emotional geometry: a function that becomes meaningful only when given direction, boundaries, and proportion. By understanding the shape of our longings, we can refine raw appetite into purposeful action.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Desire is a neutral function—it seeks, without judgment
• Geometry teaches that form, proportion, and boundaries make raw energy useful
• Shaping desire is the work of maturity: turning impulse into purpose

💬 Featured Quotes

• 0:00:00 – “Today I want to talk about desire. We oftentimes demonize things like being desirous… as being hedonistic or inappropriate.”
• 0:00:15 – “It’s important to understand that the function of desire, sort of mentally as a construct, is not any of those things.”
• 0:00:24 – “The desire function… the seeker function… the ‘I want to go find out’ function is non-judgmental.”
• 0:00:38 – “Understanding how desire works allows us to use it to our best advantage.”

🔗 Explore Related Episodes

• The Hoodwink and the Unknown: Learning to Trust Yourself (Ep. 126)
  — Explores risk and trust, both of which shape the course of desire.
• Depression, Endurance, and Growth: How to Know Which Is Which (Ep. 128)
  — On discerning between different internal drivers, echoing how we interpret desire.
• The Rough Ashlar and the Burden: Making Sense of Challenge and Suffering (Ep. 127)
  — Shows how raw states (like desire) must be worked into refined purpose.

Creators & Guests

Emotions feel immediate and uncontrollable—but Freemasonry reminds us that our long-term responses are shaped by our own discernment. This episode explores the logic behind our emotions, showing how circumstances may spark a reaction but our interpretations sustain it. By understanding emotional responsibility, we discover the power to refine our responses and align them with virtue.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Initial emotional sparks are circumstantial, but sustained emotions are chosen
• Anger, fear, or sadness often stem from misinterpretations of events
• Emotional responsibility is the foundation of maturity and self-mastery

💬 Featured Quotes

• 0:00:00 – “One of the things that’s important to learn… is that your emotional responses to all things while initially might be happening beyond your control, the longer term emotions you experience are entirely created by you.”
• 0:00:12 – “That means when you are angry, you are responsible for being angry. You’re the reason, the fault, all of that.”
• 0:00:20 – “The circumstances you’re in may evoke an anger response… but the anger is really a result of your evaluation of the situation.”
• 0:00:33 – “You may have had this experience… where you get angry about a given situation, but you have misinterpreted it.”

🔗 Explore Related Episodes

• The Hoodwink and the Unknown: Learning to Trust Yourself (Ep. 126)
  — On risk-taking and self-trust, which parallels the idea of interpreting and reframing experiences.
• The Rough Ashlar and the Burden: Making Sense of Challenge and Suffering (Ep. 127)
  — On interpreting adversity, directly tied to misinterpretation and emotional reaction.
• Depression, Endurance, and Growth: How to Know Which Is Which (Ep. 128)
  — On discerning between different internal states, complementing the idea of emotional logic.

Creators & Guests

Adversity is inevitable—but how we respond determines whether it becomes a weight, a test, or a path forward. In this episode, we distinguish between depression, endurance, and growth: three very different experiences that can look the same on the surface. The conversation challenges us to discern when we are stuck, when we are holding steady, and when we are truly being refined.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Depression disguises itself as permanence, convincing us “this is just the way life is”
• Endurance sustains us, but without openness it risks becoming mere stagnation
• Growth requires awareness, risk, and a willingness to remain open through challenge

💬 Featured Quotes

• 0:00:00 – “Depending where you are in your life and where you are in the world right now, some of the advice and guidance… may seem challenging.”
• 0:00:12 – “There are opportunities for you to choose adversity. There are other opportunities for you to grow through adversity.”
• 0:00:20 – “But in some cases, you might be tempted to believe that the adversity that you’re facing… is just the way life is.”
• 0:00:28 – “When you start to accept them as normative, it’s important to understand that there are probably other things going on.”

🔗 Explore Related Episodes

• When Willpower Fails: Rethinking the Virtue of Struggle
  — Examines the limits of sheer endurance and reframes struggle in more meaningful terms.
• The Ashlar and the Question of Growth
  — Directly engages the symbolism of refinement through chosen and unchosen challenges.
• From the Cave to the Lodge: Escaping the Shadows of Superstition
  — Reflects on moving from darkness into clarity, resonating with the distinction between depression and growth.

Creators & Guests

Life presents us with both chosen challenges and unchosen suffering. In this episode, we explore how Freemasonry helps us discern between the two, and how both play a role in shaping us into more refined stones. The conversation asks: what does it mean to grow through adversity, and how do we bear the burdens that are not of our choosing?

