Four years ago today Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine, expecting Ukrainians to fold and just allow the destruction of their country and their independent nationality. Was he surprised! Now, four years later this butcher keeps up his fraudulent myth and continues to try to destroy the resolve of a people who suffered a great deal from Russian rule in the past.
In 1932-33, Stalin created a famine in Ukraine by exporting al the wheat grown to Russia, sort of what happened in Ireland in the 1840s. His goal was to erase Ukrainian identity. The death toll is estimated at 5-7 million out of a population of 29 million. Ukrainians could have no more than 5 ears of corn and were prohibited from leaving to other parts of the USSR.
But Ukrainians survived and continue to survive even though Putin bombs their infrastructure, forces Ukrainians in Russian held areas to take Russian passports, kidnaps children putting them deep in Russia trying to erase their identity. We here will pay a heavy price if we abandon Ukraine by cozying up to Putin, for his goal encompasses much more than Ukraine. Hungary voted against more sanctions on Russia. Has he forgotten 1956?
Prayer for the Day
Praying for peace in a time of war, we come to you, O God,
For we know that we must do more than pray;
Holding fast to our faith for an ultimate triumph of freedom,
We struggle for the right way to accomplish it.
Grant, O Lord, your wisdom in these perilous times
So that we do not abandon your goals for our lives.
In the name of the One who is a voice for justice,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
We should be in agony today – people are dying because they want to live in a democracy, want to determine their own affairs. But that agony should, and can, produce real change.
Bill McKibben, from “This is how we defeat Putin”
Almost everyone has at least one person on their phone who will never pick up the phone again.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, February 24, 2023
Give ear to my words, O Lord, give heed to my sighing.
Listen to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you I pray.
O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I plead my case to you
For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil will not sojourn with you.
The boastful will not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers.
You destroy those who speak lies; the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful.
Psalm 5: 1-6