You learn a lot about people in difficult times. Somebody I never suspected of sensitivity and great people skills (and that’s putting it mildly) suddenly came through for me in a really big way and unasked, which is important because I don’t have the mental resources to ask anybody for anything. Somebody I suspected of being an idiot showed she’s an even bigger idiot. A former friend with whom I’d had a falling out and didn’t talk to for several years is now back to being a friend.
I deleted half of my Twitter feed because for some strange reason people can’t sit it out if an issue is of no interest to them. It’s perfectly fine to have nothing to say but if you are driven to comment, it might be a good idea not to be an asshole. And by the way, “there is no war, this is fake news” has absolutely become a thing in the US. Just as I expected.
Also, I really don’t appreciate the endless questions of “but why do you care if you didn’t want to live there in the first place?” I’m not a freak for caring. If you can really imagine the place where you grew up being bombed into rubble and not care, then maybe you are the freak.
Everybody on this blog has been great and very supportive. I appreciate all comments and the discussions because the time I spend on the blog is the time I don’t spend staring at footage of severed body parts online.
This hit me very hard, people. The only way not to let it hit you hard is to disassociate, and I’ve spent too much time learning not to do that to now go back.
God, I’d really like to go back to worrying about the mask mandates right now.
Clarissa's Blog 
That is ridiculous that if you decided to leave your home country for a better life elsewhere, that you therefore no longer give a damn about said country.
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Amen to that. I left the state where I was born and raised for a better life in a different state, but I still care about the state where I was born and raised… if for no other reason than the fact that our good friend Clarissa lives there.
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😊😊
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FWIW, I am reading all these posts with keen interest because I know nothing about the situation– your posts and links are my primary source of info on it, and I’m trying to construct a primitive mental model of what’s going on in the big historical void that is my knowlege-base on eastern Europe. So… mostly not commenting. Got nothing intelligent to add. But thanks for posting: I know more about it than I did last week!
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“I’m not a freak for caring. If you can really imagine the place where you grew up being bombed into rubble and not care, then maybe you are the freak.”
100%
Clarissa, you and I may disagree on the root causes of this conflict but one would have to be completely without empathy not to understand, and be completely sympathetic to, your reaction to the war.
There can be no excusing Putin’s full scale invasion of Ukraine as it will create widespread misery, death and destruction in both countries. As diplomacy was nowhere near a dead end, war can in no sense be justified here.
“As Orthodox Christians, we oppose any type of violence or injustice throughout the world. Rather, we call upon Almighty God to send us His heavenly peace and bring us together to resolve our disputes through fair and open discussions. I join with all the clergy and faithful of this God-protected Archdiocese to pray fervently for the immediate end of hostilities, and for the health and safety of His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufriy, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian people in these difficult times.” (Metropolitan Joseph of the Antiochian Archdiocese of North America)
“The war between these peoples is a repetition of the sin of Cain, who killed his own brother out of envy. Such a war has no excuse, neither from God nor from people… I appeal to all for common sense, which teaches us to solve our earthly problems in mutual dialogue and mutual understanding, and sincerely hope that God will forgive us our sins and the peace of God will prevail in our land and in the world!” (Metropolitan Onufriy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church)
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“As diplomacy was nowhere near a dead end, war can in no sense be justified here.”
Not true. It was not near a dead end in the sense that there would have been no war if Zelensky and the Ukrainian army agreed to step aside to let Putin put his own people in charge of Ukraine.
Naturally, the Russian Orthodox Church is silent because they’re in bed with the devil. And this is why I always feel condescended to when people tell me “No Christian believes this or that”, or “all Christians know they’re sinners and imperfect”. Tell it like it is – that all Christians claim to hold certain values, and some of them actually live up to them. Just like all other humans who claim to hold whatever values.
All Christians know they’re imperfect. Well, no shit. All sane people know they’re imperfect. The difference is all in which specific things they believe themselves to be right about.
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Thank you, GSW. I never doubted that you are on the side of the good. Please pray for us.
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“Please pray for us.”
I will be attending our parish’s Great Vespers in an hour or so and intend to do precisely that.
Lord have mercy.
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As soon as Russia invaded, I came here to read your blog. I haven’t been reading blogs much in the last two years — too busy — but I really wanted to hear your voice on this craziness. Wishing you, your family, and Ukraine well.
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Thank you so much, my friend. It’s a nightmare that wouldn’t end.
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Praying for you, your family and Ukraine.
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