Ukraine
I am not able to think about anything else but the situation in Eastern Europe right now. While I don't think I am able to tell you anything that you don't know already, there are a few things I want to express.
I follow newspapers in Poland, Germany, Great Britain, and the US, and the only difference between them is the focus, not the information itself. Every country has its own unique point of view and set of issues that this horrendous war has created. But the facts remain the same.
Innocent civilians, women, men, and children, are fleeing Ukraine.
Innocent civilians, women, men, and children, are losing their livelihoods.
Innocent civilians, women, men, and children, who haven't yet fled, are being killed.
I am writing these words in the comfort of my house thousands of kilometers away, on a quiet night, watching my kids safe and sound asleep in their beds, hoping and praying they never experience war firsthand. This comfort makes me painfully uncomfortable.
I am a descendent of WW1 and WW2 veterans. All my great- and grandparents lived in Poland during the 20th-century wars. My parents were born right after WW2 ended. War trauma is something the previous generations didn't talk much about. All my grandparents are gone, but years later I still have vivid memories of situations and behaviors which, knowing the current state of psychology, I recognize as PTSD. War trauma creates a long-lasting ripple effect, and it doesn't stay in the affected generation - it continues. It takes time and conscious effort to tackle and heal war trauma as an individual, as a family unit, as a community, and as a generation.
Where is God in all this?
In the hearts and hands of people who stand up, speak up, help, become selfless, and proactive. I have seen so much of that in Poland in the last two weeks. I have been so impressed by Poles' response: folks not waiting for the institutions and governing bodies to organize themselves, but taking the matter into their own hands, busing people from the borders, offering their houses for shelter, collecting food and supplies, organizing schooling for children, providing much needed medical care and psychological help, and so much more.
What can we do from afar?
Support all the organizations which provide immediate relief in Ukraine.
Support all neighboring countries that organize places for the refugees.
Pray for all people who are directly and indirectly affected by the atrocities of this war.
Pray for all people who are able to help meet basic needs and provide psychological support.
Pray for all Russians and Belarusians who are against this war.
Pray for all children who will grow up with the stress of not knowing what the next day brings.
Pray that the ripple effect of this war is recognized early, understood, and tended to.
Pray for all of us who are far away and distracted by the minutiae of everyday life, so that we don't forget what is important, what makes us humans, what makes our lives meaningful, and how we can be of help to others.