Minute for Mission Hiroshima Day (Nuclear Victims’ and Survivors’ Day)

I was not alive to bear witness to the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. My understanding of those events was primarily shaped by two sources: history lessons in school and the stories my family recounted of their lives during U.S. involvements in war. My grandparents and elderly family members offered precious glimpses into what it was like to live through and after the tragic events of Aug. 6 and 9, 1945.

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The Hiroshima Peace Memorial, also known as the Genbaku Dome, is the only building that survived near the center of the first atomic bomb explosion on Aug. 6, 1945. It stands there today, preserved just as it was right after the blast.

My family wove stories of both tragedy and joy, prosperity and suffering, heartbreak and resilience. It fills me with gratitude to carry the role of messenger of my ancestors’ experiences. Yet, reflecting on the horrific bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki stirs anger, sorrow and conflict within me regarding the rationale of the U.S. behind that decision.

Nuclear Victims’ and Survivors’ Day commemorates the day that generations of lives, and their stories, were cut short. While I know these souls and stories are safe in the arms of God, I wrestle with the weight of these lives that were taken to justify ending a war. I ponder the histories that were never told, the wisdom that was never passed down, and the art that was never created. Even today, what stories are too daunting or too intense even to begin to articulate from this harrowing time?

The biggest question I wrestle with of all is this: How do we, 80 years later, honor those lost stories and wrestle with our place among these complex narratives to move toward reconciliation and a future of peace without fear that our stories will be ended too soon?

When ruminating on these lofty questions, I turned to Psalm 34 for guidance.

The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;

   He delivers them from all their troubles.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted

   and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

When we cry out about the horror of war, God will be crying alongside us. I have no fear when these stories are recounted because I have faith that God was suffering alongside those who lost their lives that day. I have faith that God was mourning alongside the hibakusha survivors in Japan and the downwinders in the American Southwest. I have faith that God is singing the songs of the ones who were lost right alongside us as we sing. I know that our loving and merciful God will be right there next to us, guiding our way and holding our hand, as we learn, grow, and fulfill our call for justice and peace.

Psalm 34 continues:

Turn from evil and do good;

   Seek peace and pursue it.

We are taking steps toward peacemaking and reconciliation when we take the time to learn about the histories and lessons of peace instead of letting them be forgotten. When we remember and tell difficult stories for generations to come, we are doing a courageous act of truth-telling to understand our past, so we don’t repeat it. When we share stories and histories, we are carrying out God’s call to seek peace and pursue it, working for a world where peace is guaranteed for all of God’s children. 

Grace Kromke, Peacemaking Fellow, Office of Public Witness, Interim Unified Agency

Let us join in prayer for:

Tom Taylor, President & Chief Executive Officer, Presbyterian Foundation
James Tebbe, Pakistan Property Representative, Global Ecumenical Partnerships, Interim Unified Agency  

Let us pray:

Holy and Gracious God, we thank you for the stories that endure and your comforting presence in our troubled and aching hearts. Help us to carry out the memory of those who lost their lives and had their stories cut short, not as a burden, but as a sacred promise of truth, trust and peace. Guide us as we seek justice, pursue peace, and work toward reconciliation in a world still longing for unity and harmony. United by love, we lift up your name and the name of Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Amen. 

Minute for Mission: Hiroshima Day

August 6, 2024

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial, also known as the Genbaku 

Dome, is the only building that survived near the center of 

the first atomic bomb explosion on Aug. 6, 1945. It stands 

there today, preserved just as it was right after the blast. (Photo by 

Thomas Goetz)

Next year will mark the 80th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. What should we mull over as we remember these bombings from our vantage point today?

As I considered this question, I was transported back to my high school’s freshman history classroom. I remember the teacher offering a lesson on the bombings as we neared the end of a unit on World War II. After she ended the presentation portion of the class, she turned to ask us to think about the U.S. military’s decision for ourselves. Were the bombings justified? Should we endorse them today? I remember feeling the difficulty of the question. The war, as we had been learning, was horrific and had spread like a cancer across much of the world. But the bombings were also horrific, as the pictures of the bomb sites and civilian victims we saw in our textbook made clear. I remember that lesson to this day because out of a classroom of perhaps 20-something students, I was the only one who thought that the bombings were a grave and immoral mistake.

After taking the straw poll, the teacher led a class discussion so that we could share our reasoning and debate with one another. What did my classmates and I so sharply disagree about? My classmates almost universally shared a line of reasoning that the American executive and military used to justify their decision at the time: The bombings, while tragic, were necessary to bring an end to the war and prevent even more immense loss of life. This rationale has come to occupy a privileged place in our civic memory of the war. But something about this way of thinking struck me then as deeply misguided. The loss of life it aimed to avoid was commendable, but it justified exchanging the targeting of military combatants for the indiscriminate murder of civilians — especially women and children. Wasn’t this something we should avoid at all costs?

