Comments for West Tokyo Union Church http://wtuc.net Ecumenical Christian Congregation serving the West Tokyo Community Fri, 23 Mar 2012 06:54:32 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 Comment on Pastoral Ponderings by Susan http://wtuc.net/pastoral-ponderings/#comment-11271 Susan Fri, 23 Mar 2012 06:54:32 +0000 http://wtuc.net/?page_id=277#comment-11271 Easter is best celebrated by those who walk through some part of the passion week. Resurrection connotes most joyously for those who have some sense of the difficulty of death and the depth of the grave. Losing creates a ground of delight for finding. Here is a link to a lovely <a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/176996" rel="nofollow">poem by Elizabeth Bishop</a> that is a good one to use in preparation for passion week and Easter. Easter is best celebrated by those who walk through some part of the passion week. Resurrection connotes most joyously for those who have some sense of the difficulty of death and the depth of the grave. Losing creates a ground of delight for finding.

Here is a link to a lovely poem by Elizabeth Bishop that is a good one to use in preparation for passion week and Easter.

]]> Comment on Outreach Programs by sqpt http://wtuc.net/about/outreach-programs/#comment-11268 sqpt Fri, 23 Mar 2012 06:08:44 +0000 http://wtuc.net/#comment-11268 ARI: Earthquake – reflection after one year by Steven Cutting Last year about half of the coastal town of Ishinomaki was taken by the sea, together with over 3,000 of its residents. This week the Ishinomaki High School baseball team, most of whom lost family members in the tsunami, is practicing to participate in a spring invitational high school baseball tournament in Osaka. Further south sits the pretty little town of Namie; quiet, pristine. But you won’t find a single soul there. Since it rests just inside the 20 km (12 mile) exclusion zone of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant all residents have heeded the order to evacuate. Its town hall operates in makeshift offices in nearby Nihonmatsu, where its officials continue to issue birth certificates and keep track of its 21,000 inhabitants who now live scattered across 44 of Japan's 47 prefectures. They are all wondering when or if they can go back home. These two cities starkly represent a vast difference in the nature of the disasters that struck Northeastern Japan just over a year ago. While the earthquake and tsunami were devastating, they are over; and communities have spent the last year pulling together to clean up and rebuild their towns and their lives. In the case of the nuclear disaster, however, in many ways it is still unfolding – not in the sense that radiation is still leaking out of the power plant (we have been told it is not) but in the sense that it is still keeping people divided. As long as this is the case, recovery and healing cannot begin. In ARI this past Sunday we organized a small service during which we shared our memories of the events that took place a year ago. As I listened to people’s various accounts I was surprised at how vividly my own memories came back. And when I started telling my story I was taken off guard by the return of the tense feeling I had experienced in the weeks after the quake. We were all camped out in the seminar house, the only building immediately usable. We taped up the windows and carefully listened to news and weather reports. Outside exposure was minimized and we wore rain coats whenever we had to go out. We started feeding our animals only once a day and each person kept a bag packed, ready to evacuate at a moment’s notice. All of this, of course, was due to the fear of radiation; fear which came from not knowing – not understanding. What are the dangers at the nuclear power plant? Is radiation coming in our direction? If so, how much? Are we breathing it now? Eating it now? Are we going to get cancer? What about our children?!! Radiation is invisible, odorless, and tasteless; so your imagination fills in the gaps, and we all know how imaginations can be wildly efficient at creating worst case scenarios and then making them even worse. The only way to counter fear is to get information, to learn, to try to understand what has happened, how it affects us, and what we can do. Information followed by action alleviates anxiety. In the beginning we were starving for information about the radiation threat and essentially we have spent the whole of this year obtaining this information. It is deeply complicated, with comparatively little research available. (Most if it comes from Chernobyl). I call it Nuclear Physics 101 – crash course. It seems this is now a required topic for any aspiring organic farmer in Northern Japan. It didn’t start out this way though. I mean we didn’t have this fear immediately after the earthquake. In fact, like in Ishinomaki, we came together. The first night, in the absence of water and electricity we had a big community supper cooked on a campfire. There was plenty of hot food for everyone. We held each other and told our “where were you when it hit” stories. The next day we went to work cleaning up – broken bottles of carrot juice, tumbled rice containers, the chaos of the library. The magnitude of the damage and mess was pretty overwhelming, but we were all in good spirits. Everyone was safe. There was not even one injury. And in a way it felt good to throw out all the clutter ARI: Earthquake – reflection after one year
by Steven Cutting
Last year about half of the coastal town of Ishinomaki was taken by the sea, together with over 3,000 of its residents. This week the Ishinomaki High School baseball team, most of whom lost family members in the tsunami, is practicing to participate in a spring invitational high school baseball tournament in Osaka.
Further south sits the pretty little town of Namie; quiet, pristine. But you won’t find a single soul there. Since it rests just inside the 20 km (12 mile) exclusion zone of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant all residents have heeded the order to evacuate. Its town hall operates in makeshift offices in nearby Nihonmatsu, where its officials continue to issue birth certificates and keep track of its 21,000 inhabitants who now live scattered across 44 of Japan’s 47 prefectures. They are all wondering when or if they can go back home.
These two cities starkly represent a vast difference in the nature of the disasters that struck Northeastern Japan just over a year ago. While the earthquake and tsunami were devastating, they are over; and communities have spent the last year pulling together to clean up and rebuild their towns and their lives. In the case of the nuclear disaster, however, in many ways it is still unfolding – not in the sense that radiation is still leaking out of the power plant (we have been told it is not) but in the sense that it is still keeping people divided. As long as this is the case, recovery and healing cannot begin.
In ARI this past Sunday we organized a small service during which we shared our memories of the events that took place a year ago. As I listened to people’s various accounts I was surprised at how vividly my own memories came back. And when I started telling my story I was taken off guard by the return of the tense feeling I had experienced in the weeks after the quake.
We were all camped out in the seminar house, the only building immediately usable. We taped up the windows and carefully listened to news and weather reports. Outside exposure was minimized and we wore rain coats whenever we had to go out. We started feeding our animals only once a day and each person kept a bag packed, ready to evacuate at a moment’s notice. All of this, of course, was due to the fear of radiation; fear which came from not knowing – not understanding. What are the dangers at the nuclear power plant? Is radiation coming in our direction? If so, how much? Are we breathing it now? Eating it now? Are we going to get cancer? What about our children?!! Radiation is invisible, odorless, and tasteless; so your imagination fills in the gaps, and we all know how imaginations can be wildly efficient at creating worst case scenarios and then making them even worse.
The only way to counter fear is to get information, to learn, to try to understand what has happened, how it affects us, and what we can do. Information followed by action alleviates anxiety. In the beginning we were starving for information about the radiation threat and essentially we have spent the whole of this year obtaining this information. It is deeply complicated, with comparatively little research available. (Most if it comes from Chernobyl). I call it Nuclear Physics 101 – crash course. It seems this is now a required topic for any aspiring organic farmer in Northern Japan.
It didn’t start out this way though. I mean we didn’t have this fear immediately after the earthquake. In fact, like in Ishinomaki, we came together. The first night, in the absence of water and electricity we had a big community supper cooked on a campfire. There was plenty of hot food for everyone. We held each other and told our “where were you when it hit” stories. The next day we went to work cleaning up – broken bottles of carrot juice, tumbled rice containers, the chaos of the library. The magnitude of the damage and mess was pretty overwhelming, but we were all in good spirits. Everyone was safe. There was not even one injury. And in a way it felt good to throw out all the clutter

