Being Mortal – Medicine and What Matters in the End

Being Mortal – Medicine and What Matters in the End

Jan 12, 2025 | Masonic Book Review, Masonic Education

MASONIC BOOK REVIEW

“Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End”

By Dr. Atul Gawande

The drama of the human condition is fully encapsulated with the mystery of death and what lies beyond. Yet, how we approach the mystery itself is a question that requires a deeper and more intimate appraisal of our own mortality. And more deeply, our personal story leading to that point. It is these questions that the physician, Dr. Atul Gawande, approaches in his book, “Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End.”

Dr. Gawande’s book is a mixture of exposition and memoir delving into the development of our modern conception of death, the ethical considerations, and the many instiututional hurdles that often interfere or miss the true important. Among the topics explored, the discussion on the medicalization of dying reminded me of experiences I had during my medical training. In his work, Gawande criticizes the tendency to medicalize aging and dying, leading to unnecessary interventions that can sometimes prolong suffering instead of providing comfort and dignity. This preoccupation with treatment to avoid difficult conversations or what I call “treat to deflect” reduces patient autonomy, choice, and the ability to confront death in a meaningful way for themselves and those closest to the patient’s life. As a physician in training, this observation has taught me the value of stories and community in my own life as well as the patient’s I help. The greatest gift I can provide a patient facing death is the courage to embrace death and not seek after treatments that will only prolong their suffering. As one elderly patient taught me, the longing to live is built on a castle of hurt. This patient had a worsening clinical course complicated from his diabetes leading to several amputations and persistent bleeding. It was likely he would have his entire limb amputated and suffer additional infections and complications that would end his life. It was a conversation that I saw the surgical staff avoid addressing directly. The patient was visibly distraught and unsure how to proceed.
By creating a space to open up, my patient expressed feelings of regret, shame, and inadequacy. He felt robbed of the chance of having more time to ask the big questions in life. As he told me, to think about God and find the true meaning of living within. In our conversation, I realized that me engaging with him, listening, and being honest about not knowing opened his heart a bit more. I let myself be vulnerable by telling him that his life mattered because he was teaching me already to be a good doctor. Despite our differences, we both feared death and faced life’s most difficult questions each day we live. I was showing him and myself that we were simply human beings. Not patient and doctor. Two human beings trying to figure out this journey called life. I happen to have skills to help. He had the stories and experiences to share. After his sister and other relatives came to talk with him about his choice, he eventually agreed to go on hospice and palliative care. His face looked completely different. The man I saw this morning was replaced with someone who was alive, happy, and had his personality back. His unkempt hair showed more of his personality that I had overlooked before. And the patient was grateful that someone listened and spoke to his heart rather than his head. As Masons, the journey of finding harmony between the head and the heart comes from the confrontation of death described in the third degree. However, it is a journey that asks each of us the integrity and character by which we live. It asks us to engage with the difficult questions of life. Sometimes, for many years without a complete answer. But within that journey, the true meaning and expression of the divine we harbor comes forth through the way we act, live, and help those in need. It is expressed in ourselves and valuing this life that we live. The aforementioned patient reminds me that life’s biggest questions are a reflection of the divine exploration we are called to participate in. The human quest for truth and light is a reflection of the divine journey. It is a reminder that this life is one of a series of events and moments to come. What matters is looking beyond the physical and finding that purpose within that will carry us forth now and into the future. The promise of continued exploration and journey with the divine. To be both the answer and question to the divine journey that we have yet to fully understand.

Written by: Bro. Jonathan Kopel

 

Bro. Kopel is a MD PhD in his neurology residency in Washington DC. He is a member at Potomac Lodge #5 and Benjamin B. French Lodge #15 of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia, Washington, DC.