In the years since, I have come to think that what separated my decision from that of my classmates is a deeper commitment to thinking not only about the justice of a desired outcome but also the justice of the way in which we seek it out. What was so unjustifiable and so deeply unjust about the nuclear bombings of Japan was that the bombings themselves were unjust, since they indiscriminately targeted cities and civilians, treating them as enemy combatants. In this, I think we must stick to Paul’s admonishment in Romans. He takes up the question that is right at the heart of the decision to resort to nuclear weapons: Should we do evil that good may come? We would do well to remember Paul’s unequivocal response that Christians may not entertain such moral calculuses.

Dr. Andrew J. Peterson, Associate for Peacemaking, Presbyterian Peacemaking Program

Today’s Focus: Hiroshima Day

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Roberto Morales, Research Analyst, Research Services, Administrative Services Group (A Corp)  
Gad Mpoyo, Associate, Southeast Region, 1001 New Worshiping Communities, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray

God of the past and future, all things belong to you. As we grapple with the world we have inherited, send us your reconciling Spirit. Help us to recon with the grave scars of wrong, which we bear from prior generations. Grace us with your peace. And give us the courage to look strenuously and searchingly for your justice, no matter how unpopular or difficult it may seem. Amen.

Minute for Mission: Hiroshima Day

August 6, 2022

Peacemaking Mosaic Dove (provided)

On Aug. 6, 1945, the United States dropped the first of two atomic bombs on Japan during World War II. The first was dropped on the city of Hiroshima. The second bomb would be dropped a few days later, on Aug. 9, on the city of Nagasaki. It’s estimated that 70,000 to 135,000 people died from the first bomb and 60,000 to 80,000 people died from the second. 

 People have debated whether these bombs should have been used in the first place. Could there have been other ways to get Japan to surrender? Were there alternative methods to ending the conflict and the war? Further, given the overwhelming destructive power of these atomic bombs, would anyone use them again?

President Harry Truman, who made the decision to drop those bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, would write in a letter to his sister, “It was a terrible decision. But I made it. … And I made it to save 250,000 boys from the United States, and I’d make it again under similar circumstances.”

Fast-forward 72 years to 2017, and the United Nations adopted the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which outlines a comprehensive set of prohibitions on participating in any nuclear weapon activities. This includes undertakings not to develop, test, produce, acquire, possess, stockpile, use or threaten to use nuclear weapons. The Treaty entered into force in January 2017. As of the time of this writing, the U.S. and the other major nuclear powers (Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdom) have not signed it. While our nation’s leaders may not want to use nuclear weapons again, their actions demonstrate that they don’t necessarily want to lose the “nuclear option” either.

As people of faith, how are we to reconcile this? If we believe that weapons provide security, are we able to truly follow the Prince of Peace, the one who even as he was being arrested told his companions that drew their swords to defend him, “put your sword back in its place, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword”?

The victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are numerous. Instead of continuing to develop weapons that could add to the nuclear death toll, shouldn’t we be seeking other ways to achieve peace, understanding and conflict resolution?

People say that war and conflict is complicated. Sometimes difficult decisions need to be made. The same could be said about faith. May we be brave enough and strong enough to find solutions so that there will not be another Hiroshima Day added to our future calendars.

Simon Doong, Associate for Peacemaking, Presbyterian Peacemaking Program, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
José Manuel Capella-Pratts and
Vilmarie Cintrón-Olivieri serving as Regional Liaisons for the Caribbean
Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray

Dear God,
Grant us the awareness that true security lies not in weapons systems.
Grant us the grace to repent our arrogance that allows us to create and rely on nuclear weapons.
Grant us the wisdom to conceive a world free from nuclear weapons.
Grant us the courage to work for that day.
We pray in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
*A Prayer for Hiroshima Day, written by the Rev. W. Mark Koenig, appearing in “Justice and Peace Shall Kiss: Praying Through the Year”

Minute for Mission: Hiroshima Day

August 6, 2021

A Peace Message Lantern Floating Ceremony at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony held nearly every Aug. at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. (provided by Carl Horton)

On the morning of August 6, 1945, at 8:15 a.m. above the city of Hiroshima, Japan, the unthinkable happened. A B-29 aircraft flew overhead, a parachute opened and then a flash, an enormous blast and then a deafening silence as a mushroom cloud of smoke, flame and destruction blotted out the sun and engulfed the landscape. The United States had deployed the world’s first atomic bomb, instantly killing over 80,000 people. Three days later, we did it again over the city of Nagasaki, killing another 40,000. These two bombings, arguably the most violent and destructive wartime acts in the course of human history, effectively ended the second World War. They also completely destroyed two cities and ended a multitude of predominantly civilian lives, tens of thousands of whom succumbed to radiation-related injuries and illness in the aftermath of the devastation.

