Kodomo No Tame Ni

Kodomo No Tame Ni

Kodomo no tame ni or �for the sake of the children� was a popular theme among our ancestors, and continues to be practiced by many parents today. The practice has been for parents to undergo hardships and even suffering so that their children can have a better future. As I get older, I have been thinking about how Karen and I can manage our personal finances and possessions so that it will be easier for our children when we pass on. During my lifetime, I have helped to clean out the possessions of several relatives, including my parents and in-laws, following their passing, and have found that it can be a strenuous and emotional task, which is often performed within short time constraints. I have also found that my experiences are not unique after talking with others who have gone through the same experiences. As I look around at my own home and possessions, I find that we tend to keep many items that mean a lot to us, but may not mean as much to our children. We also keep items that we should know we will never use, but for some reason or other we continue to keep them. Yes, I admit it � I am a pack rat! Do you have gifts put away that you have never used? Do you save the good dishes, good towels, or good linen for special occasions that almost never come? Do you have clothes that you never wear, but keep just in case you get invited to a costume party with a 60�s theme? Do you have a garage that is full of your possessions and does not have space for a car? Then welcome to the club. We can either make the effort to clean out our possessions now or leave the job to our children. In the spirit of �Kodomo no tame ni�, I have decided to make the effort to clean up our possessions now and make it easier for our children. If any of my children read this article, this may come as a shock as well as a pleasant surprise, and I�m sure that they will remind me if I fail to follow through with my effort. The possessions that we no longer want can be passed to our children, friends or relatives now or recycled through a charity, rummage sale, or garage sale. The advantages are that there will be more space in our house, perhaps even a space for a car in the garage, and we will be making it easier for our children.

Betsuin Dance Fundraiser � Did you buy your tickets to the Betsuin dance on September 27? If you enjoy ballroom or light rock dancing, this is an event you should not miss! The Wesley Jazz Ensemble will be providing live music and there will be snacks provided by the various Betsuin organizations. I even heard that there will be additional entertainment by another group of well-known performers. Good friends, good fun, good food � what more can you ask for? Invite your friends to this new fundraiser. The money raised by this fundraiser will all go toward the Betsuin Building fund, which will be used to refurbish and develop the Betsuin facilities for our children.

BCA Campaign � Thank you to all members who have responded to the telephone calls by the board members by contributing to the Campaign BCA - The 21st Century. In just five months, the board has called (or attempted to call) approximately 90% of those who have not contributed toward the campaign and approximately 50% of our members have contributed toward this important BCA initiative. Many messages were left on answering machines in hopes that you would donate without our having to make additional calls. Thank you to those of you who did respond with a donation and thanks to Tom Nishikawa for leading this important campaign for the future of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism in America and for our children.

The Betsuin and Our Environment � It is my opinion that as temporary residents of this planet, each of us should help to preserve our environment for those who follow us, including our children. We can do this by using products that are recyclable and recycling as much as we can and avoiding products that will pollute the environment. I would like the Betsuin to be a leader in this effort and I am forming a committee to develop a Betuin policy on this issue. If you are interested in serving on this committee, please email me at [email protected] or leave a message at the Betsuin office for me. Let�s do this for the sake of our children.

In Gassho,

Al Hironaga