進叔父のご冥福を祈る。May Uncle Susumu rest in peace.

おじさん、人生に迷うとき、おごりたかぶるとき、あなたの生きざまをみていつも迷うことなく生きていってます。あなたは巌窟王の囚われ人のように、しかしいつか幸せになった。

本日お集まりいただいた皆様に深く感謝を申し上げます。叔父　進もこんなに多く

の皆様に送っていただき、きっと　喜んでいると思います。　叔父　島尻進は3人兄弟の

末弟として生まれました。彼の　兄である私の父　　島尻勉も　また　島尻しげる　も　

先年なくなりました。最後に残された　弟の　進　は　先週　木曜日に　天国にいってしまいました。

先週の火曜日にお見舞いにいったとき、「ショウヘイか、　康平も元気か」と目を伏せな

がらはなしてくれ、おじさんはしっかりしているな　と思って言いました。おじは生前は聖書を読み、学ぶ　「学究の徒（がっきゅうのと）」でありました。来月また来るからねと話して手を握ったのが最後となりました。たった2日後に

残念で、寂しくてなりません。

　ここでおじのことを話します、彼が生まれたのは100年近く前の伊良部島、さはらはです。　らい病は簡単にうるつものではありません。とよおばあさんに　きいたところでは島で友達と無邪気に遊んでいた　叔父は、らいにかかった友達になんどもなんども病をうつるような行為をされ、子供だった彼はむじゃきに交流し、ついには自分も病気になってしまったということです。しげる、すすむの　兄弟　2人が病気になってしまった　祖母はとても悲しんでいたと聞きます。当時、南西園があったかはわかりませんが、聞くところでは彼らは、戦前は　どうくつ洞窟（がま）　のようなところに打ち捨てられていたと聞きます。家でおかあさんに愛され、むじゃきに遊んでいた子が、いきなりそんな場所に追いやられることを、本人がまたその母がどのようにかなしみ、苦しんだか、想像もできません。80年も前は、さらはまと　宮古島には橋もなく、定期船もなく、おそらく　さばにのような船で　運ばれたのだと想像します。一生の別れのような、これがどんなにこころぼそかったか？つらかったか。

自分は子供のころから自分の母に連れられ、南西園にかよっていました。彼の兄のしげる

おじさんは人当たりもよかったですが、進おじはぶっきらぼうでした。自分でさばにをつくったり、ボトルシップを作ったりと、器用な手仕事をしていました。とにかくも、一階建ての庭から声をかけてすぐに、座っている叔父さんたちはでもいつも明るく迎えてくれました。母　やおばさんが話をしていて、何を話していたかはわすれましたが、いつも大事な何かを得たように思い出します。

叔父さんの人生はなんて苦しい人生だったでしょう。でも最後の訪問で　おじさんが

「おかあさんも、おとうさんも、兄弟もみんな待っているんだよ」といったとき、

自分は元気でまだ自分も来るからねとはいったものの、「おじさんはもう天国でおかあさんやおとうさんにあえて、甘えられるんだ、よかったね　おじさん」とも思いました。手を握って別れてよかった。

あなたが読んでいた旧約聖書の中の伝道の書の一節、コへレトの言葉に

「先にありし事は後にもあるべし、先になされし事は後にもなさるべし。日のかたの下には新しきものなし」

と書かれています。あなたは、人生の苦しみのなかで、聖書の一節を日々実践し、　今、目の前の神から与えられたささやかなたべもの、日々を楽しんでいたんですね。

あなたの一生がくるしくとも幸せで、自分たち家族もその影響を深くうけ、人を愛し、ひとをだまさず、誠実に生きていくと誓います。

おじさんも天国でおかあさん、おとうさんに出会ったお幸せに

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to everyone gathered here today. Seeing so many of you come to bid farewell to my uncle, Susumu, I am certain he is rejoicing in heaven.

My uncle, Susumu Shimajiri, was born as the youngest of three brothers. His elder brothers—my father, Tsutomu Shimajiri, and my other uncle, Shigeru—both passed away in recent years. Susumu, the last remaining brother, departed for heaven last Thursday.

When I visited him in the hospital last Tuesday, he looked down gently and said to me, "Is that you, Shohei? Is Kohei doing well too?" Seeing him speak so clearly, I remember thinking how sharp and strong-minded he still was. Throughout his life, my uncle was a true "man of letters," dedicated to reading and studying the Bible. When I held his hand and told him, "I’ll come back to see you next month," I had no idea it would be our final farewell. To think he passed away just two days later... I am filled with overwhelming sadness and loneliness.

Allow me to share a bit about my uncle’s life. He was born nearly a century ago in Sawada on Irabu Island. Leprosy (Hansen's disease) is not something that transmits easily. However, according to what my grandmother, Toyo, told me, when my uncle was just a child playing innocently with his friends on the island, one of his friends who had the disease repeatedly engaged in behaviors that risked transmission. Being an innocent child, my uncle continued to play with him without a second thought, and eventually contracted the disease himself. I was told that my grandmother was utterly heartbroken that two of her sons, Shigeru and Susumu, had fallen ill.

I do not know if the Nansei-en sanatorium existed back then, but I have heard that before the war, those afflicted were cast away and abandoned in cave-like places called gama. For a child who had been loved by his mother at home and had played so innocently to be suddenly driven away to such a place—I cannot begin to fathom the profound grief and suffering that he and his mother must have endured.

Eighty years ago, there were no bridges connecting Sawada and Miyako Island, nor were there regular ferry services. I imagine he was carried away on a traditional wooden boat, a sabani. It must have felt like a lifelong separation. How lonely, how heartbreaking it must have been for him.

Since I was a child, my mother used to take me along to visit Nansei-en. While his brother, Uncle Shigeru, was very approachable and affable, Uncle Susumu was rather blunt and gruff. Yet, he was incredibly skilled with his hands, building his own sabani boats and crafting intricate ships in bottles. Whatever the case, whenever we called out to them from the garden of their one-story residence, my uncles would always welcome us brightly. I can no longer recall exactly what my mother, my aunt, and my uncles used to talk about, but I always carry the memory that I gained something deeply precious from those conversations.

What a painful, hardship-filled life my uncle had to endure. Yet, during my final visit, when he said, "Mother, Father, and my brothers are all waiting for me," I replied that I wished him well and would visit again. But at the same time, a part of me thought, “Uncle, you can finally meet Mother and Father in heaven and be embraced by them again. I am so glad for you.” I am profoundly grateful that I was able to hold his hand before we parted.

In the Book of Ecclesiastes from the Old Testament, which you used to read, there is a passage that says:

"The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun."

Amidst the immense sufferings of your life, you practiced the teachings of the Bible every single day. You truly cherished the fleeting joys of the present and the humble food provided to you by God right before your eyes.

Even though your life was filled with hardships, it was a blessed one. Our family has been profoundly influenced by your life. We pledge to love others, never deceive anyone, and live our lives with utmost integrity.

Uncle, I pray that you are enveloped in pure happiness now that you have reunited with Mother and Father in heaven.