Innocence Lost…

There is something that makes us all smile-babies. And how many of us find ourselves smiling at the antics of a toddler? Their innocence and smiles make us smile.

But how much of that innocence will be lost forever if the war in Ukraine goes forward? It’s not just soldiers who will be injured and killed; it will be Mothers and babies. It will be children. And they will loose their innocence forever.

Jesus said, “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come!” (Matthew 18:6–7, NIV)

Can you imagine watching your mother killed, injured or raped? Imagine you are 5, and you are watching your mother raped right before your eyes and then watch as she is killed, her blood pooling on the floor in front of you. The soldier who brutally raped and killed your mom in front of you, looks at you. He raises his gun and points it at you. And you, even as a child, think you will be next. But he lowers his weapon and walks out.

But even as a child, you wish he had killed you. For now, you are left to live with the memory of your mom, who loved you above all else, being brutally raped and murdered. Now, you are left to fend for yourself at age five, you must find food, water and shelter. This is what war is! This is what we don’t want to face from the comfort of our homes!

Someone else’s battle? Perhaps. But we are all part of God’s family and we don’t get to forget them, nor do we get to forget our responsibility for them, because they are part of our family!

Once before we stood on the sidelines. During the first years of WWII, many were injured and killed. Could we have saved any of them? Should we have? How many suffered because we were afraid?

If war happens, it will happen, in part, because we allowed it to happen.

Pray for peace. For if there is war, there will be great suffering. And if there is great suffering, the responsibilty will be with us all.