If We Are Not Happy and Grateful,
We Are Not Following Konko Daijin’s Faith
Sermon by the Rev. Koji Toshimitsu
Konko Church of Kinoue
(Reprinted from the August 2016 issue of Konkokyo-ho Ametsuchi)
Being Made to Face My True Self
For the last few years, I had a personal faith motto: “If we are not happy and grateful, we are not following Konko Daijin’s Faith.” Several years ago, I went through a very difficult period in my life. I asked for and received Sacred Mediation, time after time, and I often prayed on my own. Each time, I felt some peace of mind, yet I believed I was left without any divine blessings. I could not even glimpse a clue to salvation. Instead, I was made to see my true self: I was far from being saved.
Two years passed by, and I still remained unsaved. One day, I was at my childhood home, Konko Church of Kusumachi. My father was seated at the Mediation Place. For about an hour, I relayed to him what had happened to me. Of course, this was not the first time I shared this story. Rather, he listened to my story quite often. He heard me out in silence and simply responded, “Being ungrateful is not the Way of Konko Daijin’s Faith.”
I couldn’t believe the words I was hearing with my own ears. I know I had been trying my best to develop my faith so far. But these words filled my heart with surprise and bewilderment. I didn’t really understand them at the time, but now, I realize that my heart was far from Konko Daijin’s Way of Faith and that it was also far from a life with joy and gratitude. Konko Daijin “met” the Divine Parent of the Universe by developing his faith. He then received words from the Divine Parent and was led to his salvation by following those divine instructions. In my case, however, I was much different from Konko Daijin. Therefore, I just couldn’t “meet” our Divine Parent Kami no matter how much I wanted to. And the Divine Parent found it extremely hard to exert wondrous workings upon my life, which led to no signs of blessings that I was aware of in my life.
My Father’s Encounter with our Divine Parent
My father is said to have been quite passive when he was a boy. Concerned, my grandmother went to the Konko Church of Hita (in OitaPrefecture) and brought along my father to receive Sacred Mediation from the Rev. Yasuji Horio, the founding minister of the church. My grandmother said, “Reverend, I don’t think my son will live a fruitful and productive life if he remains passive. Please pray to the Divine Parent for my son.” Since then, my grandmother prayed to our Divine Parent for my father day-after-day.
Later on, my grandmother recommended my father to join the Konko Church of Hita’s Boys and Girls’ Group. He soon became a group member. While holding up a metal right-angle ruler during a regular gathering, a leader asked the children, “Do you know what this is called?” It was a ruler used by professional carpenters. My father thought, “My mom and I have been recently praying to Parent Kami about my emotional growth, so this is a good chance to show my progress.” He gathered all the courage he could and raised his hand to reply, “It is a colt.” The leader said, “Yes, it is indeed a colt. But I want you to use another term for this tool. Do any of you know another term for it?” In this way, the leader asked the children again. The leader wanted to encourage them to come up with the answer “banjo-gane” because this tool for carpenters was invented by a Japanese person, Mr. Banjo Takeda.
At that time, my father was deeply disappointed, thinking, “After mustering up all the courage that I had in my heart, I ended up giving the wrong answer.” Following the gathering, the Rev. Horio invited my father to the Mediation Place and said, “I’m happy for you.” My father, who was falling into a depression, was sure he heard him incorrectly, so he remained silent. Then the Rev. Horio continued, “I’m happy for you because you were brave enough to openly share your thoughts in front of everybody. Let us thank our Divine Parent for that.” The Rev. Horio looked really happy as he spoke. My father was glad to hear that and he willingly offered words of appreciation to the Divine Parent of the Universe.
According to my father, at that time he thought, “The Rev. Horio must be on my side” and “I don’t need to be perfect.” This event became a precious experience for my father to “meet” the Divine Parent of the Universe for the first time in his life. At the same time, he was allowed to meet the Rev. Horio as his invaluable mentor of the Konko Faith on that very day. Eventually, my father was ordained as a Konko minister and he spoke about the “Episode of Kanejaku” to many people, over and over again. I didn’t really do so when I was younger, but now, I finally understand and am appreciating how impactful and moving this event was for my father.
Mother’s Words Are Kami’s Words
My mother passed away on September 8th, 2012. About 1 1/2 months prior to her passing, she was transferred from a nursing home to a hospital due to heart failure. When she was being transported to the hospital, she told a nurse, “When we are sad or troubled, we should direct our hearts to Kami because we can find comfort by doing so. Moreover, we can trust in knowing that we will surely be allowed to grow up and mature through any adversity. This is why I always thank and pray to our Divine Parent. I make it a rule to pray to our Divine Parent for the people that I meet so that they will all become happy.”
