There is a current movement that is choosing to turn away from the overwhelming onslaught of social media, invasive commerce, and the technological control of reality - turning off mobiles and PCs, taking time to converse and socialise in person, enjoying the natural sounds and sights of the environment, interacting with a physical pasttime, art, craft or pursuit, relegating technology to its proper status as a passive tool, and nothing more. We are very happy to see this.

Many people are harassed into an accelerated pace of life, crammed with distractions and pressures, with less and less time for quiet, peace, solitude, silence, meaningful company, or inward contemplation. This has increased the trend of 'instant gratification', and such a trend is the worst approach towards inward spiritual development. Spirituality is a natural, gentle and organic process - it is seasonal, successive, graduated, and slow.

There are people who believe that they can pay for a year, three month, two week, or even weekend spiritual course or meditative retreat, and expect to gain deep, enduring and expediently quick access to the Highest Spiritual Planes, as well as an understanding and comprehension of them, simply by their attendance. They pay for another's expertise, without realising that it is only their own hard work which will enable them to benefit from the guidance of any experienced teacher. There are even some who believe it wise to take all three Masonic Degrees in a day, or over a couple of days. So much is missed in these cases, and the subtle cannot be recognised under the veneer of the 'bucket list' approach to the Mysteries.

Spirituality in general, and Masonry in particular, is a cuisine, not a fast food. It takes time, cooking skill, dedication, quality ingredients, correct ambience, and a clientele that appreciates fine dining. It must be savoured, and time should be taken over its consumption.

The True Path is one of at least one lifetime - those who appear to be gifted and who progress rapidly in the Mysteries are, invariably, the type for whom those Mysteries are not new ground. To attempt the Great Work requires humour, empathy, stamina, quietude, mental focus, environmental receptivity, humility, and patience and persistence above all. It is not a race, a competition, or a lifestyle accessory. The True Path is a mountaineering expedition, an exploration, a pilgrimage, and sometimes, an adventure.

It is open to all; but even then, one must have a natural inclination towards it - enthusiasm combined with talent - to reap its subtle inward benefits. It is not a thing of material rewards (although many materially privileged people still seek it out as a higher priority than financial wealth), but of inward and interior wealth, which is Genius. It is the cultivation of the Seed of the Soul, in the compost of the Subconcious, the garden of the Persona, and under the solar rays of the Spirit.

The Soul must gestate, absorb, break forth, sprout, breathe, grow and flourish. And, my friends, you must let Nature be your guide. Take the long way home. Tread lightly. Enjoy the views. Stop for regular picnics. Be calm. Trust your Self.

The Tree of Life cannot be force-ripened.