Yesterday a commenter here on Emeth mentioned that those of us active with Emeth should read A Path To Providence together, and then have a Zoom meeting to discuss it as a group.
Certainly once we were done with A Path To Providence, we could tackle other interesting Masonic Books.
How I would envision all of this working is that we would come up with an easily available Masonic book to read, and post that here on Emeth. About a month after that I’d set up a Zoom meeting so that we could get together to discuss it, and share what each of us learned from it.
I think it is a great idea.
But, what do you think? Is this something that would be of interest to you?
Please comment and let me know, if it seems that there is interest, I’ll set it up.
If you have a friend who loves reading about Freemasonry, will you consider sharing this with him? Undoubtedly the greater participation we could gather for the group, the more we could all learn from each other.
Several lodges I participate with do this. Seems like Practical Freemasonry (Gallagher) and "The Meaning of Masonry" (Wilmshurts) are always the popular picks and both are good.
If the book's good I'm always interested in these types of things they're great fun.
Just a tip though in how the group is formed/executed from experience: structure discussions if possible to make it possible for everyone to contribute no matter how far along in the book. The groups that don't work really need a week-by-week commitment, and dissuade people from participating in week 6 because they don't have the background or didn't read chapter 4. The groups that are the most fun take the source material from a given chapter and use it as a jumping off point for a wide-ranging discussion.
Being honest, some brothers don't read the book but want to discuss & hear what others say, while others read the book and want to cite passages in these things. When properly constituted, both can have a lot of fun.
In the past I tried to start Masonic Book Clubs in Lodges and at Scottish Rite. There was no interest in either. I then started at DVD Discussion Group. Show DVD and then discuss it. It was running fine at first with up to 10 attendees just before COVID hit it had dropped to 5.
What you discussed may work for EMETH with an existing group of masons interested in educating themselves.
I think it’s a solid idea and I’d be interested in participating! Based on past experience as others have noted it’s important not to set it up as “today we will discuss chapter 6” and keep it more open about the book and ideas presented. The other thing is to keep the book level accessible to people, don’t pick out of print books that cost too much, don’t pick books that are dry or so dense that the average man has no chance of understanding (or staying awake!) while reading. It also doesn’t always have to be books, there are some excellent shorter than books but longer than a paper publications out there (the original Laudable Pursuit for example) that would make great discussion fodder.
I would love to. What is the best way to get this book, as I can't seem to find it on Kindle.
Sounds fun. Would give me more material for Masonic Education in lodge too.
Several lodges I participate with do this. Seems like Practical Freemasonry (Gallagher) and "The Meaning of Masonry" (Wilmshurts) are always the popular picks and both are good.
If the book's good I'm always interested in these types of things they're great fun.
Just a tip though in how the group is formed/executed from experience: structure discussions if possible to make it possible for everyone to contribute no matter how far along in the book. The groups that don't work really need a week-by-week commitment, and dissuade people from participating in week 6 because they don't have the background or didn't read chapter 4. The groups that are the most fun take the source material from a given chapter and use it as a jumping off point for a wide-ranging discussion.
Being honest, some brothers don't read the book but want to discuss & hear what others say, while others read the book and want to cite passages in these things. When properly constituted, both can have a lot of fun.
Anytime we can exchange Masonic knowledge is a lifelong responsibility, not just the EA but all Brothers.
The first thing I realized when I was raised, was that it is a lifelong quest and there’s not only one answer to many questions.
Count me in!!!
In the past I tried to start Masonic Book Clubs in Lodges and at Scottish Rite. There was no interest in either. I then started at DVD Discussion Group. Show DVD and then discuss it. It was running fine at first with up to 10 attendees just before COVID hit it had dropped to 5.
What you discussed may work for EMETH with an existing group of masons interested in educating themselves.
I'd be interested.
I think it’s a solid idea and I’d be interested in participating! Based on past experience as others have noted it’s important not to set it up as “today we will discuss chapter 6” and keep it more open about the book and ideas presented. The other thing is to keep the book level accessible to people, don’t pick out of print books that cost too much, don’t pick books that are dry or so dense that the average man has no chance of understanding (or staying awake!) while reading. It also doesn’t always have to be books, there are some excellent shorter than books but longer than a paper publications out there (the original Laudable Pursuit for example) that would make great discussion fodder.
I'm in, and i am looking forward to it.