I love fellowship because it does so many things. Did you know that fellowship is more than just friendly association? Fellowship goes even deeper than building lasting friendships, and a sense of community. A subtler benefit of fellowship is that it is a multifaceted course of study, a vehicle for the fellows to learn.
As we show up for each other, and build connection here is the kind of learning that happens:
We learn more about each other –
By being good to our kin, we earn their trust. As we earn trust our Odd family feels safer to open up and by degrees we will learn more about their hopes, fears, needs, and truer selves. We may also learn more about the unique talents and strengths of our teammates.
We learn about ourselves –
By practicing fellowship we learn that we are capable of being more supportive than we imagined, and that holding just a little space for another Odd Fellow, or anyone in our community, goes a long way.
We learn new skills –
We learn new skills when we hear our peers speak publicly, watch them give comfort, organize, fundraiser, share, or lead. We also learn when we pay attention to the careful work of a Treasurer, Recoding Secretary, or committee lead.
We learn what not to do –
Sometimes as we all make normal human mistakes we learn what not to do, moving forward.
We learn what it means to be Odd Fellows –
As we fellowship, we learn more about ritual. Beyond that we learn the bigger picture of how our tenets serve and uplift in a dynamic and complicated world.
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