Ever since I was installed into the holy order, I have gained experience through working many years in academic institutions. Being a little different from ordinary churches, I feel I have been “trained” to tell and explain about Christianity without having to use any church terminologies to those around me who are mostly non-Christians. This was for me to “find God in many places around the world.”
Among them, I have the impression that the concept of “resurrection” is very misunderstood. In a word, “the dead comes back to life” and that’s it. However, this is different from Christ’s teachings of “resurrection” and “the resurrection of life.” What I feel at many funerals is that even if the dead does not “come back to life,” there is, for sure, a “resurrection of life.” It is not the biological “life” that lives in the body, but “life” given to us by God and our belief in the “resurrection of life.” As a means to explain this, I would like to entrust the image of the word “the energy of life” without being afraid of misunderstandings.
During my time as a theological student, I visited the Taize Community and had the chance to meet many people. The one which left a great impression on me was at a community center for the disabled, supported by our brothers and currently accepts workers from JOCS (Japan Overseas Christian Medical Cooperative Service).
One day, I accompanied Ms. Naomi Iwamoto, a dispatched worker, to a home whose child related to the Center. The boy had a severe mental disability and was able to hold any kind of conversation. However, it was even hard for me, who had only visited once, to leave. It made me sad, and I ran outside and cried. I am cheered up by this “energy of life” in him every time I remember that day.
A group, whose members have some kind of disability, had just started at this center. A woman, who was engaged during her college years, became unable to walk after developing a tuberculosis of bone. Her engagement was broken off, dropped out of school, and confined herself in her home. She got herself involved with the center as a user, but when Ms. Iwamoto and the other staff saw her, they felt the woman had a gift of being a counselor. The woman became a counselor and appointed her as leader of the group. The other day, when I saw the woman’s name as a group leader on the information for gathering which supports this women’s group, I thanked the Lord from my heart to the staff who have seen the “energy of life” within her and continued supporting her. “To have a share in the resurrection of life” means that God’s “energy of life” fills all parts of the world. These people have taught me to realize and believe that God gives us this “energy of life” that is within us.