All Freemasons pledge to “....prize honour and virtue above the external advantages of rank and fortune”. It is in the Charge After Initiation we learn how to develop these values and practise them in our daily life.
When we practice what the charge calls virtues, it helps us make good decisions throughout our life.
The implementation of this mindset provides the basis for implementing good decisions.
This application of these “virtues” will become the main theme of this paper.
The first degree and more specifically in the Charge After Initiation is where these practical virtues or decision-making tools are revealed to the new mason.
At this stage the candidate may not be aware how useful they will be.
It may be some time before he realises, he has just received one of the “mysteries and privileges” conferred on any freemason.
On the centre of the Tracing Board for this degree we see Jacob’s Ladder on top of the altar and Volume of the Sacred Law.
On three rungs of the ladder are the symbols of the virtues Faith, Hope and Charity.
When we practise these virtues they improve our satisfactions earned from daily decision making.
Title
2025 - Volume 30 - No 4 - It’s all in The Charge After Initiation - The Practice of Every Moral and Social Virtue - Bro Graeme Martin P.G. Lec.
