There were many passages which struck me in Novak’s book, but I would like to share the following passage.
“That friends should come to one from afar, is this not after all delightful?” (P116)
When I read the passage, I remembered that one of my friends traveled great distances to Kansai National Airport, where was located in western Japan, from Tokyo before my leaving Japan. He was the last friend who I met in Japan before coming to America. I was really happy for him to come to see me. We enjoyed eating sushi together and talking about various things in the airport. I really appreciate and respect him. That is because my friend confronted a painful situation when he came to saw me. As you may know, his company, Japan Airlines announced that they must cut the candidates of pilots drastically because of its financial trouble. Therefore, he gave up his dream to be a pilot. Despite his depressing time in his life, he saw me off with a big smile… If I had been in the same situation as in his, I could not have seen him off like that. I strongly believe that he is my true friend and he is my best friend!!
We, Japanese generally study this passage in a Japanese classics class when we are a junior high school student. Honestly speaking, I couldn’t fully understand the real meaning of this passage when I was a junior high school student. However, now, I finally gain a real meaning of this passage. “That friends should come to one from afar, is this not after all delightful?” is a wonderful passage for me.
This passage told me the following theological implication. If one person is in a difficult time and nonetheless, gives other people unconditional love, the person will be a saint like my friend.
Reference:
The World's Wisdom: Sacred Texts of the World's Religions
