麻豆社

A year ago, the long running war in the Donbas became a general invasion of Ukraine. In the very early morning President Zelenskyy dressed, said to his wife 鈥淚t鈥檚 begun鈥� and for all Ukrainians the thunder of war descended on an innocent country. In December I visited Ukraine. I went to show solidarity, to say, you are not forgotten. I stood by a mass grave in Bucha and saw the pictures of civilians tortured and shot, of a man, dead under his bicycle, his dog waiting next to him. Everywhere destruction, everywhere courageous resistance.

In war everything becomes unpredictable. The future that had been expected disappears: symbols of the past are destroyed. It would be easy to be terrified but that is not the reality of Ukraine. As with the UK in 1940, the uncertainty and horror of war with an apparently overwhelmingly strong adversary is matched by leadership of skill and courage, and people of endurance and resolution. They want and need support of all kinds.

Jesus was asked once, 鈥榃ho is my neighbour?鈥� In response he told the story of the Good Samaritan. It is well known, a man mugged on a lonely road, and having been ignored by eminent people, is rescued by a stranger from an ancient enemy people. The challenge from Jesus is that a neighbour, is the one who shows love in action.

Will we continue to show love in action for Ukraine? What about Russia, that in living memory - during the 2nd World War - fought our enemy alongside us at a cost of 30 million Russian lives. What do we do when a neighbour is wickedly attacked, and another neighbour is the attacker?

First, we stand witness to the truth. We tell the story of devastation, of destruction, of massacre. We tell the story of Ukrainian lives lost, of a country destroyed. Second, we support sacrificially. The Samaritan gave what he could for a man unjustly attacked and at the limit of his own strength. Sacrifice means refuge for the refugee, support for those needing equipment. It will cost us, and we may be thankful that it costs us only money, not lives.

Finally, maybe hardest of all, we dare to imagine a seemingly impossible future, and we work towards it in partnership with the oppressed, truthful but not hating the oppressor. There must be a future with a just and stable peace, a free and secure Ukraine, and the beginning of a generations-long process of healing and reconciliation based in truth.

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