A reflection from visiting Ukraine during the war.
At around 2:30am, we awoke to a hotel siren signalling a warning of possible Russian strikes. When the front desk makes an announcement, you listen at the door. If the Ukrainians head to the bunker, you head to the bunker. If they decide to stay in their room, it probably means it’s a drone strike rather than a ballistic missile attack. The former is a decision, if you continue to sleep, you hope the attack is not near you or fails to get through the defence system. If it’s the latter, everybody must head to the bunker.
The sound that we awoke to during the next two mornings was the noise from drone strikes being shot down by the defence system. Over breakfast, we processed this experience with our hosts, and moments later we returned to eating food and talking about other things. For Ukrainians that are continuing to work and live in Ukraine, such sounds and sirens are a permanent reminder of the many tragic stories they have heard or personally experienced since the war with Russia began. We experienced it for a few days whilst this is the everyday and ongoing reality for the Ukrainian people.
Over the past two years, I have visited friends in Ukraine twice during their ongoing conflict with Russia. During my first trip to Ukraine, I visited six different cities over 12 days including Kyiv. It is a story from my first trip to Ukraine that has brought much reflection. I met with a leader of a charitable organisation that needed to relocate to a bigger facility to continue their important work. However, during the war, a debate in Ukraine has concerned where Ukrainians should be investing their money. Some have believed that Ukrainians should not be spending money that doesn’t relate to the war effort.
As I listened to this story, highlighting the pressures of those working during a war zone, I was reminded of a similar question that C. S Lewis faced during the second world war:
‘How can you continue to think and learn when we are in a war?’
What followed was a masterful sermon, ‘Learning in wartime’. Lewis preached it in 1939, and it later became written down as an essay. The points that C.S. Lewis raised remain crucially important for people working during a war today. This sermon is also incredibly important for many people living in an increasingly uncertain world.
Lewis outlined; the reality of life is that we are always under the shadow of another reality. Every day people will suffer and die. People will enter into eternity, so even when we are not at war there are constant emergencies and crises. War is often not a short and simple affair. Wars can last for years. Indeed, the Russian/Ukraine war first began in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine. Then during February 2022, Russia launched a military invasion of Ukraine, which has since become an intense and ongoing conflict. When war is ongoing, the solution is not that everyone stops every pursuit of good activities. If these do not continue, then it won’t be long until civilians, according to Lewis, will occupy their time pursuing bad activities.
Another important point that Lewis emphasised was there are different ways to fight against the enemy. Some are on the zero line (the front line of combat) and others live in regions that are subject to random and variable strikes. Within this context, it’s possible that some people can continue to live and work. For Lewis, you defy the enemy when you continue to positively contribute to your society. When you work, you defy Caesar, when you rebuild bombed buildings or bridges, you defy Caesar. Such a mindset can bring hope to people who are living with trauma in a war zone as well as people who need a purpose in the most troubling of circumstances.
As I have reflected on this, the Apostle Paul similarly wrote in Ephesians that we permanently wrestle with spiritual powers and forces of evil. We are in a spiritual war. Everyday Christians are to prepare for battle, knowing that there is another reality than what we see physically happening around us. Interestingly elsewhere, Lewis wrote in the Screwtape Letters, the Devil often goes too far with his intention to destroy us. He thinks that when war occurs, he has won. The reality is that the true story surrounding the world and humanity becomes much clearer during a war time. We are confronted with life and death. We know what it is to face an enemy, and we must cultivate the necessary characteristics as a nation for facing the threats that lie ahead. When war happens, it is a stark reminder of the other war we are in. Lewis emphasised that war is intended to destroy us, but it can be used in many ways by God to help us reflect on who we are and what we are living for.
Application for the non-war zone
For those of us who are currently not living in an active war zone, perhaps there are various points that can be applied to our personal circumstances. We may not ever have the perfect circumstances, or all our problems solved to move forward. Life may bring us difficult and tough circumstances, but whether in joy or in pain, now is the time for us to think through what our foundation for life is. Now is the time to make peace with our creator.
As we seek to live through joy or pain, the Bible provides for us an array of encouragement. We only face the challenges of life one moment at a time, in God’s strength. Living the Christian life plays out on a moment-to-moment basis. This is not in self-reliance but by trusting in the promises of God.
1 Lamentations 3:22-23, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning, great is your faithfulness.”
2 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
Luke 12:22, “Do not be anxious about your life.”
Sara Stevenson