]]> Comment on Sunday, March 13th – 1st Sunday in Lent by sqpt http://wtuc.net/2011/03/11/sunday-march-13th-1st-sunday-in-lent/#comment-451 sqpt Sun, 11 Sep 2011 06:55:37 +0000 http://wtuc.net/?p=77#comment-451 Dear Philip-- it is lovely to hear from you. In preparation for taking on this "co-pastor interim" gig, I had read what history I could of the church and hoped to track down some of the former ministers. I didn't get very far. Feel free to email us (both pastors, one email) at wtucrev@gmail.com-- in particular we'd love to hear where you are living, and any particular memories you have of the church. Pastor Susan Dear Philip– it is lovely to hear from you. In preparation for taking on this “co-pastor interim” gig, I had read what history I could of the church and hoped to track down some of the former ministers. I didn’t get very far. Feel free to email us (both pastors, one email) at wtucrev@gmail.com– in particular we’d love to hear where you are living, and any particular memories you have of the church.
Pastor Susan

]]> Comment on Sunday, March 13th – 1st Sunday in Lent by Philip Bembower http://wtuc.net/2011/03/11/sunday-march-13th-1st-sunday-in-lent/#comment-149 Philip Bembower Sat, 12 Mar 2011 16:44:14 +0000 http://wtuc.net/?p=77#comment-149 I served as pastor of WTUC from mid-July 1984 to June 1986, and enjoyed the opportunity so very much. When CNN came on with news of the cataclysmic 8.9 earthquake near Sendai, and showed the horrific scenes of devestation all over Japan including Tokyo, I immediately began to wonder how you folks are faring in this disaster. I know a lot of people will be inquiring, and you are no doubt also deep into rescue and recovery efforts, but I would appreciate hearing how things are with you all. I'm sure Bonny and I are long forgotten, but in case anyone still remembers, they may wish to know that Bonny died in 2000, and I am still around at the age of 88, comfortably established in an independent living retirement community. I can't do much more than pray for you all, but I am doing that and would appreciate hearing from you. In Christian love and concern, Philip Bembower Clergy PCUSA retired I served as pastor of WTUC from mid-July 1984 to June 1986, and enjoyed the opportunity so very much. When CNN came on with news of the cataclysmic 8.9 earthquake near Sendai, and showed the horrific scenes of devestation all over Japan including Tokyo, I immediately began to wonder how you folks are faring in this disaster. I know a lot of people will be inquiring, and you are no doubt also deep into rescue and recovery efforts, but I would appreciate hearing how things are with you all.
I’m sure Bonny and I are long forgotten, but in case anyone still remembers, they may wish to know that Bonny died in 2000, and I am still around at the age of 88, comfortably established in an independent living retirement community. I can’t do much more than pray for you all, but I am doing that and would appreciate hearing from you.
In Christian love and concern, Philip Bembower Clergy PCUSA retired

]]> Comment on Outreach Programs by Benevolence Message | West Tokyo Union Church http://wtuc.net/about/outreach-programs/#comment-23 Benevolence Message | West Tokyo Union Church Sun, 17 Oct 2010 10:41:25 +0000 http://wtuc.net/#comment-23 [...] Christian Congregation serving the West Tokyo Community Skip to content HomeAboutContactsHistoryOutreach ProgramsDirectionsSubscribe ← Sunday, October 17th, 2010 Worship [...] [...] Christian Congregation serving the West Tokyo Community Skip to content HomeAboutContactsHistoryOutreach ProgramsDirectionsSubscribe ← Sunday, October 17th, 2010 Worship [...]

]]>