Devotionals

---

Larry Lilly's Letter Tuesday August 9, 2005

August 6th always brings with it the bleeding heart argument that we Americans are the worst sort of flotsam that ever floated along the river of life and dared to call ourselves civilized. This attempt to have all of the free world flagellate itself for the horror of the atomic age seems to fall on more and more hearing ears as those who lived through the horror WW2 die off.

I was child going on 4 years of age when the headlines in newspapers screamed the news that an Atomic Bomb had been dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima at 8:15, on the morning of August 6, 1945. To say this action changed the course of history is understatement. As I reached manhood I often said a prayer for my poor sister, Vera, who tried to explain the working of an ‘A’ bomb. I recall that I could read the headline except for ‘Hiroshima,’ which is pronounced differently now than then.

And then came the mindless strategy of hiding under the kitchen table at home or a desk at school to find safety in case some one dropped an ‘A’ bomb on our four room school house.

At age almost 64 I find that I still cannot renounce my sense of proud American and spend endless hours and days of an already short enough life, remonstrating with President Truman’s decision to drop ‘Little Boy’ on an enemy, noted for using suicide bombers, who had vowed to fight until every last man, woman and child lay cold in death.

Over the years of a relatively interesting life, I have had the privilege of meeting General Paul Tibbets pilot of the Enola Gay, and I also met, briefly, Morris Jeppson, the weaponeer who armed Little Boy while airborne on the flight to Hiroshima. Their story has been told and retold. But I did discover something just this week about Mrs. Jeppson. She, to this very day, supports the actions of her husband and her nation concerning the use of Little Boy. She sports around town, shopping, or as it is now called, engaging in retail therapy, while a bumper sticker proudly proclaims:

“If there hadn’t been a Pearl Harbor, there wouldn’t have been a Hirsoshima.”

I wonder if 60 years from now there may be a little old lady driving around New York City with a similar bumper sticker: “If there hadn’t been a Twin Towers, there wouldn’t have been a Mecca.” Could happen, at least one congressmen suggested such.

On March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry said, “We are not weak if we make proper use of those means which the God of Nature has placed in our power…The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.”

Wars between nations and the reason for them, will always escape the common man. Wars in our souls must always be won at the cross and the empty tomb, as we see ourselves more clearly as God sees us. We have at our disposal the weapons necessary to win in life and enjoy victory in daily living. I hope we learn to use them swiftly and thus avoid the terrible guilt and loss that so many endure in the spiritual realm.

Larry Lilly Copyright © 2005 Use with credit.

For a free copy of a brief story of Mitsuo Fuchida, the man who led the attack on Pearl Harbor and how he met Christ, ask for it and I will send you a copy. 2 pages. I met this man shortly prior to his home going. LML.

---

PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE