21. That’s All to the Good, That’s All to the Good

Around the middle of May 1868, five years from the time Chushichi Yamanaka had embraced the faith, a heavy rain had fallen continuously for many days. The river overflowed here and there, rice fields were washed out and houses were carried away. Chushichi suffered heavy losses. A landslide on his mountain property buried many large trees. Also, his rice fields of approximately ninety ares* were washed out.

People in his village had been deriding Chushichi’s faith and immediately seized the opportunity to heap all sorts of abuses on him, saying, “Look at him! What a fool he is! Stupid one!” Feeling chagrined at what the villagers said, Chushichi visited Oyasama in the Residence and explained the situation to Her. Oyasama told him:

“Sah, sah, that’s all to the good. That’s all to the good. Now that your goods have been carried away to the bottom of the sea, it will come to good in the future. You may wonder why your fields and hills were washed out in spite of your faith, but you must accept the situation with a heart of gratitude. You must do so. That will come to good in the future.”

Chushichi heartily thanked God that he suffered only a small misfortune instead of a calamity.

 (Note)

*Are [pronounced air]: Metric system, a surface measure equal to 100 square meters.)

Anecdotes of Oyasama, pp. 15–16 Continue reading Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama 21 →