Hiroshima Day observed

A worshiper at Ridgewood Presbyterian Church folds paper cranes of peace. Photo by the Rev. Victoria L. Moss

On August 9, Ridgewood Presbyterian Church, Ridgewood, N.Y., observed  Hiroshima Day with a special morning worship service. As a response to the Word, the story of Sadako Sasaki was told. The worshipers then all folded 100 paper cranes. At the end of the service when the peace of Christ was passed, the worshipers took the cranes outside and hung them on our iron fence.  All ages participated and the fence became a little less threatening with all of the colorful cranes flying in the breeze.

Paper peace cranes transform the fence at Ridgewood Presbyterian Church. Photo by the Rev. Victoria L. Moss

Sadako Sasaki and her family lived in Hiroshima, Japan, when the United States dropped an atom bomb on the city during World War II. She became ill from exposure to the radiation. In the hospital, a friend reminded her of the Japanese tradition that says a person who folds one thousand origami cranes can have one wish granted. Sadako, full of hope, began to fold paper cranes. She completed 644 before her death. Her classmates folded more paper cranes to make one thousand and help fulfill Sadako's wish. Sadako's story lives in the hearts of many people, inspiring hope all over the world. Her courageous struggle with her illness also inspired her classmates and others to start a national campaign to build the Children's Peace Monument. This statue remembers Sadako and the many other children who were victims of the Hiroshima bombing. On top of the statue is a girl, representing Sadako. She holds a large crane in her outstretched arms. Today in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, this statue of Sadako is often decorated with thousands of paper cranes given by people around the world.

And on August 9, the fence at Ridgewood Presbyterian Church, in response to Jesus Christ who calls us to seek peace, reflected that call and Sadako’s spirit.

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