Samuel Lloyd Kinsey
The Secret of Our Success – How Culture Is Driving Human Evolution, Domesticating Our Species, and Making Us Smarter

The Secret of Our Success – How Culture Is Driving Human Evolution, Domesticating Our Species, and Making Us Smarter

Jan 6, 2025 | Masonic Book Review, Masonic Education

MASONIC BOOK REVIEW

“The Secret of Our Success”

by Joseph Heinrich

Unlike other authors, Heinrich’s exploration on cultural evolution provides surprising insight into the workings of the Craft and some of the subtle lessons embodied in the first three degrees. One might say that the idea of cultural evolution is an integral part of what makes Freemasonry a prime example of how group dynamics and traditions are passed down and modified accordingly to preserve wisdom and spiritual insights relevant for each generation of newly raised Brothers.
In “The Secret of Our Success,” Henrich takes a unique perspective on the success of human beings that differs from the popular conception of human evolution, which regularly alludes to our increased brain capacity. Although important, Heinrich argues that the key to human evolutionary success lies not in individual intelligence, but in our unique ability to collectively learn and share knowledge through culture. Rather than relying on a singular individual, human beings have a unique and uncanny ability to transmit knowledge, traditions and wisdom through each generation. Together, these collective traditions coalesce into a “collective brain” that allows for cumulative cultural evolution, where complex technologies, social norms and knowledge build upon each other across generations.
Heinrich repeatedly alludes to several aspects of cultural evolution, such as cultural intelligence, cumulative cultural evolution, a collective brain, cultural innovation and cultural influences on genetics, which explain a large portion of the success of the human race. These examples illustrate how our collective knowledge, shared across a group, acts like a “super brain” that surpasses individual cognitive abilities. As with Stonemasons, previous generations did not have to reinvent the working tools to build their physical and spiritual temples. Instead, the Masonic Fraternity has found that collective memory can be shared through symbols and rituals that both preserve spiritual insights while allowing for the individual journey to manifest and unfold through these traditions handed down from generation to generation. Within the Craft, the relationships formed with older members with deep memories in both the history and ritual, help to maintain and share these traditions through both oral and written traditions. One might say that Freemasonry is a great example of the power and potency that cultural evolution has played in the success and achievements of our species against the formidable forces of nature and other processes. Yet, on a deeper and more spiritual level, the idea of cultural evolution reminds me of the many mentors, both Masonic and non-Masonic, that shaped my own growth as a professional and as a person. As a Master Mason, my success, both spiritual and professional, is truly laid by the work of those who came before me, who continue to guide and teach me the skills and attitudes necessary to follow the God has outlined. Through this interplay, we personally arrive at the conclusion that the path of spiritual enlightenment is both an individual and social good bestowed by God in the narrative of our own life story. The lesson learned is that spiritual life is a beautiful connection of the human race and the Almighty’s universe. A wondrous cacophony of the past, present, and future mixed together in the unfolding spiritual lessons being transferred and expanded on with each generation.

Written by: Bro. Jonathan Kopel

 

Bro. Kopel is a MD PhD in his neurology residency in Washington DC. He is a member at Potomac Lodge #5 and Benjamin B. French Lodge #15 of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia, Washington, DC.

Samuel Lloyd Kinsey
The Evolution of God by Robert Wright

The Evolution of God by Robert Wright

Dec 24, 2024 | Masonic Education, Masonic Ritual

MASONIC BOOK REVIEW

“The Evolution of God” by Robert Wright

 

“I was praying to Allah that I would finally be able to go to rehab”. My patient had waited over a week waiting for a placement at a local rehabilitation center. He was more than ecstatic for approval. As a Christian, I had been praying myself for the last week. Each facility had declined for one reason or another. I found it rather curious that both of us had prayed to our separate creators for intervention and that, somehow, it worked out well. I found it rather ironic and humorous. Was it Allah and the God of Christianity working together across our faith traditions? Did Allah and the God of Christianity have a sparring match over who would do the deed? Or was it something much more common in our attempts to address the same divine being in our own traditions and languages?

