The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-11-06
B. P. o. E. Is Now Called The Greatest
 Fraternal Order In The United States

I The founders of this fraternity
 buiIded far better than they knew. little band of actors, Bohemians, out casts of the so-called society of that day. seeking a friendly shelter from
 The criticism of those who ridiculed
 their calling and sought to .belittle I9antzaffon and adopted the principles N Efof charity, justice, brotherly love and
 4delity, and as the prime principle E0f ttheir brotherhood, Charity, (which they declared the greatest of ba1 the virtues.
 And now abideth Faith, [, Hope, HCharfty-these three-but the great t4st of these is Charity" In the re. fx1sed version of the wonderful thir-
 Eeenth chapter of the Corinthians the
 xord Love" is substituted for Charity Lodges Keynote. Fifteen centuries ago, Mahomet,
 xhe founder of the religion which has
 been the greatest barrier to- the
 Every good /act is charity; your i4miling in your brothers face is char p1ry; an exhortation to your fellow man to virtuous deeds is equal to ffn the right road is charity; your aSr tqisting the blind is charity; your giv- fzng water to the thirsty is charity" Emanuel Swedenborg, the :, great t<heologian of the eighteenth century, kdehned charity as "neighborly love-" Ek1e wrote Charity is the kernel of EChristianity,s and the outward form HEhe she1l."'
 The charity we as Elks teach and fendeavor.sto practice includes consid- Ferauon of the rights of others, to1- rerance of opposite views, whether kpoiitical or religious; charity for the kenvironment and temptations that Bgurround and beset brother as he E5purneys through life.
 Contributions to charity. balls that h6he name of the donor may De her Ealded in the newspapers; signing subscription lists that all the world fmay know how generous the sub- ecriber is; such acts do not of them k1elves constitute the charity we be- E1ieve in. Almsgiving may be vulgar. N tCharity is always divine.
 M Charity means understanding and i51ympathy and help for those who have fallen in the struggle, for those ewho have suffered defeat.
 No mans life is so perfect that he bean determine standards of perfec- ttton. l No mans life has been so full nor
 Ehas he journeyed so far that he can tknow the lures and temptations that Eface all men and all women-the Fereeds upon which they were reared
 s,--the early influences that surround led them-te griefs that they bear
 the hurts that they wear and the
 storms that beat uon their hearts # Not every man has felt the need of Dread nor the want of a roof, nor eprfvations that have battered the II.
 |l What Would You Have Done? | No man can accurately estimate iRny motive in life. but his own. Have *you ever thought what you yourself might have done had you been placed fl in the same position as another whom you condemned? Would you do better-would you be better than any other son of sorrow. if Destiny had tangled you in the meshes of her M web7
 No man has a right to constitute N himself a trial board of the com
 \ munity's morals. This order teache: " charity of thought and word ant
 -aed. .'
 R We believe, also, in justice, bu Fl not the stern, unyielding, ~exactins | Justice that Puritan would demand | rand Shylock enforce. An old phil osopher admitted: "I am not wis enough to know what justice is The gentle Portia said: ''In tn course of justice none Of us snoult see salvation" Justice that walk