September 24, 2010
Interfax
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia during his trip to the Far East pointed out to the particular purity of local peoples.
"When I met with local residents and looked them in the eyes I saw this childishness. Some may say: 'they're naive people', others may say: 'their life will change, they will become richer and it won't be this way anymore'. And I'd like to wish all of you, all who live in these severe lands to keep this childishness in your hearts," the Patriarch said on Friday after the Divine Liturgy in the Transfiguration Cathedral of Yakutsk.
According to him, a child's soul has something that should never leave a person - "purity of heart."
"We can become very strong, rich, influential, clever, educated, learned, politicians or ordinary workers who enjoy everyone's respect, but in our heart we should keep this childishness, this ability to adore God's world, to feel the world beauty, to feel the truth like children do, to have pure soul like children. Only those with pure heart will see God," the Primate said.
"It's impossible to build a paradise on Earth. Human task is not to build paradise on Earth, but not to turn human life into hell," the Patriarch stressed.
According to him, a person by his or her own efforts cannot stay away from the influence of sin, "he or she will lose sanctity given to him in the early years," but "we will keep the best we have and obtain the best the world can give us when God is in the center of our life."