In my imagination, I picture a mother of three, dead in a public square from the blast of a rocket attack on the building in which she worked. Her family is shattered. Life will never be the same. In my imagination, I picture a young teacher lying in a makeshift military field hospital. A soldier in the army reserves, he was told to report for training in Belarus, and after a few weeks was sent into the Ukraine where a Molotov cocktail to his fuel truck left him without his left eye and nearly sightless in his right eye. Life will never be the same.
Although the events that I imagine may not be factual, they are nonetheless true. War always represents failure. The price of war is most often borne by those with the least influence over it, the innocent bystander, the conscript. Of all the things that humankind has invented and perfected, war is nearly the most destructive, the most unfair, the most evil.
And so, I do what I can to prevent war from starting. Once started, I do what I can to end it. I pray. I fast. I join in solidarity.
“I do what I can to prevent war from starting. Once started, I do what I can to end it. I pray. I fast. I join in solidarity”
Deacon Tom Collier
Prayer
I have no more power over the course of the war than that mother of three, or the teacher who was called into service. Yet, knowing the power of prayer, I am far from helpless. And so, at the urging of God I raise my mind and heart to him this day. I do not aske for my own needs, but for the needs of the Ukraine. I pray for a just and lasting peace. Prayer is powerful. The prayer of many is powerful indeed.
Fasting
When I fast, I deny myself. When I fast, I live in solidarity with those who have little to eat. This particular fast, I offer my small sacrifices for the good of those trapped within the Ukraine who do not have access to food or water. Each hunger pang reminds me to pray, and this small sacrifice also serves as a reminder that Christ suffered for us. When we suffer large trials such as loss of life and livelihood, or small trials such as brief period of hunger, we become more Christlike.
Solidarity
As I bring the needs of others into my heart and present them to God, and when I share (however slightly) in their suffering I am brought into solidarity with my sisters and brothers. Their pain becomes mine, and hopefully one day my joy will become theirs. I pray for end to the present conflict, indeed to all conflict. War destroys. War dehumanizes. War anywhere in the world is a vicious attack on all humanity.
War must end, and so I offer my prayer and fasting for that purpose. Will you join me?