What are the wages of a Speculative Mason?  Are there any?  The Fellow Craft Degree is the first time we hear about the wages of an Operative Mason, but we don’t really hear about the wages of a Speculative Mason.  So, what could they be?  For this, I believe we can look at the wages of our ancient Brethren.  In their day, the wages paid an operative Mason at the building of King Solomon’s Temple were among the more valuable commodities of the day.  Valuable, because these were staples in the diet of all those who lived in the Holy Land and have also been used, not coincidentally, in consecrations.  They ensured the perpetuity of life, society, the kingdom, as well as an individual’s soul.  Sharing a portion with those you care for was a duty, as was gifting them to those in need.  I see a parallel in the modern world in another, increasingly valuable commodity: time.  Time is precious, fleeting, and finite.  It, too, is a staple of our lives and the more of it we dedicate to something, the more impact we tend to have on it.  It is increasingly treated as sacred as well.

I submit, then, that the wages of a Speculative Mason is time.  Each hour spent coaching a candidate, mentoring a Brother, a DeMolay, or Job’s Daughter, or even planning and organizing an event for our lodge to enjoy, someone is receiving the wage of someone else’s time.  In thinking about this, I cannot help but recall the working tools of the Entered Apprentice, specifically, the twenty-four inch gauge.  Each of us is required to properly divide our time, and a portion of that time should be dedicated to “… the service to God and a distressed worthy Brother.”  When I was passed to the degree of Fellow Craft, my Coach told me to look for a place in the lodge to invest my time and energy and to try and make my dent on it.  I think the jury is still out and I still have quite a bit of time to invest in my Brothers, but it makes me wonder, how will you spend your wages?