3-39. 25C.

{Reprint from Monthly Letter to Presidents and Secretaries. April, 1933. Vol. VII—No. 9}

GOODFELLOWSHIP

“No priest, nor king, nor counsel made its laws, or ever shall, for it is free.”

Good Fellowship is one of the elemental things—rooted in
man with good and evil, love and hate. Its temples are wher-
ever good men get together—its shrines and sanctuaries the
hearts of men. More than the impetuous comradeship of
youth, it is the settled faith of men in men. Passing all
boundaries of nation, creed or calling, it asks only the open
heart, the honest purpose, the cheerful countenance. Jits
password is the kindling eye, its pledge the hearty hand—
its finest messages are unspoken. It is the golden age made
manifest. Rites, religions, men and measures pass—good
fellowship remains; for it is eternal love of life, eternal
faith, eternal charity and cheer.—Kehler.

Lion Presidents and Secretaries, are you promot-
ing Good Fellowship in your club? The fundamental
basis of Lionism, the rock on which it stands, is the
Good Fellowship of the members in it. Out of this

comes all that is good.

Some sociable individual has said: “Get ac-
quainted with your neighbor—you may like him.”
Perhaps he had reference to the Lions Club, the
chief ,end of which is to accomplish those things
_ which warm the hearts of men and bring them into
closer harmony.

Is there a saner or a safer method of creating
Good Fellowship than getting together with your
fellow men once a week, putting your feet under the
same table that real, red-blooded human beings
systematically sit down to every week, and looking
them squarely in the eye? There are times in the
life of every man when he needs to forget his
own troubles and think about the other fellow’s.
Attendance at club meetings provides just that sur-
cease which busy business men require to keep them
physically fit and mentally alert.

The moral of “common clay” is Good Fellowship
—the thing that leavens the loaf of life. Without it,
life is little better than mere existence, a wearisome
grind at which red-blooded men rebel. The secret
which the Lions Club is earnestly trying to disclose
for the benefit of its members is the method through
which every man may develop that natural desire
for companionship, acquaintance and mutual esteem
which, after all, are as the flowers by the wayside.

That is why the members of your Lions Club try
to instill into your daily association the spirit of
Good Fellowship that they may always keep before
you the end to be achieved. That is why they believe
it is for your own interest that you meet with them
once each week, giving visible expression to your
purpose, that all the world may see, and, seeing,
believe in the sincerity and beauty of your associa-
tions and fellowship. Soret

Truly, there is nothing more desirable than fel-
lowship—friendship. To the man with many friends
the stream of life murmurs happiness, contentment,
success. It broadens and deepens with the passage
of time. Its ripples, glistening in the sunlight, are
emblematic of those responsive souls, who, giving
of their best, receive it back a thousandfold.

Good Fellowship! That is the Lions ideal. No
matter what may come nor how sorely business
may press and try you, no matter if your personal

inclination is to crawl into a corner and grouch about ©

your troubles, make it a habit as fixed as the day to
go to the weekly meetings and help make them what
they should be. This done, the burden of life’s grind
will lighten in the joy of service, and you will return
to your task with mind attuned to success, in rhythm
with the great human family of which you are, in-
dividually, but a link in the chain from Alpha to
Omega.

Good Fellowship! That is the one and only way
of life. Live it, for in it you will always find the rift
in the clouds, and through it you will find courage
so that your feet will never falter in the pathway
to that pinnacle which all desire but so few attain—
success.

 

(This page Copyrighted, April, 1933. Lions Clubs are permitted to use this material without securing permission.)

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