A strange time to be an ex-patriot

Ex-patriot always strikes me as a strange word. If I hadn’t already known it to simply mean “American citizen living abroad”, then I would think it is something like “someone who is no longer a patriot (loyal member or fan)” and therefore “anti-American” in some sense. I personally am not “anti-American”, but I honestly am not sure I understand the USA much anymore. I moved to Japan in 2009, and apparently, from 2013 (according to Jonathan Haida) America started to become “stupid” due to the internet and social media largely being used to simply sling random political memes back and forth and comment about them (namely Facebook?). In any case, not having been in the country for nearly 17 years (except for a 5-month period between 2015-2016), I have largely felt myself more and more distant from my country of origin. My life here also is with Japanese and in Japanese and have very few conversations with an English speaker (perhaps once every two months or so…).

Ah, but I do have some conversations with my parents back home. But, they also seem to be just as confused as to what is going on. It is as if a great shift in mood and attitude took place, and almost everyone is unsettled. From talking with them, I wonder about the numbers of people on the extreme left and right. The way politics have been done recently, I tend to assume that the general population is the same. But, when I talk with people, as always, there is much more nuance than that and I wonder if both people on the left and right are frankly tired of everything.

But while I feel more and more distant from my country, what my country does will still affect me and perceptions of me. As of until now, America was no dictatorship, nor did it go about taking over other countries (well, that depends upon what one means by “take over”, as there was a lot that happened in Central America), but for the most part, I didn’t feel too much like one of the “bad guys”. Yes there is a sad history with Japan and the USA, but that was in the past and, things are better right? Now if the USA did become a power that would take over other countries (like Greenland), that would make my life and work here much, much more difficult. Because regardless of however I live my life here, my nationality is still the USA and what happens there affects how I introduce myself and talk through different topics. In one sense, if the USA went and did something utterly atrocious, I will lose my voice to a great extent. Even though I may not personally sin, there is still somewhat of a corporate identity in certain circumstances and places. I might find myself apologizing more often than I would like too…

In any case, with the rapid shifts in culture, divisions in politics, and escalation of power games, I continue to feel unsure about the future for many legitimate reasons. But, as is mentioned in Esther, perhaps for reasons unknown, God has me at this time and in this place for a good reason. I believe that and will hold onto that through the ups and downs of this strange era.

Cults and Words

I received a letter and a phone call from a relatively new convert to the 新天地 group, which is called Shincheonji Church of Jesus in English. Perhaps I’ll go into more details sometime in the future as to what this group believes and practices, but I want to concentrate on my interaction with the young convert and the material that I was presented…which gave me an important observation into the formation of cults.

So, I tried to be as loving and kind to the new convert as possible. I think this person was in a rough spot, was pulled into the cult and had been trying to be a good “Christian”, which means writing letters and contacting as many people as possible. My guess is that this work had become all encompassing…and I just wanted to present an alternative that is truer and freer than what she was experiencing. But the person also directed me to some messages of their leader, whom I can’t remember off the top of my head, but in essence, it was the “second John”. According to the message, only two people have ever entered into heaven and seen it….Jesus and John (John in Revelation). So, the leader of this group is that John who ascended into heaven and now can speak the truth because he had literally been to heaven (thus, complete authority). But besides that, there was a great emphasis on the “blood of Jesus”. Generally, the “blood of Jesus” usually means the work of Jesus on the cross as an atoning sacrifice (1 John 4 ). In other words, it is not that we actually need bottles of blood of Jesus and that this has a kind of supernatural quality about it…but rather “blood” is another word for “life” in certain contexts. In most contexts, that is the natural understanding of how it is used. But this group began using the word “blood of Christ” in an unusual way…their leader, who is the only one who had access to heaven and the truth, learned the secret meaning of blood of Christ, and it is only through this secret meaning that people are saved…so, the words “blood of Christ” or similar phrases in the New Testament, change to mean the “teachings of leader so-and-so”. Thus, people will then read the same passages as anyone else could, but come away with totally different understandings due to language games. I later noticed something similar with the Unification church. There is a change of language from God as “Father” to “Parent” and then extracting “female” and “male” understandings from “parent”, thus almost making God into a literal male and female. This is done to deify not just Rev. Moon, but his wife as well, since there would need to be two people in order to reflect the “masculine” and “feminine” aspects of God. Regardless, the subtle changes of meanings of words and vocabulary can dupe people into very strange ways.

