I Care Too Much to Watch
By Jim Potter
My friend told me he was going to
end the call
and watch the news.
“Ukraine is being invaded,”
he said.
I was silent,
knowing I would not
watch the news.
I care,
I hurt,
but I can’t hurt enough
to help another.
Out of my control,
unable to cope
with the deep,
personal suffering.
Instead,
I help others
where and when
I can.
Until next time, happy writing and reading.
Thanks for caring and thanks for helping those who are within your reach. None of us can do everything, but we can all do something–as you are showing us.
Late Wednesday evening I stumbled onto the NYT Live broadcast of the fourth emergency meeting of the UN Security Council in NYC (during which the invasion occurred) and couldn’t stop watching till the meeting was adjourned. I will say that the resolve that I heard everyone in the room express–to stand with Ukraine–was heartening (except for the Russian Federation representative who didn’t appear to have a friend in the room). Then I went back to praying for the R. L. family whose parents go to our church. They had gone to Ukraine for about a month to help in a garden seed distribution project and were happily reconnecting with old friends from R. L.’s earlier years of living in the country when the invasion occurred. They had some tense moments and long waits, but they were eventually able to cross safely by land into one of the neighboring countries–a plan that they had put into place earlier. The whole mess is really heart-wrenching, but glimmers of goodness and courage and faith are present also. For that I am grateful.
This morning in church we heard from a family who left us several months ago to move to Romania. In the last few days they’ve been inundated with refugees from Ukraine (they’ve served 60 families–many of them with women and children only because the men were conscripted). Sending aid for them to distribute is another place where we can plug in.
Thanks for the comment, Miriam, and the update.