P.E.O. Program #PEO05
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OUR STAR, BEACON OF LIGHT
Denyse Killgore, Chapter K
2000
I have received help for this program from Mary Jane White and Mary Joiner, so all complaints should be directed to them. But I do want to thank them for their help. Mary told me to start off with a joke and of course no one can remember a joke or tell a joke like Mary, but here goes with a joke Mary gave me - I think she got it from Tony Holifield. It’s about a star.
Q: Why did God give the star for the wise men to follow?
A: Because he knew they wouldn’t ask directions!
But let’s see if we can get some directions about our P.E.O. star.
Most of you know more about our star than I do, but I have been studying and I want to highlight some things I have learned and the way I feel about our star, our beacon of light.
Stars inspired seven young women to choose the star as our P.E.O. emblem. The five points of the star symbolize the virtues of faith, love, purity, justice, and truth. These five virtues are called cardinal virtues - cardinal meaning most important, and these five are certainly of most importance in our lives. The letters P.E.O. are centered on our star.
The star was chosen for the emblem of P.E.O. at the very first meeting held in the music room of Old Main on the campus of Iowa Wesleyan College in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. The date was January 21, 1869. The star as our emblem was suggested by Alice Coffin, one of the seven founders of P.E.O. The name of our society was also decided upon at that organizational meeting of January 21st.
A little later when the constitution was written, Article 1, Section 2 read: The badge of this society shall be a golden star with P.E.O. in black enamel letters written in the center. It is likely that at the first business meeting held two days later on January 23, that Mr. Crane of the Crane Jewelry Store in Mt. Pleasant had a sample pin ready.
About 21 years later, Ella Stewart, one of the seven founders, wrote this:
Our star, as a badge, what could be more significant? The stars of heaven are bright because they are reflected upon. Likewise should our lives be made radiant by the reflection of God’s love upon our hearts, giving us light and wisdom.
Our star - with its five shining points - directs us in the paths of virtue. The points radiating from each bear their message of Faith in God and in each other - Purity in thought, speech and action - Justice to all in deed and opinion - Truth in speech and conduct - Love to God, to our friends, and to each other. Let us keep strict watch that (the star’s) brilliance is not dimmed - neither the beauty of a single point marred, by ought we do or say.
Let’s take one virtue at a time for a few minutes.
FAITH - Faith is belief or trust that does not question or ask for proof. Hebrews 11:1 says, Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen - and our initiation repeats this. Faith requires no proofs. Emily Dickinson wrote:
I never saw a moor,
I never saw the sea,
Yet know I how the heather looks, and what a wave must be.
I never spoke with God,
Nor visited in heaven;
Yet certain am I of the spot as if a chart were given.
We know about Christian martyrs who were killed because they would not deny their faith in Christ. We all remember the young girl in the Littleton, Colorado high school shooting who, when asked by the gunmen if she believed in Christ, answered yes, even with the gun pointed at her; and it cost her her life.
And I especially like this quote from Josiah Gilbert Holland:
Faith draws the poison from every grief,
Takes the sting from every loss,
And quenches the fire of every pain;
And only faith can do it!
LOVE - Love is the greatest of all these virtues, because love never fails in any situation. Love overcomes anything. There is love for God, love for one’s spouse, love of children, love of parents, love of friends, love of church, love of home.
Mary Joiner told me that love has many definitions, but the love P.E.O.s will feel closest to is the fatherly concern of God for man and our sisterly concerns for others.
Then we’ve all heard that love is blind - love makes the world go ‘round - love me, love my dog - love will find a way!
Victor Hugo wrote that the greatest happiness in the world is the conviction that we are loved, loved for ourselves - or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.
AndHenry Van Dyke wrote:
Every house where love abides and friendship is a guest,
Is surely home, and home sweet home,
For there the heart can rest!
And, a quote about love from Sermon Without Words:
St. Francis came to preach,
With smiles he met the friendless,
Fed the poor
Freed a trapped bird,
Led home a child.
Although he spoke no word his text,
God’s love, the town did not forget.
The greatest definition of love, of course is John 3:16 - For God so loved the world he gave his one and only son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. And from John 13:34 - Love one another as I have loved you. You must love one another.
PURITY - Purity is being morally good, containing nothing dirty or unhealthful, being without blemish. What we say about purity in initiation comes from Philippians 4:8. Trying to keep our thoughts pure is very hard at times. Not to think negatively or harshly about someone or something can be very difficult. Understanding that we do not always achieve it, our founders told us it is to strive for. You strive toward that beacon light of purity. Psalm 19:14 says may the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
JUSTICE - Justice is the condition of being right or fair, without showing favor to anyone. To be reasonable and fair is treating everyone equally. Unfairness is such a terrible thing, especially when it happens to me! - P.E.O.s strive to be fair in everything and to everyone, our neighbors, our friends, strangers, and those different from us. This is where the Golden Rule comes in. Do for others, as you would like them to do for you.
TRUTH - Truth means being accurate, honest, sincere, real. When P.E.O.s think of truth they more likely think of honesty - what is real, not false, and being true to each other.
Albert Schweitzer said, Truth has no special time of its own. Its hour is now - always. False pride and insincerity can’t live where there is truth. We hear that truth is stranger than fiction, and truth will out. Truth is eternal. Truth must be passed from friend to friend, from teacher to student, from parent to child. I don’t know who wrote this poem Truth Never Dies:
Truth never dies. The ages come and go.
The mountains wear away, the stars retire.
Destruction lays earth’s mighty cities low;
And empires, states and dynasties expire;
But caught and handed onward by the wise,
Truth never dies.
Though unreceived and scoffed at through the years;
Though made the butt of ridicule and jest;
Though held aloft for mockery and jeers,
Denied by those of transient power possessed,
Insulted by the insolence of lies,
Truth never dies.
It answers not. Its does not take offense,
But with a mighty silence bides its time;
As some great cliff that braves the elements
And lifts through all the storms its head sublime,
It ever stands uplifted by the wise;
And never dies.
As rests the Sphinx amid Egyptian sands;
As looms on high the snowy peak and crest;
As firm and patient as Gibraltar stands,
So truth, unwearied, waits the era blessed,
When men shall turn to it with great surprise.
Truth never dies.
In closing, it is amazing to me that these seven young women, the founders of P.E.O., could have been so wise to choose these virtues and to have written about them as they did. I think we are very lucky to belong to an organization that really stands for something and to stand in that tradition set for us ____ years ago. (founded in 1869 - update your years)