🕊️Reflections on Today ~August 15th~🌿🕊️ ────🕊️🌿

August 15th seems to be a day that carries many layers of meaning.
Within a single date, I feel that quiet prayers,

time spent thinking of our ancestors, and wishes
connecting to the next generation are all
gently aligned.
🕊️

A Day of Prayer for PeaceEvery year on this day, the National Memorial Ceremony for the War Dead is held at the Nippon Budokan,

and a minute of silence is observed starting at noon.
Events from the distant past that we might easily forget
in our daily lives.

I feel it is very important to pause once a year like this,
and turn our thoughts to the many lives that were lost there.

Through my work, I face patients every day
during treatments.

When I place my hands on them as they tell me, 'This is where it hurts,'
I sometimes feel as though I am gently accepting
the time they have carried with them until now.

Being close to the pain of someone right in front of you.

Perhaps even such small acts are connected somewhere to the 'peace' that can seem so far away.

🕊️

The time to welcome our ancestors

August 15th also seems to be the Obon season for many regions following the lunar calendar.The tradition of observing Obon rituals from the old calendar

at this time of the new calendar still remains in many places.

In my own home, when this time of year comes around,
I feel a sense of quiet, as if my back is straightening.
To our ancestors.

And to the family and cats who are by my side now.

A time to say 'thank you.'

🌏

Heal The WorldWishing for a world ofJust around this time, my child

was reading Michael Jackson's autobiography.

Watching their profile as they turned the pages,
I suddenly remembered his song, 'Heal The World'.

The wish embedded in that song to heal the world
and make it a better place.

Even decades after its release,
I feel that sentiment has not faded.

In fact, looking at the world today, the ideals
depicted in that song might still be a little far off.
Sometimes I think that.

On August 15th, a day to mourn the memories of war,

my child is touching upon Michael's life.
Perhaps that is some kind of coincidence.

A world without conflict.
A world where people do not hurt one another,

but care for each other.

I cannot help but wish that reality will move,
even if just a little, toward that 'Heal The World' vision.

❤️In Closing❤️
August 15th may be a day that cannot be described
by a single meaning.

The feeling of praying for peace.

Gratitude toward our ancestors.
And connecting wishes to the next generation.

I feel that none of these are stories of the distant past,

but are connected to the lives we are living right now.

To spend today by pausing

just for a little while.
While turning our thoughts to the past,
cherishing those who are by our side now.

And wishing for the world of the future to be
even a little kinder.

That is what August 15th is.