Hiroshima Day and the Feast of the Transfiguration

[A Re-post from 2010 on this Hiroshima Day]

The iconic Torii Gate of Itsukushima Shrine,
Hiroshima Prefecture

On the liturgical calendar, August 6 marks the Feast of the Transfiguration, celebrating the event witnessed by Peter, James and John of Jesus' transformation into a being of light. Since WWII, it has also been Hiroshima Day. It was the juxtaposition of these two commemorations on the same day that inspired the following poem.

Jerusalem and Hiroshima:

Legacies of Concentrated Effort

We are told to pray for the peace of Jerusalem,

But the peace of Jerusalem

I would wish upon no one.

Centuries of placing our noblest causes

and highest callings

In one geographical area

Has produced, not the heavenly city,

But rather a wasteland of unending struggle.

In Hiroshima, they do not just pray for peace.

They demand it.

It was there that our greatest minds with our human nature

Brought hell on earth in our fight for freedom.

Let us keep Jerusalem,

And let us embrace Hiroshima

To remind us not to try such things again.

                                                                                                                                     ~ CK

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Photos:

• Photo of Torii Gate by Alex Tora, Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
• A view of the Western Wall in Jerusalem with the Dome of the Rock in the background

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