Tenrikyo Church Headquarters’ February Monthly Service was performed on the 26th with the Shinbashira presiding.
In the prayer, the Shinbashira first expressed his gratitude to God the Parent for God’s daily blessings. He then said: “We have successfully completed Church Headquarters’ official visits to directly supervised churches, which started last November following the announcement of Instruction Two. We should now like to hold the District Lectures from March to June throughout the world so that we may orient our minds toward our shared goal and take a firm stride in this seasonable time for sprinkling the fragrance of the teachings and engaging in salvation work.”
He continued: “We are glad that we are able to follow this true and unshakable path in the midst of today’s world, which is filled with anxiety and insecurity. With that joy in mind, all of us Service performers as well as church head ministers and Yoboku are determined to spread the truth of the Parent throughout the world and sow the seeds of the Joyous Life in each community by striving for single-hearted salvation.”
The Shinbashira then prayed for God the Parent’s blessings whereby all people throughout the world might take the Parent’s desire for the Joyous Life as their life principle, deepen the spirit of moderation without being swept along by greed, and respect and help one another with a rich heart so that all humanity might live each day in high spirits, looking forward to the broad path ahead.
The Kagura Service and the Dance with Hand Movements were then performed. Although the Home of the Parent was cloudy and cold, the jovial voices of the followers who joined in singing the songs for the Service echoed in the precincts as if to manifest their firm resolve as they embarked on the anniversary activities.
This was followed by a sermon delivered by Honbu-in Kyoichi Tanabe. He first pointed out that this is an important time for us followers of the path as we have just begun our activities leading up to the 120th Anniversary of Oyasama, which we will be observing three years from now. Furthermore, he said that since the announcement of Instruction Two at last year’s Autumn Grand Service, the Shinbashira has been making an effort to convey the import of the Instruction on a number of occasions such as the Church Headquarters New Year’s meeting and the Spring Grand Service in order to give us guidelines for our pre-anniversary activities and to explain how the anniversary should be conducted.
Honbu-in Tanabe then remarked that, since the Church Headquarters’ official visits to directly supervised churches had been completed and the 120th Anniversary of Oyasama District Lectures were about to begin, this was the time for action in our drive towards the 120th Anniversary of Oyasama.
Referring to Instruction Two, Honbu-in Tanabe said that anniversaries of Oyasama are seasons for spiritual growth, and “spiritual growth,” said he, “refers to the process of nearing the intention of the Parent.” He then explained the meanings of the Parent. He said: “Some claim that some aspects of the teachings ought to be altered to accommodate the changing interests of our age in which filial piety is no longer emphasized. It is precisely because of that situation, however, that we ought to show the path that cuts off the ‘root of rebellion’ to those who are quarrelsome. It is precisely because the ties between parents and children are weakening that we ought to sprinkle the fragrance of filial piety.”
He concluded the sermon by saying: “The world is presently overloaded with information–a fact that we need to recognize clearly in order to do missionary work effectively. We should not, however, be carried away by the world and distort our single-heartedness with God. An anniversary of Oyasama is a season for us to actively sprinkle the fragrance of the teachings with confidence. Let us engage in our pre-anniversary activities in high spirits.”