Last weekend I had the pleasure to be able to devote two evenings to reading – something that barely ever happens in our house. It was one of those rare weekends, when we as a whole family where able to relax, and the days were filled with walks, good food, a good movie, and lots of reading with our children. Once the kids had settled down for the night, Kari and I continued our indulgence in literary works, and spent the rest of the evening reading. I don’t know about you, but I rarely find time these days to read entire books in a weekend, so the last two days were an exception.

On our Friday night family excursion to the bookstore I picked up a novel, and what looked like a promising non-fiction read. Ever since my graduate school days in Canada, I’ve been a fan of Douglas Coupland’s work, and I purchased his newest work “The Gum Thief” (No, that’s not a typo, it’s really the The Gum Thief, not the The Gun Thief!). In addition, I picked out Daniel Pink’s “A Whole new Mind: Why Right-Brainers will Rule the Future”. Having about sixteen hours of reading time at my disposal in the evening hours, I finished the novel and got about halfway through Pink’s book by Sunday night, as I am writing this.

You may wonder what this all has to do with Masonry, but I am getting to that.

For those who don’t know the books of Douglas Coupland, it will suffice to say here that he’s the one who wrote one of the 1990s most successful novels, Generation X. His work is largely characterized by illustrating how individuals struggle to find anything meaningful in our modern lives. So it is again in this novel, where the two protagonists work at a Staples office superstore, struggle with drugs and messed up families, and ultimately dream of having a more meaningful life, yet don’t really know how to get there.  The scary thing about reading Coupland is that all of us, I am sure, have been touched by these issues, or have had a period in our lives when things seemed meaningless. It’s truly depressing to read Coupland’s work because it seems so real, so accurately portraying what we see all around, with family members, people we know at work, or among acquaintances.

Ironically, The Gum Thief starts out with a reference to the Freemasons. Its opening lines are the following:

A: Brother, are you headed home?

B: Brother, aren’t we always heading home?

- Question used by Masons to identify themselves among strangers

For me, these lines are representative of a fundamental Masonic idea, and stand in complete contrast to the story portrayed in the book. “Always heading home” is a wonderful metaphor for the fact that Masonry leads us somewhere, that it provides us with something meaningful. In contrast to Coupland’s aimlessly wandering protagonists, searching through a consumer-oriented, hyper-materialistic and emotionally devoid world, Freemasonry is a school of instruction that offers us meaning in many different ways. We are invited to examine our lives. We are encouraged to build our relationships with God. We are reminded to always support our family, our brothers, our neighbors and our country. In short, we are taught to always look somewhere for meaningful activity, and we are encouraged to creatively expand our horizon.

To paraphrase the words of Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, Freemasonry may help us to think backwards, to understand our past, but it must be lived forwards, having an active impact on the future. It is a system of meaning-making that constantly enriches us with insight as to how we can improve our lives with more meaningful content. Nowhere else is this focus on creating meaning more evident than in the Bible passage of Ecclesiastes 12, 1-13 that is always open when a lodge meets on the third degree:

Our meetings as Masons open around this passage, as it lies in the center of the room. We perform ritual around this quote, and we close our lodges, again focusing on this passage. It illustrates to us the centrality seeking meaning in spiritual endeavors.

I believe that it is precisely this focus on spiritual endeavors that brings many new brothers to our fraternity. As Daniel H. Pink points out in his book A Whole new Mind: Why Right-Brainers will Rule the Future, our society is experience a fundamental shift at the present moment. Despite the current economic crisis, it helps to remind ourselves that we are living in an era of unprecedented wealth in the United States. According to Pink, this material wealth is something profoundly unsatisfying, and thus many people in developed nations are increasingly turning to spiritual practices. While in the United States this may have resulted in a growth for many Christian denominations, Europe, Australia and Japan are experiencing a significant growth of less organized, and predominantly non-Christian religious organizations. Pink interprets this as a shift in our thinking that is closely tied to the left and right halves of our brain. While rational thinking is occurring in the left side of the brain, and has given rise to our rationally driven, modern society and all the wealth that came with it, it is now right-brained activities that are on the rise, as people are seeking to “rebalance” their rational minds with more emotive activities. Furthermore, many of the traditional left-brain jobs, such as accountants, lawyers and doctors, are increasingly outsourced to Asia, pushing the American economy more towards employment in the creative field.

