Leaving Japan

Dateline: Narita International Airport, Tokyo, Japan; October 24, 2011—And then the trip was over. Two typhoons, summer’s heat and autumn’s chill; trains, planes and cars and a bit of shoe leather; hundreds of people and long days in preparation, all come down to this day. This day I depart Japan. It has been a good trip and God, in His infinite goodness, even has me flying business class from New York to Atlanta. And so far, from Tokyo to New York I have an empty seat beside me and nothing in front of me for about for or five feet. Yes, it will be a good trip.

My last weekend was spent in Harajuku, the avant-garde mecca of the Millennials, and they gather from all over the world to see and be seen. Friday evening I had a meeting in the International church and spoke on Revelation 14:7. What an important message for this time. “…for the hour of His judgment is come…” There is so much in that one little phrase. Some people call Fukushima a judgment, or Port au Prince, or Hurricane Irene, judgments. No, when God judges, it is absolute. These are but warnings on impending disasters on a magnitude we have never knows. Daniel 12:1 calls it “A time of trouble such as the world has never seen.”

Sabbath morning I spoke to the combined International and Japanese churches and in the afternoon to the International church, this time about the need to build walls of protection around ourselves, our children, our homes. Never has this message been so important.

Although it had been raining Friday evening, it was dry Saturday afternoon so I decided to walk with my hostess though the Meiji Shrine park. It is hard to believe you are in the middle of Tokyo when you are in this forest. Old trees reach over the trails that wind through this expansive tract, shading the runners and bikers and occasional wanderer. You would think it would be more crowded and but for the fact that it borders Yoyogi Park, it would be. But Harajuku teems with young people and they are drawn to the broad vistas of the park that they might see and be seen. There you can see anything and practically everything. A drummer ensemble beating away on retired food tins; a massage therapist practicing sekhem-seichim-reiki touchless massage; skateboarders doing their tricks, musicians playing their gigs to the disinterested passers-by, lovers-just-met grabbing what energy they can from the moment and for the moment. It is an interesting place but I much prefer the Meiji Shrine ambiance. It was a nice walk home.

Sunday I have a short lecture to a cooking school about the increased need for water and phytochemicals in the body. So many people have bought into the false notion that we much drink milk to protect out bones. But since Fukushima, and the resulting plume of radioactive isotopes fanning across the world, milk doesn’t look quite so tempting. Within weeks of the explosion, Oregon, California and Arizona were finding levels of Iodine 131, Cesium 134 and 137 in their milk 2000% above containment levels. Radioactive mild. That doesn’t sound too good for the bones or the thyroid to me. As never before it is time to reassess our diets and determine what is the best for today, for today is vastly different than any of our yesterdays.

It is interesting to sit here and watch the places come and go. A while ago a Korean Airlines jet was backed out and set off for the end of the runway. The four Japanese men who had pushed back the plane and stood as wing guards, stood facing the aircraft and attention. They then bowed to the flight crew but remained in place as the plane pulled away. They stood there waving to each and every passenger from front row to back. They did not cease waving until the plane was well beyond them. Now, that’s service. The little bit extra, the respect for those who travel that the workers might have a job. A parting farewell to an unknown people going to unknown places. A few moments of respectful farewell. Yes, it has been a good visit.

God bless you all until next trip.

Don Miller