Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. — John 15:13

Every day that goes by my heart aches more and more for the doomed workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant rendered helpless and deadly since that incredible tsunami hit, with the multiple meltdowns under way. They all know they’re doomed, yet they keep to their responsibilities, knowing they have been exposed to lethal doses of radiation:

Workers at the disaster-stricken Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan say they expect to die from radiation sickness as a result of their efforts to bring the reactors under control, the mother of one of the men tells Fox News.

The so-called Fukushima 50, the team of brave plant workers struggling to prevent a meltdown to four reactors critically damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, are being repeatedly exposed to dangerously high radioactive levels as they attempt to bring vital cooling systems back online.

I think about their plight often, especially every night while I’m doing my mile and a half walk around a subdivision neighborhood so clean, safe, and well off, I can’t help but wonder how I’ll be judged knowing deep down I doubt I could ever muster up the courage and self-sacrifice these heroes have done. I pray for them often, and have lit a candle in the hopes and prayers that in their plight they may come to know the strength and comfort of the Lord – surely their reward will be awaiting them in heaven.

The whole Fukushima Daiichi situation is just a reminder of the limitations of science and technology – you can protect the plants themselves all you want, but at some point even the most resilient systems have a single point of failure. I think about Iran and how they’ve supposedly buried their nuclear plants to protect them from Israeli air attack. Forget about the plants – knock out the power supply that keeps the nuclear core cool and you’re screwed. But I’m guessing Israel has already figured that out a long time ago.