It was Stalin’s tactic: break up ethnic enclaves and separate groups of people and deport them to various places in the Soviet Union. Told they were being relocated, the idea was to break up people and force them into a “national” identity as Soviets. Now Putin is doing the same with Ukrainians.
The photo of a young child separated from her parents on a Russian bus is not just heartbreaking; it is a sign that Putin’s policy is to “Russify” the Ukrainians by forcing them to outer regions of the old USSR. What’s the difference between that an Stalin sending dissidents to Siberia?
During this season of Lent, a time for reflection, we must not just wear ribbons and fly flags for Ukraine, but welcome Ukrainian refugees, many of whom have family in this country. There are stories of Ukrainians being turned away at the Mexican border. Reflection on who we are as a Nation calls us to action just as Jesus took action when he went to Jerusalem.
Prayer for the Day
Wanting to sing, in despair we cry with the Psalmist,
“How can we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?”
Hoping beyond hope, we search for the familiar in voice,
And we wonder how long it will be before we are home.
Grant, O Most Merciful God, that we will see our homeland again,
And pick the sunflowers with their bright yellow petals.
In the name of the one who understands,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
“every man [sic] has a map in his heart of his own country and that the heart will never allow you to forget this map.”
- Alexander McCall Smith, from The No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency
I wonder what it felt to move to a country where you didn't grow up. I had thought about that often since my sister got married. Do you become a character in a story native to that land, or do you, somewhere in your heart, want to return to your homeland.
- Banana Yoshimoto, N.P, Japanese writer
By the rivers of Babylon – where we sat down and there we wept
When we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung our harps,
For there our captors asked us for songs, and our tormentor asked for mirth,
Saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”
Psalm 137: 1-3