Great Falls tribune., 1921-12-05
The Rev. L. ]. Christler
of Havre Delivers
Memorial Address at
Services in Temple.

Ia memory of nine members who
have died within the last year, the
Great Falls Lodge, No. 214, B. P o..
f.. held services Of sorrow Sunday
night. annual Elks' memorial day, in
the Elks' temple The Rev. l.. j..
Christler. rector of st. Marks Episco-
pal church at Havre, delivered the
memorial address.
The Rev. Christler has a life mem
bership in the Elks' Hodge which was
gift to him from Auburn Lodge No.
474. of Auburn, n. Y, more than ~
years ago.
In his address Mr.. Christler compared
life and death as great adventures. lie
lifted death from it's grim setting In
the solemn meeting by treating it as
healthy minded people accept and RISK
life. as great adventure which stirs
the pulse, challenges pluck and tests
the nerves.
The basis of his address was The
Creod of Sanctified Common Sense as
Opposed to Faith -Harbor of Escape
From the Storms and Thrills of the
Great Adventure of Both Life and
Death
The Rev. Mr.. Christler said in part:
The EIks Memorial
NO period in the history OF the
wears events in Elkdom awakens such
nrofound and tender feelings In the
heart and mind of an earnest Elk
as does the first Sunday in December
of each year. when observance OF the
memorial day gives opportunity TO
exemplify in q practice of singular
beauty and power the teachings of our
brotherhood
"It follows, therefore. that the value
of this day is inestimable, in that 1t
not only lends dignity to the fraternity:
but it enforces the renewed respect OF
all for the faith that is not a way
Of talking, but a way of walking; the
faith. worthy Of the best that brain
can think or will can do.
.Tbe fundamental outlook on the
associations of this day and the cere-
monies of the other regularly stated
conclayes Of the year. while different
In character, is not so very different
in principle.
Spirit of Adventure
The message to us at the moments
when around the altar we bind our
selves to the same ties and pledge
ourselves to the same duties is CON
cerped with the cooperative venture
of men to intermingle high ideals and
the lofty joys of service with the
hard tasks and chastening experiences
Of life that our names and characters
will be as pure and legible upon the
hearts about us as the stars on the
brow of an evening cloud. >,
1T is then and there We commit
ourselves to a brotherhood OF declsloh'
to an achievement. to distinctive way
cf life. not by au intellectual accept ,
auce. but by moral loyalty, not by
profession. but by the confession OF
creed imbued with the choice spirit
Of human adventure.
With Moral Attitude
so. then, the message OF today
differs onlv from the voice Of the
other conclaves in that it is concerned
with the moral attitude of each one
of us toward the great adventure which
we call death, wherein the things we
dreamed of in lifes adventure are at
last accomplished and the things mar
red by the bunders of the same are
at last whole, for whenever we arrive
at the cradle or at the grave, either
spells adventure.
follow down along the lines Of mod
ern experience, of ethics. of religion
and civics, and not encounter along the
way today in church. fraternity, state
and nation a discouraging decline of
the spirit of adventure in them all
each hesitating. halting, afraid, in a
most painful, dramatic way.
Maxims That Spell Deca>
Here are some Of the maxims that
spell decay only to religion, broth
erhood. a civilization lolling in slipper
ed eases. Above church affairs the
self-protective prayer Grant that we
or the motto. Join the church and find
a harhor from wrath On the lodge
door, Come in men. and be sheltered
from the chilly winds and vicissitudes
of life, or the slogan. Join the fratern-
ity for the security and popularity it
insures. Over the seats of governments
the most conspicuous sign Of ala
twin to the one that stands on SO many
railway stations-'Safety first. or
Security, not adventure
Nothing can be more remote from
men made for hard tasks than this
gable of the play safe kind of a
people. many of them good people. but
too many of them good for nothing in
world filled with the tragic needs of
today.
Must Make Choice
Among the vast adventures of /
church, of fraternity, of state, Of nation
and Of man today is to make choice be-
tween war and peace. for since the last
war, our boast Of a civilized people
sounds empty when experience shows
there is not much Of that commodity in
existence.
''Let us make the adventure at this
hour with all its attendant risks and
thrills by announcing to the world We
the people of America disarm because
there can be no better order of living |
in brotherly love. in faith in justice
and in fidelity so long as hearts and
backs are broken with the cost Of !.
armament
Would Be New Force
Such a proposal would break
flame of fire around the world and the
nations would have to reckon with
new force. The shock of insincerity /
would give place to the belief that we
are making good our promise when a
few years ago we conscripted the youth
of our land.