Ukrainian Quakers in silent worship prepared to meet Christmas and the New Year with bright hope, to bring joy to our relatives, neighbours, friends and all the people around who need light and warmth. We recalled the old English Christmas carol “Joy to the World” and Ukrainian Shchedryk song, imagining the wonderful silence of a peaceful night in Bethlehem, when only the stars in the sky shine and the whole earth breathes pleasure. We witnessed that, alike King Herod ordered the killing of all newborn babies because of his fear of losing power, trying in vain to stop the birth of a new hope for a better world, today’s Herods are killing children and committing genocide in Palestine, and the Herod in Kremlin continues to kill innocent Ukrainians with rocket attacks even in these Christmas days. We hold in the light all those who suffer because of wars and injustices, because of the compulsion to fight and the non-recognition of the right to refuse to kill, and we pray for the families who suffer from war and worry about their loved ones. Also, Friends prayed for Serhii Yamkovenko, for successful defense of his PhD dissertation.
Yurii Sheliazhenko:
Friends, when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Herod the king fearing to lose his power to Kingdom of God became furious, and he ordered to kill all children in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:16). This ancient ruler was no better than current rulers who kill children and commit genocide in Palestine.
President Putin, like the King Herod, fires ballistic missiles on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities in days when we are celebrating birth of Christ. Innocent people are killed, homes are destroyed, and spirit of hope is in tears.
This is madness.
No sane person will use weapons to kill people because it is better to use words and dialogue instead, as President Zelenskyy rightly said. I hope he will be true to his words, and I am encouraged by the fact that Quaker call for Christmas ceasefire was noted in the Office of the President of Ukraine.
As it said in Solomon’s Proverbs 16:32, better to be patient than a warrior, and better to have self-control than to capture a city.
Tyrant in Kremlin is so cruel because he fears to lose power. But he will lose power, like all tyrants and conquerors before him.
And he has no power over my heart, he has no power over your heart.
Inward light saves you from darkness.
Kingdom of God is within you, my Friends (Luke 17:21).
Our hearts and minds, our conscience will always be ruled by the great powers of truth and love.
Kristen Richardson:
Friends, as I sit here in the cold dark morning Philadelphia, the only sound I hear is a cattle who is happily munching on their hay. And it makes me feel as though I am in the manger in Bethlehem, imagining that cold dark night the animals around for warmth and comfort.
And what I wish for you and everyone is that our days, and especially nights, return to peace and quiet, when the only lights in the skies are the stars and the only sounds are of contented animals.
In the words of an old English Christmas carol: let heaven and nature sing.
Artem Denysov:
My close friends are in a difficult situation at the moment. My friend’s older brother, Serhii Herashchenko, was mobilized as a driver two years ago. But currently he was forcibly transferred to the infantry, and on 5 December he was sent to positions near Vovchansk. After a few days since that time, there is no contact with him, as well as with other people whose contacts he provided to the family. We and his family believe and hope that he is still alive and well. His family and I keep him in the light and in our prayers, along with his ex-wife’s brother, who disappeared on November 25 in the direction of Kursk, where he was sent after being mobilized and right after passing the training center.
Lord, send at least a little sense to the leaders of the Russian Federation, so that they would stop the bloodshed and the senseless war they unleashed.
Andrii Vyshnevetsky:
You know my situation. They wanted to throw me to the frontline. I came to work as a cook. I was deceived. I said that I am a Quaker, a pacifist, my religious beliefs do not allow me to kill. But they did not listen to me and mocked me, humiliated me in front of everyone. I couldn’t stand it and decided to go home. And now the situation is such that I don’t know how to feed my family, because I can’t go out, I can’t go to work, because if I go out, they’ll just catch me and put me in prison. Such, unfortunately, are our realities. Commanders have unlimited power, and a soldier must obey any orders of his commanders, although the commanders must also give only those orders that do not contradict the Constitution of Ukraine.
Serhii Yamkovenko:
Tomorrow is a very important day for me. I am defending my PhD thesis dedicated to soft management methods, including those where decisions are made by consensus. I ask our Meeting of Friends to pray not only for successful defense of my thesis, but also for growing interest of the academic community in these methods of reaching common understanding, for that might help to adopt further policy. In addition, I will not rush ahead, but perhaps I will have a meeting with the President of Ukraine as the president of my national minority, and then I will also convey the ideas of light to him.