BEING HUMAN

Contemplating the Divine and Earthly through Human Eyes • Споглядання Божественного і земного очима людини

2024

  • Еммануїл з нами на порозі 2025-го року

    Минає ще один рік війни. Скільки сліз пролито, скільки життів утрачено, скільки родин розбито, і здається, що нічної пітьми цієї війни не розвіє жоден світанок. У новий 2025 рік ми входимо знову крізь темряву, і він принесе нашій вірі нові випробування, а ця ніч знову здаватиметься нескінченною. Але саме в цю новорічну ніч, сповнену болю… Continue reading

  • Day 24 – The Star That Shines Through Broken Windows Of Our Souls

    Day 24, 24 December 2024, the 1035th day of the full-scale war. If a global peacetime theology does not wake at the sound of Mary crying out in labor, it will wake at the sound of Rachel weeping over a gospel of no more. But who would care? Who would hear? Who would listen? The… Continue reading

  • Day 23 – Emmanuel Who Sees Women in Spaces of Vulnerability

    Day 23, 23 December 2024, the 1034th day of the full-scale war. This war has affected women in many ways at once, deepening vulnerabilities that already existed and creating new forms of suffering. Millions have been forced into refuge abroad or displacement inside the country, often carrying sole responsibility for the survival of children and… Continue reading

  • Day 22 – When Aged Eyes Look For Hope

    Day 22, 22 December 2024, the 1033rd day of the full-scale war. In this Advent season, as the war goes on and physical and psychological and spiritual darkness seems to prevail, where do we find hope? Like Simeon and Anna, two old people who spent their days seeking God, how do we perceive a glimmer… Continue reading

  • Would You Put Empty Chairs at Christmas Tables?

    I invite you to share this and to join us at your Christmas meal, whether with your church or with your family. A Christmas table set and waiting. A traditional Ukrainian embroidered cloth with red ornamental patterns stretches beneath ceramic dishes of untouched holiday food. Empty chairs, plain and black, each draped with military fatigues,… Continue reading

  • Чи поставите ви порожні стільці до різдвяного столу?

    Запрошую вас поділитися цим і приєднатися до різдвяної трапези з вашою церквою або родиною. Різдвяний стіл, накритий в очікуванні. Традиційна українська вишита скатертина з червоними орнаментами розстелена під керамічним посудом із недоторканими святковими стравами. Порожні стільці, прості чорні сидіння, вкриті військовою формою, і кожна форма мовчки чекає на повернення свого власника. Цей стіл є нашим… Continue reading

  • Day 21 – When War Transforms Theological Language

    Day 21, 21 December 2024, the 1032nd day of the full-scale war. The story of Zechariah silenced in the temple mirrors the spiritual upheaval Ukraine faces in this war. As violence shatters theological certainties and fractures the language of faith, we find kinship with him, the professional explainer of God struck wordless for nine months… Continue reading

  • Day 20 – The Outsider Who Recognized God

    Day 20, 20 December 2024, the 1031st day of the full-scale war. As we navigate between truth and propaganda, between survival and betrayal, I find myself drawn to another unlikely figure of faith: Rahab, whose scarlet cord would eventually lead to a manger in Bethlehem. Like the magi and the shepherds who would later recognize… Continue reading

  • Day 19 – When Global Religious Centers Miss Divine Margins…

    Day 19, 19 December 2024, the 1030th day of the full-scale war. In our third winter of war, as missiles strike towns that international news had never mentioned before, Nathanael’s ancient scoff about whether anything good could come out of Nazareth finds a modern echo in how religious institutions dismiss the places where people suffer.… Continue reading

  • Day 18 – God of the Overlooked people and places…

    Day 18, 18 December 2024, the 1029th day of the full-scale war. While bishops in russia bless a war and an imperial religion claims to protect traditional Christian values, while cathedrals there echo with prayers for the victory of the Russian World, another narrative draws our attention: an ancient pattern in which divinity shuns the… Continue reading