Nuclear power and radiation

While news from the Middle East and Pakistan has dominated the headlines, Japanese engineers have continued to struggle with the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, 150 miles north of Tokyo. It was seriously damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Although two of the six reactors at the plant are believed to be stable, the other four are not. Evidence of radioactivity on the ocean floor, along with contamination around the reactor site, has been a continuing problem, and there are no easy answers.

Nevertheless, there are answers, which can be discovered and applied to protect the workers at the plant and the land around it. Our prayers to God, the one Mind, can support the efforts of engineers and others to find those inspired answers.

One way to start is to understand that the Bible says God, Mind, created the earth, the heavens, and all the creatures – including us – as good, pure, and perfect (see Gen. Chap. 1). There is nothing in God’s creation that decays, that emits harmful rays, or that has a deadly half-life. Divine Life, God, is All.Under His care, only goodness, strength, and healing are possible. This is because Life is Spirit, and the creation God made partakes of His nature. It is totally spiritual.

These ideas are practical and useful for the people at the nuclear power plants and those who are frightened about contamination. If the essential foundation of creation is pure, then we can turn to Mind, the Maker of creation, for guidance about how to regain our conviction of its goodness and purity – even in the face of contamination.

In many different places the Bible speaks of purity and the ability of God to cleanse and purify us. In one psalm, the writer says to God, “Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (51:7); and in another he asks, “Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted.... Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee” (25:16, 21).

In these passages, the psalmist is seeing God’s ability to take away contamination of any kind. He sees that spiritual qualities – integrity and uprightness – have preserving power, and that waiting on God can lead to the needed inspiration.

Through Christ Jesus’ teachings, it’s clear that God is Love and cherishes all of His children. That’s you and me and everyone. Even in the time of deepest trouble, Love is with each of us. Love’s love is so deep that it can go deeper than any radioactivity and cleanse every part of our being.

As we understand ourselves as worthy of Love’s care, we find that matter – whatever is harmful or bad for us – can’t frighten us, because divine Spirit doesn’t contain materiality. Spirit’s substance can be defined in terms of goodness, purity, truth, intelligence, strength. None of these qualities can be affected by radiation, because they aren’t material. And since they and other qualities define who you and I are, neither are we vulnerable.

At first this may seem like an intellectual exercise that isn’t relevant to the situation in Japan. But Jesus proved that such spiritual facts actually do make a difference. When a leper came to him for healing, he responded by saying, “Be thou clean,” and the man was cleansed. Whatever mistaken beliefs had been afflicting this man, the spiritual fact was that in virtually an instant and without medication, he was totally restored to health.

What Jesus was doing wasn’t some kind of magic or hypnotism. Christian Science explains that he was so clear about God’s pure nature, and man’s purity as God’s child, that he was able to reveal those spiritual facts to those who came to him for healing.

Each of us has the capacity to pray and promote healing, whether the restoration involves grief over the accident or lost lands around the power plant, or fear that perhaps someone has been contaminated. Each of us also has the power to pray on behalf of Japan and its people, to support them in this time of trial.

If you aren’t in Japan, your prayers affirming God’s ability to guide and to cleanse the lives and land of Japan will be a real blessing to all who are struggling with this crisis.

If you are in Japan, take heart in these truths, which are meant to uplift, encourage, and heal. And rest assured that the same God who created you and your lovely country is caring for you all, guiding, and protecting, every moment of every day.

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