War…
I’ve got two other blogs on the go and have decided to put them aside for today. When I started writing my blog I had two intentions. One, to figure out what path to take as I get ready for the next part of life, post current career. The second was to share the adventure of owning a century house; the trials and tribulations and the excitement of making it mine. Today’s blog is a little different. Some of my hoped-for adventures of retirement are to include travel and seeing our world. Our world is fractured and I’m worried for it, for myself, for my son, and for future generations.
I always save my Saturday paper for Sunday morning. I love to put on music, make tea, and sit with my paper on Sunday mornings. There is something very civilized about slowing down and enjoying the calm of Sunday.
This morning, as I sit with yesterday’s paper, I’m filled with sorrow, horror, and fear. This world in which we live, is in trouble. It’s interesting that it’s taken an invasion for me to speak of it. After all, the last two years have been evidence that we’re in trouble. There is so much division in our world. I cannot get over how separated we’ve become and it’s not just from lockdowns and isolation. I’m guilty of it as well. I freely admit I do not understand people unwilling to listen to the experts and do what is needed to keep communities safe. However, as easy as it is for me to go down that particular rabbit hole, I’m not going today.
Today, I want to share how worried I am for the world. I cannot begin to imagine what it must be like to live with rockets overhead and tanks on the ground. This is a nightmare that I have been blessed to never encounter. Two years ago, at the start of this pandemic, I opened all of my work calls with a personal comment. I hope you’re doing okay, or the family is good, or the children are coping with being home. Something like that. A colleague I’ve known for years pointed out to me how incredibly lucky we are. He is from Bosnia and lived through war and loss of home and loved ones. He still has family there. His response to me was we have food, shelter, entertainment through books, games, tv, and none of us have to worry about a shell exploding nearby. His words really struck me. We are so used to having all our freedoms that we forget to see them as the blessings they are. My life has been a gift of peace, even while many areas of the world have not known peace for years.
Our papers and news programs are filled with the newest images of people under attack. I am not an expert at Eastern European politics or geography or anything, to be honest. From my little understanding, this is what I have figured out. There is no reason for Russia to invade Ukraine other than power and a desire to undermine democracy. Russia has never been interested in the democracy of the “West”. I can’t say I understand enough of the history to fully grasp why this is. [For years Russia has been on my bucket list of places to visit. I doubt now that I’ll ever get to see it. It has a long and complicated history and some amazing buildings to go along with that history. I’ve always wanted to see it and experience it and will have to accept that I may never have the opportunity.] I know very few Russian people but those I do know live in Canada and are truly wonderful. How sad for them to see their homeland being controlled by a psychopath. This is not some internal battle. This is a military invasion of a neighbouring country.
So, we have a world that seems to be dominated by division, war, and hatred right now. This is not the world that I want to grow old in. I will be honest. There are certain attitudes that I’ve never understood: thinking less of someone based on their race, the colour of their skin, religion, or who they love. I cannot imagine what it is like to raise a child and be afraid for them each and every day simply based on the colour of their skin. I cannot imagine what it is like to be terrified that you could die because of what church or mosque or temple you belong to. And now, I cannot imagine what it is like to be in an underground bunker because a man has decided he wants the land on which you live to add to his trophy case and does not like that your government is chosen democratically.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” (incorrectly attributed to Edmund Burke but may be amended from a speech by John Stuart Mill) People are complex. In this world of ours we have so many different types of people. We have people who are willing to learn and those whose heads are firmly stuck in the ground. There are leaders who are great, ineffectual, tyrants, and just doing their best. There are people who want to make the world better and those who don’t see anything beyond their own small lives. There are those who are simply trying to get through each day and those who have the chance to speak up and make changes.
I can’t imagine a world without good and bad. That doesn’t mean that I think we should stop trying. One word of kindness goes a long way. One smile can spread. One act of compassion can grow. I don’t believe we’ll ever be completely at peace. The complexities probably won’t allow it but I do believe we can be better than we are right now.
Today I pray for peace for the people of the Ukraine. I pray that we can find a way to support them and end this invasion and terror that they are living through. My wish is that democracy will stand.
Each winter I bring my hibiscuses inside. Against a backdrop of fresh snow earlier this week, this one bloomed in a sign of hope.