My sermon today at Skelya Church, on Luke 22:31–32 and John 21:15–19: “that your faith should not fail.” Six contemplations… One I step into Advent for the fourth time, on the 1376th day of this war. Watching empires trade Ukraine like property, our land and our mineral resources and our people treated as merchandise because… Continue reading

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, 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, 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

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, 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, 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, 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

Day 17, 17 December 2024, the 1028th day of the full-scale war. As we endure a third winter of full-scale war, our prayers seem to vanish into a void. Each massive strike prompts fresh appeals, each casualty report sparks new pleas, and the missiles keep falling while the death toll mounts among our defenders and… Continue reading

Day 16, 16 December 2024, the 1027th day of the full-scale war. As Ukraine’s skies fill with missiles on this 1027th day, russian soldiers claim divine sanction for their violence, the way other armies have before them. They say they defend their god and traditional Christian values, a strangely vulnerable deity who apparently requires protection… Continue reading