So, words are important. We need to always ask what does someone mean by “such and such”, and see how they come to such conclusions as well. A lot of times people nod their heads because we know all the words that are used, but really deep down, we have no idea what they are talking about…yet we feel foolish to question and ask for explanation. And we can then go along, little by little, being led by a person charisma and nothing more (perhaps also dark powers?) As a Christian, we should always be questioning for our own understanding and as acts of discernment…

Execution (not of people, just tasks)

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So many times I find myself with the “right ideas”, yet feel lost getting from point A to point B. I suppose I might be able to get myself across the way, but as a pastor, leading people, creating structures and then helping through the transition is so much larger of a task. Recently, while mulling over the vision of the church, discipleship has rang quite loudly. We put people in programs and hope that people are automatically churned out into “mature” members…but that rarely is the case. In fact, especially with the younger generation, it is less and less and less the case. So, discipleship through individual/intimate relations is something we need to move towards the center of what we do and what we keep as important. BUT, here is the trouble. How do we get from where we are to where we need to be. Even just thinking about that process gives me anxiety as I think about all the possible wrong turns that we could make and the crashes that would also occur. It feels very safe to stand still. If we are not moving (ie, changing (growing?!), then things seem safe. Now, if there was nothing behind us, if there was no danger or rising tides, then that might be the case. But time moves forward and cultures constantly shift (even more so now at much faster paces) and so, though sitting still feels safe, it is actually the most dangerous thing we can do. When a tsunami alarm sounds, we might want to stay home…but to stay home could mean the end of us. So it is best to move. And so it is with church. Not that we need to quickly change programs and structures everyday. But that we would trust God enough to move. Sitting still is perhaps a form of distrust. Of course there are many possible wrong turns ahead of us when we move, and there are no turns if we sit still….if we sit still, there is no real hope…but if we move forward in the Spirit, trusting in Christ and keeping our eyes on Him…whatever happens, we will at least be found faithful…and I suppose this is not an “at least” scenario, but rather something to greatly rejoice over.

But still, execution of a process of getting from A to B (or specifically in my case, no discipleship to discipleship) often feels like stumbling in the dark. There are many resources and I am reading more and more on the subject, which gives help. But when you actually implement courses and studies your self, the actuality of moving forward does not feel so safe or stable. “People might not like the changes”. “It might take away from the ways that were beneficial”…”I might destroy the church that others labored so hard for!” are the kinds of doubts that swirl around. But to trust Christ is to step forward, perhaps with only one eye open. We can study other scenarios, but what will happen to us and the local church we are leading, God only knows. But through moving forward, we often are pushed more and more to trust in God and entrust the church to Him. So, whether we eat or drink or bumble forward in making the church more discipleship centered…we can still do it all for the glory of God.

Worship, part 1

I should probably review some other posts and check if I wrote on this topic before, but my computer monitor is broken and any kind of extra activity takes much longer that it should. So I shall trust my memory.

Worship is one of the main values of our church, but when we here “worship” or in Japanese 礼拝 , 99% of people will think to a 1 hour block of time on Sunday mornings where we sing songs, sit and listen to someone pray, and listen to a message…and perhaps here some announcements. None of these things are necessarily incorrect, but this should never be a comprehensive understanding of worship for anyone. If it becomes that, then both our daily life and life together as the church become terribly dull, predictable and lifeless. So, we need to have a much broader understanding of worship in our lives, and a deeper understanding of worship “as the church” (which might typically occur on a Sunday morning).

When we understand worship only as a program and block of time, then that also carries with it the assumption that all other times and activities are “not worship”. But worship should be simply understood as “treating God as God” or “revealing the glory of God”. We are created in God’s image and are supposed to reflect Him in a way that glorifies Him (which would mean to live according to His heart). Of course, part of that is love for Him and expressions of love for Him. But, when this becomes our understanding of worship, we begin to see that only one section is for God, but rather the whole of life is to God. And this is true throughout the Bible.

In the Old Testament, we can see that worship involves ritual and sacrifices and festivals. These are all found in the law. But the law also covers much of everyday life. How we treat the poor, the foreigner, our animals and our neighbors…these are part of the same law. So, whether it be through the ordained rituals in the assembly, or the words and deeds in our homes and places of work, these are all to be done “towards God” and so are “worship”. That means our worship of God will be multifaceted and done throughout our entire lives on everyday of the week. So, whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).

