60th anniversary of Hiroshima

Today is the 60th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing.

I'm feeling a little old, as I remember being on vacation in Pennsylvania at age 12 when the 30th anniversary happened. If you do the math, then you know that I've never known a time before the nuclear age. But as of yet, I've never really felt fear of having a nuclear bomb go off where I've been.

We watched the French dubbed version of an American documentary on the Hiroshima bombing 2 nights ago on French TV. It was moving to hear the accounts of those Japanese survivors of Hiroshima. One mother told of not being able to get her daughter out of the rubble and having to leave her be engulfed by flames. Sadly, there are many innocent people that die in wars.

It seems that the bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, while killing many tens of thousands of people, might have ended up saving many others lives of those that would have been killed had traditional means of attacking Japan been employed. But this still doesn't bring comfort to those who lost loved ones due to the bombings.

The Bible says, "Blessed are the peacemakers." Sometimes, making peace means self-restraint and patience. But sometimes, as a last resort, it means taking strong and definitive measures against bullies who will not respond to anything else but force.

May God help us to know how to respond to the tyrants of our time.