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Mrs Kaneko:
I approach most things in life according to their degree of necessity. If I feel that I should be doing something, then it gets done with one step naturally following the next. That's about how it works. There is no need to make things more complicated than they need to be. If I put myself in another person's shoes, I can see things quite clearly.
People try to behave toward others as they would like to be treated themselves. On the other hand, if one is injured by someone and then tries to pass that on to others, what will happen? There will be no progress and no improvement.
An essay by Mr Ikeda in Sankei Shimbun tells about an evening when he came home early for the first time in a long while. The boys called him into the living room, where he noticed something different a sheet haning from the wall by string and decorated wit a ribbon on each side. The three boys had planned a welcome-home and thank-you party for their father that featured an eight millimeter film. The essay continues:
"The ribbons looked like something that came off a package. The booys seemed a little bashful about the quickly assembled production, but I thought it was heartwarming and cute. The light was turned off, and the children's masterpieces were shown on the screen one after another. As we watched, my impression of the ribbons stuck in the back of my mind. Afterward, I found out that the movie night was the children's suggestion, but the ribbons were my wife's idea."
There is more.
"Even if there is little time for the entire family to spend together, families that create memories are creating experiences for their children that are more valuable than riches. Even a short space of time can be made many times more precious.
"If there is no sense of value creation in the family, then there is no joy. This is something completely different from an abundance of material things. It might be called a richness of the heart."
Of the greatest concern is how the hearts of adults who lack the capacity to care for others are reflected in their children.
If parents are overly competitive and thus their children become competitive and thus that competitiveness turns to the acquisition of money and material goods, then what kind of future will the children have? We, as adults, must think about this very seriously.
I approach most things in life according to their degree of necessity. If I feel that I should be doing something, then it gets done with one step naturally following the next. That's about how it works. There is no need to make things more complicated than they need to be. If I put myself in another person's shoes, I can see things quite clearly.
People try to behave toward others as they would like to be treated themselves. On the other hand, if one is injured by someone and then tries to pass that on to others, what will happen? There will be no progress and no improvement.
An essay by Mr Ikeda in Sankei Shimbun tells about an evening when he came home early for the first time in a long while. The boys called him into the living room, where he noticed something different a sheet haning from the wall by string and decorated wit a ribbon on each side. The three boys had planned a welcome-home and thank-you party for their father that featured an eight millimeter film. The essay continues:
"The ribbons looked like something that came off a package. The booys seemed a little bashful about the quickly assembled production, but I thought it was heartwarming and cute. The light was turned off, and the children's masterpieces were shown on the screen one after another. As we watched, my impression of the ribbons stuck in the back of my mind. Afterward, I found out that the movie night was the children's suggestion, but the ribbons were my wife's idea."
There is more.
"Even if there is little time for the entire family to spend together, families that create memories are creating experiences for their children that are more valuable than riches. Even a short space of time can be made many times more precious.
"If there is no sense of value creation in the family, then there is no joy. This is something completely different from an abundance of material things. It might be called a richness of the heart."
Of the greatest concern is how the hearts of adults who lack the capacity to care for others are reflected in their children.
If parents are overly competitive and thus their children become competitive and thus that competitiveness turns to the acquisition of money and material goods, then what kind of future will the children have? We, as adults, must think about this very seriously.