In her hospital room, my mother told my sister-in-law, “In the past, I used to think that it was my duty to pray to our Parent Kami for those who come worship at our church. But when I was placed in a nursing home for the elderly or in a hospital, I noticed that no one knows the Divine Parent of the Universe. No matter who they are, I really need to pray to our Divine Parent for the people, and I also need to talk to them about our Divine Parent actively and using clear examples in everyday life. Earlier in my life, I used to think that devoting myself to taking care of church well and not going out often would suffice. But now, I would like to pray to our Divine Parent for people around me to make them happy.”
When Konko Church of Kusumachi held the Spring Grand Ceremony for the Divine Parent of the Universe last year, they also had the Third-Year Memorial Service for my mother. After the joint services, my elder brother, the Head Minister, shared with the worshippers these words that my mother told my sister-in-law. When I reflect upon my mother’s words once again, I realize that she used to say them and they represented the focus of her new prayers that she was allowed to nurture through her admittance and discharge from the hospital, again and again, as well. My mother’s dementia worsened as the days went by, and it was clear that her departure day from this physical world was getting closer. I contemplated my mother’s will or her last teaching to the people around her in her twilight years. In doing so, her words almost sounded like words from our Divine Parent to me.
Relying upon Our Parent Kami Every Single Day
My father was hospitalized for interstitial pneumonia on November 4th, 2015. A few days later, the doctor explained to us the results of the examination, including my father’s diagnosis of lung cancer, as well, and that the prognosis was poor. To make matters even worse, his heart and kidneys were also getting weaker due to his age. During that time he was bedridden and his physical condition seemed to be indirectly telling us that he may not be alive in early December, let alone January of the coming year.
Konko Church of Kusumachi’s Autumn Grand Ceremony for Ikigami Konko Daijin was to be held on November 20th. For this reason I was praying to our Divine Parent, “Please allow me to officiate the Ceremony with my father.” But my wish did not come true and the Autumn Grand Ceremony of the KusumachiChurch was held. After the Ceremony and reception safely concluded, I went to see my father, accompanied by ministers of neighboring Konko churches and churches related to us. Until the day before we visited, my father could not converse with people. Yet on that day we visited, my father was very alert and able to respond to people’s questions. I truly thought that it was due to the virtue of the Grand Ceremony and thus I offered my heartfelt gratitude to our Divine Parent.
One week later, I was at the Konko Church of Kinoue for their Autumn Grand Ceremony. I, again, went to the hospital to visit my father. When I reached his room, nurses were checking his blood pressure. But my father was openly resisting them, preventing them from doing their job. He looked like a disobedient child. It was a shocking scene for me. I was shocked even more when I heard the nurses say that my father always behaved that way. Through these two hospital visits to my father, I learned that he had been receiving blessings from our Divine Parent and that each one of us needs to live our lives each day, dependent upon our Divine Parent, on this very day, no matter how long we may practice faith.
Every time I receive a report on my father’s medical condition, I ask for Sacred Mediation with Konko-sama. Then Konko-sama always whispers, “Thank you very much, Konko-sama” and kindly relays my request to the Divine Parent of the Universe. For awhile, in the beginning, I could not figure out what he was whispering, but I heard Konko-sama say in a clear voice, “Thank you very much, Konko-sama” to our Divine Parent when I reported to him, “The doctor told us that my father may not last until December, based on his most recent medical examination.” What I meant to say at that time was that it would not be unnatural for my father to leave this world anytime soon. Yet Konko-sama clearly said, “Thank you very much, Konko-sama.” His response was very perplexing. I then reflected upon all the reports I had made to Konko-sama about my father, and I was allowed to realize that Konko-sama was saying “Thank you very much, Konko-sama” every time I asked him to conduct Sacred Mediation for me.
Later on, I sent Sacred Rice (Goshinmai) to my father that I had humbly received from Konko-sama. I enclosed a letter with the Sacred Rice, saying, “Konko-sama was kind enough to give me this Sacred Rice when I sought Sacred Mediation with him for you. I am sending it to you, at this time. I am humbly praying to our Divine Parent so that you will smoothly receive divine arrangements from now on.” According to my family, my father was happy to read my letter, and he was said to have exclaimed, “Ah, what compassion!”
