Life presents us with both chosen challenges and unchosen suffering. In this episode, we explore how Freemasonry helps us discern between the two, and how both play a role in shaping us into more refined stones. The conversation asks: what does it mean to grow through adversity, and how do we bear the burdens that are not of our choosing?

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Challenges we choose stretch us toward growth; suffering we do not choose tests our resilience
• Both kinds of struggle serve as tools to shape the rough ashlar into something more refined
• Freemasonry provides perspective on finding meaning in hardship while staying aligned with purpose

💬 Featured Quotes

• 0:00:14 – “I want to move from that to perhaps maybe a more nuanced understanding of what that really means when it comes to suffering versus challenge.”
• 0:00:22 – “The risks that we undertake that are going to help us grow are choices that we’re making—positive choices to stretch yourself.”
• 0:00:33 – “There are other times in your life that you have situations that you have not chosen. Uncomfortable situations, painful situations.”
• 0:00:42 – “Adversity is another opportunity to develop yourself as a person.”

🔗 Explore Related Episodes

• From the Cave to the Lodge: Escaping the Shadows of Superstition (Aug 13, 2025) — Reflects on emerging into light and understanding—mirroring the ashlar’s journey from raw to refined.
• The Ashlar and the Question of Growth (Jun 30, 2025) — Explores the symbolism of the ashlar as an agent of personal transformation.
• When Willpower Fails: Rethinking the Virtue of Struggle (Aug 1, 2025) — Questions assumptions about struggle and suffering—deepening the conversation on when endurance serves and when it wears us down. 

Creators & Guests

• Brian Mattocks - Host

Would you like me to also surface a few symbolic reflection questions tied to this theme (Rough Ashlar + burden), so listeners could use them as prompts after hearing the episode?