I do not have any particular deep thoughts about Hansen’s Disease (leprosy). However through Kazue Miyazaki, who I became acquainted with 2 or 3 years ago, when I met with her, I felt by knowing her it was like God was applying the final touches to my life. I thought she would be able to help rid me of my selfishness. In one of Miyazaki’s writings, she says that contracting leprosy is like a miracle. When I asked her about that, she said something so deep. “My happiness today has come about through contracting leprosy. That is why I believe it is like a miracle,” she said.
“I owe what I have now to leprosy.”
That level of deepness is not something that can be overlooked. Miyazaki entered the National Sanatorium Nagashima Aiseien when she was 10 years old. She experienced the war there when there was little food to eat and had to do work that was too much for a child. There must have been so many times she wanted to cry. But she contained it all within herself in order to complete herself. She had depression for a long time, I think until in her 40s. Her husband was a good man, who helped support her during her depression. It was while she was experiencing depression that she came to understand what it meant to have leprosy. This is an extraordinary thing. There isn’t anyone who can speak as beautiful Japanese as she does on the telephone. She speaks the most beautiful Japanese. I don’t believe that she was taught by anyone how to speak in that manner. It was because she loves reading books. Speaking means that you have someone to talk with. However, even though she had no-one to talk with, she speaks Japanese beautifully. It is very unusual.
I am using the word leprosy now, as Miyazaki does not like to use the words Hansen’s Disease. She says that it makes her feel like it does not capture the truth of the disease. So she says that “Leprosy is leprosy”.
Miyazaki wrote the book Nagaimichi (The Long Road), which I hope you will all read.
There is also a book she wrote called Ano atakasa ga atta kara ikite koretandayo (That Warmth Was My Reason For Living) about her dear friend Toyo Nishi up until she passed away. I would like to recommend that you read both these works. As I said at the start, with Miyazaki as a role model, I would like to get rid of my selfishness. THINK NOW LEPROSY
If you support these messages, click on the Facebook "Like" button!