Seventy-six years later, this day can pass by largely unnoticed and unremembered in much of the United States. We have a hard time remembering the atrocities of last year, let alone those of three quarters of a century ago. But it would do us well to take a moment, to pause, to commemorate and to grieve a bit. That’s what they do on this day at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. Held almost every year since 1947, the ceremony includes the ringing of bells at exactly 8:15. At that time throughout Hiroshima, sirens also wail and the city’s citizens observe a moment of silence. And in the Peace Park, the website reads, they “gather to console the spirits of those killed by the atomic bomb and also to pray for lasting world peace.”

Last month, President Joe Biden signed a “Proclamation on National Atomic Veterans Day.” Evidently those who worked on and deployed nuclear weaponry need consolation as well. The proclamation reads: “Atomic Veterans served our Nation with distinction, but their service came at a great cost. Many developed health conditions due to radiation exposure, yet because they were not able to discuss the nature of their service, they were unable to seek medical care or disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs for their illnesses. Decades later in 1996, the United States Congress repealed the Nuclear Radiation and Secrecy Agreements Act, allowing Atomic Veterans to tell their stories and file for benefits. By then, thousands of Atomic Veterans had died without their families knowing the true extent of their service.” Clearly the harm of atomic weaponry started long before and has lingered long past its use. It makes the case for us to take a moment today to pause, remember — or simply imagine if we were not yet alive — and lament.   

This evening in Hiroshima, the day will end with a “Peace Message Lantern Floating Ceremony.” Those attending write messages of peace on some 10,000 lanterns and then set them afloat down the Motoyasu River, where they will pass directly in front of the Atomic Bomb Dome. It is literally a “peace like a river” that flows out of the horrors of war. 

Seventy-six years have passed and we still need peace to flow out of this day’s commemoration. So, find a bell and ring it. Make a lantern or find a candle and light it in the darkness. Our world still needs a lot more bells and lanterns than bombs.

Carl Horton serves as coordinator of the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program and interim coordinator for the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy in the Compassion, Peace & Justice ministry area of the Presbyterian Mission Agency.

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff

Jim Rissler, President & CEO, Presbyterian Investment & Loan Program
Eden Roberts, Mission Specialist, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray

God, on this Hiroshima Day, we remember, we grieve and we recommit ourselves to work for the peace of all people:

a peace that flows from you like a mighty river,

a peace that lights our way like a lantern in the night,

and a peace that like a bell proclaims your reign of wellbeing for all. 

Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - On Hiroshima Day, pause to remember the bombing

Pray that history will not be repeated

August 6, 2020

Two years ago, I had eye surgery to restore my sight.  As I glanced at the bottle that I use to put in contacts that give me my vision back, I noticed the writing was in Korean.  It was a bottle that I had purchased in Seoul, during our Presbyterian Peacemaking Travel Study Seminar, and once emptied have used for these drops. It reminded me how easy it is to also lose sight of major issues facing our world today. 

Today is Hiroshima Day. With all the problems surrounding us, it can be easy to forget the devastation that was wrought in 1945 when the atom bomb, Little Boy, was dropped on Hiroshima, destroying 90% of the city, immediately killing 80,000 people, with tens of thousands more dying later of radiation exposure.

As we visited Seoul, I was taken back by the beauty of the city, its history, and the friendliness and faithfulness of the people. Ten million people live in Seoul and its neighbor city Inchon. These two cities sit only 35 miles from the DMZ between North and South Korea. We later visited the DMZ. At the border, one could feel the tension between the two nations, the constant threat of a nuclear attack and the inevitable death of untold millions. 

It is easy to lose sight of the major issues of our world. For the bombing of Hiroshima to fade from our memory. For future threats to fade from our vision. I do believe that those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it. Let us remember the past and pray that we will never repeat it.

Rev. Eric Markman was a participant in the Presbyterian Peacemaking Travel Study Seminar to the Korean Peninsula in November 2018.  He serves as the pastor of Hartford Street Presbyterian Church in Natick, Massachusetts.

Let us join in prayer for: 

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Emily Kiefer, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation
Janice Kim, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation

Let us pray:

Be thou our vision O Lord of our life. Restore us to love that Christ has for all.  Walk with us always and help us to see, by your love only our world can succeed.  Amen.