‘The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness— on them light has shined.’
This is my favourite Christmas reading and not just because I read it here as a 10 year-old boy at the school carol service. It was the first time I ever stepped foot in St Martin’s. It is my favourite because it tells the whole story of our faith journey and the purpose of the journey through Advent.
Nowhere is there more darkness now than in Ukraine. Cities blacked out most nights with power cuts caused by Russian bombing. On Christmas Eve it will be 10 months since the invasion. So how can Christians there possibly see a great light?
Last week the Bishop in Europe, Robert Innes and Archbishop Justin Welby visited Kyiv and the surrounding area. Their interpreter was Christina Laschenko the Churchwarden of Christ Church Kyiv. She was the only woman at the meeting with 20 members of the Ukraine Religious Council who gathered in a bomb shelter and who told of how, through suffering in the war, the faith of the people was deepening.
Ask Christina about the war and she does not talk of the darkness but of the light. ‘God is working miracles in Ukraine’ she says in measured but firm tones. She lists the miracles – The Russian retreat, the aid from the West, the hospitality and welcome for refugees across Europe, the constant restoration of the infrastructure of Kyiv. These are signs of the light. She talks of our Christian duty ‘If we are to deserve these miracles, we have to be faithful, we have to be prayerful and we have to remember about our Christian values and show that we deserve God’s help’.
Christina can see the light in the deep darkness. Who are we to doubt that it shines? Her community gathers for prayer, for harvest festival, for bible study. If they can stay faithful surely we can too, even in our darkest hours waiting for the light.
You can join people online across Europe to Pray for Peace in Ukraine each Wednesday evening in Advent at 1730gmt. Just go to YouTube and search for Diocese in Europe and click ‘Live’.
Andrew Caspari
