07/04/2026
This didn't get posted with the image earlier......
Chains of Light
By : @ DVG
The homeland rose in living flame, one Fourth of July in fire;
it was not the sword that led the way,but faith and true desire.
Freedom sprang from wounded ground, like seeds through grief and pain; and in each heart is tightly bound an oath we must sustain.
Today we stand as kindred souls, as brothers in one ideal; three sacred links that make us whole, in peace and common zeal.
Friendship, a light that soothes the heart, Love, teaching how to give, Truth, a guide that won’t depart, the path by which we live.
No symbol is a lifeless sign,
nor ritual cold and bare; each marks a trial, a grand design,
a voice of all we share.
The eye that watches from above calls us to ever strive;
it does not judge, but guards with love the better self alive.
The anchor firm in stormy tide
reminds us to endure; the sheaf of wheat, with humble pride,
speaks of the poor and pure.
Thus through emblems we proclaim a deeper liberty;
not bound to date, nor empty name, but lived in charity.
For freedom lives in service true,
in giving without demand;
in seeing in another too
the rise of a just land.
And in this age that presses on,
with history and grace,
Odd Fellows carry hope at dawn—with chains of light embrace
