The Detroit times., 1911-03-27
BERRY
IS An OPTIMlsT
Eays This Is Day Of Deeds, Not
Creeds and the World Grows
Steadily Better.

In opening this weeks series Oh
noonday Lenten services In the De
froif opera house, which will be in
= charge OF the Methodists, Bishop Jo-
oeph r. Berry, of Buffalo, spoke OF
ANOTHER great laymen's movement.
which isz coming In the near future,
which will be known as the Lay
mems men and religion movement.
1T will not have so much romance
Is the missionary movement he said,
'in that Il will not reach out into
China and other foreign lands Tor con-
verts IL will have for its object the
saving of those right at home. 1t
will be q case of man helping his
neighbor, so the obligation will be as
great and the movement quite as sig
nificant as the missionary movement"
Ma In his MONDAY talks, the bishop
will follow the general theme,
~Watchman, what of the night? The
morning cometh." His talk, Monday
noon, was in an optimistic vein. The
world is constantly growing better, he
said, and he looked forward to the
early dawning of the Christian day.
Incidentally he took occasion to rap
the chronic pessimist, who thinks the
world IL going to the bow-wows.
''voltaire said, L see the twilight OF
the Christian day." spoke the bishop.
rHe meant the evening twilight, but
the poor old man was mistaken. IL
was the morning twilight he saw. The
.Christian day has not yet dawned.
+. do not agree with those who argue
that Christianity has failed. 1t is gain
ing ground steadily and the morning
- close at hand. II would have been
Impossible few years ago to hold in
terdenominational services such as
are being held here today. No longer
do they sing such hymns as one
ran across In an old booklet that was
handed to me on one OF my travels.
One of the verses ran:
I'd rather be q Baptist.
And wear a shining face,
Than be dirty Methodist
And have TO fall from grace.
This Is an era of Christian gen.
crosby. The givers Of the world to-
day are Christian men. | defy any
one to give me list Of the five great
est philanthropists in this country, to-
day and point to one who is not a
Christian. We are building today
more churches, endowing more col
taking care of more old people and
children than our grandfathers ever
dreamed was possible. This Is an age
OF deeds. not creeds. The full sig
nificance of the great laymen's mis-
sionary movement has not been real
ixed. Its bigness lies in the impor-
lance of the vision that has come to
the layman and the way they have
to the call, and right on its
heels Ii coming this other movement,
which will mean SO much for Chris
tianity.
Il have no patience with the
chronic pessimist who thinks the world
d going back. That Ia to say, | love
him, but l do not like him, for love
carries with II a certain amount OF
Dity and commiseration. Nothing |
Droyokes me more than to hear the
dolefui wall Of the pessimist who Is
Always pining for return OF the good
old days. What good old days? The
GOOD old days of tyranny and de-
hatchery In high places? The good /,
old days of the French revolution, {
when blood flowed like water In the :
streets? The good old days when wo- ,
men worked half naked in the mines I
and were treated with less respect :
than mules? The good old days when
ministers tippled on their daily I
rounds and church members display
ed decanters of wine on their side
boards and thought nothing of IL? The
good old days when one in every Is
was q Christian. while now one In {
every Ave Is Christian? |, for one
old days are gone forever. This Is
the best hour Of the best day, OF the
week, OF the best month, of the best
year. OF the best decade of the best
century, since the dawn OF civiliza-
tion. and tomorrow Is going to be even
better"