The Jericho Road written by W. Bion Adkins
W >>
W. Bion Adkins >> The Jericho Road
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 THE JERICHO ROAD
by
W. BION ADKINS
Author of "Twelve Steps Toward Heaven," "The Anonymous Letter," etc.
1901
Like the rivers, forever running yet never passed, like the winds
forever going yet never gone, so is Odd-Fellowship.
DEDICATION
WORTHY AND GENTLE BROTHERS
I DEDICATE THIS LITTLE BOOK TO THEE, SINCERELY HOPING THAT IT WILL
AFFORD YOU MUCH PLEASURE AND BE THE MEANS OF INCITING YOU TO GREATER
EFFORT IN BEHALF OF OUR BELOVED ORDER. MAY THY YEARS BE MANY AND THEIR
SEASONS ALL GOLDEN AUTUMNS, RICH IN PURPLE CLUSTERS AND GARNERED
DELIGHTS.
PREFACE
"I have lived much that I have not written, but I have written nothing
that I have not lived, and the story of this book is but a plaintive
refrain wrung from the over-burdened song of my life; while the tides
of feeling, winding down the lines, had their sources in as many broken
upheavals of my own heart." A book, like an implement, must be judged
by its adaptation to its special design, however unfit for any other
end. This volume is designed to help Odd-Fellows in their search for
the good things in life. There is need of something to break the spell
of indifference that oftentimes binds us, and to open glimpses of
better, sweeter, grander possibilities. Hence this volume, which is a
plea for that great fortune of man--his own nature. Bulwer says:
"Strive while improving your one talent to enrich your whole capital as
a man." The present work is designed to aid in securing the result thus
recommended. We send it forth, trusting that it will find its way into
the hands of every Odd-Fellow and every Odd-Fellow's friend and
neighbor, and that those who read it will gather from its pages lessons
which shall enable them to pluck thorns from their pathway and scatter
flowers instead.
W. BION ADKINS.
October 1, 1899.
TODAY'S DEMAND
God give us men. A time like this demands
Strong minds, great hearts, true faith, and ready hands;
Men whom the lust of office does not kill;
Men who possess opinions and a will;
Men who have honor;
Men who will not lie,
Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog
In public duly and in private thinking.
For, while the rabble, with their thumb-worn creeds,
Their large professions and their little deeds,
Mingle in selfish strife, lo! Freedom weeps,
Wrong rules the land, and waiting Justice sleeps.
God give us men!
--Selected.
TOMORROW'S FULFILLMENT
* * In the long years liker must they grow;
The man be more of woman, she of man;
He gain in sweetness and in moral height,
Nor lose the wrestling thews that throw the world;
She mental breadth, nor fail in childward care--
Till at the last she set herself to man,
Like perfect music unto noble words;
And so these twain, upon the skirts of time,
Sit side by side, full summed in all their powers,
Self-reverent each and reverencing each.
Then reign the world's great bridals, chaste and calm;
Then springs the crowning race of human kind.
--Alfred Tennyson.
CONTENTS
Objects and Purposes of Odd-Fellowship
The Higher Life
Pithy Points
The Bible in Odd-Fellowship
Brother Underwood's Dream
The Imperial Virtue
Quiet Hour Thoughts
Love Supreme
Gems of Beauty
Husband and Father
Odd-Fellowship and the Future
INTRODUCTORY
On April 26, 1819, Thomas Wildey, the English carriage-spring maker,
together with John Welch, John Duncan, John Cheatham and Richard
Rushworth, instituted the first lodge of Odd-Fellows at the Seven Stars
Tavern in Baltimore, and it was given the name of Washington Lodge No.
1. From this feeble beginning has grown the immense organization of
today. The Odd-Fellows claim a venerable antiquity for their order,
the most common account of its origin ascribing it to the Jewish legend
under Titus, who, it is said, received from that Emperor the first
chapter, written on a golden tablet. The earliest mention made of the
lodge is in 1745, when one was organized in England. There were at
that time several lodges independent of each other, but in a few years
they formed a union. Toward the end of the century many of them were
broken up by state prosecutions, on suspicion that their purposes were
seditious. The name was changed from the Patriotic Order to that of
the Union Order of Odd-Fellows. In Manchester, England, in 1813, some
of the lodges seceded from the order, and formed the Independent Order
of Odd-Fellows.
