THE LETTER OF THE Master of the Lodge

KAIROS

Dearest Brother,
some time ago I was discussing with a friend how enriching the study of philosophy is.
He had discovered her "late", that is, at the university, not having attended a high school. We agreed on the fact that not only what one studies is relevant, but also the moment of one's life in which one studies it, and certainly confronting the thinking of philosophers just when one is forming one's personality, one's ego, therefore all high school age, has an irreplaceable added value.
Ancient Greek used the untranslatable term καιρός (kairòs) to indicate the opportune, right, suitable, effective time: a right action in itself can reduce or lose its quality if not performed in the right time with respect to a specific context (a curiosity : in modern Greek the term instead indicates only the meteorological time!).
It is said that you can enter Freemasonry if you are a free man of good morals, and I think you will agree that these are objective requirements, however I ask myself: are there also subjective elements to be taken into account? We always repeat to ourselves that the masonry path is not for everyone: those who do not understand its importance, or, once entered, remain indifferent to it or leave careless, perhaps they have simply met Freemasonry at the wrong time, not in their kairòs .
On the other hand, the entire masonry path is dotted with kairòs, if only you want to seize them: the right time for salary increases, to fill the various positions, to intervene (or not to intervene!) During the ritual in case of errors or unexpected events, etc. I believe that the concept of kairòs somehow completes the more objective ones of justice and regularity, but not to relativize them, but to complete them by making them bear fruit within the experience of each individual brother. For example, a ritual performed perfectly (admitted and not allowed to succeed) could be an opportunity for the growth of brothers less powerful than a ritual with some negligible error, but where everything has happened, unexpected included, maintaining the right rhythm, where every element was not only in the right place, but in its opportune moment, without pedantic interruptions or petty distractions. Even the study of music teaches us that the "right" improvisation (with kairòs) generates harmony.
And we can broaden the discussion: we live in a world where we are often encouraged to "do", "produce", "decide", as if these actions have a value in themselves, regardless. We talk about "creating value", and obviously this makes sense in a certain context, but sometimes, even though we have achieved everything we had to do, we are not completely satisfied and we look for more and more.
Who knows if this dissatisfaction does not sometimes also derive from not having grasped our kairòs, from having acted as if we had to (only) perform a ritual to perfection ...

S&F

W.M. M.B. Master of Lodge