Editorial Note: A month before this message was delivered, former prime minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, was assassinated on July 8 while speaking at an event. The alleged suspect was someone who held a grudge against a particular new religion in Japan and believed the former prime minister had ties with it, which prompted the spread of criticisms toward that new religion. In a nation that was already critical of new religions, this incident further reinforced the sentiment. In this backdrop, we received this time’s Sacred Word. Hello, everyone. We all believe in religion, right? World Church of Messiah is a religion, and we believe in this religion. And speaking of religions, although established ones such as Shintoism and Buddhism are relatively accepted in Japan, new religions like ours that formed before and after the war, are viewed through a sort of judgmental eye by the Japanese people. When it comes to the word “religion” itself, people say things like “That person belongs to a religion,” in a way that mocks faith. And if a certain religious group causes a problem, most people think that whatever the religion, there isn’t much of a difference and would say, “Other new religions are probably the same way.” It is a fact that people think this way. Not only is it the way people see religion. In actuality, for example, when you want to lease a place as a church, it is difficult for the reason that you are a new religion. Going beyond being viewed unfairly, religious groups incur discriminatory treatment. This is how religion is treated in Japan. But fundamentally, here in Japan, the state grants the legal status of “religious corporation” to religions, thus allowing their religious activities. As all of you know, in the former days, State Shinto was the national religion, and everyone had to believe in Shintoism. But after the war, the freedom of religion was effectively established. So rather than the state promoting a religion, it allows the Japanese people to freely take part in religious activities, and through those kinds of religious organizations, the Japanese government aims to educate and nurture the human spirit. Even still, the reality is that religion is seen with very critical eyes. Maybe there are some among you who are like me too, but I have this strong fighting instinct within me. Since there shouldn’t be any problems with religion in the first place, the greater the criticisms get against religion, the more I want to put religion out into the world. For example, walking around town wearing a t-shirt printed with “I believe in religion” or wearing a bandana with those words on it—of course, there is the issue of fashion (everyone laughs). These kinds of thoughts arise within me. I mean we are not doing anything bad, right? To have faith is a noble work, so there is no reason to incur such unjustified criticisms. This is the kind of thought that wells up within me. On the opposite end, I think to myself, what I do not want to do and what I think looks pathetic is caving into those voices of criticisms and doing activities that have erased religion. And it is not only about big topics like that. If you are asked by someone “What do you do for work?” and you answer something like “It’s related to MOA Museum” or “cultural activities,” this is hiding religion. And people do that because they are ashamed to say, “I work in a religious organization.” I do not want to be like that. And in the case of Japan, when people avoid “religion,” it usually has to do with the one and only God. On the other end, the Japanese do not reject “religion” when it comes to the multitudinous gods of Shinto or when it comes to Buddhism. In today’s Sacred Word of Meishu-sama, he tells us that we must “say the word God.” And it is true that the Japanese use the word “god” in the Shinto sense, such as “god of marriage,” “god of soccer” or “god of baseball.” But the God that Meishu-sama is referring to is the one and only God—he means this God when he tells us to say the word God, right? The Japanese people have an instinctual resistance toward this existence of the one and only God. This then turns into the rejection of religion. And what about the United States, which Meishu-sama often compared Japan to? As it was mentioned in today’s Sacred Word, when Meishu-sama saw the president of the US take an oath with his hand on the Bible during the inauguration, Meishu-sama was very moved and said, “I felt something inexplicable within me—a sense of awe, if you like.” He thought it was wonderful. Still now, in the United States presidential election, if the person does not believe in the one and only God, as a matter of course you cannot get elected. In actuality, if you don’t believe in Christianity, then you cannot become the president of the United States. So in the US, “I believe in God” is the type of thing you declare proactively, if anything. And then there’s American money. On both the bills and the coins, there is a phrase engraved in English: IN GOD WE TRUST. This is imprinted on