I’m finishing up the book “DOG MAN, An Uncommon Life on a Faraway Mountain”. It is the story of a Japanese man, Morie Sawataishi and how, in the face of strong Japanese tradition, he was a man who went against tradition and common expectations. The major part of his life was saving, loving and breeding the Northern Mountain dogs of Japan, the Akita.
What, from this book, I would like to share with you is a portion from the eighth chapter “Shiro”. Recounting a memory from a war that Morie and Kitako (his wife) refer to as shameful, Morie shares what impacted him deeply: “War? He’ll show you his diaries, date books, his assignment papers – he’s kept everything from his seven years of service, but these days Morie doesn’t want to talk about it much, except to say that while he saw many countryman die on the fronts of China – Nanjing and Shanghai – he never heard one Japanese soldier cry out ‘“Tennoheika Banzai”’, in praise of the emperor at their moment of death, the way they’d been trained to do.”
“They’d say ‘“Mother! ’’’ as they died, or they’d call out the name of a child,” Morie says. “That’s what I learned. No matter how patriotic and loyal you are, when you are dying, you express something from the deepest part of you- and call out to what you love most.”
His revelation rings true to me. Acts 20:59-60 – “59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.”
I remember hearing a tape, close to the time that my wife and I gave our lives over to the Lord. (Yes, I said a tape!) The tape was the memories of a survivor of a terrible plane accident at Tenerife, the largest island of the Canary Islands. The survivor related his memory of horror at what people were yelling out as they were dying. They cursed and took the name of the Lord in vain. He remembered how in the past people have said to him that they knew they should accept the Lord as their Savior, but they didn’t want to do so right away. They had said that at the moment before their death they would call out to Jesus in repentance and He would forgive them and they would go to heaven. What this survivor learned is that people don’t do that. Instead, they yell out what they have always yelled out in times of fear, anger or surprise. If they had trained their minds to swear and curse God, then in that instant when there was little or no time to think, their mind did what it had always done, swear and curse God. So in their last breath before seeing their maker, with their last words, they took His name in vain. They treated His name as if it were something filthy or common. What I remember about the story of “Terror at Tenerife” is that the “terror” was how these men could curse God and then be ushered into His presence. I still tremble with horror for those who face that fate. Oh how truly terrible!
I heard a teaching, many years ago, that our minds are like computers. What we put into them, stays there. What we put in is what comes out. Stories were related how old men, lost in dementia, could no longer be allowed to be around women. These men, no longer able to restrain themselves, have the filth of a lifetime of dirty thoughts pour out of them in ways that shock and embarrass their loved ones. Men who were thought to be of high moral integrity, including men thought to be of great faith, when the control was gone, their brain, their computer, spat out the filth they could formerly hide. Those who knew and loved them were lost to wonder what happened to these gentlemen who now are like ravenous lust driven animals. Who are these men who are now so filthy they could no longer safely be around unprotected women?
Galatians 6:7 – 7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
Proverbs 6:12-15 – 12 A worthless person, a wicked man, Walks with a perverse mouth; 13 He winks with his eyes, He shuffles his feet, He points with his fingers; 14 Perversity is in his heart, He devises evil continually, He sows discord. 15 Therefore his calamity shall come suddenly; Suddenly he shall be broken without remedy.
Luke 6:45 – A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
So, in your moment of greatest desperation, perhaps as you breathe your last breath, who will you call out for? Who is it that you love? Who, or what is it, that is foremost on your mind. I pray that all of you would love God more than all else and in your dying moment, you would, like Stephen, look up to heaven, and call out to your greatest love, God. Then, you will be ushered into the presence of your greatest hope and your greatest love. Forever.
IHS 1/2/14