Cries from the Heart Read Online Free PDF

have caused the suffering, to pray that when they die, their souls
would go to heaven. “Why?” my friend asked. “So they will be
comforted for all eternity by the poor children of my country who
died by their hands.”
    Sadly, for many people, prayer has become separated
from
the acknowledgment of need; that is, rather than being a heartfelt,
passionate cry from the heart, it becomes a habit or even an empty
ritual. Few things have done more for the demise of living prayer
than institutionalized religion. To use the words of an anonymous
commentator: “What began as a message in Jerusalem became a
philosophy in Greece, a political system in Rome, a culture in Europe, and an enterprise in America.”
    Though clearly referring to Christianity, the same applies to
religions of any brand, as the unique expression of belief given to
each person becomes squelched by the powers of conformity,
tradition, and structure. Eventually, faith dies away, choked out by
the weeds of religiosity and hypocrisy.
    According to Pierre Ceresole, “The very minimum demand of any
religion worthy of the name is absolute sincerity, not one line more
than we really feel and believe. Article number one of our creed
must obviously be
truth.”
After the First World War, Ceresole
founded international work camps in France in the hope that rebuilding would bring about a measure of reconciliation among the nations.
Later, when he was imprisoned for protesting the Nazi regime, he
wrote, “To be in prison: here indeed is the one place where religion
might be able to make a fresh start at the present time.”
    “What a pity,
that so hard on the heels of Christ came the
Christians,” writes Annie Dillard. Not only have we forgotten Jesus’
prayer in John 17, that his disciples may be one even as he and the
Father are one; we have divided up his Word and his Body and
founded churches instead of being one family of his disciples. In
the course of centuries, Christianity has spawned a multitude of
divisions, whose outrageous treatment of each other and of different faiths is an insult to his name. More unbelievers have been
scared away than converted to the faith.
    Whatever our affiliation, each one of us will one day stand
alone before God. Then he will not ask: Were you Catholic,
Protestant, Muslim or Jew? but: Did you love your neighbor and
feed the hungry? Did you clothe the naked and visit those in
prison? So many of us who call ourselves Christians tend to be selfassured and self-righteous; yet all too often our words are not
matched by our deeds.
    The one overwhelming message that stands at the center of
the New Testament is love in action. And we have examples among
his followers who, despite human failings, spread the gospel of
love. The apostle Paul, who had earlier persecuted the Christians,
became one of Christianity’s most powerful figures. In his prayers
he rarely asks God for those things we most often pray for: safety,
physical healing, material blessings. He is more concerned with
strength of character, wisdom and discernment, love and sacrifice,
personal knowledge of God and spiritual power, courage in spreading the gospel, endurance, and salvation. And unlike many modern
Christians, his prayers are not selfish wishes uttered merely on behalf
of himself or those dear to him. They are said for the whole earth.
    How should we pray? Jesus gives us clear advice: he warns us
against false piety and public show, and encourages us to pray privately and simply:
    Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth
as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts
as we forgive our debtors,
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom,
the power, and the glory, for ever.
    Brief as they are, these twelve lines cover every aspect of human
life! Nothing