From the South

By Andrew Hawes, PM — Jr. Warden

August is the hottest month of the year in many places.  We’ve all heard phrases that equate temperature and anger – “He’s hot under the collar” or “The conversation started to get heated.”  There often seems to be a direct correlation between physical temperature and emotional temperature.  As we feel hot and sweaty, we get irritable and cranky, more likely to snap at friends and family, or grouse about little things that wouldn’t bother  us if we weren’t so uncomfortable.

I think it’s important that as Masons, we keep our cool at all times.  No, I don’t mean running the air conditioning more, I mean we should be turning up the AC in our minds, when we start to feel aggravated or annoyed.  Forcing ourselves to “cool down” mentally before reacting to something that we find aggravating and/or frustrating is a skill that we should all practice, and improve on.  When someone says something that “gets your blood boiling” – don’t let the steam out of your ears, but instead breath deeply, close your eyes and find a happy place, and release that inner tension back into the depths from whence it came. 

Once we are calm, we are in control of our thoughts and speech, and can make a rational analysis and reasonable answer to the situation that initially had us so angry.  Whilst I understand that this is far more easily said than done, it’s in line with what we promise to do as Masons – to keep our passions within due bounds.  Those bounds are not naturally defined, nor is there a guidebook to them that conveniently tells us just how mad we can get about something before losing our cool – it is up to all of us to overlay reason over passion, to douse the hot fires of anger with the cool water of reason, and to rationally strive to understand and react to the world around us.  So, this summer, remember to stay cool… and to KEEP your cool!