Monday and Mt Fuji

I'm sitting in our room drinking hot green tea after a full day of touring. Wonderful!

One of the unusual things we see here is an occasional person on the street wearing a surgical mask. I don't know if it is for allergies or some other health reason but it has been young and old alike.

Our day started early with the breakfast buffet. At 8:45 we met in the lobby for the Mt Fuji tour. We had a charter bus. Before we left, Bob prayed with all of us.

It was supposed to rain and to be overcast, but it was not too bad. I heard the forecast and prayed for a better day and God answered my prayer. It started out rainy but, as we got closer,it cleared off some. We were able to see some of the lakes and mountains as we drove along. Our tour guide was impressed and saying"o my god" because the scenery kept appearing. I guess it was unusual for a rainy day. She is shinto buddhist probably. I told her I had prayed and told her that Christians believe in a personal god who cares about us as individual people. He wants us to be happy and he answers our prayers. She seemed to be wiping tears from her eyes, although I am not sure.

We got to take some good pictures. We went to a restaurant and had a good Japanese meal. As we sat there,the sun came out and we could see much of Mt Fuji in the window. Our group got lots of pictures. As we were leaving the restaurant, the clouds started to cover the mountain again.

The meal was very nice. We had miso soup, rice, several small bites of different meats,salad, and a number of one bite things like fruits that I do not know the names of. It was served in square dishes and was very pretty. The Japanese people are concerned with beauty.

We saw some Shinto shrines. Our tour guide told us about the religion and the traditions. They do many things for luck.They also do many things to ward off evil spirits. When sumo wrestlers stomp their feet before a wrestling match, they are stomping on evil spirits. It is for luck.

Many of the little things in the culture are based in the religious beliefs of the people. There is lots that concerns bringing good luck and warding off evil. In spite of all of this, most Japanese people do not consider themselves very religious. They are workaholics who are more concerned with making a living.

Early in the bus ride our tour guide asked what group we were.We said we are Christians. I asked her if she had many Christian groups come through. First she said not so many. Then she assumed that all westerners were probably Christians (a common misconception). She observed that some of those Christians were probably like the Shintos and Buddhists in her country, not so religious. She's right. With only 1 Christian for every 1,000 people, it would be nice if we could do a bit better job of behaving like we say we believe.

As we rode along in the bus, the top of Mt Fuji appeared for us for a few minutes. Somebody on the bus started singing 'God Is So Good' when I said God was blessing us, but they quit. Our guide said she like the song, so I got up and asked everybody to go ahead and sing the whole song. We did. Everybody on the bus sang the verses of "God Is So Good". Our guide said it was very pretty. I enjoyed singing with the group.

At one of the stops, on level 5 at Mt Fuji,they gave us a free tiny bell on a ribbon. There is a Shinto shrine there. They said the bell was for long life, 100 years or more. If we walked under the arch, it was good luck.

We rode on a boat a lake in the crater of a volcano. It was pretty. Several of us went up on the top of the third deck of the boat to enjoy the beautiful scenery.

From there, we went on a gondola up the side of a mountain, Hakone Komagatake Ropeway. The clouds cleared for us to go up the mountain and see everything. After we came down, the clouds covered the area again.

Each stop had souvenir shops with little stuff to buy and lots of candy and food type items.

From there we went home. Our tour guide said it was rush hour and it would take over 2 hours to get back normally. We said we would pray that it would take less. We hit no traffic jams and not a huge amount of traffic all the way back to the motel so it took less than the usual time. God answers prayer. The way the events occurred seemed to impress our tour guide but I really don't know.

If the people of Japan are to become Christian,they have to see something worthwhile, something they need for their life. Only 1 in 1,000 people here are Christian. If our God is not more powerful than their gods, why would they want to become Christians? If our lives are no different or better than their lives, why would they want to become one of us, Christians? What would it take for this country to become Christian? It seems impossible, but all things are possible with God. At this time, my main option is prayer.

John is out in the rain getting a curry hot dog for dinner. Earlier he and Grady went out to find some coffee. He brought me back a cup too.