Prayer for Love and Mercy

 What does "filial piety" look like from a parent's perspective? As a parent myself, I understand this: we do not seek repayment from our children. A parent's love for their child is "unconditional love." Therefore, a child's happiness is the greatest act of filial piety. Now, what does "filial piety" look like from God's perspective? God does not seek repayment from us. God's love for us is "unconditional love." Therefore, the happiness of all living beings is the greatest act of filial piety toward God. God does not seek to be loved Himself. Rather, He asks that we love the people and the lives that He loves. To love people is to love God; to love life is to love God. If we do not love people, we have not loved God; if we do not love life, we have not loved God. That is likely why the teaching goes so far as to say, "Love your enemies." Yet, since that is impossible to do all at once, perhaps that is why "love...

 I believe that one of the essential elements of finding joy in work is "bringing happiness to others"— in other words, altruism. It recently occurred to me that comedians are the people who experience this most viscerally. Making people laugh is an incredibly difficult feat, isn't it? If your timing is off by even a fraction, you "bomb." It is something I could never do myself. When it *does* work, people laugh—and when people are laughing, they are unconditionally happy. They momentarily forget any unpleasantness or hardships they’ve been through. That sense of happiness felt by the audience reflects directly back onto the person who made them laugh, filling the performer with a profound sense of bliss. I found myself thinking that this feeling is likely the driving force behind their choice to work as comedians. That is why I want to offer my unconditional support to comedians, *rakugo* storytellers, and everyone else whose work involves making us laugh. Guid...