Hiroshima Day is coming up on August 6. 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:
- Upper: The A-bomb dome building in Hiroshima
- Lower: A view of the Western Wall in Jerusalem with the Dome of the Rock in the background
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