—Can you explain the idea of setting our sights on Oyasama’s anniversaries?
Oyasama said, “I shall save the world from now,” when She withdrew from physical life in 1887. Oyasama always gives us the courage to follow the path of single-hearted salvation. Thus, we should regard Her anniversaries as significant as the knot of 1887 and concentrate on performing our tasks so that we can live up to Oyasama’s expectations in the season of the anniversaries.
Events such as the installation of new church head ministers and the anniversaries of churches are among the milestones for individual churches whereas Oyasama’s anniversaries are ones that we share in the entire Tenrikyo community. That is to say, the anniversaries are very precious opportunities for us to bring ourselves together and encourage one another to follow the path by receiving the blessings of the season.
—As we make a fresh start, you have emphasized “single-hearted salvation.” Regarding this, you presented the following three key areas of focus to the head ministers of directly supervised churches and the superintendents of dioceses in January this year:
- Salvation activities that reach out to those in need of help by:
○ providing support to people in difficult situations
○ helping others in the spirit of hinokishin to contribute to society
- Learning the teachings
- Nurturing followers with care
Can you elaborate on these key areas of focus?
Earlier, I mentioned the 150th Anniversary of Oyasama as a time frame for our endeavors. Before that anniversary, we will observe the 140th Anniversary of Oyasama in five years. This means that we are to begin the “three years, one thousand days” pre-anniversary season two years from now. I would like all churches to spend these two years thinking about and concretely envisioning their future 15 years hence so that they can bring about what they envision through their committed efforts in salvation activities. For this reason, I set out the three key areas of focus to encourage all head ministers and all our churches to engage in salvation work in a concrete way that would help them realize their vision.
—What precisely does the first area of focus—“Salvation activities that reach out to those in need of help”—mean?
The “service” and the “Sazuke,” which were taught as important church activities, can only fulfill their purposes when we implement salvation work.
When we think about the current state of salvation work at churches, it is often the case that the target audience tends to be their Yoboku and followers. It goes without saying that this is an important part of salvation work at churches, which entails providing sincere attention and care. On top of this kind of salvation work, however, I would like you to focus on people in society who are yet unaware of the teaching and proactively make efforts to reach out to them. I must say that our performance has been lackluster when it comes to the salvation of those who have yet to embrace the faith.
Since its founding, Tenrikyo has been making progress by honestly reaching out to those who were suffering from difficulties of any kind. That is why I am emphasizing the importance of “reaching out to those in need of help” now and would like church head ministers to be clearly aware of this when implementing salvation work in a concrete manner.