“Do not worry! I am here now,” I said one day in my prayer morning devotion. I was talking to my ancestors, telling them that I will do what it takes to free and liberate them. And my husband’s ancestors as well! We are here now.
One warm summer day my son’s wish was to visit the tombs of his ancestors as he was visiting me in France for three days. That day he was inspired and reverent.
One of his friends from Ireland healed himself by working with his ancestors and working out his own life and diseases coming from ancestral dysfunction.
The filial heart of honoring one’s ancestors goes beyond repairing the debt of gratitude to one’s own parent. it is also the root of ethics of human existence, revering the source of all life.
In Korea it is said that filial devotion protects one’s parents, one’s family, and one’s neighbors, becoming the driving force for overcoming national crisis. It is the spirit that, beginning with the family, sustains the society and nation.
filial piety
When the Family Is Well, All Is Well
When I was very sick one day, and could not get out of bed, my son, a young teenager at that time, made a soup for me with all kind of fresh and colorful vegetables. It reminded me of my mom’s vegetable soup from the mountains of the French alps. Her soup was the best soup one can ever have, because her garden grew in idyllic nature and was tended every day with utmost sincerity.
So, the son of the house was making a soup for me. From my bed, I was already rejoicing. I was surprised he could cut the vegetables perfectly, and put together all these delicious products of the earth in a big pot to simmer.
I remember the taste of that hot soup, made with all my son’s heart and attention, and care. Is it not so, that we always remember things which are offered with love?
The soup tasted so good. Spiritual elements can go into the food when it is prepared with good feelings. The spiritual elements, the love, in the soup went deep into my bones, reviving me from feverish slumber, and starting the healing process. The soup really helped me get out of bed that day.
This is a good memory of my son’s filial piety.
Every day let us make good memories from our life. And if we have none or just a few, then we need to rewrite our life stories.
Always with love, your friend Elisabeth