Hachikō

Let us not become weary in doing good.
                          —Galatians 6:9

At the Shibuya train station in Tokyo, there is a statue of a dog: Hachikō.

Hachikō’s master, Hidesabuō Ueno, was a professor at the Tokyo Imperial University. Every afternoon, Hachikō came to meet Euno’s commuter train. But one day, Ueno wasn’t on the train—he had died of a cerebral hemorrhage in his office.

Every day, until his death nine years later, Hachikō was at the station when the train arrived, awaiting the return of his master. The statue is in honor of Hachikō’s loyalty.

When I was a child, I heard a story about an elderly man who was always present when the church met, even though he was stone deaf. Asked why he continued to attend when he couldn’t hear a word being said, he replied, “I want everyone to know whose side I’m on.”

Loyalty doesn’t complain about inconvenience.

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