If We Have Another Life...

Namu Amida Butsu

It seems that since our granddaughter arrived, time flies so much quicker; however, the fact is time always moves at the same speed. So, if you feel that time is moving by more quickly or time is passing by more slowly, it depends on what we are doing or how we are spending our time in our daily lives.

As a minister, I visit the Maui Memorial Medical Center at the invitation of our temple members and friends, and I have had wonderful opportunities to talk to and learn from the patients. The following is one of the experiences I would like to share with our members.

A family requested that I visit their mother in the hospital. During my visit, I had the chance to have the following conversation with this particular patient: "Reverend, I think my time here is coming to an end. I feel that I am satisfied about my wonderful life with my beautiful family and friends. However, Sensei, now I feel that I want to live more years and do a little more with my great grandchild before I die. He is my only great grandchild and so kawaii (cute, adorable). He is now eight years old, and knows and understands many things. You know Sensei, I did many things for my grandchildren but for the great grandchild, I didn’t do much. I want to do the same for him as I did for my grandchildren. I often think that if I am able to extend my life for another six more months I would like to offer much more to my family and great grandchild. You may laugh or feel that I am greedy. But,…..” As I looked at her, tears rolled down her face. I felt that she knew she was going to die. At that moment, I didn’t have any answers for her, but all I could do was just hold her hand. Two weeks later, this lady passed away. Funeral services were held privately but I shared this story with the family members, and especially focused on her great grandchild. He was only eight, but he fully understood his great grandmother’s thoughts of him and cried at the funeral.

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