Why I choose to be an Odd Fellow

               

                

    When I first decided to write about why I joined the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, I thought that one of the best ways to do it would be more me to tell you about my love of music.

    I am not a musician myself, never having the patience to sit down and practice or put in the hard work.  However I grew up in a house where records and the radio were just part of everyday life.  As I was growing up I was surrounded by the sounds of Mel Tillis, Kenny Rogers and George Straight.  As I grew older I found myself drawn to bands like Genesis, Jethro Tull, Rush and Jazz music.

    My friends however were all musicians, playing trumpets, guitars, drums and a whole range of instruments.  An old roommate often had band practice in the garage next to my car.  My first wife was a professional flutist and even though the marriage was unsuccessful, I still have a deep love and understanding for classical music.

    Music has always intrigued me because; no matter what country the musicians are from, no matter what languages they speak or the color of their skin…if you put them in a room with their strings and woodwinds, they will find a way to “talk” to each other.  They will form a community.    I have seen this happen time and time again as words are dropped and the notes of some old familiar song fill the air.

    I’ve been missing that communal feeling since moving to Western Pennsylvania.  While it’s true that we are near family, I was looking for a way to integrate myself into the wider community as a whole and had passed the local IOOF lodge several times.   However I never saw any cars nearby and never bothered to stop to see the phone number listed on the sign.

    It wasn’t till I found a booth at the local fair that I decided to stop and talk to them about membership.   The rest they say is history.

    I had heard of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows after seeing something n TV about their history.  I had actually talked to a member of the group long before this chance encounter and knew that one of the local homes for the aged was associated with the organization.   

    The more I learned about their beliefs and ideals of the organization, the more that I realized that I was an “Odd Fellow” my entire life, although my belief in God is tenuous at best.   I have to laugh as I remember someone calling me that as a derogatory term a long time ago.  Ah, if only they knew how right they where!

    Years ago I came across a quote that sums up the way life should be lived.   We are here to see each other through this world, not to see through each other.    Even though I do not know who first stated it.  I can think of no other way to live my life and have tried to live by that principle ever since.

    The Odd Fellows, to me at least, are the personification of that quote.  Without even realizing it, I was living some of the central tenets of Odd Fellowship my entire life.  My original degree is in education and for a brief time, about three years, I taught school.  While these children were far from orphans, I was helping to educate the future.   In my duties as an insurance agent and financial advisor I was helping to bury the dead, and finally I have always tried to visit the sick and relieve the distressed by various charity work that I’ve found myself involved in through the years.  

    I am still a new member, but I’m a proud member that is looking forward to not only helping my lodge grow and thrive, but trying to help the order survive into the future.  There is still a place for ritual in this world.  There is still a place for those of us that believe in charity.  

    There is still a place in this world for Friendship, Love and Truth.