This understanding should not take away from Sunday worship (or whatever day…which is another issue), but should make it more meaningful. Often times, we might find it hard to worship on Sunday simply because we have not been worshipping at all any other time or place. But when the whole of life is done in a “Godward” manner, then those gatherings also begin to have much more importance. But a deeper understanding of the worship as a gathering is in need as well…

Freedom part 1

Well, i think i just told some people that I have a blog and then immediately did nothing for a while. Not a good strategy.

Next Sunday, I need to speak on “freedom” for the message (I am speaking from 2 Corinthians 3:17), but even before that, I need to think over what exactly is freedom and what does it mean to people now (especially, say, people younger than 20). More and more, “freedom” is becoming such an important value for people that other values, such as marriage, children, job, etc., are usually lower on the tier list. I can understand to an extent. In Japan, people do not want authority or power, but freedom, so getting a job promotion is not a real goal. Perhaps that is something to be avoided, as the higher one’s position becomes, the more one is responsible for others and thus the less “freedom” one has.

So, freedom for many people is not freedom from something so much as it is freedom to do something. The lack of interferences or responsibilities allows a person to use their time as they see fit without having to acquiesce to a crying child or a demanding spouse. And I get that. Though I only get to experience this a few times per year, when I am home alone and my family is out somewhere….I can do as I want, and the first few hours that I get are incredibly refreshing. To use my time, my way for myself…it feels like some sort of luxurious vacation. And there is so much entertainment readily available all around me that I don’t even need to go out somewhere. Games and movies and music are all there…in fact the entire world of games, movies and music are right there for me to play, watch and listen to. Convenient stores are all around with pretty high quality food that I can get within a few minutes. In some sense, I think this is a kind of freedom that is desired. It is freedom to live for and to not let go of.

Of course, the previous generation might have had a lack of freedom (at least here in Japan) that people greatly fear. Going to work at 6am and getting home at 11pm, 6 days a week and then spending the one day off for family. Perhaps for other generations, the working person could generally go without thinking of relationships in the family. Many generations ago, the family was of so much importance that all things would be sacrificed for it…but now, we live neither for family nor job nor even reputation. We live for “me” and my wants and desires and “fun”. This is what is freedom. It is generally freedom to be solely concerned with myself. And there is the fear that if you give someone an inch, they will take a mile (or 2.2 kilometers?). So this freedom is guarded.

So, it is freedom from relationship and those entailments. It is freedom from the bonds to other people. it is freedom from commitment that gets in the way of my immediate desires. Okay, this is putting it all in a very negative light. But, I think that is what the issue of freedom is for today. Freedom of choice, freedom of being able to live for me.

Now, since I am speaking on 2 Corinthians 3:17, I wonder if there is any connection to the freedom promised in Christ and the freedom that people desire today. 2 Corinthians 3 is speaking about people who are bound and blind to the truth…they hear the Bible, but they cannot really hear…there is a veil over their face so even if the truth were to be right in front of them, they cannot see it. And so there is a sense that freedom is lacking in such a position. It is a kind of imprisonment of the mind so that one cannot really accept the truth. Imprisonment of the mind can occurr for a host of many different reasons. Some people are abused and told they are worthless, and so even though a person later in life will show and speak worth to them, it is hard to accept. A person might grow up in a strongly prejudice setting so that they view their neighbor who is a different nationality as subhuman. They are in a sense blinded by the god of this world. And so, there is a sense of ignorance, spiritual blindness, and isolation as being the opposite of freedom. The real question them comes down to whether the truth really sets a person free?

Would a person rather live and believe a lie if it meant that they could live as they see fit? Would a person rather know the truth even if it meant being constricted by more responsibilities? The passage here in 2 Corinthians is speaking not just about freedom of the mind and freedom of reality, but also freedom from the law, that is, the Old Testament. Not that a person is then lawless, but there is a sense in which they are no longer the descendent of Hagar, but rather now of Sarah. They are no longer on Sinai, but now in the Jerusalem from above. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free (Galatians 5:1).

