Hello Everyone! Thank you very much for attending the Funeral Service of the late Mrs. Haruko Nakaoka to pay high tribute to her Mitama spirit.
She was blessed with an amazing 94 years of life. She showed her love, generosity, hope & kindness upon her family, friends & society that made a deep impression on each & every one of them.
To my great pleasure I got acquainted with her when she & her husband Harold-san attended one of our grand ceremonies a long time ago. Since then the couple have kindly joined us in our ceremonies. Their sincerity impressed me a lot.
Trusting me as her 'sensei' or mentor, she told everything about her life to me. It included her unresolved issues. I said to her, "Please practice faith to make everything in your past acceptable & meaningful with your joy. Let us deepen peace & joy through everything that happens in every day of your life to do this."
As I said in the funeral service prayer, Haruko-san was forced to be grown up in Japan soon after her birth, separated from her family. To her surprise, at age 18, she met her oldest brother Mr. Yoshito Nishimura at the hotel in Tokyo in 1937 during her school excursion. Yoshito-san was studying at the Waseda International Institute between 1936 & 1938. It showed that the Nishimura family, especially Haruko-san's parents, Shinkichi & Ume Nishimura had always been anxious about Haruko-san in Japan. Then Yoshito-san visited her in Busan to send her back to the USA. On the way back here she visited our Konkokyo Headquarters with Yoshito-san in August 1937. There was her beautiful picture wearing kimono in front of the old worship hall there. We took the picture of her son, Kurt-san & his wife Nancy-san at the same spot as that of Haruko'san's when three couples visited our headquarters last October to join the 130th Anniversary Ikigami Konko Daijin Grand Ceremony. The old worship hall stands still now as it was & is now used as faith training facility. What a fantastic recollections both photos are!
Haruko-san & Harold-san lived together amazingly for 66 years. They deeply loved with each other, helping & supporting with each other. They overcame many obstacles together with excellent spirits & enjoyed their lives in harmony together. Their long marriage life would be described as follows:
Praying each to the other---
Worshipping, adoring
Together polishing & being polished
There's nothing to compare with----
The joy of this day.
What an amazing couple they were! Therefore I know how deeply Harold-san missed his wife. At the same time how deeply Harold-san appreciated his wife, Haruko-san.
My wife Kanako & I visited her at her house a couple days before her passing. She had adoring smile on her face as always. She seemed to live longer, but said, "I am ready to go." So I said to her, "Instead of saying that, let's leave everything up to Kami & Time; & deepen peace & joy in our hearts, as much as possible, until the time comes."
That time came on the evening of February 1. She opened her eyes three times before they peacefully closed forever. Each time she nodded three times to her beloved husband, Harold-San. I think Haruko-san expressed her gratitude to Harold-San while her nodding, whispering, "Good-bye Thank you!"
Our Founder said of death:
Because humans are born through the blessings of Kami, they must also die with the blessing of Kami. Therefore, if a child's birth is a happy event, then death is a much happier event, since one becomes a kami. The reason death is so fearful is because people have not yet developed enough peace of mind to accept death. Practice faith, so that you will be blessed with peace of mind.
Through practicing faith & living a sincere life Haruko-san developed the peace of mind to accept her death peacefully. She did deepen peace & joy in her heart through each & everything that happened in her daily life. That is why Kami inspired me that her divine name should be, "Nakaoka Haruko Wagatama Ouna no Mitama no Kami."
"Waga" means 'peace' & 'joy.' "Tama" means 'gem.' She received almost the same divine name as my mother, Mrs. Itsuko Takeuchi who died last June at age 90 with peace and joy. I believe both of the Mitama spirits continue to deepen peace and joy in the next world.
I heard Haruko-san wished to have her ashes wrapped in the waterproof paper & place it in the Lake Michigan. This way she hopes it travel over the Pacific Ocean & reach the shore in Japan. What a beautifully romantic vision!
Let us wish her well on this eternal journey & pray for the everlasting peace & happiness of her Mitama spirit by devoting ourselves in response to her excellent example to deepen our hearts as perfectly.
May she live in the spiritual presence of Kami's delight with Konko Daijin as her eternal Mediator in the next world!
Thank you very much for being here today & supporting Mrs. Haruko Nakaoka & her family.