I forgot to finish my lunch

and when I came to myself, I realized why.  Grief my friend, pure and simple grief.  The world events in Ukraine have deeply grieved me.  If you are a long time reader, I mean long time reader, then you know that in Ottawa the family that adopted (not literally as in legally my family in MI are alive and well) me is Ukrainian.  I used to talk here about my Ukrainian Mother.  And like most immigrants they have family and friends still there.  

This has been a termendous shock to me, really and while I have talked about it to my Husband, to a dear friend in Bucharest (for 4 wonderful hours), it is still sinking in.  

So I am silent a lot when I am in certain types of grief and I may not write much here about it again hard to say, I don't plan my days in detail or what I write here. 

Picture is of some Lenten books.  That cloth you see is from Ukraine.  This is not new, it was used in our wedding, my Ukrainian family gave it to me as a gift, along with the one in our chapel which is hand stitched and completely and amazingly beautiful.  

So I got a cold, a doozy of one, a week ago Tuesday.  Cancelled my Thursday NYC trip.  Cancelled my tea on Friday.  Saturday night my Husband, late, started not feeling right and by Sunday morning sure enough, he got my doozy of a cold.  So we are struggling a long as much as we can.  We both stayed home yesterday and missed a really special church service (forgiveness vespers) but it could not be helped.  

I am trying to read this book for Lent with a few church lady friends.  This stanza (pictured above) really impacted me: how easy it is to look at world events and not see that we ourselves are making war on our own souls by our sins.  

I feel like I am seeing, in my shock and grief, how hard it is to live as Christ commanded: to love, forgive, pray for one's enemies.  Our hearts are called to Christ not to the world, not to tragic events, not even, really, to sides of difficult world equations; we are called to no other than to CHRIST and to be by HIS side. 

Wishing everyone God's mercy, protection and help as we enter Great Lent again this year...