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| That's Saitama Prefecture University in back! |
"I have to ride my bicycle home for forty minutes, sometimes with rice paddies on both sides of the road, and much of the way in the dark; if I lose my balance or can't stay on the road because I am tipsy, are YOU going to take responsibility and pay for my medical care?" my daughter asked a fellow student who tried to coax her into having "just one drink" with all the others.
Emily wasn't kidding. She does cycle to and from school, and some of it is not exactly safe travel. There are not only rice paddies to the side of the road, but there are also worship spots--and the supposed gods worshipped there do not protect her way.
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| Behind Iwatsuki Commercial High |
Raymond goes to school by bicycle too--and I noticed just behind his school is a familiar sight--a small temple to pray to the gods. But remember the Old Testament story of the prophet Elijah who kiddingly told the false prophets of Baal to call out to their god a little louder because he must be asleep? Most Japanese temples have a cord attached to a large jingle bell to shake before worshipping, and this temple is no exception.
Isn't that a little backwards? I never have to get God's attention for Him to hear me; I think sometimes He has to get mine though.