The order's first appearance in America was in 1819. The purposes of
the order were so changed by the founders here, that it is said to be
almost purely an American organization. It was based on the Manchester
Unity, which was really the parent institution. In 1842, this country
severed its connection with that of England.
Lodges connected with either those of England or America are
established in all parts of the world. The real estate held by the
organization exceeds in value $20,000,000, and there is scarcely a town
in the country that has not its Odd-Fellows Building. The total
revenue of the order is nearly $10,000,000 per annum. Yearly relief
amounts to nearly $4,000,000 a year.
THE JERICHO ROAD
"A traveler passed down the Jericho road,
He carried of cash a pretty fair load
(The savings of many a toilsome day),
On his Jericho home a mortgage to pay.
"At a turn of the road, in a lonely place,
Two villainous men met him face to face.
'Hands up!' they cried, and they beat him sore,
Then off to the desert his money they bore.
"Soon a priest came by who had a fold;
He sheared his sheep of silver and gold.
He saw the man lie bruised and bare,
But he passed on by to his place of prayer.
"Then a Levite, temple bound, drew nigh;
He saw the man, but let him lie,
And clad in silk, and filled with pride,
He passed him by on the other side.
"Next on the way a Samaritan came
(To priest and Levite a hated name);
The wounded man he would not pass,
He tenderly placed him on his ass.
"He took him to an inn hard by;
He dressed his wounds and bathed his eye;
He paid the landlord his full score;
If more was needed would pay him more.
"Ah! many travel the Jericho way,
And many are robbed and beaten each day;
And many there be on the way in need,
Whom Priest or Levite never heed;
And who to fate would yield, alas!
If some Samaritan did not pass."
THE OBJECTS AND PURPOSES OF ODD-FELLOWSHIP
We are taught that "God hath made of one blood all nations of men to
dwell on the face of the earth," and when we say mutual relief and
assistance is a leading office in our affiliation, and that
Odd-Fellowship is systematically endeavoring to improve and elevate the
character of man, to imbue him with a proper conception of his
capabilities for good, to enlighten his mind, to enlarge the sphere of
his affections and to redeem him from the thralldom of ignorance and
prejudice, and teach him to recognize the fatherhood of God and the
brotherhood of men, we have epitomized the objects, purposes and basic
principles of our order. Odd-Fellowship is broad and comprehensive.
It is founded upon that eternal principle which teaches that all the
world is one family and all mankind are brothers. Unheralded and
unsung, it was born and went forth, a breath of love, a sweet song that
has filled thousands of hearts with joy and gladness. To the rich and
the poor, the old and the young, at all times, comes the rich, sweet
melody of this song of humanity to comfort and to cheer. For eighty
years the light of Odd-Fellowship has burned before the world, a beacon
to the lost, a comfort to the wanderer and a protection to the
thoughtless. Eighty years of work for humanity's sake; eighty years
devoted to teaching men to love mankind; eighty years of earnest labor,
consecrated by friendship, cemented with love and beautified by truth.
In ancient times men sought glory and renown in gladiatorial combat,
though the victor's laurel was wet with human blood. In modern times
men seek the plaudits of the world by achievements for human good, and
by striving to elevate and ennoble men. Looking back through nineteen
centuries we behold a cross, and on it the crucified Christ, with
nail-pierced hands, and wounded, bleeding side, but whose heart was so
full of love and pity that even in His dying agonies He had compassion
upon His persecutors, and cried out, "Father, forgive them, for they
know not what they do."
That event was the dividing line between the ancient and the modern
era; between the rule of "brute force" and the "mild dominion of love
and charity." The mission of Odd-Fellowship, like that of the lowly
Nazarene, is to replace the rule of might with the gentle influence of
love, and to teach a universal fraternity in the family of man. To
meet and satisfy and better keep alive the nobler elements of man's
nature. Many orders have been instituted, but none can challenge
greater admiration from men, or deserve more blessings from heaven,
than the Independent Order of Odd-Fellows. Looking back along the
pathway of the century behind us we behold the wrecks of many orders.