In residency, such topics are a part of my own evolution as a person and a physician when handling difficult circumstances and the vast uncertainties inherent to the Craft of medicine. Such discussions reminded me of Robert Wright’s, “The Evolution of God“, and its overlap to elements of the Middle Chamber Lecture. Among the topics explored, Wright argues that the evolution of God mirrors a growing moral compass as human beings explore, understand, and interact with more cultural groups. This is further compounded by the expansion of technological and scientific development since the industrial revolution. For Wright, the Evolution of God mirrors generation’s attempt to answer life’s deepest existential questions while, simultaneously, address the concerns and struggles of the time. Through each period, the understanding of God, though imperfect in its progression, expands to include a larger proportion of humanity under the scope of its inclusion. This progression and development, according to Wright, may indicate an interesting higher purpose and transcendent moral order that human beings have become more aware of through the expansion of their social, cognitive, and moral framework.

It is this observation that made me reflect on my experiences as a doctor and the Middle Chamber Lecture exploring the orders of architecture. I’ve always found this portion curious amid the other areas explored in the preceding degree. Yet, within its narrative structure, shows a beautiful discussion on the development of the human person and, possibly, our species own awareness of the divine life and moral character that becomes apparent through our struggles and interactions with other cultures and groups. As in the lecture, each column has its own variety and richness that progress and expands overtime and cultures.
Through my exploration of other interpretations, I believe the following mirrors my own understanding as a Mason, physician, and fellow human being. In this framework, the orders of architecture are a symbol for our continued development of our spiritual and moral framework to adjust to the needs of others and our own moral framework through our interaction with Divine knowledge, power, and love. The first orders of architecture, representing Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty, and, the last two, representing harmony and perfection. Yet, the question remains: how is this faculty developed? Within the Craft, the answer is both obvious and simple: through expanding our understanding of community and our relationships within it. Through intermingling of differences, the orders of architecture reflect a growing complexity, beauty, and strength found when human beings come together for a common purpose. In this context, a greater reflection of our awareness of the divine love and compassion across generations.
Yet, I am aware, more so as a resident, the vast inequalities and injustices that society, culture, and religion continues to perpetuate. In a world that struggles with seeing the larger scope of humanity, it appears that we often lose sight of the moral fiber that connects us all to that which we have difficult fully articulating: God. Through my interactions with patients, the narrative of Orders of Architecture reflect my own growth in understanding God beyond my initial conceptions. With my patients, I’ve witnessed how important such questions reflect my own development and exposure to the human condition. From confronting the existential questions of death, the anguishing regret of having little time to fully explore the big philosophical questions near the end of life, and winding paths of patient’s lives as they seek to understand this human experience, my understanding of God has also changed.
As Robert Wright observed, it is through community, hardship, and struggle that I was forced to grow in love, compassion, and forgiveness for imperfections of my patients and myself. Rather than God changing, it was changing the perspective by which I approached the divine. As with my patient, it is in the shared desire and awareness of the greater spiritual meaning of what we had embarked on together. The beauty of medicine, life, and the Craft is discovered when people from all walks of life work together for a common good. When the hierarchies of life and society fall away and love comes forth, I believe that is where true love and meaning is found. As a Mason, it is the common theme of love that has fascinated me more about people of other faiths and myself. Despite our differences, love binds us all together. I believe that to be the true reflection of the Divine.

Written by: Bro. Jonathan Kopel

Bro. Kopel is a MD PhD in his second year of neurology residency in Washington DC. Currently a member at Potomac Lodge #5 and Benjamin B. French Lodge #15 of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia, Washington, DC.

Samuel Lloyd Kinsey

Self Improvement in Freemasonry

Self Improvement in Freemasonry

Dec 22, 2024 | Masonic Education, Masonic Ritual

MASONIC EDITORIAL

Learning to Improve Myself in Masonry

 

I’ve often wondered since progressing through the degrees what “subdue my passions and improve myself in Masonry” truly means. What labors must one undertake? Does it mean from that moment until my last I should spend my time reflecting on the history, philosophy and symbolism behind the degrees I have undergone? I suppose those are a part of it. As humans we never truly stop learning, so I am sure that is the way it goes on our Masonic journey.