the currency. We usually rely on money, our sustenance for daily living—but on that money, “IN GOD WE TRUST” is imprinted. When I looked into this “IN GOD WE TRUST” a little more, it seems that this is also the motto of the entire country. So the motto of the United States of America is “IN GOD WE TRUST.” Of course, the situation in the US could possibly change in the future, for example, they no longer imprint the words on their currency. And although you may have all kinds of thoughts on American ways, Meishu-sama at the very least believed that the way the US fully received God was very good. Meishu-sama also said that in the United States, every household owns at least one Bible in their home and that he was envious of this (“The Japanese and their piety,” December 17, 1949). So if Meishu-sama found out that the words “IN GOD WE TRUST” were imprinted on US currency, I am sure Meishu-sama would say, “How envious! It would be wonderful if Japan did the same.” As such, this was the vigor Meishu-sama had in wanting to openly put out God. But for many years, what was our attitude toward that? Of course, I think it has been different since we became World Church of Messiah, but for many years, instead of using the word “God,” didn’t we use phrases like “the power of Mother Nature” when it came to things like Nature Farming? Although “God” was said a little, it was essentially not said. If anything, the approach was more like how much can we not say the word God. Whether it was about MOA Museum or about Johrei, weren’t we always thinking about just how much we could avoid putting out God or religion in the open? For Johrei, we did stuff like gathering scientific data. For Art too, did we ever say anything close to “We come in contact with Art in order to recall God, the true Creator”? But to know what Meishu-sama thought, let us look at the eight hymns of Meishu-sama we offered to God today. The first one was: “I now brandish theism over my head / And smash the erroneous atheism into pieces!” Meishu-sama is asserting the existence of God and saying that he will smash into pieces the error in thinking that there is no God. Meishu-sama is trying to put out the existence of God in public, isn’t he? Today’s Sacred Word where he said we had to “say the word God” was a piece Meishu-sama wrote for the Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun, a general newspaper at the time. This was not a Sacred Word intended for members. In a general newspaper, Meishu-sama wrote that politicians, too, should say the word God and how wonderful it was that the American president placed his hand on the Bible. He is definitely not hiding religion or God, right? Today’s second hymn is, I might say, one of my favorites. “I will create those who fear God and / Keep the right path, / For this is my mission.” Meishu-sama wants to create people who fear God. We often talk about passing on our faith to the next generation, but what kind of faith do we want them to carry on? Meishu-sama wants to create people who fear God, so if we do pass down faith, then it definitely has to be one where we fear God. And if the next generation were to join World Church of Messiah, we would have to convey to them this faith of fearing God. With this understanding, they should join. Isn’t that right? Did we ever do that until now? If anything, wasn’t the standard something like being able to dedicate the divine scroll and being able to practice Johrei? The third hymn: “I will reconstruct / The current erroneous civilization / So that the accomplishment of God / Can be glorified!” God’s accomplishment. Isn’t this a mysterious way to put it, God’s accomplishment? This hymn describes Meishu-sama’s wish to glorify the deeds that God has accomplished. Now if this is the case, what is this “erroneous civilization”? It is the civilization that praises the deeds that human beings have accomplished. Meishu-sama wants to do away with that and glorify the deeds that God has accomplished. Isn’t this a mysterious hymn? I mean, God’s accomplishment. God’s deeds. Something has been accomplished, by God. What exactly did God accomplish? It is the completed world within us, the world that He had already constructed, right? This is His accomplishment. This is what I believe Kyoshu-sama is teaching us right now. The next hymn: “Those who want to denounce or deride us, / Say whatever you want to say—I welcome any attack on me. / For I own the holy sword of God!” This hymn shows Meishu-sama welcoming any denouncing or deriding attack because he has the holy sword that can crush evil. When he says “the holy sword of God,” it means that he has the power of God. Right now in Japan, there is a lot of criticism toward religion, various kinds. And because of that, there may be certain thoughts that arise among some people: “I wonder if my family or friends who are against my faith will say something to me” or “Maybe I should stop telling people about the faith” or “I wonder what will happen to the Church.” But what we should be most concerned about is not whether