Tag: Ukraine

In love is our strength

My friend Joyce has sent me this lovely picture tweet. She writes,
This sleepy wood pigeon is enjoying the warmth of the sun and the beauty of the blossom before it is blown away. With my love and prayers. God bless, Joyce

There is a call to stillness as nature and the natural world bring forth the joy of creation. The blossom heralds Spring and, though fleeting, it is a sign of hope.

We all know that there is so much darkness and despair right now. Ukraine weighs heavily on our hearts and other places are unsettled. The girls denied an education this week in Afghanistan are only part of the problem there, as children and families suffer increasingly from malnutrition.

We need to remain aware, too, that there are many in Russia who oppose the war at their peril and yet are brave enough to speak out. They too need our prayerful support.

So whilst all around us there is destruction and fragility, it is good to be reminded that the earth still blossoms with beauty and the promise of new life.

Two years ago we went into the first Lockdown against Covid. That virus in differing forms is still with us. I myself am battling it at the moment, as are about a million others in the UK alone. Maybe we didn’t really learn the lessons. Maybe we should have taken up the opportunities of a new way of living and so developed new values by which to be truly human and truly at one with each other and creation.

At the time of the first lockdown, the artist, David Hockney, painted a series of paintings. Alongside them he said, Do remember, they can’t cancel the Spring! Maybe, in the midst of all that is besetting and destroying humanity in a maelstrom of the demonic, we need to pray and work for that truth.

Spring is God’s time of renewal and re-birth. To give us that gift, however, he had to take on the demonic of evil by dying on the Cross. It was the triumph of love and light against evil and darkness and, in the words of the poet T.S.Eliot, it cost God not less than everything. For Ukraine and other places of suffering, that is a personal reality for many right now, not least their inspirational and dedicated President, Volodymyr Zelensky. It is costing the Ukrainian Nation not less than everything.

Many of us are deeply humbled by the people of Ukraine and by the multitude of people who are receiving the victims of the war by opening their countries, their hearts and their homes with a generosity, compassion and love which is rapidly enfolding those for whom life has changed so deeply.
In such hospitality the demonic is being confronted and in many ways defeated by love.
God is enthusing and empowering that love.

Our little wood pigeon surrounded by blue sky and gorgeous blossom is, in its own way, a reminder that not only has spring not been cancelled but also, neither has love. It may be very fragile but it cannot be broken.

[Mr G]

Lord God, Have Pity on Us

A prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr

Today’s thought for the Day, on BBC Radio 4 this morning, was given by the Rt. Reverend Richard Harries. Centred on prayer for all those caught up in the conflict un Ukraine, the bishop used a prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr.

Reinhold Niebuhr^[a] (1892–1971) who was an American Reformed theologian, ethicist, commentator on politics and public affairs, and professor at Union Theological Seminary for more than 30 years.

He believed in Justice tempered with Mercy, the title of one of his works from which comes the prayer below. He saw the importance of religion engaging with politics and public policy. Living through the Second World War he recognized that everyone is affected by conflict and violence of warfare, not least the innocent. One of the themes Richard Harries raised this morning was that the sin of violence is rooted in the human heart which, unchecked and held in the burning love of God can easily destroy the peace and tranquillity of the world created by God.

Richard Harries spoke of the Agony of Christ which he placed firmly in the heart of Ukraine, in all those suffering and in real despair at this time.

Because of this our personal prayer can be the prayer much loved by Orthodox Christians, known as the Jesus Prayer. Today that simple but deeply profound prayer is popular with many Christians. It has a number of forms but Bishop Richard shared his own version, apt for what the world is going through right now: Lord Jesus Christ, have pity on us.

Here is the prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr.

Lord we pray this day mindful of the sorry confusion of our world.
Look with mercy upon this generation of your children so steeped in misery of their own contriving,
so far strayed from your ways and so blinded by passions.
We pray for the victims of tyranny, that they may resist oppression with courage.
We pray for the wicked and cruel, whose arrogance reveals to us what the sin within our own hearts
is like when it has conceived and brought forth its final fruit.

We pray for ourselves who live in peace and quietness,
that we may not regard our good fortune as proof of our virtue,
or rest content to have our ease at the price of others’ sorrow and tribulation.

We pray for all who have some vision of your will,
despite the confusions and betrayals of human sin,
that they humbly and resolutely plan for and fashion the foundations of a just peace between people, even while they seek to preserve what is fair and just among us
against the threat of malignant powers.

Amen.

[Mr G]

Damn the War

A Heart in pain reaches out to the people of Ukraine

Shamsia Hassani is from Afghanistan. She is an artist who believes strongly that art changes peoples’ minds and people change the world.

Over the time since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, that idea might not be as easy to believe in. It has remained, however, a strong belief and her art has intensified. It brought colour and appreciation into the lives of women who began to believe in themselves.

Prior to the Taliban take-over she was part of a movement in Afghanistan who were dedicated to inspire women in a male-dominated society, and, indeed, throughout the world. As a result women in repressed societies found a new hope. She taught creative use of art and her works, often expressed as graffiti or street art, is both proud and loud. Through it she and associates gave Afghan women a sense of worth and a depth of purpose. She taught in Kabul University and she has exhibited her work in many countries. Her message is motivational and challenging.

The Taliban takeover seemed to take all that away but as they moved into Kabul, Shamsai painted deeply provocative and defiant images which pushed the boundaries of her work into a highly dangerous confrontation.
As a result she has moved from Kabul to a safe location.

