Our self-centered imagination, being rooted in ignorance, makes us wander on dangerous paths. God the Parent loves us human beings so much that it becomes necessary to tell us about the true Parent and the teachings for the Joyous Life, in order to help us correct our self-centered use of the mind. Physical problems and other troubles are intended to serve this purpose-these are expressions of God's loving guidance.

We are thus guided to awaken to the profound intention of the Parent and, reflecting upon the way we have been using our mind in its light, we resolve to put ourselves in perfect accord with the Parent's intention. God the Parent quickly accepts our resolve and provides us with free and unlimited blessings of all kinds.

Through God's guidance, we are drawn to this marvelous path of true salvation and we set our heart on practicing the teachings of the path. More often than not, however, our resolve soon wavers and we find ourselves merely going through the motions of faith or letting our thoughts and actions run counter to the Parent's intention. Knowing our human weakness and vulnerability, God the Parent seeks to nurture and strengthen our faith by expressing, time and again, God's loving care through physical problems or various difficulties, which are designed to provide us with the incentive to reflect upon ourselves. This is how God the Parent cares for us.

This care of God can be likened to that of a gardener who tends trees in a garden. If trees are left alone, new buds and branches will come forth so randomly that they will make the trees poorly shaped and weak. So the gardener hurts and trims branches in order to grow strong, shapely trees.

The Divine Direction delivered on October 10, 1906, says in effect: "Those in an untended condition are like unshapely, rough timber. If cared for, however, some will grow enough to serve as a pillar. Care for the mind. It will shape timber into a pillar."

In order to help us grow into Yoboku or timber that measure up to the divine intention, God the Parent always takes great pains to care for us. This shows us how much God is concerned about us and how much God expects of us.

In the Ofudesaki, the parental care is also referred to as "a road sign or an admonition from God."

Ponder over it! There is nothing at all which should be called illness. It is but a road sign or an admonition from God.

A slight ailment of the eyes, swellings, dizziness, and pain are but the guidance of God.

III:138-39

People who are not familiar with the teachings of the path sometimes put this question:"I understand that faith in the Tenrikyo teachings makes things better. But in actual fact, I see some followers continue suffering from an illness or going through some difficulty. Why is that?"

God the Parent always desires to make us savor the Joyous Life as intended. However, since this requires spiritual growth on our part, God must constantly care for us in a way that is appropriate to the level of our maturity in order to enhance our spiritual growth. Therefore, the question cited above stems from the ignorance of the Parent's immeasurable love.

Ponder over the heart of the Parent who always cares for us. Then, pains and sufferings we experience will spontaneously become the source of great joy and gratitude.

(The above is a translation--first published in the July 1995 issue of TENRIKYO--of an article excerpted from Omichi-no-kotoba by Yoshikazu Fukaya, published by Doyusha Publishing Company.)