The Covenant of Friendship -by Aiden Brink

My name is Aiden Brink, and I was initiated into my lodge Wisconsin #14 last year at the age of 18. I had always been interested in history, and especially local stories, so when I saw an odd IOOF sign hanging out the window of a building downtown I had to figure out what it was and meant. After a quick Google search, I found out about the order, and its tenants, and even contacted the lodge through their Facebook page. I volunteered to help at a couple of events, got to know the members, and eventually joined the ranks of this fine fraternity.

Since then my Odd Fellow’s journey has been one of rediscovery. We have a fine attic upstairs, dingy and full of old items, books, sashes, curiosities…most worse for wear. I eventually stumbled upon an old binder, a lodge history compiled in the 80’s, which documented the storied legacy of WI #14 from 1847 till 1970. I had the privilege to digitize this work and preserve it. Since then I’ve wanted to know as much as I could about the history of our lodge and the order, and my current understanding of where we came from has influenced how I view Oddfellowship today.

When I look back through the various histories of the Odd Fellows which I have been able to read so far I find that there really is only one element that we share completely with the very first Odd Fellows. That is mutual aid. While shrouded in some mystery, the first Odd Fellows emerged from early 18th-century England. They met in taverns and pubs without much of the ritual and pomp we would later come to expect from our order. They made loans to members in need from the common treasury and provided for the relief of brothers when traveling or in distress. Even as the order matured, this foundation of helping one another was not lost, it was one of the main attractions. This developed later into the formal benefit, insurance-like structure that made OddFellowship so attractive in late 19th and early 20th century America. 

While I learned all this, I looked at the structure of business in our meetings, with two whole sections devoted to members in distress (The visiting committee in charge of visiting members who were sick or otherwise in trouble, and the members reported sick or in distress portion of the order of business). The structures are still there, but at least in our lodge, they were very disused. Until I volunteered to chair a visiting committee we had none, and very rarely would anyone speak up if they needed help. 

While standardized benefits are largely gone at this point, caring and helping one another surely should not be. For my part, one of our senior members can no longer mow his lawn, so I have been going out each week to mow and clean up. I never would have known that he needed help had I not reached out to him, the structures we have in place had failed. 

If we still want to call ourselves Odd fellows then we have to honor that covenant of friendship between our brothers and sisters. Did someone miss a meeting? Give them a call to check up on them. Is a brother or sister elderly and possibly struggling to keep up with housework? Reach out and offer to help. Did your brother or sister get laid off? See if they need monetary assistance to tide them over, and coordinate to see if they need transportation. These are nice things to do, but they are also your sworn duty. You MUST help your brothers and sisters. 

This is not work that can be accomplished alone, and whatever assistance you cannot offer personally should be brought to the lodge. Assistance, monetarily and physically should follow. It is easy to forget to look inward when you are busy always raising money for one cause or another, doing good things in the community. The heart in hand may remind us to give easily, and the bundle of sticks reminds us that we must be together, strong and firm. 

Hail to the Covenant of Friendship!

Want to more about the Odd Fellows? Ask Me I May Know!

Visit our Facebook page: Heart In Hand