Truth is said to be eternal.  It was just as true at the dawn of creation that the square described on the hypotenuse of a right-angle triangle is equal to the square described on the other two sides, as it was when Pythagoras enunciated the theorem.  “Thou shall not kill,” is a law written by the Divine hand amid tempest and fire, but it stands.  “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,” rings from the portals of heaven through the gates of humanity and its command will not go unheeded.  They are all great fundamental truths.  Do you observe that they live?  Give heed also to the fact that they stand for a better condition among men, for more helpfulness and higher elevations.  Truths enunciated, whether old or new, that live, only have one tendency, viz., to raise man to better conditions.  Since the dawn of creation there has been a constant tendency to arise from a lower to a higher estate.  Self-preservation, self-helps, self-culture have been the trend of thought and action.  And this has not been altogether an effort in the individual for his own personal advancement, but for the advancement of the race.  Men have undergone sacrifices, humbled and almost debased themselves, that the succeeding generation might live on a higher plane, physically, morally and spiritually, than they themselves enjoyed.  I do not know of any act of humanity that calls forth louder praise than to so act and speak and do as that humanity shall not only catch the inspiration, but shall make material progress on a better understanding of surrounding conditions.  Odd-Fellowship, in its essence, is no new institution.  Its principles, practices and precepts have existed from the beginning of the race.

When Abraham stood with the churlish Lot on the line dividing the plains and highlands and said, “I pray thee let there be no contention between thee and me, if thou goest to the right hand I will go to the left, or, if thou goest to the left hand I will go to the right,” he breathed the pure essence of unselfish devotion to the founder of a race.  The acts of kindness shown by the traveler as the caravan plods its tortuous way across the sands of the desert; the mission of the wise men from the east in search of a Redeemer, all show forth that trait that you and I, my brother, try to emphasize while vowing devotion to the triple links.  I said a moment ago that Odd-Fellowship, in its essence, was no new institution, and so it is not.  As we know it in reality we have simply crystalized its workings.  Instead of humanity, by its individual exertion, seeking to perform the task, we, as an organized band, have taken up the subject.  What was paramount with individuals has become a living force with the multitude.  What was before an invitation to duty has now become a command.