Dr. Takashi Nagai was a doctor who studied radiation. Fate placed him in Nagasaki when the atomic bomb was dropped. Being a sincere Catholic convert, his faith perspective saved him from despair and anger. His wife was killed instantly, with her rosary melted intwined in her hand. His children survived but were sick, as he.
The book, The Bells of Nagasaki, takes us threw that fateful day. He was working when a blinding light, change of atmosphere, wind--it's hard to describe, threw everyone here and there. Some people were blown far away--dead. Dr. Nagai was buried under debris and gradually worked his way out. Those that survived tended to the wounded. "The blind leading the blind." They did what they could.
The most interesting part of the story is Dr. Nagai's eulogy. The was thankful for the end of the war. He was thankful for a stop of his country's suicide nationalism. He thanked God for a new chance. He thanked God for taking his wife and friends home.
May we all have his perspective in tragedy.
No comments:
Post a Comment