Discomfort in uncertainty

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Bro. Erik Marks

This will be brief. I want this post to be brief because I don’t want to muddle the message. From the start of my journey in Freemasonry, there was uncertainty. What will happen next to me next? I could have turned away from the unknown and uncertainty, not knowing what would happen. That would have been bad. Freemasonry has support for uncertainty because we have one another. Even if we disagree on this or that, there is the possibility of withstanding uncertainty together. Withstanding doesn’t mean comfort, necessarily. When we work to change ourselves, it is uncomfortable, there is discomfort and there is a lot of uncertainty. “If I break off this part, this habit, this idea, this ideology, what will happen to me?"

Then I realize I don’t have to worry, I’m not alone. I can see my cherished individualism may be a barrier to greater knowledge. Therefore, I lean into the collective for support to help me change, myself. There is a lot of uncertainty in the world. The uncertainty can be good. However, it can feel uncomfortable and it can cause me to be reactive, rash, and impulsive or reflexively try to get back to former comfortable ideas—to hide in old ideas, behaviors— to get away from the light. That would be bad.

So, I hope when each of us feels discomfort in uncertainty, we will take long slow breaths, and turn to one another. Next, that we will lean on the symbols, tools, and structures, and talk it out. If we are willing to do so while managing and maintaining our inner harmony, we will learn and grow individually and collectively; of that I am certain.

~EM

Brother Erik Marks is a clinical social worker whose usual vocation has been in the field of human services in a wide range of settings since 1990. He was raised in 2017 by his biologically younger Brother and then Worshipful Master in Alpha Lodge in Framingham, MA. You may contact brother Marks by email: erik@StrongGrip.org