Baby's Blessed Life
Tomoko had given birth to a healthy baby boy but just about a month later, the baby suddenly quit suckling her breast. Although he was fine drinking milk from a bottle, Tomoko's breasts began to ache from being swollen with milk and she started to worry that she would suffer from mastitis.
She went to worship at her Konko Church, taking the baby along with her. At the church, she made a request to the minister that she hoped the baby would resume breast- feeding so that she would not suffer from the pain of mastitis.
Upon hearing her request, the minister severely scolded Tomoko saying, "You should pray for your baby's life first." Tomoko did not understand why she was being scolded because she had prayed for her baby even before he was born.
She asked the minister, "What do you mean?" The minister answered, "Your request today concerns only your problem. You are not considering that it might be unsafe for your baby to suckle your breast. Your baby might die because of this." She was surprised to hear this because she had never realized that it might cause a crisis for her baby.
The minister continued, "Although he doesn't drink your milk, your baby is fine because he drinks milk from a bottle. You should thank Kami for maintaining your baby's health, and then pray for your baby's healthy growth."
Tomoko then gazed silently towards her baby with his eyes wide open and held him even closer to her. She apologized for her shortcoming and prayed for her baby's health.