The gazette-times. [volume] (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925, 1916-05-11
SAM t. VAAvACTOR DELIVERS GRAFTON N WHICH
NEW TEMPLE |sOED|CATED TOGOD AND HUMANITY

We publish herewith in full the
dedicatory oration delivered by Sam
E. Van Vactor of this city in the new
Masonic temple last Saturday eve
ming:
To dedicate to God and humanity
a structure wherein is taught and i'm
pressed the lessons of faith, charity,
patriotism and brotherly love; the
living of better life; the thinking of
better and nobler thoughts; the set
ting of higher ideals and aspirations
is no new thing among men and Ma
sons, and we tonight in our feeble
way are but emulating the dedication
of the first temple ever erected to
God by the great law giver of Israel,
descended from the loins of David.
And as that structure, stable land
mark of free masonry, perhaps the
most wonderful the world has ever
known, with all its splendor;. its gold
en- finishings, magnificent in its d.
mensions, glittering brilliant and
beautiful in its appointments. stand
ing proudly upon the hill in Jeru-
saleum, beckoning the heavens to
rest upon its stately columns, was
erected and dedicated by divine COM
mand of the great architect of the
Universe, Master Builder of the
world, who is there to say that this
structure now being dedicated and
consecrated to God and humanity, is
not through His all wise and inscrut-
able methods so erected and dedicat-
ed
AS brightest rays of sunshine are
sometimes dimmed with floating
shadows, and life's sweetest moments
sometimes tinged with pain, so to
some of you, my brothers, on this
triumphal occasion come feelings
akin to sadness, perhaps, sorrow
~ oa4.n-t name.
The pass'"~ OF the old lodge room.
Homely it's furnishings, dull and
plain its walls, yet round its sacred
altar cluster fondes;, dearest most
cherished recollections.
! There first broke upon the vision
the dazzling lights of masonry,
cleansing the soul with it's irradia-
tions of virgin purity
There were given and received the
sacred precepts and lessons that have
enabled you to VIGOROUSLY meet and
conquer life's adversities, life's sor-
rows and life's tragedies.
There were received the impress
sions that make for the happier and
higher life. Lessons that if received
and needed by all would make a
world without bloodshed, without
crime and without poverty.
There in manhoods early dawn
you clasped hands with brothers
brave and true, ready, willing and
eager to take up the cause of the
opprest, give to the needy and render
assistance to the less fortunate, men
who confdntly trod the avenues of
life, whose faces bore no blush of
shame, no secret fear of deeds untold,
unknown; men who have now passed
on before, fearlessly embarking upon
the seas of eternity in that unnamed,
mysterious craft that knows no re-
turn.
All! the old lodge room with it's
sacred associations, hallowed though
it be, deserted and silent it stands.
No more shall its walls echo the
voice of the master directing the
craftsmen in their labors, the solemn
beautiful and impressive VOWS of the
apprentice, or his voice lifted in ex-
haltation as he attains to the sub
lime degree of master Mason.
Like all things material its pur-
pose is served, its usefulness ended
and it has yielded to the ever cease
less tramp of time and the inexor-
able laws of progression.
While you would that the spindle
of time could turn backward with a
return of the boundless strength and
confidence of manhood's young bloom
that you might enjoy and live it
again, God in his infinite wisdom has
decreed that mans sojourn here shall
be brief.
That today shall never repeat itself
and that the purple rays of evenings
setting sun on the western hilltop is
but yesterdays lingering farewell
kiss for all eternity.
That that which today is mans
most cherished possession and high
est achievement, shall tomorrow be-
long to the ages.
This spacious structure, the con-
StructiOn of which in its SIMPLICITY
and solidity, standing upon its ad-
mantine foundation is indeed typical
of the order of freemasonry, solid as
the rock of ages, proclaiming unto
the world the intensified devotion Of
its builders.
Their deep, underlying faith in the
cause of masonry the cause of right