(a Steve Orr scripture reflection)
Japan banned Christianity from the mid-17th to late-19th century. Before that ban, a large Christian community thrived along the shores of the Uragami River. Their village rested against a horseshoe of mountains where the Uragami widens into a bay on the East China Sea. The ban brought persecutions. So, for more than 250 years, the saints along the Uragami hid their Christianity.
But they never stopped worshipping.
In 1895, after the ban was lifted, this Christian community started building. It took 19 years to complete the main structure, 11 more to raise twin bell towers. The Urakami Cathedral was where Christians living in the area of the Uragami River worshiped, studied, confessed; were baptized, prayed over, and eulogized. It served them for 20 years.
Right up until 11:02 a.m. on August 9, 1945, when the atomic bomb known as “Fat Man” exploded 500 meters above their city, Nagasaki.
Because it occurs above the earth, the location of such an explosion is not called “ground zero.” That would be the area below the explosion, often referred to as the “hypocenter.” That church building, the central location for Christians all along the Uragami Valley, was about five football fields south of the bomb’s hypocenter.
The distance did little to protect it. The force of the atomic bomb destroyed most of the building instantly. The south bell tower and portions of the facade were the most identifiable sections to survive. There were considerable military and industrial targets in Nagasaki, that day, and they were significantly impacted by the blast. As were almost all structures within half a mile of the hypocenter. Analysis indicates the bomb produced only 25 percent of its yield. It could have been much, much worse. But even at its diminished yield, many thousands of human lives were extinguished. It is believed 40,000 people died immediately, and that at least 60,000 people were injured. By the following January, the death toll had climbed above 70,000 people and doubled that at the end of five years.
Among the 15,000 Christians living in the area, more than 10,000 died from the bomb and its after-effects.
November 1st is All Saints Day. It’s the day from which Halloween draws its name (October 31st is All Hallows Eve). Traditionally, on the first Sunday in November, Christians everywhere pause to remember the followers of Jesus who have died. Usually we recall loved ones, friends, other Christians we have encountered along our spiritual journey. But we would not be amiss to recall Christians we’ve never met, those who died in war, from pestilence, at the hands of evil doers, from mishap, from hunger.
And the saints along the Uragami who lived, loved, raised families, and worshipped God in a beautiful valley by the sea.
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