War

 

My Father’s family is from Estonia, one of those little Baltic countries in Northern Europe. Short story is they fled Estonia after it was invaded by the USSR during WWII with my grandmother pregnant with my father. He was born in Europe and spent his first five years in a displaced persons camp in West Germany until coming over with his mother and three older siblings in 1950. My grandfather is thought to have died in a Russian POW camp sometime after the WWII, but my grandmother had no contact with him while they were in the refugee camp or when after they came to the United States. They were sponsored by a Lutheran church in Valley City, North Dakota and settled there. My father started 1st grade knowing very little English, but my family was welcomed and supported, but they struggled to leave their family, their language, and all they knew behind.

The people of Ukraine are once again being invaded by a Russian army; families are being split apart, forced to leave their homes and communities, and face an uncertain future that even if the Russian army is expelled, things won’t go back to normal for there will be much healing, recovering, and repairing that will need to be done. Scars will be long and deep in the land, the people, and its history.

In our church we are studying the book of Isaiah. We have just got through the first 39 chapters that were filled with doom and gloom as Israel is being threatened by the Assyrian empire and the conquered by the Babylonian empire. We can only wait and see if Ukraine will be able to hold out like Jerusalem did against the Assyrians or if it will fall like it did against the Babylonians. Thankfully, most countries around the world are rallying around Ukraine and the Ukraine people are putting up enough resistance that many thought their government and their army would quickly crumble. Isaiah proclaimed that they only had to rely on God alone and all would be well. We are now in a different world and having allies and support from other countries will hopefully help Ukraine come out independent and regain the lands and people they already lost. One of the things that also gives me hope is showing that many of the people of Russia don’t want this war, just it’s leadership.

What we really can’t do is to ignore it or believe it has nothing to do with us. Jesus tells us to love our neighbor, watch over the orphan, the widow, and the refugee. We surely can pray, we can help send resources to the organizations that are helping those who are caught and in need of help, we can use our voice on social media and in other ways to stand with the people, and we can petition our government leaders to help Ukraine and help stop this war. (How that is done through financial, political, and military is up for debate and conversation, as it should be in an open and democratic country.)

We, in our Bible study, are now getting into the good chapters of Isaiah that promise a good future, return to homes and country, abundance where there once was scarcity, and peace, the lion lying down with the lamb. This war, or any war, doesn’t last forever. The Russian aggression, or any aggression, won’t last forever. Isaiah’s vision and prophecy won’t stop this war, but it can give a message to the people of Ukraine, and us, that there is hope for a better future, that God is ultimately in control and any dictator or empire eventually fades away, and that there is more good in this world than evil.

We pray for the innocents who are driven out of their homes and communities. We pray for the courage and strength of those who defend their people and land. We pray for the wisdom of all leaders that they will study war no more.

Peace

Each month a member of the Cook County Ministerium will offer Spiritual Reflections. This month’s contributor is Pastor Enno K. Limvere, Designated Pastor of First Congregational Church of Grand Marais, United Church of Christ.