Quakers, Friends of Ukraine, have prayed for peace in Ukraine and around the world and continue to keep in our hearts and prayers all those who suffer from war and repression for refusing to kill. We have heard promises of peace, but there is no certainty that a just and lasting peace will be achieved; we are grateful to Friends who support Ukraine in this challenging time. We have heard promises to change the legislation to implement the right to alternative non-military service in times of war, but after the response of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to the public information request of the Meeting of Friends of Ukraine, there is no certainty that international human rights standards will be observed and that this alternative service will be truly non-military, fully civilian, as the Constitution of Ukraine requires. Faithful to the Quaker Peace Testimony, the members of the Religious Society of Friends in Ukraine hope to be heard by the Government of Ukraine. We cannot be forced to change our religion, and our Evangelical Christian faith gives us confidence in the future in these times of uncertainty. With heavenly guidance, we live in Friendship and love, in spiritual peace and harmony with all people and nature, and we pray that the happiness of a peaceful life may come to everyone, that the divine grace and guidance will help us to be peacemakers and achieve practical success in this service to the cause of peace.
Introduction:
Friends, welcome to the meeting for worship. Next half an hour we will seek for peace and inward light, waiting for the move of spirit in the stillness of silence. You could turn on your microphone and say your ministry, if you feel led by the spirit, but let the silence fill the pauses between ministries. As the Psalm 19 says: let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, o Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer (Psalm 19:14). Our meeting for worship will be recorded and published because the Gospel says that the light must shine in darkness (John 1:5).
Yurii Sheliazhenko:
Friends, this night was hard, a lot of heavy explosions, one of largest Russian drone attacks.
But life continues. We are praying for peace, and we are building peace.
Tomorrow, on the sad anniversary of Russian full-scale invasion, Ukrainian pacifists gather to discuss tasks of peace movement in nonviolent resistance to war, and I expect to see there more Friends. Quakers need to step forward in service to the cause of peace.
Also, I am thinking about the future. There is a lot of troubling uncertainty.
Promises of peace were made, prayers for peace were said, but the just and lasting pease is elusive, while greed, and pride, and hate, and ignorance, and disbelief are painfully palpable.
Recently we heard some encouraging words about a working group created by the government to protect right to alternative nonmilitary service in time of war, but from a letter of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to our faith community the Meeting of Friends of Ukraine learned that the only offer on the table is to assign conscientious objectors to military units and defense industry and call it an alternative service, despite it is not a constitutionally prescribed nonmilitary service, without compliance with international standards of civilian character and administration of alternative service, that means working for the war, for the sake of mass killing, and clearly contradicts our pacifist beliefs and the Quaker Peace Testimony.
It is uncertain whether our concerns would be heard and genuine nonmilitary service will be offered to pacifists instead of persecutions for faith, because we are not going to change our faith under pressure, it is impossible.
Recently one Georgian Friend made a cold appalling suggestion to me that standing for faith, being courageous and reading a Christian poem in the courtroom when facing injustice, protesting against injustice could be perceived as a some sort of “psychological problem”, as if conscience is a burden, not a gift that conscience truly is. In response I sent to him a link with a video how 37 Georgian activists, political prisoners wrongly detained for a protest, for advocacy of democratic institutions, are singing in a courtroom in Tbilisi, and one of them later proved in European Court of Human Rights that his rights to a fair trial and to freedom of assemblies was violated; judgment of the Strasbourg court mentions without comments the singing in courtroom and the words of a defendant that the ruling party turned justice system into a “tavern”.
Friends, faith gives us courage to stand up against injustice, faith gives us courage to tell truth, faith inspires heavenly love and faith gives us true peace.
We need to have faith, it is important to keep faith and live faithfully in days of uncertainty.
After a conversation and meetings for worship with our brothers and sisters from the Friends World Committee for Consultation, European and Middle East Section, and Central European Yearly Meeting, I hope that in May this year we could have a visit of Friends from Europe and worship together in person, offline, not only in a circle of members of our Meeting but even with some Ukrainian Friends who prefer not to be affiliated with our Meeting.
So let’s prove our faith and our Friendship with Truth in our lives, encourage one another and build each other up (1 Thessalonians 5:11), and be devoted to one another in love (Romans 12:10).
Kristen Richardson:
Friends, today a rally in support of Ukraine is taking place in Philadelphia. There was one yesterday in Washington and another today in Philadelphia. I will be attending with some of my friends.
I have to tell you all that most Americans are horrified at the mess our President is making of any semblance of negotiations, what he calls “peace”. Even last week on Monday was a holiday here in the United States, the President’s Day, nominally honoring George Washington and Abraham Lincoln whose birthdays are in February, but made more expansive. I can only think that all of our previous late Presidents are spinning in their graves at what is happening right now.
At that protest, while I was focused on the power grab of this current misadministration, I saw many signs mentioning Ukraine and Russia specifically, which told me that citizens are not so caught up in our domestic troubles that they forget what’s happening in Ukraine and around the world. I took heart from that, and I hope that I will see many of them this afternoon at today’s rally in support of Ukraine.
I will be carrying you all in my heart this afternoon.