I heard the bells on Christmas day Their old familiar carols play And mild and sweet their songs repeat Of peace on Earth, good will to men. . .
And in despair I bowed my head “There is no peace on Earth, ” I said For hate is strong and mocks the song Of peace on Earth, good will to men. . .
Ukrainian Christmas Scenes
This year Ukraine moved the celebration of Orthodox Christmas to December 25.
“The trident, or “tryzub,” remains one of Ukraine’s most iconic symbols. Shaped like a spear with three prongs, its history goes back centuries. Volodymyr the Great included the symbol on coins when he ruled Kyiv from 980 to 1015.” (wikipedia)
McDonald’s deliveries.
A tree of shell canisters.
A video report from the Kiev Independent that captures the spirit of hope.
Then rang the bells more loud and deep God is not dead, nor doth He sleep (Peace on Earth) (Peace on Earth) The wrong shall fail, the right prevail With peace on Earth, good will to men
Then ringing, singing on its way The world revolved from night to day A voice, a chime, a chant sublime Of peace on Earth, good will to men
The last two weekends Joan and I have gone to two Ukrainian events. The first was a three-day folk festival at St. Andrew’s Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in Silver Spring, Maryland.
A tote bag from the festival.
Yesterday we attended the Sunday service at the First Baptist Church of Alexandria, Virginia which featured the women of the Kiev Symphony Orchestra. They are on a 35-day tour of the Eastern US. The men of the chorus are unable to leave the country,
The women in concert.
Why Ukraine Matters
Timothy Snyder is a Yale history professor who has written extensively on Ukraine.
His course, The Making of Modern Ukraine, is 23 lectures on the country’s history, completed in December 2022. Every lecture can be viewed here.
This article is from last week. The author presents Snyder’s brief historical context for the war. More immediate, he addresses current political debates including Musk’s recent “non-activation” of his starlink satellite network stopping a Ukrainian attack on the Russian navy in Crimea.
Snyder provides the logic for why this war matters for America. In the following paragraphs he presents an essential fact about freedom, whether in Ukraine, in America or even in the governance of credit unions.
“The freedom that Ukraine seeks today is “the value of values” because it is a “condition in which you are able to make choices among other values and realize those choices.”
“Americans (and many others) owe Ukrainians a huge debt of gratitude for their resistance to Russian aggression. . .
“The greatest debt concerns freedom. This is a word that we Americans use quite a lot, but we sometimes lose track of what it really means.
“For the past thirty years or so, we have fallen into a very bad habit of believing that freedom is something that is delivered to us by larger forces, for example by capitalism. This is simply not true, and believing it has made us less free.
“The whole history of the progress of human liberty,” Frederick Douglass said, “shows that all concessions yet made to her august claims have been born of earnest struggle.” It will always be the case that freedom depends upon some kind of risky effort made against the larger forces.
“Freedom, in other words, will always depend upon an ethical commitment to a different and better world, and will always suffer when we believe that the world itself will do the work for us.“
Or, as the Ukrainian sailor defending a Snake Island outpost gestures in defiance to a Russian warship’s demand they surrender–an action portrayed on a commemorative stamp:
The first day of school. Pupils of the first grade attend a lesson in a classroom set up in a subway station in Kharkiv, on September 4, 2023. Children in Kharkiv attend classes in subway stations due to the threat of Russian shelling.
On Sunday I heard two presentations by Dr. Ivan Rusyn, President, Ukrainian Evangelical Theological Seminary in Bucha. The seminary sends help throughout the front lines. Over 20 military chaplains have been killed in the war.
The country has adopted a policy that the men will not wear ties until the war is over-no politicians, no businessmen, no diplomats. So he began wearing a priest’s collar so his vocation can be immediately identified. “Our role is not just spiritual but to serve the whole person.”
Assistance-medical, meals, transportation- is extended to all persons regardless of any religious affiliation, a ministry he calls responding to the “unfamiliar neighbor.”
“Democracy is now a global affair. It is tested everywhere if it fails anywhere.”
Meanwhile In Russia
Uneasy lies the head of an authoritarian government. The Putin and Yevgeny Prigozhin relationship changes quickly.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, every day has been a “Memorial Day “ for a family somewhere in that country.
Four days ago Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave a surprise commencement address to graduates of Johns Hopkins University by a live video link.
His country is in a war for its freedom. Yet he took time to speak to 10,00 students and families of an American university’s graduating class.
