August 2, 2024
Tuesday, we memorialize the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945, and on Friday we remember Nagasaki. Between 129,000 and 226,000 Japanese died, mostly civilians. Imagine not being able to be precise about the deaths of 100,000 people, the population of my town? So much suffering and human loss. What can be said about this?
Almost eighty years later, this history is still debated vigorously, with most of us holding tightly to one fixed position or another. But in the face of such pain in our one body, what does my fixed position contribute to healing or understanding? How does it help? Is it possible it’s my way of masking the reality and the pain? How does it feel when I let go my opinions?
And, we pray for peace.
After 9/11, Gerry Shishin Wick and Ilia Shinko Perez wrote,
We dedicate the merits of our prayers to
the flourishing of love in all countries,
to the healing of the earth,
to the peace of the world,
to the wisdom of the people,
to the compassion of our world leaders,
and to the harmony of all beings.
We pray for peace and we do not turn away. In this way we embody our love for the world.
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