The question today on my lips is does the ritual ceremony in masonry make you a better person?

Repeatedly doing ritual based on biblical events, designed to make you a morally better person. Learning the ritual is one of the harder things to do in masonry along with public speaking. I have to answer in the negative, I do not think this is the thing that will ease you along the path of masonic enlightenment. If it were the case then some of the very senior masons at lodge level would be great people but quite often it is not the case. I say this because they will have spent the most time listening, repeating and working the ritual and yet also, they can be the people who tend to argue or carry the most grudges, thus not displaying said enlightenment. Please dont get me wrong Im not referring to anyone here just offering an opinion for other masons to draw from their own knowledge.

I believe that it is probably the journey we take in submitting to learn the ritual as best we can, humbly taking criticism as we practise our ritual, and progressing in the science of knowledge. The submitting to doing something we have learnt in front of people we do not know and demonstrating our advancement. This perhaps is my theory as to how we can take this battle of learning and turn it towards a level of understanding and tolerance of people and their right to have a difference of opinion.

I have learnt that we should treat people with respect, offer our hand in both friendship and help and be ready to support and assist others, masons or otherwise. I do not take it that the ritual itself is helping me any more than it would me reading it as a story, I further believe the avoidance of controversial subjects such as religion and politics help to make me a better person, after all it is these two subjects that most wars are fought on. I have an opinion on these subjects, the difference is I have no wish to discuss them with fellow masons and spoil the harmony that is ever present at our work. Masons are not perfect, by any means, we all have a long way to go to be better educated in helping others and ourselves. Its just that Im happy to learn as I go.

What is your opinion on the subject, do you have something to offer in the conversation, Id be happy to hear it?