The morning of their life was beautiful and full of glorious promise,
but the evening came and they had perished. Rich costumes, impressive
ceremonies, beautiful degrees and magnificent effects, all lie buried
and forgotten. It was not because their founders lacked energy or
enthusiasm, not because their members were less susceptible to the
beauty and poetry of tradition and ceremony, but because success and
perpetuity come not from human effort, but are the outgrowth of a
life-giving principle. The sculptor fashions from the marble a form of
surpassing loveliness, its lines are those of grace and beauty. We
stand before it charmed, whispering our admiration, but the impression
on the heart is only passing. The poet sings of home, of mother and of
love; the meter may be faulty and the words may charm not, but the
sentiment is true and touches our hearts. The experience it recites is
common to humanity, and wherever its sweet tones are heard it softens
men's natures and makes them better, truer and nobler. Who among us
would be willing to exchange the influence of the immortal song "Home
Sweet Home," or be willing to forget the Christian's "Nearer My God to
Thee," for all the inanimate beauty of art? One charms the eye, the
other touches and calls to life the best and sweetest emotions of the
human heart. So it is with fraternal societies. Flashing swords,
glittering helmets, jeweled regalias and beautiful degrees may touch
the vanity and excite the admiration, but to win the heart we must
satisfy its longings, feed its hopes and lift it above the narrowness
and selfishness of its daily experience. Odd-Fellowship strives to
touch the heart and better feelings, rather than feed the vanity of man
or arouse his admiration for gorgeous displays. Its work is an
exemplification of the living, practical Christianity of today. In
almost every state in this fair land of ours can be found Odd-Fellows'
homes, within whose walls the orphan is no longer motherless. For each
and every little one within these homes, one million Odd-Fellows feel a
father's love and pledge a parent's care.
Add to all this great work the little deeds of love, the little acts of
kindness that make life beautiful; add kind words of cheer and friendly
help and tender consolation, and add again the benefit of union, the
strength that comes from hearts united in God's work among mankind, and
you have caught a glimpse of the life-giving principle that has made
Odd-Fellowship one of the grandest fraternal and beneficiary
institutions the world has ever known. The work it has done can not be
fully estimated until the record is read in the bright light of
eternity. In that glad day the tears that have been wiped away will
become jewels in somebody's crown, and the sobs that have been hushed
will be heard again in hosannas of welcome.
Onward! is the ringing, pregnant watchword of the world. The vast,
complicated, ponderous machinery of life is kept in motion by tireless
and irresistible forces. The multiform and magnificent affairs of men
and of nations are all impelled forward with an energy and a velocity
as wonderful as glorious to behold.
Not retrogressive, but progressive--not enervating, but energizing--not
ephemeral, but substantial--not from bad to worse, but from the
imperfect to the consummate, are the characteristics by which are so
prominently distinguished the tidal waves of the world's progress today.
Activity and achievement came with creation, and constitute an
inflexible, irrepealable law of the universe. In stir and push we have
light and life, but in idleness, and superstitious clinging to
fossilized ideas and bygones, we have demoralization, decay and death.
Fortunately for the world, and agreeably with infinite design, man
plods his way in harmony with the law alluded to. Not all men, but the
great masses of them, wherever "The true light shineth," especially
when accompanied by rays and helps from one of the noblest and grandest
of confraternities our world has known, "The Independent Order of
Odd-Fellows." When the huge planet which we call our world had been
tossed into being from the furnace fires of Omnipotence, and the
maternal lullaby began to gather force on hill top and in valley, the
discovery was naturally enough made that association and co-operation
were preferable to isolation and unrelieved dependence; and from that
hour forward, this principle has been interwoven into the very
framework of human society. The purpose has been the elevation and
improvement of mankind. For, though the first product was pronounced
"good," it quickly degenerated; and there came an emphasized demand for
reform.
EARLY ORGANIZATIONS.
Human isolation is an unnatural condition. It antagonizes the highest
and best interests of the world. Its influence is never beneficent,
but always and necessarily harmful. If the truest well being of the
universe, and the supremest glory of Jehovah could have been attained
by conditions of solitude, it is not impossible that the good
All-Father would have given to every man a continent, and so have made
him monarch of all he surveyed.
Physically regarded, there is no limit to Omnipotent power. A
continent, and even a world, was therefore within the pale of divine
possibilities. Jehovah, however, is not only great, but he is the
Greatness of Goodness. High and holy ends were to be accomplished, and
happy purposes to be secured, by means of human instrumentalities, and
be jointly shared by Creator and creature.
Among the earliest of Deific utterances, therefore, we have this: "It
is not good that man should be alone." I concede that, primarily, the
companionship of woman is here intended. But the declaration is not
only good in this, but equally so in other regards. A lifetime of
solitude with no incentives to action--nothing to draw out, exercise
and expand the latent powers of the soul--no interchange of thought--no
clashing of opinion--no towering resolves to stimulate--no difficulties
to surmount! What imagination so fertile that it could picture a more
hateful or intolerable Hades than would be such a condition of affairs?
