Evening star., 1923-06-04
SHR|NERS ATTEND
Church SERVICE
Visitors Gather for Religious
Rites in Open Air at Tenn
pile Heights.

lasting dSlue the cdTeITee JONldIlly
that has marked the beginning of
the forty-ninth annual sessions the
members of the Ancient Arabic Or
der. Mobiles of the Mystic Shrine. with
barred heads, gathered at an impress
sive service yesterday afternoon on
the tree-covered slopes of Temple
Heights and asked Gods blessing.
On the grounds at Connecticut ave-
nue. and Florida avenue, where soon
great Masonic edifices will be built
thousands of visiting mobiles repeat
ed the prayers spoken to them by the
clergymen through an immense am
plifer. and said There Is time to
laugh as we'll as to weep. time to
rejoice as we'll as to mourn. a time
to be merry as well as be sad. In
this great happy week before us may
our pleasure be without intemper-
ance, our joIlity without coarseness
and our happiness without sin"
Almas Band Plays.
The Almas Temple Band, directed
by Noble William I. White. and glee
club led the singing of the hymns
Rt. Rev. William F. Mcdowell and
Rev. John C. Palmer grand chaplain
Of Grand Lodge Of the District of
Columbia, who was master of cere-
monies. took part.
The Almas Temple Glee Club, led
by Noble Charles r. Bartlett. sang
the professional The Americans
Greed was recited and prayers for
the President of the United States
and all those in authority were said.
The sermon was preached by the
Rt Rev. Thomas F. Gailor. Bishop
of Tennessee, and president of the
Church, who set forth the ideals of
the Shrine.
Bishop Gailor Speaks.
Taking as his text The Kindness
of God" from the epistle to Titus,
iii. 4-Bishop Gailor said, in part:
How wonderful, how glorious, that
is, The kindness of God, what
meaning, what interest and hope and
reality it gives to life-God the AL
mighty, the absolute. ineffable source
of all power. all thought. all life,
who holds the universe in the hollow
of His hand. and without whose will
we could not draw another. breath!
God is kind. Yes, behind all the
coldness and hardness of nature, red
in tooth and claw, there is a will
that is good and a heart that is kind.
Therefore. man. the child of God,
must. be kind. says the Christian
apostle. BE ye kind one to another.
and again. If you want to be whole
man, add virtue to faith, and to faith
knowledge. and to knowledge brother
ly kindness; for kindness is a primary
Christian precept and covers the
whole Of life.
Obligation of Privilege.
Every privilege involves a cor
responding obligation. No man liveth
unto himself. For the individual and
for the nation also this is true. that
selfishness is a canker that blights
both honor and happiness. 1t makes
wealth arrogant and cruel. 1t makes
poverty bitter and resentful, it breeds
suspicion and contention, injustice
and corruption. 1t is the mother of
sin. But kindness-the acceptance of
the obligation of kinship-is the
divine law of true manhood. We are
citizens of the world and the precept
is binding upon us all: BE We kind,
giving one another, even as God for
Christ's sake hath forgiven you
And this fellowship makes life
worth living. To have friends and
to be friendly; to forget ones own
troubles in thinking of others; to
make ones life a positive contribu-
ton to the well-being of the COM
munity; to be too busy doing good to
have time for evil courses.
And here. finally. is the joy of
life. For what is life after all, but
an opportunity; an opportunity as
Browning says, to learn the power
end glory of love; to show kindness
and draw nearer in understanding
and sympathy to our fellow human
beings? To waste and misuse this
opportunity by selfish isolation is to
take all the JOY and richness out of
life. To let daily business narrow
and harden the soul is to make age
more lonely and death more horrible.
AS Shakespeare says:
"a 4 have lived long enough: my way of life
Is fallen into the scar the yellow leaf: ,
And that which should accompany old age,
As honor. love. obedience. troops of friends,
must not look to have
But to be kind to one another ac-
cording to the kindness of God our
Savior, that fortifes a mans soul
with peace and gives him the capac-
ity for true enjoyment even here
1t lightens the daily task: 1t
cheers the heart with innocent
amusement; it ennobles the work al
ready done and gives courage to face
the future trial. So 1t may pervade
and inspire this great Brotherhood
of the Mystic Shrine. enabling it's
members to reverence Truth. to serve
humanity and to rejoice in the kind
ness of God.
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