Understanding the Position as a Sacred Mediator
On New Year’s Day of this year, 2016, I was one of the “receptionists” at the Main Worship Hall. I was nervous undertaking this duty for the first time. I looked around at my fellow ministers to confirm my tasks. The minister sitting beside me received a monetary offering in a blank envelope. He then asked the worshipper, “Do you have any requests to our Parent Kami?” I thought it was a great example for a “rookie” receptionist like me, and I decided to follow his example.
Sometime later, a worshipper came over to me. The person gave an offering in an envelope and was about to leave without saying anything. So I asked him, “Do you have any requests?” Then he simply said, “The prosperity of my business.” I gave him Sacred Rice, then he walked away. At the time, I remembered the Sacred Mediation I had received from Konko-sama. Shortly after the man left, I thought, “He had a request for the prosperity of his business. It must mean that he already has a business he is running. He must have a family. If he has employees, those employees must have their respective families. As long as he runs his business, I’m sure that he has buyers and sellers. He also must have suppliers. The man, in this sense, has a lot of people who are involved in his trade. It is because these people are involved in it, that he can run his business. I, as Konko-sama, will first thank our Divine Parent for the fact that the man is already being blessed with his business. I want to thank our Divine Parent first, and then I will relay the man’s request to our Divine Parent.” I was able to think in this way, because I was allowed to realize that Konko-sama adds onto a worshipper’s request a sincere feeling of gratitude to the Divine Parent of the Universe, instead of just relaying the worshipper’s request to our Divine Parent.
Let’s Live a Life of Gratitude and Joy
December of last year, my father turned 90 years old. Thinking of his ninety years of life so far, I cannot help but realize that my father has constantly been receiving not only visible blessings, but also invisible blessings from our Divine Parent. Taking these facts into account, Konko-sama must have directed his heart to our Divine Parent with a grateful feeling and said, “Thank you very much, Konko-sama.” And then he kindly conveyed my request/wish to our Divine Parent. Through Konko-sama’s sincere Sacred Mediation full of heartfelt gratitude, a feeling of joy emerged in my father’s heart, and it allowed my father to say “Ah, what compassion!” And, through my father’s words, I think that I also received a heart of joy from our Divine Parent.
I believe “requesting Sacred Mediation” means that the Mediator prays to our Divine Parent for the believers by adding the Mediator’s own gratitude onto the believers’ pain and sorrow. And by the Mediator doing so, our Divine Parent kindly bestows a heart of joy. In other words, to live a life of gratitude and joy is to ask for and receive Sacred Mediation. And to ask for and receive Sacred Mediation is for a grateful and joyful feeling to emerge in one’s heart primarily thanks to the warm, compassionate workings of our Divine Parent.
Through my father’s current circumstances, I learned that a life of gratitude and joy doesn’t mean only a human’s heart, but also a heart which appears from a relationship between our Divine Parent and us.
My father was blessed and allowed to welcome New Year’s Day of 2016. At the beginning of his hospitalization, even the possibility for him to welcome the month of December was an uncertainty. I, therefore, was gradually ready to accept my father’s passing. One’s death, however, is in the realm of our Divine Parent, and neither my father nor I decide when my father will leave this world. Mysteriously enough, once I was emotionally ready to accept my father’s death, I noticed that I was praying to our Divine Parent about the future wellbeing of my father, who may soon leave this world. At first, I wasn’t even aware that I was praying for such a thing, but this was, in fact, my new prayer for my father, in addition to this message to our Divine Parent, “Thank you very much for giving my father new life for a new day.”
The other day, my elder sister-in-law and nephew kindly visited my father. When my sister-in-law greeted my father, “Dad!” he is said to have replied, “Give my best regards.” On another occasion, my elder brother spoke to my father about his Sacred Mediation with Konko-sama, and father is said to have replied, “Ah, you were given a Divine Blessing.” Hearing these stories regarding my father, I learned that my father is living day-to-day, totally dependent upon our Divine Parent. And because of the way my father lives his life, I am allowed to realize that the Konko Faith is priceless and worth appreciating. I also cannot help but perceive the kind and sincere Workings of our Divine Parent for each one of us.
When I look back at the spiritual paths my parents treaded upon, respectively, I am made to realize that the Workings of our Divine Parent are omnipresent. I know that both of my parents walked the Way of the Konko Faith throughout their lifetime, depending upon our Divine Parent. I also want to follow the faith of our Founder, Konko Daijin, just as my parents did. I would like to rely on our Divine Parent every single day and continue to practice faith in the Divine Parent of the Universe. And I would like to prevent my faith from straying from Konko Daijin’s Faith, as well as receive divine blessings from our Divine Parent without fail.
(THE END)