Hence, in the early days of the world's history we discern the
principle of association and co-operation, with plans and systems
embodying its practical application. Organizations came into being,
obedient to the summons of necessity. How well the various
organizations have wrought along the pathway of centuries, and how
great or small may have been the measure of their success, I am not
here to discuss, much less to determine. Each has done its work in its
own way, and pockets responsibility for results. Common courtesy and
candor suggest that each has been largely animated by highest and
worthiest of motives.
ODD-FELLOWSHIP,
Reared upon the broad catholic principle of brotherhood, extending its
helpful hand from nation to nation, and from continent to continent,
linking its votaries together with the golden triple chain of
Friendship, Love and Truth, can afford to be friendly with each, and
have a kindly word for all societies that reach down after and raise up
a fallen brother, and if possible make him wiser, better and happier.
Should a like courtesy be extended to this order, while it would
certainly constitute a new departure, it would prove none the less
gratifying. But, from certain sources, the order has been the
recipient of a peculiar kind of consideration, so long that "the memory
of man scarce runneth to the contrary." Inflamed appeals and bristling
denunciations have gone out against it, "while great, swelling
words"--swollen with hatred, bigotry, prejudice and superstition--have
assailed it relentlessly and almost uninterruptedly. Mainly, these
assaults have been met with the terse and pointed invocation, "Father,
forgive them; they know not what they do."
That this great and potent brotherhood may not, in all its parts and
jurisdictions, have so deported itself, and so carried forward its
work, as to be justly free from unfavorable criticism and merited
censure, is probably true. As with organizations, there is sometimes
too much haste displayed in gathering, and too little discrimination
exercised in selecting, the materials that are brought as component
parts of the great superstructure of Odd-Fellowship. Too much daubing
with untempered mortar--too great a desire for the exhibition of
numerical force, and the multiplication of lodges--too much regard for
the outward trappings and paraphernalia, and too little regard for the
internal qualities of those seeking membership in the fraternity. Such
deplorable departures, as well from the primary as the ultimate objects
had in view, are not fairly attributable to anything that may be
reasonably considered as an outgrowth of the order, but come despite
its constant teachings and warnings. Bad work they of course make, and
so at times and to a limited extent bring the fraternity under the ban
of popular displeasure, but shall the world predicate unfavorable
judgment upon a few and unfair tests? If so, and the principle
logically becomes general, pray who shall be appointed administrator of
the effects of other social and moral organizations, and even of the
church itself? For in these regards all offend, if offense it be.
When the principles of Odd-Fellowship are carefully studied it is
apparent to every candid mind that it is founded upon that eternal
principle which recognizes man as a constituent of one universal
brotherhood, and teaches him that as he came from the hand of a common
parent, he is in duty bound to cherish and protect his fellow-man.
Viewed in this light, Odd-Fellowship becomes one of the noblest
institutions organized by man in the world. If the beauty and grandeur
of universal brotherhood could be impressed upon the minds of all the
people, how very different from the past would the future history of
the world read. What a delightful place this old stone-ribbed earth
would be if men would look upon each other as brothers, members of one
common family; enjoying the many comforts of one home; trusting to the
guidance and protection of one Father--God. We are more nearly related
than we think. Running through all humanity there is a link of
relationship and a bond of sympathy that can not be exterminated. The
principle of brotherly love is so great and broad that all mankind
could unite in offices of human benefaction. Brother. Oh, how sacred
and how sweet when spoken by a true heart! Whether it be in the home
circle, lodge-room, or in some distant land, it sends the same soothing
thrill of joy to the heart. Let us pause just a moment to think of the
time and place when we first learned to call each other brother. Ah!
Methinks no Odd-Fellow will ever forget his first lesson. He will
always remember how quickly he was changed from the haughty disposition
manifested by that one of old, who, when he prayed, went to the public
square, or climbed to the house top, and thanked God that he was not
like other men, to the humble attitude of that one who stood afar off
and bowed his face in the dust, crying aloud, "O Lord! Be merciful
unto me a sinner." How very much like this ancient boaster are
thousands of the human family today. Sitting in high places,
surrounded by wealth and power, they see nothing beyond the narrow
circle in which they move. They are deaf to the low, sad wail of
sorrow that comes from some breaking heart. Seated by their own
comfortable fireside they give no thought to the lonely widow standing
outside in the cold. It distresses them not that the keen, wintry
blast sends its icy chill to the already broken heart. No thought, no
feeling, for this poor creature that must now fight the fierce battles
incident to human life, all alone. How sadly these tender duties to
suffering humanity are neglected when left to the cold charity of the
world.
