The Cumulative Effect of Their Astonishing Bravery
Courage on the other side of the world
Watching the Ukrainians defend their country and endure the most horrific circumstances imaginable; watching the Russians who are so bravely protesting Putin’s war (even mentioning the word “war” in Russia can now get you a 15-year prison sentence!); watching Alexei Navalny sentenced to 9 years in prison today on trumped up charges because he challenges Putin’s autocracy and corruption - I stand in awe before the courage displayed in those situations by my fellow human beings.
I know I can’t be the only American asking myself these days as we watch all that, “Would I have such courage? Could I? Would I?” We’re such a spoiled people, are we not? - whining and complaining about things so small in the larger scheme of things compared to what others in the world are going through. And I wonder, as I’m sure many do, what singular message that has for me. What in my own life would I now do, if I too had more courage?
People on the other side of the world are standing up so strongly, so courageously, at such tremendous risk to their personal safety, for the sake of their country and its freedom. Praying for their safety, I also pray for the courage to be as strong as they are. Think what America will look like when more of us have the courage to do what in our hearts we know that we should do.
It’s always so easy to say, “But I’m just one person. What can I do? How would my doing that really help, anyway?” But there’s clearly a cumulative effect to all the brave Ukrainians and Russians now showing in such magnificent ways what it means to be brave. Single individual acts of courage are inspiring, even transforming the world.
We too have a country to save, just as all of us have a world to save. We never know at what hour any of us might be called to be more, and do more, than we have been and done before. It’s best to ask ourselves now what kind of people we will choose to be if and when that hour comes.
This I do know: no matter what the calling is, we’ll miss it if we’re not brave.
I take Marianne's point wholeheartedly... but one of our biggest challenges is that we, as a country, disagree on what to be brave about... i am sure some people at the Capital on Jan 6th thought that moment was their call to bravery; not that I agree with them, I can just imagine they did. Having "moral courage" is so tricky when we wildly disagree on what is moral - just look at the abortion issue... As a first step to being brave, I believe many of is need to look inward and clean our own houses of our judgments, fears, biases, grief, grudges etc... otherwise when the call to be brave arrives, our actions may be misguided.
I agree the Ukrainian action is astonishing. I also know there are dynamics we cannot see or feel from here in the culture's evolving ethos. In the aggregate, Ukrainians have been through the mill for centuries. Borders have shifted, historical cultural practices prohibited, officially allowed languages changed. Many older Ukrainians that I know feel life was better during the USSR times, when everyone had free education, sponsored vacation retreats, and everyone was equally poor. Circumstances of life then nourished a depth of community we likely cannot imagine as we navigate our competitive consumerist theater.
Since '92, a clever few well-connected thieves have pillaged the country's resources. It is the same in Russia. There must be a deep rage in people who have been unbelievably taken advantage of by a privileged few. I think this rage is being tapped exactly now.
When I was in Ukraine twenty-plus years ago, people told me they understood transitioning to a new socioeconomic order would that a few generations. Most, perhaps all, of todays brave Ukrainian fighters have no direct experience of those good old days when the USSR functioned well (even though from our coddled perspective it never functioned well). These brave people are declaring and defending their right to transition and evolve into self-determined statehood. They are a huge threat to the authoritarian tilt of the self-made new Tsar next door. It is this aspiration of seld-determination which is being so violently attacked.
I too pray I will have courage to resist those who would threaten our right to our self-determination here in the USA. All too often I feel like a puppet, and I do feel the rage building as my awareness of being manipulated increases. Thank you Marianne for bringing your invitation to become more aware, to transition and transform.