The August Monthly Service of Tenrikyo Church Headquarters was performed on the 26th in the Main Sanctuary, with Successor-Designate Daisuke Nakayama serving as chief officiant on behalf of the Shinbashira.
In the Service prayer, Rev. Nakayama first expressed his gratitude to God the Parent for nurturing us with the providence of fire, water, and wind and with boundless parental love in the very bosom of God the Parent. He also expressed his appreciation to God for leading us along the path of spiritual growth while providing us with instructions and guidance in each season. He then said, “Realizing that various occurrences in the world such as the rising COVID-19 cases as well as the floods caused by record rainfalls earlier this month are manifestations of God the Parent’s regret, all of us followers will take these occurrences as our own matters with utmost sincerity, reflecting critically upon ourselves, and settle our minds as we are determined to engage in the work of world salvation with Oyasama’s Divine Model as our guiding principle.”
The prayer was followed by the joyous performance of the Kagura Service and the Dance with Hand Movements. After the Service performance, Honbu-in Yoshiji Nishida took the podium to deliver the sermon.
In his sermon, Rev. Nishida touched upon various infectious diseases while referring to the Mikagura-uta and the Ofudesaki. He then quoted from the Osashizu and spoke about the parental heart of God the Parent, who desires to hasten world salvation.