I read this article today. Basically these retired engineers have decided they need to step up and deal with the problems at the Fukushima reactor. Their reason for doing so? They're old and they don't feel the young need to be exposing themselves to the high levels of radiation at the plant.
The organizer, Yasuteru Yamada, said, "I am 72 and on average I probably have 13 to 15 years left to live. Even if I were exposed to radiation, cancer could take 20 or 30 years or longer to develop. Therefore us older ones have less chance of getting cancer."
Just to refresh our memories (in this day and age the media have about a 48-hour attention span)... After one of the worst earthquakes in history Japan is in danger of a disaster that some (in the media) say could make Hiroshima and Nagasaki seem like a bad ozone day. Engineers have been working for weeks to contain multiple reactors before meltdowns occur. And things aren't looking very good at present.
So these retirees are volunteering to take the place of younger engineers, to go into the high radiation areas and perform tasks that will probably end their lives early. What's up with that??
Selflessness and self-sacrifice (along with honor and respect) are integral to the Japanese culture. This is probably a result of the wide acceptance of Confucianism in Japan. Unfortunately western cultural influence has begun to slowly change all that.
What is it that would motivate someone to voluntarily offer up their life to save the lives of people they've never met?
This Monday we celebrated Memorial Day... a day which we in the U.S. set aside to remember those who gave their lives in battle defending our country. At the same time we honor and pray for those who are in various locations around the world doing so now. I had two friends return last week from Afghanistan. It was great to see them return safely. I have others who are there now. We pray for them daily... as is our duty.
However, in the case of the Japanese, these men aren't on foreign soil defending their country from those who wish to do it harm. There are no guns and no tanks. The enemy is unseen and the men really don't know why the problems are as bad as they appear to be. No politics. All they know is that if they don't act, younger citizens will be paying a great price for many years to come. They are offering to place themselves in harm's way so that these younger men and women may live long and healthy lives. They aren't spending time protesting nuclear power plants at the government buildings and they aren't busy blaming their government or the U.S. or whoever for their situation. They are simply offering their lives to help.
So we sit in our air-conditioned, well-furnished homes and watch all this on the news networks. We (myself included) talk about how stupid it was to build nuclear power plants in the most earthquake-prone country on the planet. Then we turn to another network, listen to a news report about how Medicare is running out of money, how our income bracket is about to incur a tax increase or how our home value is going down the drain. We promptly forget about Japan and get busy organizing protests, writing letters to our congressmen and complaining to everyone we meet because we might lose something.
I believe we've lost touch with what is important in life. Our culture has changed the way we look at the world around us. As a matter of fact it has caused us to stop looking at the world around us unless it might have some negative impact on our wellbeing. We have become so self-absorbed we have forgotten about things like compassion and grace. We don't know the meaning of words like altruism and sacrifice.
I read the article and thought about the man being interviewed. Is he a Christian? Odds are he isn't. Christians comprise about 1% of the population of Japan. But his attitude certainly is Christ-like.
As a Christian I have to say I am ashamed of myself. A Christian, of all people on this planet, ought to understand the concept of sacrifice. A Christian, of all people, ought to understand the concept of denying oneself and taking up a sacrificial cross. And the hope of a Christian ought to be motivation enough to overcome any trepidation about taking up that sacrificial cross.
As a parent I realized I am not setting an example to my children. Why? Probably because I am not so filled with that hope as I ought to be. That has to change!
My two teenage daughters are going to Missouri next week on a mission trip. They will spend the week doing manual labor to help a ministry there with tasks it otherwise would cost them thousands of dollars to have done. What am I going to do while they're gone? I'll find something to do!
"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends". John 15:13