The evening Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1918-1920, 1919-12-01
SEES i ~ J WORLD
TOEMEk,. ROM
PRESENT CHAOS
Rev. A. l.. Edwards Makes
Powerful Address at In
terchurch Meeting

Speaking before Il large gathering
at the meeting of the Interchurch
World Movement held in Island POND
today, Rev. l.. A. Edwards pastor OF
the First Congregational church OF
Newport, delivered a very forccful
address on "Thc Hour of Christian
Opportunity"
He said in part:
"The church stands today before
an open door swung aside by the
united strength of history, OF inter-
national relations, advanced educa-
ton, science, christian missions and
world war, and it is with the pur-
pose of surveying praycrfully that
which lies beyond that we are as
sembled here today.
"We behold first suffering world,
We in the midst of unprecedented
financial prosperity have little con-
ception of the suffering that has fol-
lowed and will continue to follow in
the wake of the world war. We are
told upon reliable authority that
there will be more suffering this win
ter in certain quarters of the old
world than was endured during any
year of the war, that there will be
more death in the Turkish empire
from cSld and starvation than war
took as its toll in that country dur
ing the whole war. And the sor-
row of the world is by no means con-
fined to physical suffering as the re-
suit of poverty.
"We see a world in the melting.
pot. Into the flaming crucible have
been cast old political ideals, yes and
also those that are new Old social
and religious ideals and beliefs. And
new world is eventually to be fas-
hioned from the molten mass and for
this re-fashioning men are at work
upon the mold that is to be employed
Statesmen and politicians, educators,
and reformers and moral idcalists.
Looking beyond that which we
behold in the foreground are the
whitening fields of the harvest that
have grown from the faithful sowing
of Gods ambassadors who have gone
forth into the world as the repres-
entatives of Jesus Christ in the world
, that he died to redeem.
"We see men and nations at prayer.
In spite of that which bewilders and
battles our understanding it is true
that multitudes of men who having
turned, in their trouble, to almost
every conceivable source of promised
help are prostrating themselves be-
for the Christ even as men of old
bowed, and are saying as they did of
yore, "Lord teach US to pray"
"Wc see world that has learned
in the years that have ust passed
| some of the lessons of sacrifice. We
sec Il world that has surrendered it's
money, given its sons and laid on the
altar selfish and personal ambition.
"But we also see as we look through
this door world that has been rude
ly awakened from its dream that with
the ending of the war the millennium
would come. Now we know that the
signing of the armistice one year ago
did not mark the hour when the
kingdom of God on earth was to be-
gin. Through this open door as we
look we sec impending dangers, first
wc see the danger of self sufficicncy.
"No large part of the world is safe
from this impending danger. The cry
unto God that the world uttered last
year has been superseded by the
voice of those who no longer recog-
nize their need Of God, Abundant
Continued on page 81