Up until now, it’s been a competitive society. People were engaged in intense competition, but both society and individuals grew tired. Salarymen were increasingly taking their own lives, and many people were falling apart. The question is, has society truly become richer as a result of this breakdown?
The 21st century is often called the “age of the soul,” and even that age is about to dawn. So, the time just before dawn is the darkest. In the Edo period and other times, there was efficiency and productivity, but there were also women like the “Enyakora obasan” who would sing while building the foundation of a house or doing hard work for the sake of their families. Foreigners who saw this in Japan and said, “Isn’t the time spent singing longer than the time spent working?”
They would say, “You could do three times more if you worked more efficiently.” However, if you did that, your body wouldn’t hold up. Singing the “Enyakora” song for the sake of your father, and taking a short break before getting tired, that’s why you don’t get tired. If you rest after getting tired, fatigue doesn’t easily go away. But if you take a short break before getting tired, you don’t get tired.
The heart, you see, keeps beating from birth until death. Other muscles, like your hands, if you clench and release them repeatedly, your hands will swell and become immobile in no time. Why does the heart keep moving? Why doesn’t the heart get tired? The answer is, the heart rests before it gets tired. So, when it goes “thump,” it’s actually resting for a while.
That’s why the resting time is longer. Do you understand? It’s not saying to just rest from work all the time. If you don’t enjoy your work, you’ll get tired and won’t endure it. And what is “enjoyment”? When someone says, “I’m really happy that you’re here,” that’s when people are at their happiest.
So, even if you work hard at posting flyers on rainy and windy days, when someone says, “Thanks to you, I was saved,” all the tiredness disappears. God has made it that way.
In the past, the most difficult work was farming. People say planting rice is tough, but in the past, planting rice was the most fun. Why was it fun? Because young girls called “saotome” planted the rice. They went into the fields, so to keep their hems from getting wet, they rolled up their kimonos. They rolled up their kimonos and squatted down to do it, so no matter how you think about it, it was fun for men to see young girls with their legs out, squatting down.
It suddenly got fun, didn’t it? Men don’t plant rice. Afterward, they played the drums and danced. So, for farmers, there was nothing more enjoyable than planting rice. So, human instincts are about efficiency, about how to make efficiency better. If you use people like machines, you can calculate profit, but people will break. But even now, America is dark. It’s getting darker.
What kind of era is coming next? If you ask, let’s come up with wisdom that turns this tough job into joy, let’s make wisdom work more. Everyone can work happily. That’s the 21st century, and God is seeking that direction, so you have to go that way, whether you like it or not. And from there, dawn comes to those who realize it. It’s not a simultaneous dawn.
As for the soul, those who awaken first are already in the light. Those who keep their eyes closed are always in the dark. Even in our company, there are people who used to work happily. And there are people who are happy now that they’re doing something different. God isn’t saying to do something great or to live grandly; He’s saying to live joyfully. Living joyfully doesn’t mean not working. When we say “joyful,” it doesn’t mean doing nothing.
We work joyfully, and we help people joyfully. So, let me tell you something strange. When I see a motorcycle, some are reminded of motorcycle gangs, but if everyone rides with good manners and enjoys it, even motorcycles can be fun. Motorcycles themselves aren’t bad. It’s the reckless behavior that’s bad. Because motorcycles won’t disappear from the world. And you still have to work. No matter what era comes, welfare won’t provide for you forever.
Welfare doesn’t exist unless people who work contribute money. And what kind of era is coming next? Soon, we’ll realize that relying on the government is useless. You have to have the feeling that you’re supporting the country. The country is actually relying on the people.
You have to earn your own living. If you’re going to earn it anyway, it’s better to do it happily, without a furrowed brow, and tell, “It’s fun, it’s fun to help people.” That’s the ideal. Why doesn’t the ideal happen? Because there are no companies like that. So, from now on, all you have to do is go ahead in the direction God wants for this world.
In the future, work happily, be appreciated by customers, and be able to live. If you ask if there is such an ideal, there is. I can show it to you, and together with those who have believed in and followed me, we’ll go there hand in hand.
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