I have been writing about people of great faith and courage in the past months. It is said that when a person uses their faith in striving to do good things for humanity, that faith gives them the courage to do the impossible. I have written about Mother Teresa, Albert Schweitzer, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Corrie Ten Boom, Tony Nathan, Eric Liddell, Luis Palau, David Wilkerson, Sister Helene Studler, St. Peter, Pope Pius XII, and Pope John Paul II; all of these courageously faithful stewards of God’s kingdom have left loving legacies that are still influencing our lives today. Through researching these beautiful people of grace, I have found my own courageous faith to do my part to make the world more beautiful than it was when I was held by my parents. To this list, I add yet another loving person: Dr. Takashi Nagai.
Ernest Hemingway once wrote, “Every man’s life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinquishes one man from another.” Takashi’s parents tried to instill the values of the Japanese Samurai in him from an early age. Those values conflicted with his desire to be a scientist. He also realized, as an atheist, that science and religion oppose each other in many situations. When he found the “hidden Christians of Urakami,” a suburb of Nagasaki, he soon understood that some things cannot be explained by the mind. They need to become a part of our heart. In an effort to find truth in his life, he secretly converted to Christianity with the help of his girlfriend’s family.
When Japan invaded China in 1933 and 1937, Dr. Takashi served as a doctor on the front lines, and it was during these years that he came to terms with man’s inhumanity to his fellowmen as his friends were maimed and killed in a senseless war by the military leaders of his country who wanted more territory at the expense of its young men. He learned that many young Japanese men knew Christ, and they had a personal relationship with the God of light, the God of love. When he returned home, he broke with his family and married his Christian girlfriend, Midori. They had two children and began building a new life together, based on Christian principles of love.
As the British began developing a new atomic energy program in 1940, Dr. Nagai was developing his study of X-rays and their use in diagnosing harmful medical conditions. After Japan declared war on the United States and Britain in 1941, the Emperor began his encouragement of the Japanese people by saying, “100,000,000 hearts will beat as one as we conquer and defeat these Christian enemies.” At this time, Dr. Nagai learned that his in-depth X-ray studies had given him leukemia. He drew his family to his side and said, “If my life was for the glory of God, then my life and death are beautiful.” He continued his studies but was constantly tired and run-down, so much so that he was often found sleeping in his office, holding an example of a patient’s X-ray.
The war raged on for four years as the Axis and the Allied powers battled back and forth for tiny pieces of land and the loss of many lives. Dr. Nagai’s family was visiting Midori’s mother in the hills above Nagasaki when America dropped an atomic bomb over the city on August 9, 1945. Midori was taking lunch to her husband when the bomb hit; the only thing left of her was her prayer beads. When Dr. Nakai was pulled from the rubble of the hospital in Nagasaki, all he saw was the unbelievable savage and cruel scenario of death all around him. The aftermath of the bomb brought black rain that killed every flower, plant, and tree; the dust from the destruction seemed to flow back to heaven as it swirled around survivor’s feet. Dr. Nakai wondered where the justice and peace were in the midst of such devastation and pain.
After the war, Dr. Nakai realized the power of atomic energy could destroy the entire planet if it was not used for good things. As his own health deteriorated due to the leukemia, Dr. Nagai began writing about his experiences in his book, “The Bells of Nagasaki;” it remains a powerful book about peace, grace, hope, and love in a struggling world where Cain and Abel continue to fight over resources and land. He passed away in 1947, but his children found a new life with his brother who promised to raise them as his own children. In his last days, a feeble Helen Keller visited him at his home. Sensing her compassion, Dr. Nagai said, “Unless you have suffered, you cannot be compassionate. You and I have a lot in common; His name if Jesus Christ.”
Citing Galatians 5: 22-23 (KJV), at the funeral mass for Nagasaki victims a year later, Dr. Nagai said, “The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith. Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” He believed that the truest path to God was one of peace and love. Many people of the Western world have forgotten Dr. Nagai’s amazing accomplishments, but to the Japanese heart, he spiritually raised Japan from the ashes and death of two nuclear bombs to the power of love, peace, and forgiveness. He found a profound love of God as he studied the puzzles of medical science. What he left the world was a legacy of unconditional peace and love for all, even his enemies. The Catholic Church has named him as a Servant of God, which is the first step towards sainthood. Although the only titles that really mattered to him where those of Christian, husband, father, and doctor, I give him the title of courageously faithful, for without his faith, he would not have been able to do the impossible.
Anna Hartt Research: Film by Ian and Dominic Higgins- “All That Remains”
