06/02/2026
BROTHER, HOW ARE YOU REALLY DOING?
Before we talk about ritual…
Before we talk about meetings…
Before we talk about degrees, titles, or committees…
Let’s talk about you.
June is Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month, and while Freemasonry teaches us to support one another in times of need, many of us still struggle with the hardest question of all:
“Are you okay?”
Too often, men are taught to carry their burdens in silence.
To keep working.
To keep providing.
To keep smiling.
To keep saying, “I’m fine,” even when they’re anything but.
The reality is that many men don’t show depression through sadness. Sometimes it appears as anger. Sometimes isolation. Sometimes drinking too much. Sometimes taking risks they normally wouldn’t. Sometimes simply withdrawing from the people who care about them.
And the statistics are sobering.
In Canada, men account for approximately three-quarters of all su***de deaths.
That’s not a number.
Those are fathers.
Sons.
Brothers.
Husbands.
Friends.
Brethren.
As Masons, we often speak about building the Temple. Yet the most important structure we will ever maintain is not made of stone.
It is the man himself.
A cracked foundation ignored long enough will eventually fail. The same is true of the human spirit.
So if you’ve been carrying something heavy lately…
If you’re exhausted…
If you’re struggling…
If you’re angry all the time and don’t know why…
If you’re feeling alone in a room full of people…
Reach out.
To a Brother.
To a friend.
To family.
To a professional.
Strength is not pretending nothing is wrong.
Strength is having the courage to ask for help before the weight becomes too much to carry alone.
And for the Brothers reading this:
Take five minutes today.
Call someone.
Text someone.
Check on that Brother who hasn’t been around lately.
Not because it’s your duty.
Because it might make a difference.
You never know who is fighting a battle they haven’t told anyone about.
Brother, if nobody has asked you lately:
How are you really doing?
SMIB 🤝
