I Worshiped My Ancestors
MY EARLIEST memories as a child revolve around morning rituals of ancestor worship in Okinawa. My mother had given me to my aunt when I was four years old and we lived with my grandmother, an ancestor worshiper. She believed that the spirit of the deceased lives on and that surviving relatives have an obligation to honor their ancestors. This is done by putting flowers and food on their graves, and through daily prayers to them in the home.
Each day before sunrise and prior to breakfast, I cleaned the family altar, took away the wilted flowers and replaced them with fresh ones. Grandmother would kneel before the altar and, looking straight ahead with her eyes open, she would pray at length to our ancestors. But, since the prayers were in a low tone, I could not understand what she was saying.
Grandmother taught me that there are no gods except our deceased ancestors and that they are superior to living humans. In accord with this belief, much care is given to a person’s remains after death. The corpse is placed temporarily in a grave until the flesh has decomposed. Then the bones are removed, cleaned, and put in a special container, with the name of the person, date of birth and date of death written on the outside, and transferred to a family haka, or grave. The haka is a womb-shaped place made of concrete or other material to keep all the containers holding the bones of deceased ancestors or relatives. The foundation of the belief is, of course, the teaching that humans possess immortality, and thus live on after their physical death.
Remembrance of the Dead
Once a year our family gathered together in remembrance of our dead ancestors. On such occasions, a special menu of mochi rice, tofu (bean curd) and seaweed was served. These are considered delicacies among the Okinawan people, and making this provision was expensive.
On special occasions my family would hire a priestess, usually an older woman, to lead in our ceremony honoring the dead. We were all required to kneel while she led us in prayer for about 30 minutes. We could not understand the words, which were uttered in a soft mumble, and to us kneeling children the prayers seemed as if they took an hour or more.
At the age of 11, I returned to Hawaii to join my parents. Here I came in contact with many religions of Christendom. After marriage, I was baptized in the Baptist faith. But my husband was an ancestor worshiper and we had our own family altar. Each day I would put flowers on the altar, burn incense before it, and pray to my ancestors just as my grandmother had done. This did not seem strange to me, since the Baptist group also believe that humans possess a soul that lives on in a spirit world after death.
Our ancestors were shown honor, I thought, by praying to them and reporting various matters of life to them. I believed that they could either help me or bring me harm. Therefore it was my earnest desire not to displease them, even in trivial matters. For example, once I wanted to give my teacher a gift, but first, out of respect for my ancestors, I put it on the altar.
Set Free from Fear of Death
During World War II, Jehovah’s Witnesses came to my door. From their magazines, I learned how Hitler in Nazi Germany had interned the Witnesses in concentration camps and put some to death because they refused to participate in war. This interested me, and revealed a contrast between Jehovah’s Witnesses and religions of Christendom. Before long I began to study the Bible with the Witnesses.
The things that they showed me in God’s Word had a profound effect on me. I have never forgotten what is written at Ecclesiastes 9:5: “As for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all.” Another Bible text that greatly interested me was Ezekiel 18:4, which states: “Look! All the souls—to me they belong. . . . The soul that is sinning—it itself will die.”
These and numerous other Bible texts helped me to see that the human soul is not immortal, that the dead are not alive in a spirit world but are unconscious, unable to help or to harm. What relief this brought me! No longer was I afraid of the possibility of being tortured eternally after death. I was freed from my previous belief in reincarnation. I now realized how futile the worship of my ancestors had been, since they were dead and unable to help or to harm me.
As I progressed in my study of the Bible, I also learned of the comforting hope of the resurrection of the dead. “The hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear [Jesus’] voice and come out.” (John 5:28, 29) Billions of persons who are now dead will have before them the prospect of eternal life on an earth restored to paradise conditions. Then, I realized, God’s will truly ‘will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’ (Matt. 6:10) It was these Bible truths concerning the dead that set me free. My outlook on life changed.
I immediately had a burning desire to share these newly learned truths with my friends. My first efforts were directed toward my living relatives since I no longer worshiped the dead. First, I contacted my mother and explained to her the true condition of the dead. In time she appreciatively accepted the Bible’s teaching. My father was also contacted, and I began to study the Bible with him. Before he died, he too accepted the fact that the dead “are conscious of nothing at all” and so abandoned ancestor worship.
At every opportunity I shared these grand Bible truths with my friends, relatives and neighbors. These truths brought great comfort and joy to me, and I wanted others to know the Bible promise that here on earth under God’s kingdom “he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore.”—Rev. 21:4.
Personality Change
As I look back to the time when I worshiped my ancestors, I realize that my entire life had been centered around worship of the dead. To a great degree, little concern had been shown about expressing practical love for my family and relatives while they were alive. Becoming a follower of Jesus Christ has helped me to put on a new personality, to be more loving to my living relatives and to others.
For instance, when I first learned that my parents had given me away to my aunt at the age of four, I resented it and began to hate my mother. But after becoming one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, I realized that I could no longer harbor hatred for my mother. As Jesus taught, we must forgive others if we want God to forgive us. Jehovah himself sets the example by freely forgiving us. (Matt. 6:12; Col. 3:13) Therefore, I went to my mother and explained that I no longer hated her in my heart but wanted to extend forgiveness to her. She apologized and we established a peaceful mother-daughter relationship that lasted until she died.
In dealing with others, too, I was able to express more love. When they mistreated me in some way, rather than harbor hatred and animosity, I was able to extend true forgiveness. These newly acquired qualities of mercy and forgiveness even helped to save my marriage. When first studying the Bible, I was contemplating a divorce. But the Bible helped me to learn to forgive my husband’s imperfections, and we remained married for 33 years, until his death.
Rewards in Aiding the Living
When I observe the loneliness of aging parents and grandparents today, and how often they are neglected in their twilight years, I am very thankful that I learned to show real love and respect for my parents while they were still alive. The happiness that this brought me confirms what Jesus stated, namely, “There is more happiness in giving than there is in receiving.”—Acts 20:35.
Today, at the age of 65, I no longer worship my deceased ancestors but am deeply grateful to be engaged in the worship of Jehovah, the true and living God. (Jer. 10:10)—Contributed.