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new technology that has doubled and redoubled
mankind's fund of knowledge many times over.
Perhaps we should not be surprised. The power of
the human mind, like the power of the atom, once
unleashed is unstoppable. Once knowledge begins to
increase, it sets off a chain reaction. And so, almost
daily, we push the frontiers out to new limits, wbich
then prove to be springboards for further researcb.
Our probing minds have taken us to the edges of the
universe and deep inside the atom to tamper witb
the very fabric of matter itself.
The Greatest Paradox
But one great area remains outside human
control-the nature of man himself. In spite of the
spectacular scientific achievements, no progress has
been made in this area. We still quarrel, fight and
threaten one anothcr as if Hiroshima and Nagasaki
never happened. Nobody wants it this way. All
nations want to build for prosperity and security.
But none seem to know the way to stop the cycle of
confrontation and destruction.
Nagasaki stands today as a monument to this
paradox of human nature. We stagger from the ruins
of a frightful war and build bigger and better than
befare. But do we ever build a peace that doesn't
end in more ruins? Advances, whether the arrow or
the atom, always seem to lead to more efficient ways
to hurt others.
Nagasaki can never forget what happened 40
years ago. Sorne cities in Europe want to forget the
war. They resent the tourists who come to view the
landmarks. "Why can' t they just forget it-do we
always have to be remembered as the site of a battle
or a concentration camp?" seems to be the attitude.
Not so Nagasaki. The city has devoted itself to
the cause of everlasting peace. This is a constantly
recurring theme.
lt
is not that the city wears
martyrdom on its sleeve. Nagasaki doesn't ask you to
feel sorry for it, and it is not a morbid place. There
is plenty to see and do after you have been to tbe
Peace Park and the Atomic Museum.
For instance, the Sofukuji Temple, the old
"Spectacle" Bridge, a beautiful national park, and
even "Madame Butterfly's borne." On a clear day it
is worth taking the cable car to the top of Mount
!nasa for a spectacular view of the city, spread over
a range of hills, like San Francisco.
But never far away are the reminders-an
inscription on a building, a few lines in a letter to
tourists from the Mayor, a pack of picture postcards
sbowing acres of ruins- Nagasaki has a quiet way of
never letting its visitors forget that it has known
hell. And if there is anything, anything at all that
can be done to prevent others from su1fering like
this, Nagasaki wants to do it. A sign in the Atomic
Museum poignantly asks the world to make sure
that Nagasaki will be the last city to suffer the
horror of nuclear war.
The Lesson of Nagasaki
The photographs of the charred bodies, the scenes of
30
utter destruction wrought by a mere firecracker of a
bomb compared to those today-surely they teach a
lesson. Compare them to the sparkling new city
outside- isn' t that an incentive for us to come to our
senses- to build a world that will last?
Apparently not. Two bombs were enough to end
the war. But the production line kept rolling. Soon
the U.S.S.R. had a bomb, then Britain, France,
China and India- and who knows wbo else. The
bombs got bigger- now the world has enough for
50,000 Nagasakis. Or is it 50 hundred thousand? Or
is it 50
mil/ion?
What does it matter-one more is
too many.
Forty years ago, Bock's Car circled three times
over the city of Kokura befare flying on to
Nagasaki. Kokura had a narrow escape that cloudy
morning, but the threat never really left.
Now it hangs over every man, woman and cbild
on the face of the earth. We are destined to use this
terrible weapon again . When the precarious peace
among the nuclear powers is shattered , another "rain
of ruin" will !ay waste the earth's great cities. And
this time, according to the word of God as spoken
by J esus Christ,
"unless
those days were shortened,
no flesh would be saved [alive]" (Matt. 24:22,
Revised Authorized Version).
God will have to intervene and cut short this
future crisis in which there can be no winners.
The human race, like the Japanese at the end of
the war, will have to admit that they have come
to tbe end of their physical and spiritual resources.
Only then when we have rendered tbe earth
potentially uninhabitable, will we turn to our
Creator for help.
At one end of the Peace Park in Nagasaki there is
a beautiful fountain, dedicated to the thousands who
died from burns in the holocaust. The cool waters
dance and sparkle in tbe sunlight , and a clear blue
sky is reflected in the pool. How different to the
morning when the sky was hidden by a dreadful
mushroom-shaped cloud while scorched victims cried
out for water to ease the agony of their wounds.
Water is, indeed, a fitting symbol of healing and
peace.
In the Hebrew Bible at the end of the book of the
prophet Ezekiel (.chapter 47), there is another
description of healing waters. Ezekiel, like tbe other
prophets, saw in vision the time of war and
devastation that will mark the end of this age. But
then Ezekiel saw a stream cascading down from the
temple mount in Jerusalem. This stream becomes a
great river whose waters spread , and everything they
touch is healed (verse 9). These waters, with their
strong symbolic meaning, will indeed flow out in the
day when God extends his healing hand to the
world. Then at last, the world will be safe, and the
survivors, guided and led by the Spirit of God, will
rebuild with confidence. Nagasaki shows how much
can be accomplished in 40 years during a precarious
superpower standoff. Think what can be done when
the creativity and potential of all nations fiourish in
a world that plans only for peace.
-John Halford
The.PLAIN TRUTH