Rev. Mario Kawakami

The world created by God is perfect, and within it, nothing imperfect exists. Moreover, God did not create “evil people” who intentionally cause suffering. When we fail to understand this truth, we mistake illusion for reality, succumb to fear, and begin to believe that defend ourselves in order to survive.

In this newsletter, I would like to share a prayer from the July 2025 Truth of Life magazine titled “Prayer to Know That There Is Nothing Useless.” In the first paragraph, the prayer explains that there are no useless things in this world. We may think something is useless because of our prejudiced view: It is said that “useless” comes from “futile.” There is, however, not futility in the world of Reality created by God.

I attended the Seicho-No-Ie Northern California Missionary Area’s Public Lecture in September, where I had the opportunity to give a lecture. Today, I would like to share a summary of that talk with you. The theme is “Let’s Use Gratitude to Bring Peace into the World.” This theme contains two key words: gratitude and peace. First, I’d like to ask you a question: compared to the past, do you think the world is becoming more peaceful, or worse than before?