From Ira Kapitonova in Kyiv (Day 580):
If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.
Psalm 130:3-4
Sometimes I wish the world could be black and white, with clear-cut answers to complicated questions.
A couple of weeks ago, when talking about the commandments God gave us, one of my students said, “He told us to love everyone. Oh, to love everyone except for the Russians. Should we love Russians?” Another one immediately added: “I hope we don’t have to love Russians because I don’t think I can do it. It makes me feel disgusted.” I was taken aback by their brutal honesty at the age of eight or nine. I knew that I had very similar feelings in my heart, so I had to search God’s heart to give them an answer.
C. S. Lewis once said, “Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person’s ultimate good as far as it can be obtained.” His words helped us talk about what could be the ultimate good for the Russian people. I saw the relief in the eyes of my students when they heard that praying for the Russian people to repent and wanting them to stop loving wickedness could already be an act of love on our behalf.
The children who ask these questions today will be the generation that will have to deal with the aftermath of this war. In their still innocent age, they are already asking complex questions about love, forgiveness, and justice, and their questions and our conversations now are just a foretaste of the discussions our society will need to go through once we can start healing.
May the Lord give us wisdom and grace for this task.
O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is plentiful redemption.
Psalm 130:7
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