Gift from Heaven

Hello everyone!

Johann Sebastian Bach (18th century German composer and musician) said

Music’s only purpose should be for the glory of God and the recreation of the human spirit.

Music’s only purpose should be for the glory of God and the recreation of the human spirit.

Johann Sebastian Bach, 18th century German composer and musician)

Today, I would like to look at life from the perspective of a woman’s life.

There is a compact book (15cm x 11cm x 1cm) called “Hyakcho-shu” written by my father, Mr. Masatsu Yasuoka, which contains 100 selected poems and writings by individuals with commentary.

In 2002, my wife and I were reading this book as our life’s bread and butter. There were some difficult passages, but all of them really touched our hearts and encouraged us.

In the section titled “Students of Today,” there is a note from my late wife. The following is a brief introduction of the contents of that section.

The first thing I’d like to do is to briefly introduce the contents of that section.

Mr. Yasuoka said, “You should not think of graduating from school as graduation. Rather, American and British universities have a word for it. They call it ‘Commence’. It means the beginning of coming into the world. Life is a constant study.

Society and the universe are still a big picture. This is the reason why the scholars are separated from the common man.

The poem by Wang Yangming says: “After meeting the hole, you will be privy for a little while”.

In other words, there is a sentence that says that, in the face of adversity, I have managed to keep my mind from wandering and my spirit from starving, and I am forced to reflect on this sentence by overlaying it on the last line of this sentence.

There are many things that can happen to a person’s work and life. We can learn from the words of those who have gone before us and the way of life of those close to us that it is not what happens to a person that determines their happiness or failure.

What determines the happiness or unhappiness of a person’s life is how they perceive the event, what they learn from it, what insights and messages they gain from it, and how they move forward.

During this period, my wife had undergone a major gynecological operation (removal of the left ovary) the previous year (2001) and was diagnosed with uterine cancer in January 2002. In March of the same year, I had a quasi-extensive hysterectomy, had adhesions due to endometriosis, had a complete rupture of my ureter during the surgery, had a catheter inserted, and in April of the same year, I was undergoing radiation therapy (1.8 x 25 sessions: 45 Gy).

This is an entry in “The Hundredth Dynasty” which I was reading during the radiation treatment.

April 2, 2002.

I believe that learning in life is a constant study. Is it karma to live a life of self-reflection and self-confrontation?

“Adversity doesn’t seem to wobble my mind~”…What is adversity? Second surgery for cancer. Surgery for a second cancer and now treatment.

Indeed, I think now is a good time to call it adversity. What do you think about in adversity? Jealousy or regret? Gratitude or joy?

Gratitude for being surrounded by warm love. But the body that is entrusted to me from heaven does not do what I want it to do.

My late wife taught me.

‘Refine your soul…especially when you are sick, your soul is refined and handed to you as a baton of light and life. The importance of making the decision to ‘live’ no matter how painful or sad it is. re.