The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1900-05-11
us DULY Eighty-flrst
; CON- ; Anniversary
: >MEMoRArED. 1. 0. 0. F.

us DULY E1gnty-rlrst {
5 }nEnoRArFD. &. 0. OF. :
AcN~~~~ ~~~@~~~
On Sunday last Mesaba Lodge
No. 222, Independent Order OF
Odd Fellows duly commemorate
ed the eighty first anniversary
Of the founding Of their order by
attending divine service as a
body, Rev. Z. r. Oaten, of the
M. E. Church, delivering a SER
mon from st. Matthew, 25th:
35, 36, 40. The church was
beautifully and* appropriately
decorated with flowers, bunting g
and emblematic designs for the
occasion, and those present from
the local lodge, together with
visitors from neighboring villas,
numbered upwards OF thirty.
The sermon by Rev. Oaten was
based upon the broad platform
of the brotherhood Of man, being
in part as follows:
THANK God to-day that men are beginning
to recognize the larger, fuller Interpretation
of life which our belief in the Fatherhood OF
God and the brotherhood Of man has given to
| the world. Men are beginning to understand
| that humanity is one great whole. and that
the needs of humanity weigh with equal ef-
! feet upon everyone-high or low, rich or poor
who has come to the realization Of his posi-
tion and responsibility as unit in that great
whole. So that to-day it is true in larger
sense than it has ever been true before that
| NO man liveth unto himself and no man
dicth unto HIMSELF Despite the fact that
there are SO many things in our natures, in
our inheritanccs and in our environments,
which must Of necessity separate us largely
in thought and word and action. yet beneath
all these there lies the strong ties Of univcr-
sal brotherhood which makes the world
akin" or, as the poet expresses it,
"All the land is full OF people,
Restless, struggling, toiliny, striving.
| Speaking MANY tongues. yet feeling
| But one heartbeat in their bosOms"
| I also believe that the world is coming to
| believe more and more that religion is lnuc ch
| latger, broader and more practical thing than
in the past we have been inclined to regard it.
We are beginning to see that God is infinitely
greater than our thought CT HIM, and that
His love is much wider and deeper than our
comprehension of it. In short we are begin
Mag to understand that religion is something
too broad and too great to be contained in
any single creed, or confession of faith. And
| furthCr-wr are beginning to see that being
Christian is, as our text suggests largely
| measured by our service for others, and tina t
our duty toward God will recc i've its highest
| interpretation in the ful6lmCnt of our duty
to our fellOwmen.
| Now. bcca use men are demanding larger
freedom for their individual conscienccs in
their Interpretation of religious crecds; in
deed, are demanding that some of the crecds
Of the past, which have been presenting to
the world harsh md nnkild duiews:of -hischIr-
actor. shall be abolished; this is no evil omen
but rather, think, an evidence that men are
coming nearer to the truth in it's original pur-
ity and simplicity. And. if our conceptions
Of God and His purposes for the world have
been narrow and cramped in the past, it is net
because lie has not made perfect revelation
Of Himself to the world in the person OF His
Son, Jesus Christ-but because men have been
too narrow in thought to comprehend that
! There's q Wilderness in Gods mercy
Like the Wilderness of the sea.
There's kindness in His justice,
Which is more than liberty"
Or as another poet has said, we have moi
understood that
| I'm all the ages,
Every human heart is human;
| That in even savage DOsoms
There are lonsin3s, yearuings, strivinSs
For the good they comprehend not.
That the feeble hands, and helpless,
Cropping blindly in the darkness,
| Touch Gods right hand in that darkness:
; Ard are lifted up nd strengthened.
| think, therefore, that it is within reaso1
that make the claim that anything, or any
organization which has for its primal objec
the purpose of helping men to understand
and interpret in the larger, fuller sense, th'
true spirit Of this Christian Brotherhood, ha
d just claim upon our hearts and considera
ton, and do sincerely believe that the Or
ganization which we as brothers represen
here this morninG-the Independent Order o
Oddfellows-hus at its heart these nobl
principles and high ideals; and not only thai
but hat 1t has given to the world clear
if not clearer, eXcmpliication OF thes
principles as can be found anywhere upO
this good planet.
Now am perfectly we'll aware that tn
very fact Of it's being sO-called "secret or
ganizatioll,' is sufficient to put it under ba
IN many peoples opinion, but perhaps yer
few Of US have come to q full unlerstandin
of what is its meaning in this regard.
You will observe that the Church itself is
Secret society, having it's peculiar secre1
which the world can never know. Wnen til
Church has some great project in mind fC
the furtherance of the kingdom of Jes,
Christ, it does not make its plans known
the world, for that would be the surest wav
invite opposition and defeat. The Apost
John speaks of one great secret of the ChurC
when. in words which have their peculis
significance to the instructed Oddfeilow, l
says ITO him that overcomeih will give
eat Of the hidden mama, and will give ii
a white stone, and in the the stone is ne
name written, which no man knoweth sa,
|. him who receiveth it.
But further-evcry family is in its go(
sense secret society. There is no complai
made II we do not parade our family secre
= in public. There is no objection made if
business man refuses to '|ivulge the inn
workings Of the firm to which he belong
and, in this same sense. the l. o. o. Z. is S
cret organization, and only in this sense. IT
high and holy principles which dominate it
, an organization, and upon which it is foun
ed, these it does not refuse to make known
the world, but, to an instructed Oddfellt
there are peculiar pleasures, employmeI
and mysteries which bind him to kindr