Beloved,

It’s a special month for you and me because August 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. I have said it many times that there is no way you and I could have come together to break bread, like we enjoy it today, 80 years ago when we were once enemies, whom we had judged, distrusted, mocked, despised, and harmed. The fact that the church called me to serve as your pastor eleven years ago, and we grew deeper together through various services in Jesus’ name, is a testament to Christian love and reconciliation. Such a realization makes me greatly appreciate the history and the closer relationship that is made possible by the people who courageously chose love over perpetuating prejudice, hatred, and bigotry, striving towards healing the wounds between the two nations to bring peace on which we stand today.

Naturally, I grew up watching movies and documentary films on WWII during my first twenty years in Japan; there were popular comic books about a resilient lost boy who survived the aftermath of the atomic bombs. I even saw the shadows of humans burned onto many concrete surfaces all over the city when I visited Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima on a school trip. However, I must admit that World War II was still an event from a distant past in the history textbook, rather than in my lived experience. I was not mature enough to fully grasp its actual relevance to my life. Pearl Harbor only appeared in a tiny paragraph that could have been easily missed if not paying close attention. 

It was only after I came to the United States that I started connecting the dots. Not only did I learn about the significance of P earl Harbor and the subsequent Japanese internment camps, but also how history continues to live in us. Until I met you at St. Paul’s, peace was assumed, and war happened somewhere far, far away from me. I took for granted the peace, which was hard-earned by many people before me. The more I learned about you and your family’s war history, the more profoundly I realized how much of a chance you took as Christians in calling me to be your pastor. Equally, I feel a deep debt of gratitude to my parents and their courage in allowing me to leave Japan for the United States thirty years ago. I don’t think I could do it if I had a child. As Beau can testify, I am way too clingy to accept such a separation; I’d make a top-notch helicopter parent. 

With that said, we are the products of somebody’s courageous acts of faith, hope, and love. While the Peace of God is with us always, it is up to us to foster and share it by being the hands of Christ. Thus, we must make a deliberate choice each day to live into the Peace of God. Choosing love over justifying hatred takes effort, but it is not impossible, as history reminds us. Loving God and one another as Christ loved us is far more challenging than we imagine, but it is possible. Dorothy Day said it best: “I really only love God as much as I love the person I love the least.” True Christian love for God is expressed through acts of service, hospitality, and compassion towards others, especially those we love the least. We must carry forth God’s love story and not end it with us. We will pay it forward by keeping the light of faith, hope, and love lit in this troubling world we live in. You take a crucial role in achieving this.

May we always remember the cost of hard-earned peace and the responsibility that comes with the freedom we enjoy today, and be courageous to challenge prejudice, hatred, and bigotry we each hold within. As the full beneficiaries of God’s Peace, let us share it freely and generously with one another without allowing malice to turn us into another bitter fruit. It’s August, a time for a fresh start, a time to renew our commitment to peace, reconciliation, and love. We have lots to do, but with God’s grace, we can do it. 

With Love and Gratitude, 

Fr. Andrew