There are so many important lessons wrapped up in the Third Degree that it would take a lifetime to understand and apply them. Serious contemplation of our destiny inevitably leads us to the brink of the grave. We are taught in the Third Degree to consider what may lie beyond that grave and to prepare for the day when we meet our Creator.
So it is that the apprehension of our mortality sets us on the rungs of Jacob’s ladder: to our faith, our hope that our journey beyond this life will lead us to God and to our understanding that we share these hopes (and their attendant fears) with all humanity, which is the beginning of true charity.
We are taught in Freemasonry that to strive to overcome our baser instincts and sail the boat of this life over the rough seas of passion with equanimity and rectitude is the highest degree of perfection to which a human being can aspire. True self-knowledge and understanding our strengths and our weaknesses is undoubtedly the beginning of wisdom. As we are indeed, in some mystical fashion, made in God’s image, understanding ourselves is the first required step to knowing God.
Kenny McGill, PM
Chaplain Petal Lodge #516