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Challenges we choose stretch us toward growth; suffering we do not choose tests our resilience
• Both kinds of struggle serve as tools to shape the rough ashlar into something more refined
• Freemasonry provides perspective on finding meaning in hardship while staying aligned with purpose

💬 Featured Quotes

• 0:00:14 – “I want to move from that to perhaps maybe a more nuanced understanding of what that really means when it comes to suffering versus challenge.”
• 0:00:22 – “The risks that we undertake that are going to help us grow are choices that we’re making—positive choices to stretch yourself.”
• 0:00:33 – “There are other times in your life that you have situations that you have not chosen. Uncomfortable situations, painful situations.”
• 0:00:42 – “Adversity is another opportunity to develop yourself as a person.”

🔗 Explore Related Episodes

• From the Cave to the Lodge: Escaping the Shadows of Superstition (Aug 13, 2025) — Reflects on emerging into light and understanding—mirroring the ashlar’s journey from raw to refined.
• The Ashlar and the Question of Growth (Jun 30, 2025) — Explores the symbolism of the ashlar as an agent of personal transformation.
• When Willpower Fails: Rethinking the Virtue of Struggle (Aug 1, 2025) — Questions assumptions about struggle and suffering—deepening the conversation on when endurance serves and when it wears us down. 

Creators & Guests

Would you like me to also surface a few symbolic reflection questions tied to this theme (Rough Ashlar + burden), so listeners could use them as prompts after hearing the episode?

Self-trust is one of the most difficult—and most necessary—skills to develop. In this episode, we explore how risk-taking becomes the pathway to growth, why the unknown is a powerful tool, and how Freemasonry’s symbols remind us that trust is not blind, but cultivated through experience. Thank you Bro. Brenden P.M. Fritz Lodge #308 in Conshohocken for helping me with the hiking and growing this weekend. 

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Trusting yourself requires navigating the tension between risk and safety
• Small, survivable risks are essential to growth and self-confidence
• The unknown, when engaged wisely, becomes the greatest tool of self-development

💬 Featured Quotes

• 0:00:11 – “One of the things that we want to do as we grow is to learn to trust ourselves.”
• 0:00:16 – “Trusting yourself is a difficult proposition because more often than not, you are the cause of your own troubles.”
• 0:00:25 – “So how do you trust the part of you that keeps getting used to…?”
• 0:00:40 – “Take small risks. Take risks that are manageable risks so that if the outcomes don’t go your way, you can still survive.”

🔗 Explore Related Episodes

• The Hoodwink: Confronting Our Blind Spots – On the symbolic act of being blindfolded and the lessons it teaches about trust and perception.
• The Plumb: Walking Uprightly in All Phases of Life – Exploring how integrity and uprightness ground decision-making.
• The Apron: The Garment of a Mason – Reflecting on the apron as a symbol of growth, responsibility, and courage.

Creators & Guests

Strong teams—and strong lodges—cannot rest on the shoulders of one or two exceptional members. In this episode, we explore the hidden risks of over-relying on “get it done” people, and how leaders can intentionally cultivate broader competence across their membership. The conversation challenges leaders to think beyond efficiency and toward sustainable, shared strength.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Over-reliance on top performers stifles team-wide development
• True leadership invests in cultivating multiple pillars of strength
• Sustainable success requires distributing responsibility and opportunity

💬 Featured Quotes

• 0:00:07 – “I want to caution the leaders of the world… to manage over-reliance on key players.”
• 0:00:29 – “What happens when you have somebody… who’s sort of radically competent?”
• 0:00:35 – “They do a good job or good enough job consistently without friction.”
• 0:00:50 – “If you consistently rely on the get it done people, you will not develop other get it done people.”

🔗 Explore Related Episodes

• The Plumb: Walking Uprightly in All Phases of Life – On balancing integrity and adaptability in leadership.
• The Gavel: Shaping the Work and the Worker – How to use authority to refine people and processes.
• The Worshipful Master: Consciousness in the East – Exploring the symbolic and practical dimensions of leadership.

Creators & Guests

Leadership in the Craft is more than a seat in the East—it’s a practice grounded in clarity, decisiveness, and service. This episode explores how to identify and resolve organizational friction, the importance of early wins, and the deeper responsibilities that come with guiding others in a Masonic context.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• True leadership starts with diagnosing and resolving points of friction
• Early wins build trust and momentum for deeper changes
• Titles matter less than the quality of guidance and care a leader provides

💬 Featured Quotes

• 0:00:00 – “I want to take a couple of minutes in this episode to talk about leadership.”
• 0:00:05 – “Leadership is complex and there’s just a ton of study that’s been done for it.”
• 0:00:20 – “The anecdotal stuff that I’m giving you here may work for you… I’ve had positive experiences working in this way.”
• 0:00:25 – “One of the first things you want to do, day one as a leader, is identify the places where there is organizational friction and find the quickest possible wins.”

🔗 Explore Related Episodes

• The Worshipful Master: Consciousness in the East – A deep dive into the symbolic and practical role of the Worshipful Master.
• The Gavel: Shaping the Work and the Worker – On the symbolic and operational power of the gavel in Masonic leadership.
• Beyond the Apron: Living Freemasonry Outside the Lodge – Applying leadership lessons beyond the Lodge room.

Creators & Guests