The Dallas express. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1893-1970, 1920-04-03

love Of this Christ. / bring him
to you today Sir knights and
Daughters of Calanthe. All signs
and grips and pass words will avail
you nothing if you have not the
inward sign of eternal life, these
earthly signs will not admit you
into Gods kingdom, you must have
the love of God as your signs, your
grip, your pass words, His love
must be stamped in your lives. To
be a Knight, means more than be-
longing to the order, 1t means that
you must be a good citizen, a man
of one wife. Back in Tenn, some
Knights have several wives, and now
mind you that is in Tennessee.
When you become a knight every
body is watching you to see that
you live an exemplary life, cor
rect in your life, correct in your
habits, and above all, according to
the principles of this fraternity it
is expected that you should be a
Christian, united with some branch
of Gods church.
Here the Rev. Smith in a MASTER
full and sympathetic manner in the
very midst of his sermon asked the
uncoverted knights to stand up If
they wished to live and lead new
lives, and at the request several
Knights stood up amidst loud ae-
claims of amen ringing on the ros-
from and throughout the great con-
course of hearers. Some unconvert-
ed members of the Court of Cal
anthe also stood up as an evidence
in the desire for a change of life.
| Some persons join these orders
for protection, to concfo22 2 300$.--.
deeds, and for convenience, and for
selfish purposes, thinking of self,
and self only. These selfish per-
sons remind me of a story of the
three men in leaking and sinking
boat on the lake. The boat sprang
leak to the constre nation of the
three men who could not swim.
But in the boat there were some old
buckets with which the three men
began dipping the water out as it
ran in, and the one asked the other
why he dipped he would say that
| have a wife and babe that need
my support; the second said that
| have an aged mother that is de-
pendent upon me for living, and
am dipping for her; now it was
the time for the third man whose
name was Ephriam to tell why he
dipped and for whom, am dipp-
ing for "Eph," and l am dipping
with all my might. Yes, that is
why some of us join the orders for
selfish motives. You are not true
knights. A true knight should be in
terested in the welfare and uplift
of the race. Every knight should
get behind the hospital movement
that is launched in this CITY The
good white people have allowed us
to go into the Easements of their
hospitals when we should by this
time build one for ourselves, for
our wives, for our children, II we
be worthy Of the name. said Rev.
Smith with force of expression driv-
ing home the thought that 1t is
high time that the Negro awake to
do something for himself, for hui
manity.
He must do something more than
mere idle talk, if he is man, he
has a battle to fight, battle of
right living, right thinking and
right action. The Negro has fought
vell IN all his country's battle and
now he must continue to fight not
with arms and instruments of war,
but with the higher deeds of his
inner life and higher purposes. Be
lust as determined as the soldier boy
was whose lover was in Little Rock,
and we will succeed or go up or
down. Let us honor our craft be
an example in worthy undertaking
and public enterprises said the
speaker. Let us go down from this
place to do more for humanity,
more for ourselves, for our homes,
more for the cause of that love
which Christ has shown both in
His life in his death.
The sermon had wonderful eff
feet on the vast audience many of
whom showed effective emotions and
expressions of sincerity some times
laughing and at other times crying
when the apt Illustrations touched
them with object set forth.
Gen. John L. Jones addressed the
uniform ranks.