The morning papers are full of the war in Ukraine. Almost every other important issue has been pushed to the sidelines. What is not being reported so much about this war is that it is more than a fight for territory, even from Putin’s perspective. It is also a fight about values – whether we live in a closed society or an open one.
White nationalists have drawn a good deal of their thinking and even organizational support from Russia. Putin claims he is defending “traditional values,” those that would shut down dissent, ban books, imprison people he calls “perverts” –members of the LBGT+ community.
He wants a return to a world where autocrats control society and new ways of thinking. Whether he truly believes in “traditional values” is irrelevant. It’s about power, nothing more. We must be careful not to let this rhetoric infect our democracy more than it already has.
Prayer for the Day
Merciful God, we know we need your love and understanding,
For so often we rely on our own resources rather than trusting in you;
Afraid of the world around us, we fear where our questions lead us,
For our old answers do not fit the world we inhabit.
Help us, O God, to explore new ways of serving you
And to find hope in our expectations.
In the name of the One who is our hope,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair, but manifestations of strength and resolution.
- Khalil Gibran, Lebanese American poet (1883-1931)
For grace to be grace, it must give us things we didn't know we needed and take us places where we didn't know we didn't want to go. As we stumble through the crazily altered landscape of our lives, we find that God is enjoying our attention as never before.
- Kathleen Norris, from Acedia & Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life
Thus says the Lord: Maintain justice, and do what is right,
For soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance will be revealed.
Isaiah 56: 1