Virtuous Thoughts, Behavior, & Outcome

Outcomes come from thought. If the thought is virtuous, the outcome is virtuous. If the thought is vice-filled, the outcome is vice-filled. Outcomes of fine wines and food, beautiful mansions, and sharp suits contrast with outcomes of destructive drugs, dilapidated slums, and dull rags. Though outcomes come from thought, they don't directly come from thought - behavior intermediates.

The Square, a Masonic symbol, means to square your actions by the square of virtue.

To square your actions means to align them. Your actions align to your thoughts. Your thoughts may be virtuous or vice-filled. Thinking virtuously, you behave virtuously; thinking vice-fully, you behave vice-fully. The reason is that thoughts affect behavior.

Virtues and Vices

Virtues and vices can relate to religion. For example, Christian virtues are love, hope, and faith; whereas Christian vices are hate, despair, and doubt. Christians strive to perfect their love, hope, and faith. Love is strong affection for others; hope is positive expectancy; faith is trust in yourself and God. Christians strive to avoid hate, despair, and doubt. Hate is strong antipathy for others; despair is negative expectancy; doubt is distrust in yourself and God.

Good and Bad Behavior

Thinking lovingly about others causes you to behave lovingly toward them, whereas thinking hatefully about others causes you to behave hatefully toward them. Thinking hopefully about life causes you to behave hopefully toward it, whereas thinking despairingly about life causes you to behave despairingly toward it. Thinking faithfully about yourself and God causes you to behave faithfully toward yourself and Him, whereas thinking doubtfully about yourself and God causes you to behave doubtfully toward yourself and Him.

Blessings and Curses

Behaving lovingly toward others causes them to behave lovingly toward you, whereas behaving hatefully toward others causes them to behave hatefully toward you. Behaving hopefully toward life causes it to physically manifest your hope, whereas behaving despairingly toward life causes it to physically manifest your despair. Behaving faithfully toward yourself and God causes you to succeed in all things, whereas behaving doubtfully toward yourself and God causes you to fail in all things.

Summarily, thinking virtuously brings you manifold blessings; thinking vice-fully brings you manifold curses.

The Ionic, Doric, and Corinthian columns represent wisdom, strength, and beauty. The columns are Masonic symbols.

To do a goal successfully, it must be done with wisdom, strength, and beauty. Wisdom is the necessary knowledge; strength is the necessary persistence; beauty is the necessary style. Wisdom, strength, and beauty make up the success triad.

Wisdom

Knowledge enables. The more you know your trade, the better at it you will be. Ignorance disables. The less you know your trade, the worse at it you will be. Given this, you should avidly learn your trade.

Strength

Persistence accomplishes. A winner never quits before the goal is accomplished. A loser always quits before the goal is accomplished. Given this, you should never start something that you can't or won't complete, and always start something that you can and will complete. Can + Will = Persistence.

Beauty

Style attracts. How you pursue your goal is just as important as accomplishing your goal. If you pursue your goal honorably, you attract admirers. If you pursue your goal dishonorably, you attract haters. Admirers encourage you; haters discourage you.

After goal accomplishment, your finished product has some degree of wisdom, strength, and beauty. Product wisdom can be defined as usefulness, product strength as durability, and product beauty as aesthetics. For example, if you are a great architect, your finished building will be very useful, durable, and aesthetic.

The wisdom, strength, and beauty of a product depend on the wisdom, strength, and beauty of the production.

Discussion

So here we have it. Every outcome emanates from behavior, emanating from thought. You are a creator. Not only do your thoughts, behavior, and outcome affect your life, they also affect the lives of others. You are like a god creating your own universe - with your universe overlapping the universes of others.