People reading the affirmation during the interfaith service of commemoration and commitment held at Friends House, London. Photo: Michael Preston for Britain Yearly Meeting.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki remembered
The seventieth anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was marked across Britain
Friends, and others, gathered across Britain on 6 August to mark the seventieth anniversary of the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima.
More than 200 people attended an interfaith service at Friends House in London. Readings were given by representatives of a number of religions.
Zoroastrian Ervad Yazad Bhadha read: ‘May our good and righteous actions transform the world, enabling us all to live a long comfortable life.’ Harshad Sanghragka, a member of the Jain religion, told those present: ‘We should journey treating all creatures as we ourselves would be treated.’
A filmed testimonial from Hiroshima was shown. Atomic bomb survivor Emiko Yamanaka spoke of the day the bomb fell, likening it to the sun falling from the sky onto the ground in front of her.
Emiko’s granddaughter, Kazumi Kuwahara, then took to the stage in the Large Meeting House. She spoke of her difficulties in reconciling Emiko’s story with her own ‘cheery grandmother’ and said she had vowed to continue her grandmother’s work towards world peace and the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Alexandra Mathie read Andrew Motion’s new work A Tile from Hiroshima, commissioned to mark the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Music was provided by Japanese koto player Keiko Kitamura, and by Hazel Morgan, who sang ‘I come and stand at every door’.
Participants said the universal prayer for peace and read the all faiths affirmation, which included the words:
We choose struggle rather than indifference,
We choose to be friends of the earth and of one another, rather than exploiters
We choose to be citizens rather than subjects.
We choose to be peacemakers rather than peacekeepers
We choose a peaceful future free from war, and we will settle for nothing less.
Acts of commemoration took place across the country. Coventry Friends held a service for all faiths and none in the Chapel of Unity at Coventry Cathedral (see ‘Friends mark Hiroshima anniversary in Coventry Cathedral’). Participants enjoyed music, poetry, silence and prayers before completing an origami crane to take home. Falmouth and Come-to-Good Friends held a half-hour Meeting for Worship in Queen Mary Gardens near Ghyllingvase beach. Friends in York distributed information on Hiroshima and Gloucestershire Quakers held a vigil.
Comments
Please login to add a comment
