fate and reason

Picture a die rolling across a table. It comes to rest on a number no one could have predicted. Was it chance? Or did this seemingly random moment serve a deeper purpose we can only recognize in hindsight? Michel de Montaigne, the sixteenth-century philosopher who invented the essay as a literary form, posed a daring thesis in his thirty-third essay: fortune often acts in the service of reason. This idea strikes at the very heart of what Freemasons have been exploring in their lodges for centuries. The Language of Chance When we talk about chance, we tend to reach for words like “luck” or “misfortune.” But Montaigne invites us to look beyond these surface-level labels. In his essay, he describes how events that appear chaotic at first glance often reveal a logical order when viewed in retrospect. It is as if the universe operates according to its own grammar — one we can only read in fragments. This vision aligns seamlessly with Masonic thought. In the lodge, the Brother learns that the Great Architect of the Universe has a plan, even when the individual building blocks of our lives seem disconnected and incoherent. The rough ashlar is not shaped into […]