Hope like Ukraine

(written August 15, 2022)

  I am fully aware that there are Ukrainians who are taking advantage of the moment to get away with horrible things, and there are also Russians who are acting with honor.  However, the trends are quite clear that Ukraine is the example of how to endure hard times, and Russian forces in Ukraine are the example of what not to do …ever (the last count that we saw was 23,000 war crimes being investigated.  Kyiv Independent)  I’ve been reflecting on why we see such a contrast in behavior.  Here are my thoughts:

 
     In 2014, when Ukraine’s president fled after his private security force killed almost 100 peaceful protesters in the center of Kyiv, a lot of things shut down in the country for a few days.  The police just disappeared.  I was afraid at that moment, because I knew that if the country was going to descend into chaos, this would be the time.  It had been documented that some oligarchs and political actors were hiring thugs to light the fires of chaos.  
     But over those few days, we watched as the people of Ukraine stood together as one people and held the chaos at bay. They formed block points and kept the thugs from being bused in.  They formed groups at night to roam the streets and protect those who had to be out.  At that moment, they defiantly chose order.  
     Watching that gave me a whole new level of respect for Ukrainians.  
     Since Russia’s new phase of the war, we have seen this determined goodness as well, in things big and small. When 5-year-old Zoya didn’t get proper birthday party and family friends wanted to get something for her even though they were on the road and far from home, the store clerk told them that the present they found was free because, “Today you don’t pay for presents for small kids.”  When Bogdon and Anya’s van was broken down and the mechanic in town wasn’t working, a group of mechanics traveled to them and fixed the van for free.  
I could go on and on, and so could any of our friends.  We know so many stories of amazing kindness and goodness in Ukraine.  The Ukrainian people continue to make me stand in wonder at the goodness that human beings are capable of.  Ukraine is still standing partly because of this determination to love and care for each other, even at a time when Russian forces have “relocated” approximately a million Ukrainians and are punishing those who confess loyalty to Ukraine and their fellow Ukrainians.  
     I compare this with Russian forces who are willingly committing atrocities for the whole world to see.  Destroying schools and hospitals, looting, raping and murdering. At last count, they had burned over 850,000 acres of grain (it could easily be a million by the time you read this).   
     What is the difference between these two neighboring couples that produces such drastically different behaviors?  
 
     In 2014, the Ukrainian people very clearly had the choice put in front of them:  Do you want the liberty, democracy and the rule of law that the West is built on?  Or do you want the same autocracy, corruption and tyranny that you have been living under?  When the choice was starkly seen, the vast majority of Ukrainians chose the West.  Each year, more and more Ukrainians are swayed to this position.  
     Instead of respecting Ukraine’s right to choose, Russian propaganda told their people that Ukrainians were rejecting Russia itself, and they had no right to do that.  This was also seen as one more insult from the West to Russia.  
Ukrainians have been looking forward to what might be once these travails have passed, and they are such beautiful examples of the best of humanity to the rest of us as a result.  
Russians are trying to exert their power over others, and constantly talking about how the rest of the world is disrespecting them.  They want to drag things back to “the way they once were,” and it will most likely take another few generations before most of the world stops viewing them as the stereotype that they are creating for themselves.
These are much more nuanced issues than I have space or the expertise to lay out here … but at the same time, this is really what it boils down to.  
     In The Road to Unfreedom, historian Timothy Snyder pointed out that a lot of what we see in Russia and the various movements it has spawned around the world is a lack of vision for the future, and specifically a vision of a better future.  Today, it clicked for me that in simplest terms, this is just a lack of hope.  
     Even in the middle of this brutal war, Ukraine has hope.  Russia just has entitlement and grievance. And we see on full display the fruit of those two mindsets.   
     During this war, I have seen the phrase “Be brave like Ukraine” around the world.   I don’t have a problem with the phrase, but perhaps we would be better to drill down deeper to the root of that bravery and encourage those around us to “Hope like Ukraine.”  
 
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen.  Hebrews 11:1