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Good Morning The combined, almost biblical, themes of exodus and remnant have dominated the news from Ukraine over the past 48 hours. On the one hand, thousands of people have been fleeing to the borders in a massive exodus. Their worst nightmares have been feared. They feel their only hope, at least for the time being, is to leave their homeland often in the company of the vulnerable of all ages. On the other hand, others have chosen to remain and fight. This remnant has been sheltering not knowing what they will find when they finally are able to emerge back onto the streets, they once called home. In choosing to leave or to remain we heard on this programme this week testimony after testimony of bags packed just in case and of pleas for help. Fear, stoical courage, remarkable bravery – some using the time to buy guns to defend themselves. But the frequent refrain – to you and to me - was for us to do more to help them. This was not just their war. A wider peace had been shattered. The phrase thoughts and prayers was being used widely on social media yesterday as Russian forces advanced on Kyiv. I’ve used the phrase many times myself. As an expression of condolence, it works just fine. But some people have previously challenged me as to whether it also evokes solidarity – surely we can do more than simply offer thoughts and prayers in response to the kind of pleas we heard yesterday? The Jewish scholar Kenneth Seeskin has suggested we look again at the messages of the Hebrew prophets in pursuit of what faith means, not least in terms of justice and peace. As the prophets also wrote of huge conflicts and unrest in the ancient world to which they responded, they saw faith not just as an end in itself but as a catalyst to action. For instance, Amos’ message is summed up as you cannot serve a just and merciful God unless you are just and merciful yourself. And isn’t that the point as we reflect on the horror and events of the past few days and the stories we have heard of those seeking our help and support in Ukraine this morning. Thoughts and prayers are valued by many. But the bigger question we should ask the leaders of our own day is how faith communities can contribute - what we might actually “do” in the pursuit of justice which leads to peace?