Opportunity to Make a Decisive Change
With only two and a half years remaining before the start of the “three years, one thousand days” activities that lead up to the 140th Anniversary of Oyasama, those of us here today must take this opportunity to ponder what we should do to make headway. Let us discuss the pending issues and concerns we have so that we can make up our minds to decisively work on them.
If we neglect to acknowledge the current situation properly and let it continue, the future outcomes of our actions and stance of our minds would remain the same as before. That is to say, we would not be able to stem the downward trend. What is needed is the opportunity and resolve to make a decisive change. The first thing for us to do is settle the mind to respond to God the Parent and Oyasama. So long as we settle our minds and follow the path, we can look forward to what lies ahead because we never know who may join our endeavors or what may happen to bring about a turnaround.
Our concrete goals and action plans should not be expressed in abstract terms, such as engaging in hinokishin, sprinkling the fragrance of the teachings, or devoting ourselves to the path. We need to think about specific people for whom we conduct salvation work or set concrete goals for our daily lives so as to make genuine progress on the path. I know this is not easy to do, but we have no other choice if we want to make real headway. Our journey may include milestones such as the installation of new church head ministers, major construction projects, and anniversaries of churches. We should take these milestones as opportunities to help everyone become spirited in anticipation of the seasons. Without making efforts to allow buds to sprout from knots, we cannot receive the blessings we seek. Please be aware of this point.