Child

Previously, I explained how glum it is to walk down the street here in Tokyo, and how depressed the people were. One thing I didn't mention was the pure silence that pierces the city air. You would think silence is a good thing, aaahh... peace and quiet. But this silence is different.

Here in Tokyo, it is looked down on to be disruptive of the "WA" (harmony), so people maintain a very noticeable silence. In the streets, on the train, the crosswalks, everywhere you go, there are so many people in their dark business suits and briefcases, not a smile in sight. (Every once and awhile there will be a nice old lady with a smile, but its rare.) When you go on the train, every individual, whether sitting or standing, stares off into space like a zombie. Half of them are sleeping, and half of those are sleeping while standing. Not a peep, not a noise. All of them are depressed.

The silence here isn't peaceful, its oppressed.

However, as I look out the window, I hear a faint noise coming down the street. I hear giggling and laughter! What is this rare occurrence in such a deathly silence? It was the children! Two young little japanese boys were running down the street, one was chasing the other. I looked and saw their faces, so happy and innocent, eyes bright with wonderment. This made me think to myself.

These young souls were untouched with depression, untouched by the corruption of the world. Their eyes see the world around them with a sense of wonder, a world of discovery, a world to explore. Their hearts are not perfect, by any means, as we know a child can be a major handful. But there is a certain softness, a certain openness, a certain light that shines on them.

It makes you wonder, is that the way we were all originally meant to be? As life drags on are we tainted more and more with dullness, with a closed off heart?

Matt 19:14

But Jesus said, "Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these."

Matt 18:3

Then he said, "I assure you, unless you turn from your sins and become as little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of heaven."

I can see this even in a place where the people are so quiet and empty. The children walk down the street and its almost like the entire place is lit up. So happy, so excited, ready to have fun, minds uncorrupted by the adult world, philosophies or ways of thinking. Just raw emotions and desires.

We, as believers, are God's children, and he has prepared a place for us. A place where we can live as the souls he made us to be. We will be pure, and free from worry.

Update

So its been awhile since my last post...

This training period has been very interesting to say the least. Everyday we walk about 30 minutes from the house to the church we meet in for lectures and worship. Along the way, we walk past many japanese homes and businesses. There are ALOT of people walking around, going about their daily lives, and they all seem so glum.

Japan is about the size of California. California has about 36 million people in it, and the population is mostly spread out. Japan has about 127 million people in it and most of the population is clumped together in one region. So when I say alot of people walking around, I mean it.

Luckily, these people have such an idea of respect and they live in such harmony with each other, that this crammed situation actually works. Yet each person here struggles with identity. Sometimes two friends will walk together at the train station, and one of them will just jump out in front of a train for no apparent reason. In fact the one friend will say that the other was unusually happy and cheerful up to that point, and had no idea why his friend would jump in front of the train.

I want to share God's love with these people, I want them to be free from their culture's traditions so that they can understand they have a Father in heaven who cares about them.

A Samurai's Mentality

Imagine with me for a second:

Tonight you will be walking in a beautiful garden. The air is fresh and warm. Not too warm, not too cold.
A wonderful fragrance fills the air, and all the plants around you reflect with their soft beauty, the fact that they have grown in the midst of this sweet air. Soft clouds float accross the sky and a heavenly light shines through. It takes your breath away. Infact as you breath, there isn't an ounce of difficulty. The air is flawless. Then you realize you almost can't even feel your body. It almost feels like a dream but you know it isnt. Your steps feel as light as a feather, and you lift your arm and you realize your body is glowing. You feel so pure. You try to remember what happened earlier today but you can't remember... infact nothing about yesterday comes to mind either. Yet somehow, you dont care anymore. This place is like nothing you've ever felt before.... You could here forever, and nothing of your past even matters, good or bad. Such a pure world, such an innocent world. A world of light, a world of freedom and happiness.

Would you be happy if you knew that was going to happen tonight? I would.
The funny thing is, it very well could happen tonight.


The samurai were known for their meditation on death. A samurai did not fear death, he welcomed it. Every day was lived as if he was to die that day.
They were fearless in battle, unmoved by the concept of pain or death. They lived to die.


There was a place, another realm, a place even the samurai did not know existed. A place of unimagined peace, free from all worries. A place to run free, a place of unmatched beauty, a place always filled with a wonderful fragrance. A place where light never grows short, a place of soft winds and peaceful forests. Things exist in this place that no man has ever seen before. Nothing exists that is corrupt. Haven't we all heard of this place before? Its something we kind of glaze over now. Its just a thing of obvious knowledge. The thought of it almost grows dull, like a dream far off.
I TELL YOU RIGHT NOW THAT THIS PLACE IS REAL. Wake up! Snap out of it! The place you live in now is a dream. And what a sick, disgusting dream it is. The place you now live in is dirty. It is sad and gloomy and filled with corruption. Any beauty you see now is only a figment, a blurred shadow of the truth.
Think about it FOR REAL, and dont just fly over the words with glazed eyes.
What if by the end of the day you were walking in this place. Because that very well could happen. What are your thoughts consumed by? Perhaps you wonder what you will do with your friends tomorrow. Perhaps you worry about your job, or think about the TV show you are watching.
SNAP out of it. Your TV show is fake... it is a dillusional fantasy. Your job is meaningless. If you die today, what good does your job do for you tomorrow? What good do all the coins in the world do for you, bunched up in the bloated pockets of your decaying corpse?
Life is but a breath, even if you live to your old age. Each day goes by and it is a shadow of the next. This will happen so fast that all the years of your life will not be enough to satisfy your wrinkled smile.
How funny, that you cling to this world as if it were worth something. I tell you, the place you live in now compared to the place the Father has prepared for His children... is like the difference between dung on the bottom of your shoe and the purest rain falling from white clouds, peirced through by the most brilliant light immaginable.
It's your choice: Lick the dung off your shoe and chew on it - Savor it until there is none left. Or discard it and run through the grassy field barefoot, soaking in the brilliant rays of light shining through the soft falling rain.
Which do you choose?
THAT is the stark difference. Yet most people live like zombies, licking the putrid excrement off their dry, cracked, crusted feet with miserable joy. Their eyes are glazed to the amazing sight before them.
I tell you what, the thought of licking excrement off my foot makes me want to puke.

If I die today, I will be in happiness. I want God to take me now! I could discard everything that is going on in my life right now, however good it may be, realizing that its such a joke compared to reality.

If God wants me to die, its his choice, and I will be in paradise with him forever. If he wants me to stay here a little longer, I can live everyday to its fullest purpose and without fear or want of anything, because I know all is meaningless compared to whats in store for me. I will do the biddings of my Father till he calls me home.

I am dead already, so death cannot take me. I am more alive than the living, because the life I have is unaffected by death.
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