03/01/2022
I am heartbroken.
If you’ve taken a look around the world lately, you’ll know exactly why.
I’ll be very honest with you. It’s been extremely difficult for me to show up online sharing messages of strength, hope and health –
When my thoughts are consumed with worry, fear and the “what if’s”…
I cannot give what I do not possess. And I cannot act as if everything is right with the world, when it isn’t.
I’m emotionally exhausted and hold back tears as I write this.
Ukraine.
My grandparents’ homeland for which they fearlessly fought and suffered.
Their love and pain have always coursed through my veins.
I have seen this beautiful land with my own eyes.
I have felt its soil beneath my feet.
I have listened to my ancestors’ whispers on the wind.
In Ukraine, I laughed with friends and strangers.
I celebrated with family.
I loved deeply.
Love.
Love is the balm for my broken heart.
And Love, I have come to realize, is my ultimate weapon in these most trying times.
A true warrior doesn’t seek out war, nor do they allow for fear and anger to blind them.
I have witnessed this incredible warrior spirit in so many of my loved ones who now find themselves staring straight into the unforgiving eyes of war.
Their collective reply to my anxious messages has been inexplicably calm:
“Все буде добре. З нами Бог. / All will be well. God is with us.”
I am stunned and humbled. They have reminded me of an important and fundamental lesson.
No matter how justified we may feel in them – anger, spite, rage and revenge only feed the fire of division and hate in this world.
Greatness in spirit does not stem solely from “loving thy neighbour” with whom you see eye to eye, but more so from “loving thy neighbour” who spits in your eye.
Loving them and having compassion for them as fellow human beings who too are suffering in their own ways.
The wounds of suffering weep not only today in Ukraine. They have been weeping for a long time the world over.
In the wars that we see and don’t see, and in those to which we choose to turn a blind eye.
In the wars waged with weapons, and in those waged with words and actions.
Open your eyes and see…
Our world is heart broken.
Humanity is heart broken.
But we can heal.
As humans we possess the precious gift of choice.
And so, I ask you my brothers and sisters, from this moment forward, what do you choose?
Which sword will you take up?
Will you brandish the steel of hate to condemn and wish death upon your neighbour – giving of yourselves to that which diminishes and destroys?
Or will you choose to hone and honour your greatest strength – Love, giving of yourselves to that which heals the world’s wounds?
Will you embrace the call to be peaceful warriors –
Warriors of Light?
All can be well. It is possible. We have the choice to make it so.
Photo credit: S. Dhivakaran