this faith is necessary to human beings—it should be about whether each and every one of our existences is necessary to God. It should be about whether this religion World Church of Messiah is necessary to God. If God deems it necessary, no matter what kinds of criticisms there are—now I’m not saying it’s okay to do something bad or cause trouble in the world—if God deems us or the Church as necessary, then no matter what criticisms come, no matter what attack strikes, we will never be defeated. That is why, in the following hymn, Meishu-sama says to us: “Do not seek approval from human eyes or mouth. / Respond only to the will of God.” All this time, we have been seeking approval from the eyes and mouths of humans. Thinking about whether it is okay for us to be seen as a religion or thinking about criticism towards religion—we are distracted by these. Although it is very difficult to do, we must respond to God’s will and His only. Isn’t that right? But instead, we are afraid of what people think of us or what people say of us. Even though religion is not something that should be hidden, thoughts and feelings arise that want to hide it from people, right? But actually, rather than being afraid of that, I think it is better to be afraid of God saying to us, “You are no longer necessary to Me.” Going back to the hymns, here is the fifth one: “While people of the world wander in darkness, / We courageously advance on the path of light!” People (particularly in Japan) generally believe that it is we who practice religion who are wandering in darkness. But to believe in the one and only God—this is right. This is how we should be as human beings. And in that hymn, Meishu-sama writes, “We courageously advance.” Meishu-sama knows that we lose our nerves, so he is telling us to go forward with courage, right? Courageously advance on the path of light! There may be criticism, there may be attack, but go advance on this path of God, this path of light with courage!—this is what Meishu-sama is saying. He assertively says, “We courageously advance.” Furthermore, we have to basically be like what Meishu-sama wrote in this next hymn: “People of the world are lost on paths of darkness. / Let us guide them to the path of light!” People in society may think, “I don’t need religion,” “I don’t believe in God,” “I live by my own power” or “I am not lost.” But the truth is, if they don’t know God, they are like stray children. So he is telling us to guide those lost people onto the path of light, guide them onto the path that we are walking on. In the following hymn, Meishu-sama left us a warning that we must be careful not to put ourselves on the side who knows God and put the rest of the world on the side that does not know God. “To unite atheism and theism— / This is the foundation of true culture.” This is also a mysterious hymn, isn’t it? But don’t we have an element of atheism within ourselves, this not believing in God? Yes, we do. Can you really say, “You are someone who doesn’t know God, but I know God”? No, right? I mean, before we became members, we hardly knew God, and even now, we still have rebellious thoughts toward God, don’t we? When something bad happens, don’t we think something like “Does God really exist?” Regarding subjects like God and religion, all kinds of thoughts and feelings are arising within people in society and ourselves nowadays, right? The heart that believes in God, the heart that doesn’t; the heart that criticizes and is ashamed of religion; the self that wants to act like an atheist; or the heart that puts oneself in a place of superiority by believing in God—all kinds of thoughts or feelings well up within people’s hearts and minds. When I say people’s hearts and minds, I mean each and every one of our thoughts and feelings. These need to be united. To where are these united? They are united to God. Acknowledging before God “O God, You forgave these postures”—this becomes the foundation of true culture for human beings. That’s what the hymn is saying. It may sound like something simple, but it is not actually being taught anywhere else. In the religions of the world, they say, “We believe, but they do not,” “We are forgiven, but they are not.” All religions around the world are like this. People of the world are like this—I do not believe, but they believe. This is the kind of reality they live in. But in World Church of Messiah, all of that, everything—the things that go on in our hearts and minds or the reactions of the people around us, all of those things—has to do with salvation. Let’s say you try to talk to some people about our Church, but you are rejected, and they say awful things to you. In most cases, you would think, “They just don’t know.” But since World Church of Messiah unites atheism and theism, our understanding would be “Ah, this posture is my posture toward God.” In a situation where you cannot tell your family you are a member even though you want to or maybe they say something negative when you go to church, it normally ends with “My family doesn’t