The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-04-22
SERMON TO ODD FELLOWS
A SPECIAL SERVICE AT FLETCHER
PLACE vi. f.. CHURCH.
a Sermon on "F~ricndship, Love and
Truth by the Pastor, Rev
Virgil w. Teyis.

Rev. Virgil w. TeviS addressed the Odd
Fellows yesterday at the morning service
at Fletcher-place Church. A large num-
Der of the fraternity was present, attend
ing in a body. DR.. Tevis dwelt largely up
on the peculiar trials of life. which neces-
STATED organization for mutual protection,
and amplifed the motto of the order.
Friendship, Love and Truth" In SUBJ
stance he spoke as follows:
There is implanted in the human heart a
desire for fellowship. Life is lonely with
out 1t. JOY is Sweetened by sharing it;
trouble Is lightened by dividing the bur-
den. AS the tear drops in a child's eyes are
hung with rainbows by a kind word, so
in the life of manhood, where larger chill
dren weep. No man was born for a her
nit life; such a life is unnatural. Man
is a creature Of society. There is to him
being. In the long hours of the watchers
night, when the clock ticks louder than at
any other time, the footsteps of a passer-by
upon the sidewalk make sweet music. Man
depends in a large measure upon his fell
lows. There are no absolutely independent
beings among men.
Every man looks ahead a little. To-mor-
rows sunrise Is limited in the sunset cOl0rs
of to-day The very star that pins the cur
tains of night together whispers of a COM
Ing morning, when the curtains shall be
drawn apart. Knowing that tomorrow
will come, every man a~nxiously scans its
horizon. In its shadowy outline he reads
many possibilities.
HE knows that a time of trial is COM
ing, when he will need human sympathy.
Trials are part of life's experiences. With
a struggle we came into the world, and
with a struggle will we go out OF it. Life
is a battle from start to finish. In times
of trial there is nothing quite like human
sympathy. The friendly touch of a broth
ers hand has in it a magnetism that stirs
the most tender chords Of the heart. He
knows that there is coming, maybe, a time
OF financial perplexity. Riches take wings
and fly away. The man who revels In
wealth to-day may taste the pangs of pow
erty tomorrow. Poverty is a grim reality.
Few are the friends you can count upon in
a pinch. The friendships of the mass Of
men are based upon reciprocity; when the
time comes that you are unable to recipro-
cate, friendship flies out of the window.
Hence in the vigor of his manhood, every
man seeks to bind friends to him with
that a time is coming when he will fall
asleep and forget to wake up, and his wife
and children Will be left to battle with the
world. This fact worries every devoted
husband and father. He does not care for
himself half so much as he does for those
whom he loves. Hence he makes prepara-
poor. he strives If possible to carry life
insurance. A policy in a sound company is
a religious act.
"For these reasons he organizes. Among
all the organizations, the Odd Fellows
stand among the first. 1t is founded upon
friendship, love and truth; a trinity of
/ lOTCeS HSTO 10 DICdk. True lflcLuSIlD d.
ways shines brightest in trouble. This is
it's test. Trouble is to friendship what the
acid is to gold. True friendships do much
toward building up character. A true
word from an acquaintance may weigh an
ounce, from a friend it weighs a ton.
teachings cut the marble away, and let the
angel out. He Is not a good Odd Fellow
who looks merely to the financial benefits
accruing. and forgets the moral obligations
1 which hind him RI his brother
Love puts a new face on this old world
of ours. To love, the object is always beau
tiful. Your mothers face is one of the most
cause you love her. The prictice of this
virtue among brethren will reveal the
lovable and glorious among men.
TO LEARN THE TRUTH.
1--WE are to learn the truth. Truth is a
| thing as ii is. In order to be true brethren
| there must be revealed to us the weakness
| of men. A man is the biggest object among
created things. He occupies a house of
! so many rooms that some OF them are un-
! furnished. Every man has his weakness.
| If you knew all the environments and con-
ditlons surrounding a brother, your heart
would grow strangely tender toward him.
Harsh personal criticism does no good. If
you ever win a man, 1t will be by playing
| upon the good within him. If a piano has
only one key in tune. by playing upon that,
4 the contrast clWtCn lut sweet IlclOQN
| evoked from that which is in tune, and the
| horrible discords which torture the air
from that which is out of tune, will cause
| the owner to have the entire instrument
| oyerhauled. So one chord of goodness
struck upon the human heart, will wake
the ambition of the man., and may finally
result in his tuning himself to harmonies
| divine. We are also to learn the truth
about the grandeur of men. There is
| something grand in even the wreck of a
man. As the hull of a dismantled ship sug-
gests the possibilities Of an ocean racer,
| with priceless cargo. so even the wreck OF
a man suggests the possible God-like
| creature, on his way from time TO eter-
nity. with a priceless and deathless soul,
We are to learn the truth concerning God,
and the hereafter.
sGrandly ell these years has the old or
der pursued her way. The blessings of
| hundreds of widows and orphans have
been heaped upon her. II every blessing
we're a flower she would be hidden from
] sight i'm the blossoms cast upon her. Her
| cheeks are ruddy with the hues of health,
Her eyes are limpid with love. Her stall
wart form cheerfully bears the burdens
she assumes.
NAV YOU be Odd Fellows, indeed. ODD
10 the stingy and mean, who cannot un-
derstand the divine philosophy of liberali-
~. odd to all that is little. depraved and
debased. But may you be in thorough har-
mony with God and your brethren"