The Spirit has a kind of connection to the freedom that we have in Christ. That is the same for Galatians 5 as well as 2 Corinthians 3…we no longer are living according to rules that are alien to our nature, but by living in the Spirit, we live out the law of Christ in a much more natural sense. How is this self built up? Again in 2 Corinthians 3, we are being transformed into Christ’s image. So the freedom is perhaps ultimately the freedom to be who we really are. But who we really are is not found in the isolated self, but in Christ. While living wholly for oneself is immediately satisfying, it doesn’t fill us up as is advertised. Eating pizza and watching movies until 2am is great for one or two nights. 30 nights of this gives us a sense of emptiness and worthlessness. Spending my money on myself at the mall is very fun. But to do this everyday. I can buy more and more, but I will continue to need more and more in order to get a high from the consuming. I am in a sense beginning to enslave myself to myself because I will need more and more in order to truly be satisfied. So what starts out as “freedom” only brings us down to a small dark and lonely place. This is not freedom. Freedom is down another passage. Freedom is in Christ.

And freedom in Christ allows us to be free from extremes of our culture. We do not need to lay ourselves on the altar of a 100 hour a week job. We can quit. And we do not need to sacrifice ourselves for our reputation, as our worth is in Christ, the God who sees us. And we do not need to continue to pander to our peers…because “what a friend we have in Jesus”. If we were made for God Himself, then it is only in Him that we will truly be ourselves and therefore truly be free. A fish is free in the water, a bird is free in the air and we are free when we are in Christ. We are even free from the power of religion, that is, the man-made elements that sometimes pose as “God” from time to time. Sometimes a church will put unnecessarily heavy burdens upon people that few can lift and then speak as though the person is “failing God” and needs to do more and more in order to gain a smile from the Father. But this is a lie of Satan just the same as the lie that living wholly for oneself is true freedom. Neither are the Way. It is only in Christ that we are free to be and to live. But how great and how refreshing the freedom is! The chains and burdens of the expectations of each person and their own standards all fall down to less importance in light of Jesus who already loves and accepts us. It is in Him that we can finally live in the Spirit. And where the Spirit of Christ is, there is freedom.

Intermarriage between faiths…

This will not be a long post, but should be the first post of quite a few. Here in Japan, and working in a Japanese church, one of the issues that the church is facing is in regards to the intermarriage between two people of different faiths. I am doing some reading right now in regards to the issue, but the striking thing that I’ve noticed is the lack of resources regarding such an issue. While there are some brief articles and opinions that can be found online, there are, as far as I know, very few treatments of the subject in book-form. I am reading “Til Faith Do Us Part” by Naomi Schaefer Riley (a Jewish woman), and have started reading an Evangelical book called “Spiritual Mismatch” by Lee and Leslie Strobel (though this book is about a. the actual marriage between two people of different faiths and the difficulties that arise (rather than the focus on the question of whether one ought to or not) b. centered on a couple who were more or less the same faith at the start of marriage, but then the wife changed part way through (to an Evangelical faith).

The question that I am facing more and more is regarding the marriage of a Christian to another faith, which is increasing more and more in Japan. This has been increasing in the states more and more as well with the rise of a stronger form of secularism. Japan often goes through similar trends with the US, albeit in different ways, but I can see some parallel movements between the countries. The difference is would be that in the US, there are many Christians (I am speaking of this term as a blanket term which includes Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant mainline and Evangelical (which would include Fundamentalist (the two aren’t/shouldn’t be the same~)).

But there is a great lack of real resources to look into this in English. I will continue to search out more resources as I write concerning the findings I get from the little resources I have, as well as reach out to friends serving in other countries across the globe in different traditions. As for myself, I hadn’t given the question too much thought, so I had never turned an eye if a member of a church I attended up through seminary married a member of a separate faith. But, upon reading over the Old Testament concerns about marriage outside of the Jewish population, with sometimes a seemingly exclusionist approach against foreigners, I’ve come more and more to the conclusion that these issues were more so about religion than blood (since a person could become a Jew if they participated in the covenant through circumcision (for the male). As for woman, there were women like Ruth who would declare that ” your God will be my God”. That is another large yet related subject. But looking through all passages about exclusion and embrace of foreigners for Israel, I can say with some confidence that it is more so about faith in Yahweh than anything else.

The next time I write about this, I might start by just setting up the different issues and questions there are around the subject….then move on to some reviews of materials that I do have (and the conclusions that are given).

Church arguments

I think a majority of church arguments stem from conflicts over how much weight a person is pulling, how much a person is doing and participating in the church’s endeavors. Depending on the church of course (I can’t imagine this being an issue in many Catholic churches). But often times protestant churches, especially here in Japan, when complaints arise, when blame is thrown around, it is often regarding how much a person is doing. Everyone is generally doing something in the Japanese church, but there are those who carry a majority of the weight…and there are others who do not. And I could go into the whys and whys nots of all of this…but that would require much too much time.

