Today is VJ Day, Victory over Japan. The day the Second World War officially ended. For many, it was a moment of celebration, relief, even joy. and of course the war was over, of course that was a reason to celebrate.
However, I have mixed feelings over celebrating ‘Victory over Japan’ considering how the end came about. The way the war was ended is horrendous and took so many lives in just two bombs. On the other hand how many lives did that action save!
With the way the world is today, I often ponder can we justify war? That’s not what I am writing about today but instead I was thinking about where God is in war and the way brave men and women put their lives on the line for others!
The fighting stopped. The world could begin again.
But it came at a terrible cost.
Cities were flattened. Families shattered. Soldiers, young, hopeful and terrified never came home. In Japan, the devastation was unimaginable. And across the world, grief settled in like dust.
So where can we find God in this?
I certainly don’t think it’s in the victory. Or in the bombs and certainly not in the politics.
But maybe in the quiet spaces that followed. In the hands that rebuilt. In the hearts that forgave. In the courage of those who chose peace over vengeance.
Even if you consider yourself to have no faith or If you don’t usually think about God, today might still stir something deeper. Because VJ Day isn’t just about the end of war, it’s about what comes after. About how we live with the memory. About how we treat those we once called enemies.
As a Christian I believe that God’s love doesn’t take sides. It doesn’t draw lines between “us” and “them.” It reaches across borders, across grief, across history. It’s a love that sees every person, soldier, civilian, survivor, as sacred.
Of course there are many complicated factors about war and how we as individual’s conduct our lives and how we might react when the choice is to kill or be killed and as a soldier you are prepared to give your life for a just cause in the defence of freedom. “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John 15. 13
So why thank God today?
Not because war ended with a clean slate. But because love still rises from the rubble. Because peace is possible. Because healing begins when we dare to see the humanity in those we once feared or misunderstood.
Maybe today is an invitation, not to forget, but to remember differently. To honour the lives lost by choosing compassion. To let God’s love shape how we see the world, and each other.
Whether you have a faith or not, perhaps today is a chance to pause. To reflect. To hope. And to ask: what does love look like, even after war?
Luke 6. 27-28 “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” I think this passage is a radical invitation to love across divides, especially poignant when thinking of former or perceived enemies.
A Prayer to end with
God of peace,
On this day of remembrance,
we pause to honour those who gave their lives in war,
soldiers who never came home,
families who bore the cost,
and nations scarred by conflict.
We remember the courage, the sacrifice,
and the longing for peace that stirred in weary hearts.
And we hold in prayer the people of Japan,
whose suffering reminds us that war leaves no one untouched.
Where there was devastation, may healing rise.
Where there was hatred, may understanding grow.
Where there was division, may your love build bridges.
Teach us, O God, to see one another not as enemies,
but as neighbours, as fellow human beings made in your image.
Let your love be our guide; a love that crosses borders,
softens hearts, and dares to forgive.
In a world still torn by violence and fear,
make us peacemakers.
Make us listeners.
Make us bearers of hope.
And may the memory of those who died
lead us not to vengeance,
but to a deeper commitment
to justice, compassion, and peace.
Amen.
