The Columbus dispatch. (Columbus, Miss.) 19??-1922, 1920-03-21
DOCTOR FELT'S SERMON


last Sunday night. It is Of interest
to all fraternity men, especially Ma
sons. lie took for his text Proverbs
1924: "A man that hath friends
must show himself friendly; and
there is a friend that sticketh closer
than a brother
Expressed in Many Ways. /.
1t seems almost a perversion Of
scripture not to treat such text as
its words Indicate. But friendship is
expressed in so many ways, found
under SO many conditions. that the
message of this night is not foreign
to it. | had desire, early in life, to
become a Mason. l have reason to be-
lieve that my family connection, back
to remote day, was identified with
the order. ! know my great grand
father was a Mason, as was my grand
father and father So, when reached
my majority, I was regularly Initial
ed an Entered Apprentice, passed to
the degree Of Fellowcraft, and
raised to the sublime degree of a
Master Mason. | walked with my
companions in distress the path of
trial, presided over a lodge that
taught me how little knew about
Masonry. and was duly and truly ac-
cepted as a Royal Arch Mason. /
looked upon the mysteries of st.
John with kindling interest, discov-
cred anew the beauty Of charity, and
was finally acknowledged Tenn
plar. passed over the hot sands of
the Shriners, declining to be placed
on the invalid list, asking that
should have all that my companions
received, regardless Of "the cloth.
] GOT 1T. | was regularly demited
for satisfactory reasons in no way
affecting the order took the
three ranks of Pythianism, under a
special dispensation at Huntington,
Tenn. They gave me the Amplified
Third Again / got all that was
coming to me, and was taught new
lessons in care and friendship. Prior
= to all this ! was a Greek letter fra
ternity man during my college days.
] have never had cause to regret it.
] have found in all these experiences
something worth while. believe |
know something of the workings Of
secret orders.
Curiosity Inherent.
From the building of Solomon's
Temple, whose chiseled walls rose in
silent grandeur beneath the magic
touch of Masonic hands, "The Elusian
Mysteries" whose rites have never
been satisfactorily explained; from
the time when God said, "Thc day
thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely
die curiosity has been part OF
mans nature And what we don't
understand, we often criticise. Thus
the conception Of outsiders is fire.
ouently ludicrous. Some see a de
sirable mystery to be pried into al
any cost. Others see a greasy pole
% feet high, and goat as big as a
mule, butting capacity equal to al
old-fashioned battering ram, and in
ternal paraphranalia something like
Adam and Eve are supposed to have
worn in the Garden of Eden.
Yet others see a binding, blood
curdling oath, an altar Of fire, boil
inc smoke, and Embarrassing pictures
Then turned over to the tender mer
cies of the aforementioned goat o
butting fame and delicate" perfume
So when they turn in that direction
il is with mingled determination ant
embarrassment. Like the boy at th
old-fashioned candy party who sat il
a chair in which had been placed IN
intentionally, a generous portion o
soft candy. Being called across tn
room, he took the chair with him
Being pressed, he declared he like
that chair; that no one else shout
have it. He separated from the cha,
in a dark place Later on he eS
plained to his friends that he ha
the choice of taking the chair wit
him or leaving his "britehes' in tn
chair. Under the circumstances h
preferred to carry the chair
Mystery and secrecy are the gres
bans Of the secret orders. VIII
closed doors? Why watching sent
nels? We forget that our very e.
istence is wrapped in secrecy -myi
terry from the cradle to the grave
that the veil Of mystery covers eve
our future life. If mystery is
crime, we must inveigh against q
clouds, those sporting pillows tn
fly without wings, borne on Il
breath Of the winds like ghosts fro
graveyards of the past. We mu
despise the water that comes fro
the heart of mystery, laughing, ru