There are many valid points that the church should be a joint endeavor. But, while thinking of this, I also always feel a bit of a drawback against the harsh comments by those carrying the weight against those who do not carry so much. For one thing, the few people that do often speak out against others…they tend to be a certain personality type. Very much a self-starter, not one to really “be still and know”, and more likely to go out and volunteer and help those in need. This is great (the latter part), but when the person speaks out against those who do not move in the same way, often thinking of others as spiritually inferior (because of the lack of action)…there is much aversion to this that rises up in my own heart. And for this too, there are many reasons (not all of them even good I’m sure), but one important reason…is found in the emphasis of Paul.

How many times did Paul speak harshly to a church because they were not doing enough? That they were not productive enough, did not evangelize enough? And the answer is nearly zero. Rather, Paul writes to the church again and again “don’t devour one another” “accept one another” ” think of the next person more highly than yourself” ” be one in Christ”…Perhaps it is like 100:1 ratio (I really have no idea). And so when a church is not reflecting this, this desire to accept one another, and is rather moving much more like a business, and people aren’t meeting their quota…we have gone seriously astray from the Bible’s vision for the church. We do want people to participate more, but if we just look at the overly active people and their work, expect others to do the same…our standard is no longer the Bible, or Christ, but a specific personality type. This is dangerous because we in effect begin to “rebuke the foot for not being an eye” even though the Creator specifically made that person to be ” a foot” (for those who have no idea, 1 Corinthians 12 gives an example about the body of Christ).

So, I think rather than asking people to meet some haphazard standard, we should call each person to follow Christ (which will look different for each person).

Usopp and One Piece

Recently I was reading an article about how anime has become more and more pervasive in the West and thought that I could shoot off some of my thoughts on some subjects around this from time to time. I was born in 1984 and anime was a small part of my early life, much larger during my teens, and though I don’t watch much of it at all right now, I have lived in Japan for the past 16 years, so I am never quite out of the loop on things.

One anime that I got into, namely through the recommendation of a trusted friend is One Piece. To tell the truth, much before watching the anime, I read the anime and still have (as of now) all 112 volumes. Its a story about Luffy who gathers a crew to set out and find the treasure the “One Piece” and so become the “Pirate King”. The show is much deeper than that, but generally most deep novels have simple and easy to understand objectives that help give grounding for the more thoughtful aspects of characters and episodes (the Lord of the Rings is just about throwing a ring in a volcano…but it is because of this base that we are able to explore the good and evil that is in all people’s hearts).

Before I ever go into any storylines that are very illustrative of Biblical values (and there are many), I think I should introduce my favorite character…Usopp. He is the fourth member recruited and works as the sniper/gunsman for the crew…though he also has other jobs such as creating the emblem, building weapons and doing minor ship repairs before Franky came along. He shown to be a coward, but in a sense, this presentation of his fear ends up showing the complete opposite. Perhaps Usopp is the bravest member of the crew. That is because his disposition and his strength tend to him being more negative regarding himself. He is not rash, not gungho, not super strong and in now way assertive. Yet he is faced with danger for his village and later for his life numerous times. And in all of these cases, he half runs away, only to come back and face what he knows he has to do. If he were naturally strong and brave, then perhaps he would go about these dangers without second thought and face them head on. But that is not his personality. Yet despite his deep fears that are always with him, he continue to push them aside and eventually choose what is right rather than what his fears dictate to him.

I think that shows how we should be very slow to judge the hearts of others. We see someone who doesnt raise their hand up as fast, doesnt volunteer right away, doesnt look as assertive or intentional as others…and we pin it down to some intrinsic fault against them. But what we do not know is that the ladder that this person must climb to get to the same ground as another, is much higher. While the expression of bravery given by two people may look the same on the surface, internally, person A may have worked 100x harder than person B. Again, I understand how we are not equipped to judge the hearts of others as only Jesus can. We can still point to truth, but we do so humbly, knowing that we can neither know nor see all that there is.

Usopp and his struggles and victories remind me of a C.S. Lewis quote…“Human beings judge one another by their external actions. God judges them by their moral choices. When a neurotic who has a pathological horror of cats forces himself to pick up a cat for some good reason, it is quite possible that in God’s eyes he has shown more courage than a healthy man may have shown in winning the V.C. When a man who has been perverted from his youth and taught that cruelty is the right thing, does some tiny little kindness, or refrains from some cruelty he might have committed, and thereby, perhaps, risks being sneered at by his companions, he may, in God’s eyes, be doing more than you and I would do if we gave up life itself for a friend.” (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity)

Back at it (Holy Spirit)

So after not writing on the blog for sometime, this October I should be a bit more faithful with my writing. While there are a number of topics that I could, and later will touch on…why not talk about the Deftones and the Holy Spirit (an unlikely combination!)