She has no idea what the future holds for women in Afghanistan or even for Afghanistan itself. Evidence suggests that, amidst the chaos and devastation of people’s lives and the crumbling infrastructure everything is moving backwards and women are losing the freedom to be themselves.

All is bleak and whilst Shamsia continues to paint her art as an expression of freedom and creativity, she is aware that the way ahead is far from easy.

As the escalation of war in Ukraine has touched her heart, what she has written below comes therefore from one who truly understands about the pain and violence and futility of what is happening in their lives. It has happened in hers.

No one can describe the moment, when the world suddenly collapses on you.
Ukraine, I feel your pain, I am also hit hard by the war. I feel the pain of your displaced and homeless people. I feel the pain of your children. I am sorry for what your people have lost and are about to lose. I am sorry that you are experiencing war and the endless pain that comes with it.
When I hear the word War I tremble. One cannot describe the word War.

I understand the current state of the Ukrainian people very well, I see myself among them. Escape,fear,displacement,hopelessness…
The loss of peace and short beautiful moments of life cannot be explained when suddenly your world is destroyed and taken from you.

For years, the word “War” has filled moments of my life. For years, I and my people have experienced the loss of friends, family and loved ones. We have experienced losing our homes and our homeland. We have felt the pain of migration, the loss of home, family and our homeland. The good days that we hoped for, never came.
Our beautiful past memories that will never come back, but will haunt our present forever.

Shamsai

She is currently working on a series of paintings which she is calling Damn the war/ لعنت به جنگ
The painting above is from the series.

Hope is in short supply right now but Shamsia is doing all she can to keep its flame glowing in herself and in the world. We can take inspiration from her and we can paint the same hope with our prayers.

Prayer is never something we should do because there is nothing else. Prayer should be the first thing we do because it brings us into the heart of God and therefore shapes all other responses. It opens us to a reservoir of true hope which feeds our actions for others who are in desperate need.

[Mr G]

Peace is a choice

Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell spoke about the situation in Ukraine, in the debate held
in the House of Lords in theBritish Parliament, on Friday.
Here is the text of what he said….

My Lords you may have seen that the Archbishop of Canterbury and I have already spoken about the unprovoked attack on Ukraine as an act of great evil. This is a dark hour for Europe. We have called on Anglican churches to make this coming Sunday a day of prayer for peace and on Tuesday encourage parishes to join with the Anglican diocese in Europe in prayer at 6 pm, especially for those who minister and witness for peace in Ukraine itself where we have chaplaincies and minister alongside other denominations and faith communities. We are all invited to join with Pope Francis in making Ash Wednesday a day of fasting and prayer for peace.

Perhaps in the west, we have taken peace for granted. The horrors being visited on Ukraine must be a wake-up call for us that peace is something you need to work at. What is happening in Ukraine is truly shocking, but, sadly it is not surprising. We have seen it coming. Ukraine now stands alone, unprotected by the treaties that protect us and allow us to believe that peace is a normal state of affairs.

But it isn’t.

Peace is a choice. It is a decision that we need to make each day about the way we live and about our responsibilities to and with our neighbour, be that in our family, in our local community, or between the nations of the world. And we need the policies, the wisdom, the tenacity and the international resolve that will deliver it.

Previous generations knew this. They knew it, because they had experienced the horrors of war that most of us haven’t.

In the post-war period we invested in international bodies and associations that would bind us to each other. In 1950, for instance, Robert Schuman, the French Foreign Minister, said when announcing a plan to pool coal and steel production, that the plan was motivated so that solidarity in production would make war between France and Germany “not only unthinkable, but materially impossible.”

But Ukraine is not defended by NATO. What we have seen from Vladimir Putin in the last few days is a terrible, flagrant disregard of the Ukrainian people’s legitimate right to self-determination. As the noble Lady Baroness Goldie has put it, he has chosen war.

Right now, as well as generous, humanitarian aid and support for refugees, about which I hope the minister will say more in his summing up – we need to know what is happening – we must use all our diplomatic muscle and energy, stringent economic sanctions, and focused political will to force Russia to step back from this aggression, withdraw its troops and silence the guns, not least because effective sanctions will mean many innocent Russians suffer as well. Our actions must be swift and cohesive if they are to be decisive.

Jesus urged his followers to be peacemakers, not simply peacelovers. This is an important distinction, because it is a call to action.

First, in support of Ukraine, and especially the many innocent children and families, potential refugees living with this conflict and its consequences, and support for those who are bravely protesting on the streets of Russia. But peace, lasting peace, requires more. It requires a new commitment to international instruments of law and order, accountability and investment so that we make peace and choose peace, not just hope to keep it. The suffering of Ukraine, the imperialist ambition of Russia, our own acceptance that ‘immoral flood of corrupt money that flows (from Russia) through London’ has to stop.

And as followers of Jesus, we pray because we believe God’s grace has the final word, not the horrors of sin, not death.

But we also pray because that prayer will shape our will and will shape our resolve. The prayers of Christian people and of all people of faith and goodwill are with our government, and with all the leaders of the free world, as we both implore Russia to change course, but also determine to play our part in the active pursuit of peace in our world today.

A Prayer for Ukraine

God of peace and justice,
we pray for the people of Ukraine today.
We pray for peace and the laying down of weapons. We pray for all those who fear for tomorrow,
that your Spirit of comfort would draw near to them. We pray for those with power over war or peace,
for wisdom, discernment and compassion
to guide their decisions.
Above all, we pray for all your precious children, at-risk and in fear, that you would hold and protect them.
We pray in the name of Jesus, the Prince of Peace.
Amen.

Archbishop Justin Welby Archbishop Stephen Cottrell
Church of England.