Ukraine

Each day seems to move the world closer to armed conflict in Ukraine. That’s sad beyond belief.

I have a friend from Ukraine that I met while I was studying in Finland several years ago. I asked my friend how they were doing, what they were feeling in this moment. My friend told me that people there are nervous, but not panicked. They are preparing for invasion and know the realities that they face. But they will resist should they be occupied. My friend also said that the support of the international community is so very important and it means a lot to the people of Ukraine.

My friend also sent me a link to a post with pictures that are very sobering — https://www.facebook.com/gintov/posts/10158317610196784.

It’s a picture of a 79 year old woman learning to use an AK-47. She’s being trained by the Ukrainian National Guard to defend her homeland. Let that sink in for a moment.

This coming Sunday the lectionary gives us a portion of Luke 6 where Jesus talks about loving one’s enemies. Loving our enemies is not easy in practice, although the concept itself is.

I’m not sure how a nation threatening to invade another nation is loving one’s enemies. I’m not sure how picking up a weapon is either. That’s not to create an equivalence though. A nation is not the same thing as a 79 year old woman. One threatens violence in order to take, another prepares to use violence to defend, most likely giving up her life in the process.