85. Too Heavy a Load for a Child
The time was late in the spring of 1881. Kei [Matsui], then thirty-one years of age, had been spending her days and nights in tears for several years because honeycomb-like holes had progressed to the roots of her teeth and had reached the bone. One day the fragrance of the teachings of God was spread to her by a tin-smith and his wife who happened to be passing by. As instructed by them, she poured water into a rice bowl, prayed, “Namu, Tenri-Ō-no-Mikoto,” and drank the water. The pain subsided instantly. After two to three days she received the marvelous salvation of complete recovery from the suffering that had lasted for years.
Walking a distance of about twelve kilometers from Kihara of Miminashi Village in Shiki County, she returned to Jiba to express her gratitude and was granted an audience with Oyasama. Oyasama noticed that Kei’s eldest son, eight-year-old Chusaku, had carried on his back a nine-pound round rice cake for offering, and She said:
“Well! Welcome home! Oh, it is too heavy a load for a child!”
Chusaku took these words to his heart and, remembering them throughout his life, endured all kinds of hardships while striving for the single-hearted salvation of mankind.
Anecdotes of Oyasama, pp. 70–71.