a digital library of Unitarian Universalist biographies, history, books, and media
the digital library of Unitarian Universalism
Home » Poetry, Prayers & Visual Arts » Toyohiko Kagawa: Teach Me & Where You Dwell

Toyohiko Kagawa: Teach Me & Where You Dwell

Harvard Square Library exists solely on the basis of donations.  If you have benefitted from any of our materials, and/or if making Unitarian Universalist intellectual heritage materials widely available and free is a value to you, please donate whatever you can–every little bit helps: Donate 

TEACH ME

O God, teach me how to dispense with unnecessary things.

 

WHERE YOU DWELL

We are mindful, O God, that You dwell among the lowliest people of the Earth, that You sit on the dust-heap among those in the slums and those in prison, that you are present with the juvenile delinquents and the homeless, that You throng with the beggars seeking bread, that You suf fer with the sick, and that You stand in line with the unemployed. May we be mindful that when we forget the unemployed, we forget You.

Toyohiko Kagawa (1888-1960), Japanese pacifist and social reformer, became a Christian in his teens after taking a Bible class to learn English. He felt called to work among impoverished people and began by living in the slums of Kobe from 1910-1924. He organized unions and established hospitals, churches, and schools. He founded the Anti-War League and devoted his final years after World War II to reconcilingdemocratic ideals with traditional Japanese culture.