ht. But alas! this world was made to break hearts in,
while love was sent from heaven to heal them. The precious balm,
though, is so scarce that many must die for want of it. Oh, the
might-have-been! What human soul has not sung that dirge? Verily, the
winds come, howling it by like an invisible band of mourners from the
grave of all things. Alas! is anything in this life real, or are we
indeed shadows, and this world altogether a shadowy land, while the
blackened skies above give us only glimpses of a far-off better home,
better friends and better love? Alas! Heaven's loudest complaint to
mortals is ever for lack of love. Even He who sitteth upon the throne
of thrones knoweth what it is to stretch out His arms in utter
desertion of no one to love Him, no one to seek Him, and no one to fear
Him--"no, not one." Then as we may best show our love to Him by loving
one another, is it not well that we commence loving those around us at
once? Ah! yes, and like the ambitious vine, do thou reach out all thy
tendril thoughts to what is nearest, the while aspiring to the oak or
the pine of the loftier trust, even the faith of Abraham that was
accounted unto him for righteousness. Would I had some new phrase for
love, some new figure for hope! How lonely and weary must that life be
without love, how tasteless all its joys, and how vacant every scene.
If we have the spirit of love we will live for others. Auguste Comte
inscribed on the first page of his work, "Politique Positive," wherein
he depicted in systematic form, life that had been forming itself
throughout human history, these words: "Order and progress--live for
others." The force of this thought is, in accord with Odd-Fellowship,
which teaches love of our kind, love of right, zeal for the good.

Man's happiness consists in living as a social being, living for self
in order to more truly live for others. This is summed up in the word
humanity. But affection, as the true motor force of life, must have a
foundation, must stir us not only to the right things, but to the right
means; in other words, action must be guided by knowledge. Improvement
must be the aim of social life, as it is the incentive to individual
effort. It is not enough to desire the good, or to know how to achieve
it, we must labor for it. Associated effort gives the opportunity for
gaining grander results than centuries of divided activity. The
conception of humanity has grown nobler. T