Quite some time ago, perhaps a couple of years ago, the company that makes the software that powers Emeth created a little Chat function. They billed it as a place where all of us who participate here on Emeth could gather together at, you know, chat.
I can post stuff there. Actually everyone who holds a paid subscription to Emeth can post stuff there, and everyone else can reply. It’s kind of a neat little thing, private to us, because only Emeth subscribers (free and paid have access and can comment there).
But, the thing was, I could never really figure out what to do with the thing. I post my thoughts here on Emeth itself, so why would I post them over on a little side feature instead?
I kept using it, here and there though. I was rather convinced that it could be a really good thing, if I could just figure out what to do with it.
Shortly after they introduced Chat though, the company also introduced Notes. Confusing the heck out of everyone and everything.
Now Notes is different from Chat. It is much more social media like. More like Twitter. And it’s not a contained ecosystem for Emeth like Chat is. Over on Notes you’ll find stuff from Emeth, but you’ll also find stuff from everyone I recommend and interact with, plus everyone you happen to interact with. So, it’s a much larger universe, and much more like a social media site, with the good and bad that goes along with such things.
If you subscribe to Emeth, both Chat and Notes are open to you, and have been for a long time.
Maybe Notes would hold interest for you, maybe not. I don’t know. Mainly, it seems to me, it is folks who write stuff on this particular platform, talking to each other and sharing their work.
And, I don’t think that Chat would have been very interesting to you, until I figured out how to provide something of value there. Hence my experimenting over quite a lot of time.
But, I’m writing this update to let you know that I do think that there is value there for you now. I do know that some of us from Emeth are using it, but most are not, so I thought it important to let you know what I’m doing there.
In a nutshell, I am using it to aggregate and promote things that I think Freemasons would enjoy reading.
The good and interesting stuff that I come across that I think you might enjoy.
As an example, since January 1, this has included things like:
A Freemasons Creed, written in 1916.
Our telephones employing ‘active listening.’ That seems like it could have implications for the privacy of Masonic ritual.
People who have found great success without a higher education degree.
Whether the market or charity best ameliorates the problems associated with poverty.
The esoteric work of a Mason I really admire.
A brief biography of a famous Mason from history.
The young in the West abandoning the Enlightenment values held so strongly by our Craft.
Troubling news from the Scottish Rite, Northern Jurisdiction, and equally troubling news from the Grand Lodge of Texas.
A potential danger of widespread societal division.
The importance of going in search of the Truth within ourselves.
The widespread addiction to today’s digital drugs.
A plan from a New York Grotto to increase Brotherhood within their Grotto that could be very easily adopted by just about any Lodge anywhere to increase Brotherhood, strengthen the Lodge, and eventually grow.
The importance of finding what fulfills us.
A humorous bit about being robbed, and declaring it a form of charity.
And a bit about Tarot.
As you can see, it is a really eclectic list. But, I think that there is something, likely quite a few things on that list that every Freemason might enjoy.
So, that’s what I’ve been doing with Chat, for quite some time now. Gathering together the great and interesting things I stumble across, to share them with you. Days do happen that I don’t find anything worth sharing, but more often than not, I seem to find somewhere between one and three great things that I think you might enjoy.
Come on over to Chat, see what I’m up to there.
I think you might find value in what I’ve been doing.
And of course, comment or post away!
If you want to find it from the Emeth website, there is a link, right at the top of the page, titled Chat.
Or you can hit the fancy button below:
If you prefer an app, you can get the app here:
That’s enough about all of that. Check it out, let me know what you think!
If you were with us for Rummer & Grapes on Sunday evening, W. Brother Tom passed along some links regarding Christmas not being a holiday in Scotland until the late 1950’s. Those links are in the comments to the most recent Rummer & Grapes announcement post here.
“I can post stuff there. Actually everyone who holds a paid subscription to Emeth can post stuff there, and everyone else can reply. It’s kind of a neat little thing, private to us, because only Emeth subscribers (free and paid have access and can comment there).”
I keep asking you if I can originate a post here, for others to comment on, and the consistent answer is “Yes.”
Yet it seems like nobody does it… for me, whenever I get an idea to bandy about to the Emeth Subscribers, I’m in the middle of a commute, or in a lobby, waiting for an appointment, etc. Then I can’t remember it when I finally sit down in front of a computer. It just goes to show you the value of having a notepad in your pocket to scribble things down when you think of them.
I’ve heard that society’s most successful people do that, and it makes sense.
Oh, yes. Having a pen to go with that notepad would help… 😉