Pastor's Corner

Karin and I recently went to Japan to visit our daughter and her husband. While we were there we traveled around the country for two weeks. My most memorable experience happened in Hiroshima. (On August 6, 1945, the world changed forever as the first nuclear weapon was used over Hiroshima.) We went there to see the Atomic Bomb Dome & Museum. While we were riding on the trolley to the museum, I was sitting next to a petite Japanese lady. She began to talk to me and asked about what I was doing. I told her that we were headed to the museum. As we began to talk, she told me that she was a survivor of the bombing and that she was 90 years old (she would have been 9-10 years old when the bomb dropped). She told me that her family was buried at the site where the bomb was dropped. My heart was pierced in that moment. With tears in my eyes, I touched her tiny shoulder and said, “I’m so sorry.” She responded, “that’s okay.”

I had been praying that day for God to show me something. I saw a lot of darkness traveling around a 95% Buddhist and Shinto country. I saw a lot of temples and shrines, but not many churches. I chuckled to myself that God put this little old lady next to me on a trolley, because what I heard next made me stop and really think. As I looked at the ground zero, I heard the Holy Spirit saying, “this is what brokenness looks like.” Yes, I know all the reasons why the bomb was dropped. I know all about WWII. I know Truman must have struggled deeply as he authorized the bombing.

What I heard was “brokenness”, and I could see that all around me. I think that is what God must see, brokenness -- brokenness, and the hope-filled possibility of healing and restoration. As I heard those words, my mind quickly went to Isaiah and the images of weapons being turned into instruments of agricultural life. Then my mind went to Revelation, and I saw God wiping tears away and making all things new.

Isaiah 2:4*

He shall judge between the nations,

and shall arbitrate for many peoples;

they shall beat their swords into plowshares,

and their spears into pruning hooks;

nation shall not lift up sword against nation,

neither shall they learn war any more.

Revelation 21:3-5*

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

“See, the home of God is among mortals.

*NASB