Oddfellows Celebration
Nov 4, 2004
Ways I’ve been introduced…. ---Come on, the sooner we can get this over, this sooner we can leave. --Here in J’ville… another civic organization..hired to speak on travel…elderly lady.. ---Ray Bradbury.. Vachel Lindsay.. Ken Bradbury…Rachel Lindsay ---Famous Author’s Day…. Chillicothe “Probably Dead”
It’s an honor to be asked to speak at this important occasion in your lodge’s history. Beginning a speech… Bummy.
Entry in my Great-Grandmother’s diary…
“Got up this morning to finish chopping the wood. Scrubbed the upstairs floors and saw to the chickens. Puttered around a bit then beat a few carpets. Checked the rain gauge then pulled a few weeds while I was out. Then I woke the men for breakfast.” ----Tradition. Many of you were raised by equally hard-working women and men. ----Lincoln Land class…asked why they vote the way the do..Most: family tradition. ----Dad spanked me.. 5 cent vs. 10 cent Pepsi. Then $500 to man..burned house. A tradition of giving…a tradition of love. ----Kids wouldn’t play at our house…yet… ballgame, concert. A tradition of values. ----Dr. James Dobson.. monopoly.
We are all a product of our traditions and tonight we celebrate one of Jacksonville’s finest traditions, the 100th anniversary of the Rebecca Lodge. I don’t know much about your particular history, but I have known many fine people who were and are members…….and that, more than anything else, is your tradition…the lives of those who have gone before.
Sometimes traditions aren’t that great an idea… Young wife...cut off ham.
Spoke with a lady yesterday …new to our community. She and her husband have lived and worked in New York, San Francisco, the Minneapolis area and have gained a national reputation for their work. In her words, “We’ve never seen anything like Jacksonville. Some of the places we’ve lived had friendly people, some had a great arts community, some had a stimulating intellectual environment…but this is the first place we’ve been that has all of these things. I had no idea that our new home would be so rich in tradition.”
Once sat at the old Holiday Inn restaurant… listening to an executive with Passavant try to wine and dine and talk a young doctor and his wife into coming to Jacksonville. He talked about housing, he talked about the arts, and then when he talked about the philanthropic organizations the young couple couldn’t believe their ears. The young wife’s response… “We didn’t have this many active organizations in Miami.”
I’ve been a schoolteacher for 34 years. My kids can do fine in math and reading and computer science. What they need to be taught…what they can only learn from people like you is the desire to give of themselves… the finest tradition of the Rebecca’s. Above all else, our young people need your prayers. This Present Darkness. I teach in a wonderful school district. We have managed to hold onto our values while much of the world loses theirs… But it’s not the staff or the football team or the cornfields… It’s a community of praying people. It’s a community of people with the spirit of the Rebecca’s. The strength of our community is its institutions. The strength of those institutions is their people. The strength of the people is their prayers. More than anything else, that is why you are celebrating your 100th anniversary tonight.
I AM A REBEKAH: I believe in the Fatherhood of God, the Brotherhood of man, and the Sisterhood of woman. I believe in the watchwords of our Order - Friendship, Love and Truth. Friendship - is like a golden chain that ties our hearts together. Last night…Jennie… Matt.. Pray, then took her hand and led her down the hallway to go over lines with her. Love - is one of our most precious gifts, the more you give, the more you receive. Doug…clowning… Your second watchword: Truth - is the standard by which we value people. It is the foundation of our society. Truth is so very precious…the Presidential campaign just ended…no matter how you voted, we were all searching for one simple thing…the Truth. The Hairy Man…. And sometimes stretching the truth works, too. Matt…baritone. I believe that my main concern should be my God, my family and my friends. Then I should reach out to my community and the World, for in God's eyes we are all brothers and sisters. I AM A REBEKAH! We all should be Rebeccas. When Mother Teresa..Nobel Peace Prize… “It’s a shame that one would receive such a high honor for simply doing the bare minimum that Christ requires.” Dr. Albert Sweitzer: “The only ones among you who are going to be truly happy are those who have sought and found out how to serve others.” Your founder chose Rebekah for affection. He chose Ester for Patriotism. He chose Sarah for Faith. He chose Deborah for Courage. He chose Miriam for Zeal and Devotion. He chose Mother of Sampson and Hannah for Piety. Why did he chose the name Rebekah? It must have been because he wished to symbolize unselfishness because Rebekah, more than others, displayed that trait in the scene at the well. I applaud you on the marvelous example you set in our community. I congratulate you on your amazing anniversary. I encourage you to continue being a shining light of Friendship, Love, and Truth in this most blessed of communities. Happy Birthday, Rebeccas!
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