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Good morning Ukraine has touched the West in the way that Syria or Yemen did not - and one of the reasons is that, being a European country, it looks so familiar. Those streets, now being dug up for trenches, could be our streets. And the young men volunteering or being conscripted could be our sons or fathers. Even more frightening, they could be me. When I was a boy, my father taught me how to use an air rifle. Could I, in a matter of days, graduate to an AK47? Would I be ready to die? The more difficult question is, would I be ready to kill? In an echo of the Spanish Civil War, the foreign secretary, has said she would support Britons who want to fight for Ukraine – which only raises the stakes further. Since the 1960s, most Western countries have had small, non-conscript armies. Though we honour our soldiers, fighting is no longer a common experience. Perceptions of soldiering have therefore shifted from a universal symbol of sacrifice to that of professionals doing a job. Things were different during the First World War - because so many were on the frontline but also because a more religious society saw fighting through a Christian lens. Both sides claimed to be doing God’s work, and we might find the images of priests blessing armies very strange. But this "war to end all wars" was also experienced as a kind of apocalypse, and the soldiers who died in vast numbers were imagined to be its martyrs. The conflict convinced some that religion had been falsely interpreted and misused by the establishment, leading to a flourishing of anti-war Christian sentiment that has come to colour many Western notions of how a religious person is supposed to respond to violence. Did Jesus not instruct us to “turn the other cheek”? I believe I am commanded by my own faith not to kill. Were I Ukrainian, I would find this choice very difficult. Of course many Christians believe there are conditions for a just war, one of which is defence. It comes down to this: what is one fighting for? In the case of Ukraine, I suspect it is for democracy, yes, but more straightforwardly for one’s home. If you ask soldiers what they fight for, many will answer “my mates”. Together, you share the tension, the boredom, the horror of war. You have each other’s back. The burden of having to kill is something I cannot comprehend. But the words of the Gospel speak to a truth that, I trust, would guide my own actions: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”