2024/04/15

139. The House of God

Recently, I have received a kind reminder from several European readers of this blog that my ideas about evil spirits and Satan are not in line with the teachings of the Church. So, I would like to take some time to reflect on these matters. Most Japanese Christians, including myself, are adult baptised. When asking about their experiences, I find that many of them had an initial encounter with God that led to their baptism. In my case, it goes back to when I was six years old. 

St Mary's Cathedral Tokyo

One day, I became curious about a cliff that seemed very steep for me at the time, rising in the corner of the park where I used to play. I asked an adult passing by what was on top of the cliff. The person said, "There is the house of God," and left. Then I really wanted to see it and started to climb the cliff with all my heart, ignoring my friends' attempts to stop me. 

When I reached the top, a high fence appeared before me. Beyond it, trees and weeds covered the area, so I couldn't see what was ahead. I started climbing that fence. But on the way up, I was suddenly caught by a thought: what if there is a dog? I had had a fear of dogs, having been bitten by one when I was much younger. As I thought of that, I felt as if I could hear a dog barking from the bushes beyond the fence. 

I reluctantly climbed down the fence, turned around and looked down from the cliff I had climbed. Then I saw the small round faces of my two friends looking up at me with concern, and I couldn't get down because I felt weak at the knees. At that moment, I thought I heard a voice saying, "Come down like you climbed up!" I obeyed the voice, turning backwards and slowly descending until I was safely on the ground.

Another child later climbed the cliff and fell off, injuring himself, so my school strictly forbade such cliff climbing. I forever regretted that I had given up climbing the fence because of my fear of dogs. Much later, I learnt that the grounds beyond that fence were the premises of a hotel and that beyond them stood St Mary's Cathedral Tokyo. 

St Anselm Church

At that time, going to church at Christmas was trendy in Japan. My mother was invited by one of her friends to go to a church on Christmas Eve that year. She took me along. It was St Anselm Church in Meguro, Tokyo. As soon as I entered the church, I had a strong feeling that was hard to describe, and after the Mass, I asked my mother's friend, "What should I do to be like you?" She happily replied that I could be if I got baptised. Immediately, I clearly said, "I will get baptised!" I can still recall that voice of my own, along with my mother's stern voice as she turned around and said, "No way, absolutely not". At that time, my mother was like a god to me. I kept quiet, looked down and said no more. I was seven years old. 

Shimoigusa Church

Before long, when I turned 10, my family moved to the suburbs of Tokyo. The day I said goodbye to my good friends and went to my new school for the first time, it was raining, and I followed my mother plodding ahead. And when we got up onto the footbridge across the main street, I stood in amazement. I saw a tall church tower with a cross just behind the school building in front of me. It was the Salesian Shimoigusa Church. Later, as an adult, I got baptised in this church without consulting anyone in my family. God was like that to me.

To be continued.

Maria K. M.