So, for those who do not know, the Deftones are a band from the early/mid 90’s that contain so many different kinds of elements that it might be better not to label them. They aren’t country. And broadly speaking, they are rock. But that is enough of a description. A few weeks ago (I’m writing in Autumn of 2025) they put out their latest album “private music” and on the album is a song called “Madonna’s Milk”. I’ve listened to enough music to sort of anticipate the vague but negative words against religion and such…but I was pleasantly surprised! The words, as a Christian, I could probably wholeheartedly sing as praise (to an extent). The references used, though vague, were also seemingly based on the Bible. Tongues of fire against the night? A new wine?

Needless to say, besides great music, I also could this time also feel the lyrics stronger…now, do I think the Deftones or the lyric writer are Christian? I have no idea. My guess is that the Holy Spirit, the filling and fire that comes from such a filling is used in a more vague notion. Less God Himself moving a person and more a religious spirit-something giving a kind of special energy. That is my guess (but who knows!). Regardless, I was sort of happy to be able to sing along with the Deftones about the Holy Spirit.

And that brings me to my next and only superficially related point. Who is the Holy Spirit? What does the Holy Spirit do? That is a very long answer, but this past Sunday I preached on John 16:7-15 and learned some things myself as I prepared the message (as we should always be learning and understanding things to the next degree clearer). But to keep things brief, one thing that I gained more clarity about was the relation to Christ’s work on earth then and the Holy Spirit’s work one earth now. In short, it is a continuation. That Christ returns to the Father does not mean that His work will cease…rather the Helper, the Holy Spirit comes and continues to do the same things that Christ had been doing. People were convicted of sin by Christ, and so will be by the Holy Spirit. People were called by Christ and so will be called by the Holy Spirit. Christ confronted the powers of the world and the Holy Spirit will continue to do the same. And finally, just as Christ coming is revelation, so the Holy Spirit continues to reveal the glory of Christ. All this is to say that the active work of God in this world has not become less since Christ’s ascension. Because He still is at work in this world at this moment, both in those who believe and through other means…just through the work of the Holy Spirit.

So, just as Christ gave us “new wine for new wineskins (referenced in the Deftones~), so the Holy Spirit also give us this new wine. We are to be not intoxicated with “wine” per se (in other words, not over consuming and over relying on alcohol), but rather with the Spirit. Just as Jesus confronted the powers of this world (against the night?) and defeated them by the cross, so are we filled with the Spirit to stand against the powers of darkness, but not with weapons of steel and bloodshed, but with “good”.

Very hodgepodge post, but, I needed to write, so write I did…

Living in historical places

I’ve lived in Japan now for over 16 years, half of it being in the Kanto (Saitama) region, and now the other half being in the Kansai(Hyogo) region. While living in Saitama, Japanese history often seemed to be a bit more removed from my actual day to day life. I lived in Souka草加 (famous for the origin of Senbei, Japanese rice crackers) and Koshigaya越谷, famous now for a large mall…and I’ve been around to some places of historical importance (Ashikaga, Nikko, Kamakura) though not with historical study in mind (those places were just a part of daily life).

Now I live in Kansai…I live in Kobe, have meetings in Takatsuki (Osaka), sometimes have to go to Kyoto and Nara for other meetings, have visited Omi, been near Sakai…and suddenly all the history (from around 1500) has become so much easier to comprehend. Having been to these concrete places gives me a mental map of areas, scenery, distances that makes reading history much easier. There is over a 500 year gap between then and now, but even so, there is something very permanent about land and location that gives me a loose connection to the past. I can now understand what people mean when they come back from Israel or Turkey and read the Bible again, finding it easier to picture and comprehend.

Anyhow, was reading a book with a chapter on the city of Sakai and found myself reading much faster since I didn’t have to get lost in vague, unfamiliar names…the names had become concrete and close to my experience. Perhaps this is also a lesson for communication and conveying ideas in general. Concrete, familiar terms and pictures are more easily digestible to us. An “apple” is more understandable than “food”. This is a lesson I need to remember for my own communication…