The Three Steps
The Three Steps usually delineated upon the Master’s Carpet are emblematical of the three principal stages of human life: Youth, Manhood and Age. In Youth, as Entered Apprentices, we ought industriously to occupy our minds in the attainment of useful knowledge; in Manhood, as Fellow Crafts, we should apply our knowledge to the discharge of our respective duties to God, our neighbor and ourselves, so that in Age, as Master Masons, we may enjoy the happy reflection consequent on a well-spent life, and die in the hope of a glorious immortality.