The “six senses” associated with right-brain activity that will dominate the economies and social values of the future, according to Pink, are design, story, symphony, empathy, play and meaning.

Think about it. Freemasonry is embracing all aspects of right-brain activity that will matter in the future! Let me elaborate.

I have not met a Freemason yet that does not appreciate the intricate design of Masonic temples and that does not stand in awe of the craftsmanship that went into the construction of these buildings. Furthermore, there are countless passages in our ritual that encourage us to appreciate the beauty of architecture.

Second, Pink argues that storytelling activities are regaining significance, as people long to hear meaningful tales that assist them in understanding their everyday activities. Teachers are using storytelling techniques developed in Hollywood to teach students memorable lessons. Managers are incorporating role-play into corporate strategy sessions that foster collaborative work. Again, what else is Freemasonry but a storytelling tradition that uses allegories to teach moral lessons? That encourages us to act responsibly and dutifully?

The third critical right-brain activity is symphony, or the ability to understand things in context. In our information-filled contemporary society, it will become less and less important to possess specialist knowledge or command over facts – we have this type of information at our fingertips these days. Modern life, according to Pink, will require more and more the skill of synthesis, of pulling together complex sets of information, and to put them into context. As Freemasons, we are encouraged to be such synthesizers. We are taught to be tolerant of different religious belief and to understand the broad similarities between the world’s faiths. We are an international fraternity that opens its doors to brothers and visitors from around the world, while maintaining pride in our local traditions. Our charities support the most vulnerable in our population – children and the elderly– and assist them in the most fundamental tasks of life. Our local almoners support families in need, giving anonymously to those who deserve it. Faith, hope and charity, the three cornerstones of Masonic virtues, are clearly examples of how we understand the big picture and the things that matter first and foremost.

As a fourth critical right-brain activity, Dan Pink lists empathy. His emphasis here is on pointing out that jobs of our future will more and more require us to empathize. Doctors, teachers, social workers and similar occupations are in increasing demand, and require individuals to empathize with patients or students. Freemasonry is one of the few organizations that strongly emphasize the necessity of empathy and charity. As Freemasons, we are constantly reminded to think of brothers or families in need, and to give generously, and to genuinely care about our communities.

Finally, the right-brainers of the future will be required to understand the value of play and meaning, and to incorporate them into a healthy, productive life. As many studies from Europe have shown, workers are more productive when given more vacation time and they don’t call in sick as much. Taking time off, taking the Sabbath or the Sunday serious again, is important for our physical and mental health. Dan Pink’s book highlights that what’s missing in our culture is an authentic understanding of the value of free time that can be filled with meaningful activities that cost nothing. Our left-brained rational thinking requires to be balanced with right-brain activities that encourage us to reflect, to relax, to rest, and to laugh. Mental health means having a whole new mind, one that is characterized by equal demands on our rational and emotive capabilities. The lessons of Freemasonry teach us exactly that, and the fraternity provides us with ample opportunities for fellowship – the simple pleasure of good company, good conversation, and good food. And as those who have ever partaken in a table lodge know, when we are toasting each other with a healthy libation, exclaiming a hearty VIVAT, VIVAT, VIVAT, we are toasting “to life!”

In recommend A Whole new Mind to any Freemason still in search of those arguments that we can use to tell others why we are members of the fraternity. As my comments hopefully have shown, we are not a 19th Century, stuck-up fraternity practicing ancient rites, but a quite modern organization that teaches six right-brained assets for the 21st century. Don’t believe me? Go get Dan Pink’s book, read it, and compare it to any decent introduction to Freemasonry (such as Brent Morris’ Complete Idiot’s Guide to Freemasonry). You’ll be surprised.