Sing This

Reaping the Rewards

This sculpture by Tanya Font was shared with me today by my Facebook friend, Anna Tkachova (I added the background). This is what she had to say:

“I saw a photo of this sculpture today... It looks so much like us. Like our souls. They have taken away our peace. Our sleep. Destroyed our homes. They ruined the long-awaited spring and stole March. Destroyed our comfort. They shattered the usual rhythm of life. They stole the childhood of our children. Destroyed the calmness of the sky. Crushed cities. They shattered dreams and plans... But we will recover, rebuild, be reborn, and rise again. Scars do not decorate, they do not let us forget. And now each of us is scarred. Torn inside, but not conquered. Lord, prepare clay to restore Your broken creation.”

Anna has captured the heart of what is so horrific about the Ukrainian invasion. It violates the sanctity of life and robs us of what is best about humanity - our kindness, generosity, creativity, curiosity, playfulness, and sense of wonder. We are all having our humanity violated. There is no escaping this truth no matter how far we live from the actual conflict.

No matter the outcome of the Russian invasion, it will take decades to recover a semblance of stability, safety, and civility. All this because one mentally and emotionally depraved person, and his cadre of carefully groomed madmen, have been allowed to run amuck.

I feel about the situation in Ukraine as I do about the ongoing mass shootings in the United States. Because our government officials have failed to act - because so many value money over lives and have sold their souls to the gun lobby - children continue to die. People in grocery stores, parking lots, grocery stores, movie theaters, and dance clubs are gunned down by young men who are too young to smoke, buy alcohol, or drive a car but are able to purchase assault weapons without even a background check.

The same failure to learn from our mistakes holds true in Ukraine as well. Why haven’t we learned from the Hitlers, Stalins, Maos, and Castros - from the Columbines, Sandy Hooks, Stoneman Douglases, and Pulse clubs? Why haven’t we seen the results of our failure to act and done everything in our power to prevent them from happening again?

In my humble opinion, humanity is at a crossroads. We can either start teaching our children to love, respect, and care for one another and the planet, or continue to encourage competition, comparison, the belief that some are “better than” others, and that grades and money matter more than who you are. It’s our choice, but without a radical course correction, I fear we are in danger of becoming another failed species.

Copyright 2022 by Jena Ball. All Rights Reserved.