麻豆约拍

A reflection and prayer to start the day with Rick Hill

Good Morning.

On this day in 1945 the secret 鈥淢anhattan Project鈥� exploded the first Atomic Bomb. Codenamed Trinity it detonated at a secret location in the desert close to Los Alamos in the USA. In the days preparation, the scientist in charge, Robert Oppenheimer was said to have been reading the 17th Century Poet John Donne鈥檚 Holy Sonnet 14 which begins, 鈥淏atter my heart three person鈥檇 God鈥� It is believed this explains why the first a-bomb was called 鈥淭rinity鈥�.

After the devastation of the test explosion the philosophical Oppenheimer quoted the Bhagavad Gita, 鈥淚 am become death, destroyer of worlds鈥�. He appeared to grasp that when humans play at being God in weaponising nuclear energy there would be deadly results. We are still living in a world with the consequences of his first un-holy Trinity.

I鈥檇 prefer that we had become life, creator of worlds.

I follow the news with interest about the various attempts to create nuclear fusion reactors. They offer us the possibility of almost limitless non-polluting energy that does not depend on fossil fuels. International teams have been working to try to achieve this goal for well over 50 years. There鈥檚 an old joke among scientists that creating a successful reactor is always 30 years away.

A few years ago we couldn鈥檛 have imagined living in a pandemic, nor the speed and collaboration in science that created the vaccines which bring us hope.

The book of Proverbs says, 鈥淗ope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life鈥�.

Lord God, forgive us for how we have weaponised nuclear science. Grant us hope of success to bring light and life to all. Amen.

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