2014 is a wonderful year. It marks two hundredth birthday of our Founder, Ikigami Konko Daijin & one hundredth birthday of my mentor, Rev. Soichiro Otsubo, founding minister of KC Airaku where I trained under his guidance for nearly 20 years. And right here in Chicago we have our own special celebration as you know, our 5th Anniversary Celebration scheduled on Sunday, November 2nd. You see... it is a magnificent year for us & what a golden opportunity for us to deepen our practice of faith.
As I'm sure you've heard by now I believe Kami has been recently training me through two Divine Blessings which have brought a deepening peace & joy in my heart. I fell down from the top of my stepladder on April 12th while trimming the branches of the tree in front of our church. I badly fractured my left foot. Fortunately the doctor found a way to avoid having me to undergo surgery if my pains were gone in certain length of time. Still I need a cane when I walk... but the fracture is getting better day by day.
Then an oncological doctor told me on Feb. 6th that I was in the early stages of prostate cancer. After a battery of several tests it was decided that my best treatment would be to have radiotherapy, five days a week for 43 days. The prostate cancer needs a sufficient length of exposure to radiation to give me the best chance of completely curing the cancer through radiation alone. My radiotherapy will be finished by July 31 just in time to attend KCNA's Annual Conference.
From the discovery of my cancer through the beginning of radiotherapy I have respected it as Kami's gift of radiotherapy. When I look at it this way, I realize I look forward to it as a personal blessing of Kami's treatments through radiotherapy. When I lay down under the great, powerful machine that strikes radioactive rays for my benefit, I am awestruck with its wonder & cannot help but be moved with Kami's workings as Kami guides my way to a cure of cancer through these superb machines. I always extend my appreciation to Kami during my treatment under these machines.
When I learned I had prostate cancer in February, I thought respectfully, "It is a blessing of Kami's love named "prostate cancer."
Following that thought there came a flood of questions,
"What was I born here in this world for?
"What should I do for the benefit of this world?
"Why have I become a Konko minister to serve Kami & people here in Chicago?
"Have I ever done enough here, etc?"
I can accept death if it is Kami's wish, with gratitude at any time. But I feel I haven't done enough to reveal Divine light of Wagakokoro sufficiently over these past 17 years in Chicago... let alone to the rest of the world & beyond. So I've promised Kami to devote myself to my limits of my physical, mental & spiritual boundaries to living a life of faith & present to the best of my ability, total support of the era of Wagakokoro so that I pray to Kami to give me as much life as possible to shine forth the Divine Heart of the Universe.
Through experiencing both prostate cancer & broken left foot, my only "best Way" is to direct my heart toward Kami moment to moment. When I achieve this, I feel closer to Kami's warmth by touching the Divine energy of the Universe. As if I'd bring forth a spurting of blood if I were to poke.
I will deepen. I will renew myself... entirely...! To live the divine request toward which Kami's Divine wish has called me to fulfill for my time here on earth. I swore to Kami that from now on I would never fail to seek & nurture peace & joy in my heart through even in smallest thing that happens to me at its most fleeting moment.