Hiroshima Day

​8/6/2018
 
Today is Hiroshima Day.  In a flash, 70,000 souls of Humanity were killed on this day 73 years ago.   Out of this terrible moment came lasting good.  A young survivor named Sadako Sasaki, facing her mortality from radiation induced leukemia, began folding origami cranes in hopes of improving her condition.  Her death inadvertently elevated the origami crane to a symbol of world peace that provided some balance to the dawn of the nuclear age.
 
We too may influence the world.  Turn toward your fears, your darkness, your character defects.  Find the humility to face them, accept them, surrender to them, talk to others about them and then seek the courage to change them.  Out of the grit of our darkness may come a pearl, but only if we have the courage to bring these fears and defects to the light.  In a flash, we too may begin to change the world.
 
Last year I built a sculpture, “Risen of the Ashes”, that honors Sadako’s life, her struggle with mortality and her death.  Today, I dedicate this sculpture to Hiroshima Day.
 
Peace be with you Sadako, the casualties of Hiroshima and all victims of violence and war.