As an Entered Apprentice Mason, I was given a strong foundation to build upon as I continued from darkness to the Light of Masonry. A lot of this is accomplished through fellowship, and the study of, and participation in, ritual. By studying, listening to lectures, and contributing to degree work when I could, I learned the importance of the Working Tools and symbols in a more meaningful way. What is it about going to lodge that makes us better people? The meals, the Opening and Closing, the Secretary and Treasurer reports?

As I progressed through the degrees, certain phrases struck me because they sounded archaic and unusual. They were hard to understand, like a new language, but as I heard them more, my comprehension improved, and I realized I was learning every time I went to lodge. This is why it is important to attend and to memorize the work. Repetition and memorization help us comprehend the Masonic vocabulary. When the ritual is performed brilliantly, the words sound beautiful and poetic. In the beginning, many of us think memorization is either for the proficiency needed to advance through the degrees or for helping with the lodge’s ritual work. There must be more to it than that. The prose must be more than just pretty words.
Photo: (Left to Right) Bros. Michael Anthony Capparello and Russell W. Dickson (author)
I have heard that ritual’s real purpose is to provide us a roadmap to the East. I think the words and phrases are designed to pique our interest and encourage us to research their meanings. The floor work also is important, as officers discover in their respective stations and places. Sometimes, when performing my officer part, I’d feel discouraged because no matter how hard I’d try, I’d always have a Past Master correcting me. This too is part of the learning process whether I like it or not. Sometimes, two Past Masters approach me while disagreeing with each other — or worse, correct me when they were wrong and I was right. No one ever said the road East was easy, but I’m learning every day how that lesson is important.
These brothers were taught from the beginning of their own journeys the importance of these things and they were just trying to help me, so I try to listen and reflect no matter how hard it can be sometimes. To subdue our passions is another upright step in our journey, a means to be better men and to control ourselves by not taking things to excess—food, drink, smoking, gambling, our relationships. These things, if taken to extremes, fill our lives with darkness instead of Light. Each of us must learn what in ourselves to subdue. What we learn in Masonry will help us identify which passions we need to control. As we say, if our faith being in God is well founded with prayer and self-reflection, then success is ours for the taking. Each upright step helps us improve ourselves through life.

Photo: (Left to Right) Bros. Russell W. Dickson (author) and Paul Meher

Written by: Bro. Russell W. Dickson
Bro. Dickson is the Senior Deacon in St. Patrick’s Lodge 4 and is at labor in Collabergh-Radium 859, both in New York. He is a Royal Arch Mason in Hiram Union Chapter 53, and is a 32° Scottish Rite Mason at the Valley of Schenectady, where he serves as Senior Warden of Sigma Council Princes of Jerusalem.
Samuel Lloyd Kinsey
The Apron Presentation

The Apron Presentation

Nov 2, 2024 | Masonic Education, Masonic Ritual

MASONIC RITUAL

THE APRON PRESENTATION

 

As Masons, we are well acquainted with the frequent use of symbolism, allegory and myth, not only to give substance to our ritual, but to exemplify, in tangible ways, the many abstract moral lessons so pertinent to the practice and philosophy of our Craft. We are told as we travel in search of Light that all the tools and trappings by which we are surrounded while in Lodge have practical uses when in the hands of our operative Brothers, but that we, as Free and Accepted Masons, are taught to use them for more noble and glorious purposes. Indeed, our ritual is so rich, our traditions so deep, that one could be forgiven for thinking that the founders of our Order created our history and usages from a marriage of thin air, operative experiences and, of course, The Holy Bible, from which our Brotherhood draws so much that is vital to our labor.
But, if we pay strict attention to the very rituals we cherish, we realize that its authors have always known full well that they existed within the framework of a larger, more material world, and used comparison and contrast to help us fix our place within it. One case where this is true is within the dialogue of one of our most revered and important sections of ritual: the Apron Presentation. During the course of that presentation, many references are made to aspects of history which existed outside of our Masonic world, and I’d like to examine one of them.

We are told, in the first paragraph, that the apron, as a symbol, is “more ancient than the Golden Fleece or Roman Eagle”. To what do these references allude?

Many of us are most familiar with the Golden Fleece as a result of the movies, and perhaps to a lesser extent from studying mythology in school. The origin of the fleece is, in itself, quite interesting. In mythology, the god Poseidon turned a nymph named Theophane into a sheep to hide her from her other suitors. He did this so that he alone, in his primitive Avatar form of a ram, could have sex with her. Their union resulted in a magical, winged ram whose fleece was golden. Later, when the spirit of queen Nephele learned that her husband, King Athamas, planned to sacrifice their children to stop a drought, she prayed that Poseidon would send the ram to fly them to safety. Sadly, her daughter, whose name was Helle, fell into the sea in the strait that is known, even until today, as the Hellespont! Her brother, Phraxis, arrived safely in the land then known as Colchis and sacrificed the ram to its father Poseidon. Poseidon commemorated the event by placing the ram in the sky as the constellation Ares, and Phraxis hung the golden hide in a tree as a token of gratitude and a symbol of kingship. The story of Jason and the Argonauts has been a popular theme in Hollywood, as it is a heroic tale of adventure and danger. But how may we claim that our apron is older than a yarn that is probably a pure myth? Interestingly, the Greek word “mythos” means “word” or “true narrative”. So, the myth, to the Greeks, was the actual truth, as they knew it, and as well as the recording methods of the day permitted.

As it happens, a team of geologists led by Avtandil Okrostvaridze from Ilia State University in formerly Soviet Georgia has found evidence to suggest that this was an actual event! Based on the examination of both artifacts and the archeological record, these researchers believe that an expedition traveled, perhaps from Thessaloniki in Greece to the ancient kingdom of Colchis on the shores of the Black Sea. In what is now modern-day Georgia and Turkey, they went to learn the method of extracting gold sand from river and stream beds.

The evidence suggests that it was the Colchins who developed the method of sluicing the gold-bearing sediment from the riverbed across the skin of a ram or lamb with the fleece side upward. While the rushing water would carry away the sand and other lighter particles, the heavy gold dust would settle and become trapped among the curly wool fibers. This method is still in use today among many recreational prospectors.

Much study has been done of this process, called “selective attachment” or “beneficiation”, where it turns out, many forces are at work, including gravity, the static charge on the fleece and the natural stickiness caused by the lanolin and other oils in the sheep’s hide. Today’s miners use burlap or synthetic mats called “miner’s moss” engineered to the purpose, and while they are easier to empty of their golden harvest, they are no more efficient in the actual collection process than their Colchin predecessor. And so, our historical Jason’s voyage may have been not so much to capture some magical treasure of the Gods, as it was to learn the method used by the Colchins to readily collect gold without the dangers and uncertainty of mining. Since countries, even today, still jealously guard technologies that give them commercial or military advantages, attempting to acquire this knowledge may well have been just as dangerous as the brass bulls and sleeping dragon our mythical Jason needed to triumph over in order to claim his prize. The archeological record would indicate this as happening approximately 3,000 years ago. Since the biblical record tells us that the Temple was built in about 970 BCE, and we might assume that the system of aprons as identifying badges for the different bands of workmen would already have been in use, our claim of our apron tradition being older than the Fleece would be correct, even if only marginally.

Masonically, it is interesting to note that, in this passage of ritual, we compare our lambskin to what is actually yet another lambskin. And although that other one may have been heavy laden with its golden cargo, in our traditions, our simple, white version is surely held as the more precious of the two.

Written by: WB Marty Moscicki Raised at Elbe-Garfield-Goelet Lodge No. 889 in the 7th Manhattan District. Affiliated with Old Town Lodge #908 and had the privilege of serving as its W:.Master in 2014-2015. Bro. Moscicki currently resides in East Quogue, NY and Delray Beach, FL
Samuel Lloyd Kinsey