because of Him

Today is the day.

The hard one in December.

It just so happens that on this day we visited the surviving building from the A-bomb and the museum about it

I took a walk around the building by myself

The shell of a building

Brick and metal and rubble

This was a day that their lives as they knew them fell apart

Exploded

At 8:15 in the morning.

Looking at the remains of the past I couldn’t help but think of the remains of mine

That day 6 years ago when I was sitting in seminary in the morning

Around 8:15

And found out that my brother was dead

Life as I knew it would never be the same

It really felt like the wasteland of a city Hiroshima became

And that building

Oh that building

That is what existence felt like those first few weeks

I am stunned by the horror that the people of Hiroshima faced

The flash of light. The black rain. The fire storms. The melting skin. The missing family members. Losing entire families. Surviving afterwards.

If the memorial and museum were not here I would have had no idea

In just 70 years the city has been rebuilt beautifully

Looking at the frame of a building reminding the city of its scars reminded me of my own experience losing brett

Through Jesus Christ, I have rebuilt around my A-bomb scars

Many people don’t even know I have them

But they are still very much there and always will be

Making up a very large part of who I am

And I don’t want those scars to go away

Even though they bring anguish and pain sometimes at the memory and the sorrow

They help me remember Brett. And they help me cling to Jesus

The whole museum was very dark, the walls black

But when you reach the end, there’s one picture of a family that found new life, got married and had a baby just shortly after the bombing.

Then you turn the corner and see light coming from the large windows

And see the memorial in the distance

No matter how dark the night may seem, the sun will come up

The light will come

I can remember my scars and see the beauty and light in the simultaneous

Because of Him.

The little baby born in a manger

Who felt the horrors and atrocities that the Japanese people faced and that I face.

And He knows what every human that I have seen traveling this wide wide world will face.

What a miracle.

What a reason to hope.