understand,” right? But World Church of Messiah is different. That is where we would say, “Ah, God forgave this posture of my family and is showing it to me. This is my posture.” So not one thing is negated at World Church of Messiah. The other party can have any reaction and to that reaction, you can have any thoughts. The issue is what you do, in front of God, with the thoughts and feelings that arise from the other party or from yourself. Will you simply end it with “He/she is that kind of person, and I am this kind of person”? Or will you say, “Ah, I see. God, You forgave this and are showing me”? Which one? This happens often with the people closest to us, right? Friends, your husband or wife, your son or daughter, grandpa or grandma, neighbors—their postures and your own postures. Every posture or thought or feeling including not believing in God or believing in God that appears within us does not need to be negated, at all. Zero negation. God will not be angry even if you think, “God just doesn’t exist.” But what He is asking is “So what are you going to do with that thought?” In religion up until today, it would tell you to think like this, think like that, think like this. But in World Church of Messiah, there is none of that. God is telling you to carry with you your anger or your sense of superiority or your sense of inferiority or shame—all those kinds of thoughts and feelings—and to come back to Him. I mean, the world today is completely tied down by all those thoughts and feelings, right? People judge others, but they don’t know what to actually do about it. Even in human relationships, if people don’t change no matter what you do, then practically, it’s a dead-end, right? But this surrendering to God is not something we impose on ourselves. Instead of thinking and ending with “I’m supposed to be surrendering to God, but I can’t do it,” remember that within us, Meishu-sama has actually already offered it to God, so all it really takes is for us to say, “Ah, I will accept the existence of Meishu-sama.” The very fact that you feel rebellious thoughts like “I can’t get myself to surrender,” in itself, is a sign that Meishu-sama has surrendered that thought to God and God has received it. So when you find yourself in an impossible situation or when you come smack up against those kinds of thoughts, it is fine just to think, “Ah, God has already received this.” Or you can simply call out, “Meishu-sama!” So now the last hymn: “The world came to a standstill / With no way forward or back. / Alas! / What would become of the future of humanity / If Meshia Kyo (World Church of Messiah) does not appear!” The world has come up against a wall. Even though they criticize religion, still, they can’t deny faith entirely. There’s nowhere they can go. The world is deadlocked. All of humanity is deadlocked. But there, World Church of Messiah exists, doesn’t it? All of you exist, don’t you? Even if it is only you who are here today that go about living with these kinds of thoughts I am talking about now, it would be something formidable for the salvation of humanity. The world today, after all, is at a standstill with no way forward or back, sitting there, wondering what will be of the future. Within us, we have something like our own yardstick of good and evil—we can think this, we can’t think that. We are on this tight leash, and we are suffering from it. We have to just remove it, and regardless of what you feel or what thoughts you have, we can say, “Ah, I am feeling or thinking this for the sake of salvation. This situation is for the sake of salvation.” Of course, the issue may not be solved in a day. But in time, you may begin to notice slight, gradual changes. In our daily life for example, maybe your husband changes a little, your child is starting to change a little—a little here, a little there. It may be slight, but in that slight change, there is actually huge salvation there, for humanity. I mean, we are working on the salvation of all humanity, all the billions of people. Or rather, we are working on the salvation of the billions of people of humanity plus all their ancestors. So for even one person to change, as that one person carries many people and things with them, if someone close to you changes even just a little, that is huge salvation. This is the work of salvation that is entrusted to all of you of World Church of Messiah. The work of salvation that we do is not “We are good. The world is evil. That’s why we are going to advance this world of good.” As it was also said in today’s Bible passage, “I am not ashamed of the gospel” (Romans 1:16), right? Are we ashamed of World Church of Messiah? Are we ashamed of this divine work of salvation? I mean, this gospel is the power of God that offers salvation to all people who believe, right? So there is no shame in that, is there? Well, we may have been ashamed about it, but there is nothing to be ashamed of. People of the world may ridicule us for being a religion and look down on us. We, however, are entrusted with God’s work of salvation of all