Odd-Fellowship seeks to lessen sorrow and suffering. It supplies
temporal wants; gives encouragement; aids and comforts those who are in
distress. In sickness we watch by their bedside and administer to
their wants. If death calls, Odd-Fellowship forsakes not its follower,
but hovers near, listening attentively to the last words and parting
instruction of the dying one. Brothers and friends, let me admonish
you to do all the good you can while in health and strength, for at
most life is short and we know not how soon the Angel of Death will
unfold his broad, shadowy wings over our path and call us to give an
account of our stewardship; then all that will remain of us on earth
will be the good or evil we have done.
Odd-Fellowship is full of sacred teachings and sublime warnings. It
teaches us that we are in a world full of temptations, sin and sorrow.
We see the emblems of decay all around us. The strong man of today may
stand forth, nerved for toil, with all the bloom of health mantling
cheek and brow, seemingly as strong and vigorous as the mighty oak, and
yet tomorrow he will fade as the autumn leaf. Then he realizes how
foolish it is to be vain; thinks of the instability of wealth and
power, and the certain decay of all earthly greatness. Odd-Fellowship
teaches us that charity springs from the heart, is not puffed up, seeks
not its own. It makes us strong, and encourages us to push on through
life, even though we are beset on every side with toil, danger and
strife. Brothers, let nothing cause you to turn back or away from the
principles of our noble order. Cling closer and closer each day to
honesty and truth, and bear in mind that be the road ever so rough and
untraveled, narrow and dark, if you follow truth you will find light at
the end of the journey.
THE SECRESY OBJECTION.
More common, perhaps, than any other filed against it has been the
objection that Odd-Fellowship does its work secretly, this objection
being not unfrequently urged by persons of candor and honest impulses.
"If," it is demanded, "the aims and purposes of the order be legitimate
and praiseworthy, why shroud them in mystery rather than give them the
broad sunlight of publicity."
The objection is not new, nor is it urged with any increase of its
original force, whatever may be the fact in the matter of vehemence.
Answer might be made: The order does not choose to ascend to the house
tops for the purpose of heralding its affairs to the world. But that
answer would not be satisfactory, nor is any likely to be that may be
presented, now or hereafter. It is nevertheless true that there are
certain matters pertaining to the order and its works with which the
outside world has no sort of concern, even as with those very peculiar
secret societies, the individual, the family, the church and the state.
If other organizations prefer to resort to the newspapers, the pulpit,
the rostrum and other information conduits for the purpose of
advertising their wares, their greatness and their goodness, and the
vast amount of humanitarian work they are doing and purposing, such is
their unquestioned privilege.
But if the preference of Odd-Fellowship be for quieter and less
obtrusive methods, pray who shall fairly contest its right of choice?
And then it should be remembered that there are matters in which the
right hand is prohibited the privilege of interfering with the
prerogatives of the left, and the left with those of the right. Nor
should the fact be forgotten that there is Divine example, if not
precept, for the established "modus operandi" of the order. Upon a
certain occasion the Great Teacher had performed a very humble service
for one of his disciples who was sadly at loss for the why and the
wherefore, and the answer, received to his inquiry was: "What I do thou
knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter."
And in the grand hereafter, when the films of ignorance and the
warpings of prejudice and superstition shall have melted away under the
bright sunlight of Eternal Day, it is not impossible that our vexed,
inquisitive, worrying opponents may be permitted to look back over the
pathway this order has traversed, glance at the work that has been
wrought and peradventure discover how unreasonable, as well as
fruitless, has been the warfare they have been pleased to wage with
such persistent fury. A long time to wait, maybe, but then good things
do not come rapidly nor all at once. Meanwhile, to encourage them in
their waiting, their watching and their worrying, let them take this
lesson from the same Great Teacher: "The wind bloweth where it listeth,
and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh
or whither it goeth." Ah, no! it will not do, because you can not see
and comprehend all of everything, inside as well as outside, to
conclude that it must necessarily be bad. Adopt that theory, and you
not only fly in the face of reason, but bump your head against almost
everything in nature, in art and in science.
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11