On November 26, the November Monthly Service of Tenrikyo Church Headquarters was performed in the Main Sanctuary with Successor-Designate Daisuke Nakayama serving as chief officiant on behalf of the Shinbashira.
In the Service prayer, Rev. Nakayama expressed his gratitude for the warm parental heart of God the Parent, who—having revealed the truth of the beginnings of origin and taught the Service for universal salvation—grants us the truth of the Sazuke and safely guides us on the path of spiritual growth. He also said: “All of us followers will once again ponder over Your intention at a time when many restrictions related to COVID-19 are being lifted. We are determined to advance forward in our everyday lives on the path of single-hearted salvation spiritedly in unity of mind with Oyasama’s Divine Model as our guiding principle so as to respond to Your intention.”
The prayer was followed by the joyous performance of the Kagura Service and the Dance with Hand Movements. With the early winter’s mild sunshine pouring down on the Sanctuary precincts, people who had returned to Jiba worshiped in unity of mind while taking preventive measures against the spread of the virus.
After the Service, Honbu-in Haruo Maegawa took the podium to deliver the sermon. Referring to COVID-19 as a huge global knot, he stated that we need to receive the blessings from God the Parent by accepting the knot with simple-openness and growing spiritually. He said, “We should alter the direction of our minds to perceive God’s intention and to change ourselves from who we are now.”
Having emphasized the importance of abandoning the selfish uses of the mind and praying for the workings of God the Parent, he concluded his sermon by saying, “Even in the middle of this huge knot, we would like to energetically advance our spiritual growth to receive great blessings while looking forward to what lies ahead.”