people. So instead of shame, this is an immense honor, everyone. I was awakened to this salvation through Kyoshu-sama. There may be some people who think that my greetings are long, but if I may say so, I am just compelled to speak. I mean, I try not to inconvenience all of you. But in today’s Bible passage from Romans, Paul wrote that he is obligated to people, didn’t he? And he said that he is eager to preach the gospel, right? Those kinds of thoughts just well up within me too. I really want to tell all of you this gospel of salvation that I was made to know through Kyoshu-sama. Well, there is a part of me that feels guilty that all of you stick with me for a long time (everyone laughs). But I want you to know these things. I can’t help but want you to know. Well, rather than wanting you to know, we are actually receiving this gospel together. Rather than me wanting you to know, within me, I feel Meishu-sama is pressing me: “You must say this. Say that. Say this.” Well, I’m not trying to justify the length of my greetings by bringing up Meishu-sama (everyone laughs). But this is how much I want to convey the greatness of this gospel of salvation that I was made to know through Kyoshu-sama. I mean until now, we talked about how we have to become good people somehow, how we have to be better, even while we judged others. As such, wasn’t each and every one of us in a place of no escape? But Kyoshu-sama freed us from that. So today, what I am trying to say is that while there is criticism against religion, honest and true religion exists. That is what I want to convey. Honest and true religion. And that is World Church of Messiah. I don’t know how I myself was fated to be guided onto this path of truth, but at the very least, I know that I cannot claim any credit for it. All of you too, through all your human relationships and all the things that occur, you have been guided to World Church of Messiah. It seems like a chance circumstance, but it was actually inevitable. In order to save humanity, in order to save the world that has come to a standstill with no way forward or back, God chose all of you together with Meishu-sama from the very beginning. And rather than our facing a bleak future, God chose all of you to make a bright, glorious future. There is also the view that it would have been easier if we had not come to know this salvation. A kind of world where “that person is terrible,” “my husband is awful,” “my son doesn’t understand” or “that person doesn’t understand me either” could actually have been easier to live in, and you could be fairly happy. But now you know (everyone laughs), so there’s no escape from it, right? In listening to Kyoshu-sama’s messages or my talks, I believe you may have various resistant thoughts or feelings. Thoughts where you feel you couldn’t do such a thing or of wanting to live by your own effort. But even if you do have those kinds of thoughts or feelings, God is saying, “I am going to use each and every one of your hearts, bodies and everything for the noble work of salvation.” It is true that, in this world today, there are all kinds of criticisms toward religion, and I’m sure that you are facing various difficulties. But it is precisely during these times that we want to be proud as members who believe in religion, in God. Isn’t that so? Because that’s how Meishu-sama was. Meishu-sama also overcame every kind of persecution. Because of his hard-won fight, we can practice faith today. So in the days ahead, people may leave because we are a religion. Even though they had involvement until now, there may be people who leave when society begins to criticize religion all at once. But I will not take down our identity of religion, ever. That’s because it is our true substance, to believe in God. No matter how many people leave or how much we are looked down upon or ridiculed or insulted, I will never take down our identity of religion. That’s because all of humanity, each and every person, is actually eagerly waiting to be guided onto the path of light. This may take some time. There may not be a dramatic change in our surroundings. But regarding all the various matters that arise in each and every one of our daily lives, we can say, “Ah, I see. God is telling me to save this.” This is what I mean. And as I said a moment before, the changes might be slight. But the world will slowly but surely be united to God. Plus, Meishu-sama says “to the path of light,” so what awaits us is only light. A world of light awaits. So what we must have is perseverance and the pride of having been entrusted with this salvation. There is nothing to be ashamed about. There is no shame in this. The time for each and every one of us to carry this pride and make this world into a world of light has come. God and Meishu-sama have placed their hopes in each one of us to do our part. Like so, precisely because the world is the way it is now, let’s walk forward together on an open path, unhesitatingly and honestly without concealing anything. Let’s do our best together. Thank you very much.