Our Responsibility to Ukraine During War
Do we lack compassion if we keep living our regular lives while others suffer?
The words that escaped from my eleven-year-old daughter’s lips sliced directly into my heart. It was a deep and considerate thought that I wasn’t expecting at the end of a fun-filled summer evening at a local water park.
We were walking back to our car, looking at the view of the city, and recounting some of our favorite moments from the day. My young, but often thoughtful daughter, went silent for a moment and then quietly said,
“Dad, it doesn’t seem right. We’re just happily going about our day, playing on water slides and lazy rivers, while people in Ukraine are watching for bombs and wondering if they’ll even be alive tomorrow. Is it ok for us to still be living life as normal while so many other people are suffering?”
It caught me off guard. Wow. The things we can learn from our kids. I wasn’t sure how to answer her question. I stalled, letting her know that she asked a great question, but that I needed a minute to consider how to answer it.
One thing was for sure, she was already more mature than me. In complete honesty, she probably could come up with a better answer to her question than what I could.
Finally, I gave it my best shot.
“I don’t think there’s one answer to your question,” I slowly answered, clearly still stalling and hoping for a sudden epiphany on the subject.
“What I know is that I’m grateful for freedom. I’m grateful that I can be here with you and the rest of our family tonight rather than being in a battle, not wanting to be killed and not wanting to kill someone else that probably doesn’t want to be there either.”
She nodded respectfully, but I was certain she wasn’t satisfied with my response. So, I continued,
“I don’t think they would want us to just stop living and to stop enjoying our lives. That’s why they’re fighting. They’re fighting for their families and their freedoms. They want to go back to having nights like we’re having.”
“I just feel like there must be more we can do,” she thoughtfully said.
We’ve donated items and money. We’ve prayed. We’ve initiated conversation and “stood” with Ukraine. But at that moment I agreed. There must be more we can do. A whole world of people, and yet the war goes on. There must be more WE all can do. But what?
I wish I had the answer. It would be wonderful for everyone involved to just get back to their lives and their families. I know it’s all a lot more complicated than that.
I certainly don’t have all the answers. I’m more of a sports and finance guy than someone that gets involved in world news and politics. That’s why I’m reaching out, I’m just hoping to get a conversation started. What do you think? Is there anything we can do?
Can we find answers for our children?
Answers for what will some day be the history our future generations study?
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