The impressions of a Brazilian reader on "Words for Life."
At first, I felt a sense of "happiness." As someone who has always cherished the concise and profound sayings of Master Ryuho Okawa, I was filled with joy.
What struck me most deeply were the proverbs about parents.
"Words for Life 21"
This saying resonated with its beauty and depth. Especially for someone like me, who felt unloved by their parents before encountering our community, it felt significant. I had attended seminars about parents before and suddenly realized how noble my parents were. They chose to come into this world even though they knew they wouldn't meet Lord El Cantare. Their profound and noble parental love now brings tranquility to my heart. My sense of gratitude toward them has deepened significantly.
"Words for Life" has become my "go-to book." It's easily accessible, and I read it repeatedly. I don't just read it when I have spare time; I turn to it when facing challenges.
As I seek to deepen my faith and learning, I make sure to contemplate after reading a scripture. Because merely "reading" is insufficient. It's necessary to read with the eyes of the heart and contemplate with the heart.
I had been pondering what "gratitude" truly means. Words like "thank you," "it was good," "I really liked it" felt inadequate. Particularly when expressing gratitude to Lord El Cantare, I believed it should be something deeper.
Certainly, expressing "thank you" to people is important. However, I believed that our gratitude toward our Lord should be deeper and more precious. Our gratitude toward the divine Lord, the heavenly Father, and His special presence should be exceptional. When I heard this proverb at a branch event, it deeply resonated within me:
"Words for Building Character 6"
I could sense what it means to have "gratitude toward Lord El Cantare" and what it means to have "gratitude toward Master Ryuho Okawa, who teaches us with his life and truths." Our Lord truly sacrifices for humanity, even laying down his life for us. It's profoundly moving.
On that day, I realized the difference between "gratitude" and "courtesy." Overwhelmed with emotion, tears kept flowing, and I found myself at a loss for words.
I understood the depth of "gratitude to Lord El Cantare and Master Ryuho Okawa." I felt that merely saying "Thank you, Lord" wasn't enough.
As a practical application of gratitude to the Lord, I strongly felt the desire to "contribute to blessings." I thought that we must bring more of the Lord's teachings to people.
When I joined, there were only two Portuguese-language scriptures. However, I was aware that Master Ryuho Okawa had published numerous scriptures, so I kept shedding tears. I wanted to read more. I wanted to learn more from his teachings.
Today, the number of published scriptures has increased, but compared to the volume of teachings and effort given by the Master, it is still relatively small. We need more (Portuguese-language) scriptures. Master is not writing scriptures only for me. He is writing them for people. We are all unique. When God created us, He created us as separate entities. We are born the same, but each of us has a unique soul with distinct needs. And because everyone resonates differently with teachings, we need more scriptures to touch and bring more people to Lord El Cantare.