In the movie The Last Samurai, the samurai lord, Katsumoto, was giving a lesson in honor and beauty to his less cultured American prisoner, Captain Nathan Algren. “The perfect blossom is a rare thing,” Katsumoto said. “You could spend your life looking for one, and it would not be a wasted life.”
How beautifully he expressed the purpose of his life. And then in his final great battle, as he expelled his last breath, he looked up at the cherry blossoms—sakura, in Japanese—that were falling from the sky, and he said, “They are all perfect.” And thus his intense honor and seeking were replaced by pure and simple wisdom.
I would paraphrase Katsumoto only a little by suggesting that the perfect opportunity to give our lives in loving service might seem a rare thing, and we could well spend our lives looking for one. Or we could simply realize that opportunities to be loving are everywhere and are all perfect.