The following are short excerpts from his ten minute speech in English. They offer insight for how he views his leadership role. These are words of discernment and character.
To the Johns Hopkins University Graduating Class of 2023:
Time is of the essence, and it is that essence that I would like to talk about today. One of the most common truisms on Earth is the advice to value, or at least not waste time. Why has it become so widespread?
Every person eventually realizes that time is the most valuable resource on the planet, not oil or uranium, not lithium or anything else, but time. Time.
The very flow of time convinces us of this. Some people realize this sooner, and these are the lucky ones. Others realize it too late when they lose someone or something. People cannot avoid it. This is just a matter of time. . .
Will you be able not to waste this time of your life? This topic seems trivial, but these are very, very difficult questions for every person. How you answer them is how you live. And while it is still possible to find new deposits of oil or lithium, and if in the future humanity can start mining resources in space, it is still purely science fiction to live longer than has been given. . .
Of course, I do not wish anyone to feel like they are in my shoes, and it’s impossible to give a manual on how to go through life so as not to waste its time.
However, one piece of advice always works. You have to know exactly why you need today and how you want your tomorrows to look like. You have to know this when you are a politician and have to achieve a certain goal for your country. You have to know this when you are a soldier and you have to defend your position so that the whole country is protected.
You have to know this when you just have to go through life. Sometimes, however, when you are young and when you are a student, you still need to waste some time. What is life without it? But only sometimes, and when no one else depends on you.
And I’m certain you, as your forefathers, will continue to lead the free world. And this century will be our century, a century where freedom, innovation, and democratic values reign. A century where tyrannies that repress their own and seek to enslave their neighbors will vanish from us once and for all.
But all of our tomorrows, and the tomorrows of our children and grandchildren, depend on each of our todays. On each of our todays.” END of speech.
A Prophecy
From the Book of Haggai: “The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former. . .and in this place will I give peace.”
We can pray that this is Ukraine’s destiny on this day of memories of lives lost in past and present wars. Dona Nobis Pacem
A citizen inspects a partially destroyed residential building after Russian shelling in the Saltivka district of Kharkiv on April 9, 2023. A prayer for Ukraine.
The day of the Allied landings in France, June 6, 1944 FDR gave a prayer via radio for the country.
This six minute “devotion” is especially pertinent on the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as when it was first spoken in 1944.
Roosevelt talks of sacrifices and “pain, sorrow, faith and unity.” He expresses everyone’s longings and hopes for victory and peace. It is a prayer proper in any war and especially this day.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2IRcc-5RgA)
Why Ukraine Will Succeed
Love endures: Valentine’s Day 2023 Ukraine
The Next Generation Arrives: A Mother and Newborn in a Basement Maternity Room-Kiev
War’s Playground Today & for Tomorrow’s Peace
The Story of a New Journal: The Kiev Independent
This 29 minute video presents the critical role this online English language startup has played in telling about events in Ukraine. It includes reporters’ personal stories and presents videos of their on site coverage. This is one of many new Ukrainian enterprises to support the country in this time of trial.
Two days ago (January 15), the Orthodox Christian Church celebrated Christmas.
In the early hours of that same day, Russia launched ballistic missiles on Ukraine. One strike hit an apartment complex in Dnipro killing over 40 civilian residents.
Some 12 hours later that Sunday afternoon, the Kiev Symphony Orchestra Chorus offered their annual Christmas concert, in a live broadcast on YouTube.
The program included dozens of familiar chorales but in very different musical arrangements. Some had jazz rhythms; many had an almost martial beat with drums and other instruments asserting a very determined pace.
The church is full, fresh greens and wreaths are on the pillars, a snow covered house decorates the front of the stage. The audience all wear coats. The 60 plus person choir appears young: mostly in their 30’s and 40’s. Men are in tuxes with red bow ties and women in beautiful holiday dresses.
The concert is sung in both Ukrainian and English with an Ukrainian narrator. There are bell choir arrangements. It lasts one hour and 19 minutes.
You may want to scroll over to the 1:08 time in the program for the Chorus’ finale. You will recognize this familiar excerpt from Handel. The words are Ukrainian. Their spirit will lift yours on this sacred day of celebration and human tragedy.
Courage, worship and hope in wartime.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Utmf1mHBZv8)
Note: The KSOC was founded almost three decades ago by Music Mission Kiev following Ukraine’s independence from the Soviet Union.
