The Jericho Road | Page 8

W. Bion Adkins

can not reach any very low depth of woe. By his own act, by his own
voluntary desertion of the true aim of life, and by that alone, is it
possible that a man should drink his cup of misery to the dregs. The
want of happiness, so prevalent, is thus the natural consequence of the
inherent blindness of men. By it they are led to pursue eagerly the
phantom of wealth, rank, power, etc., white neglecting that which alone
can satisfy the wants of the soul. If men could really know what is their
chief good, we should no longer hear on every hand prayers offered up
for those idle accoutrements of life, which may indeed be enjoyed, but
often bring only dissatisfaction, and can be dispensed with without
inconvenience to mankind.
Many persons say Odd-Fellowship is contrary to the teachings of the
Bible. The way such people read their Bible is just like the way that the

old monks thought hedgehogs ate grapes. They rolled themselves over
and over where the grapes lay on the ground. What fruit stuck to their
spines they carried off and ate. So your hedgehoggy readers roll
themselves over and over their Bibles and declare that whatever sticks
to their spines is Scripture and that nothing else is. But you can only get
the skins of the texts that way. If you want their juice you must press
them in cluster. Now the clustered texts about the human heart insist as
a body, not on any inherent corruption in all hearts, but on the terrific
distinction between the bad and the good ones. "A good man out of the
good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good, and an evil
man, out of the evil treasure, bringeth forth that which is evil."
"They on the rock are they which, in an honest and good heart, having
heard the word, kept it."
"Delight thyself in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thine
heart. The wicked have bent their bow that they may privily shoot at
him that is upright in heart." For all of us, the question is not at all to
ascertain how much or how little corruption there is in human nature,
but to ascertain whether, out of all the mass of that nature, we are the
sheep or the goat breed; whether we are people of upright heart being
shot at, or people of crooked heart doing the shooting.
And of all the texts bearing on the subject, this, which is a quite simple
and practical order, is the one you have chiefly to hold in mind: "Keep
thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life."
The will of God respecting us is, that we shall live by each others
happiness and life; not by each others misery or death.
Men help each other by their joy, not by their sorrow. There is but one
way in which man can ever help God--that is, by letting God help him.
A little boy, who had often heard his father pray for the poor, that they
might be clothed and fed, interrupted him one day by saying, "Father, if
you will give me the key to your corn crib and wheat bin, I will answer
some of your prayers."
Ah! my friends, always keep in mind this truth, "One hour of justice is
worth seventy years of prayer."
Call not this, then, a Godless institution, rioting in selfishness and
infidelity, as it has been denominated by certain super-excellent
Christians, who appear to have fully persuaded themselves that no good
can possibly come from such a Nazareth. For, with the constant and

unvarying light of the Holy Bible, that illuminated lexicon of the sweet
Beyond, and of the approaches thereto--that trusty talisman of all
hopeful hearts--that competent counselor of the wisest and the
best--that inspirer of joy and satisfaction born of no other book--that
precious presager of immortal life beyond the river--that divine guide
to faith and practice, can by no means fail in the ultimate working out
of its sublime purposes.
In the ranks of Odd-Fellowship there are many of the truest, noblest,
sharpest and most holy men in the civilized world. None of these have
been able to make that "Godless and selfish" discovery. This brilliant
achievement is reserved for those favored mortals that never saw the
inside of an Odd-Fellow's lodge, and are entirely ignorant of its
character and practical workings. The order has increased largely in
wealth, power and influence. Large cities and towns, which formerly
paid little or no attention to us, now eagerly welcome us to their
hospitalities.
Judges and governors vie with each other in doing us honor, and well
may we be proud of the
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