It's been striking that there has been a vast number of stories coming out of a devasted Ukraine about people determined to keep going with whatever passes for normality.  That's why this week the Newsletter seems almost unreal to those of us who have known nearly eighty years of peace in the United Kingdom.  Alongside information on how to give to the charity appeal for Ukraine and where we can pray together for peace, we have news of events and everyday activities in Tittensor.  The local world goes on whatever may be happening elsewhere.

Only those who have been in the presence of evil can really appreciate what the Ukrainian people are going through.  It has been sad to see, once again, a part of the Christian church that has been content to have this evil done with its approval, as though the forced enslavement of a people is a Christian objective.

It has been good to see our own archbishops speaking out, condemning the attack on and occupation of a country because 'it doesn't deserve to exist'.  What clearer definition of evil could there be?

We have been here before.  In the darkest days of Nazi Germany, when its rulers were rounding up and slaughtering millions of people for their colour, their supposed racial origin, their sexual preferences, their religion or just because they would not support the Nazis, some Christians stood up and were counted.  Many were counted in the ultimate way; they joined the slaughtered millions.  They opposed despite knowing the price to be paid.

Something similar happened this week in several independently-verified photos taken around Ukraine.  It was the sight of ordinary people, either alone or together, facing down soldiers and tanks with nothing more than their minds and bodies.  They didn't carry Kalashnikov rifles; they were just there.  They were witnesses to occupation.

We don't know what happened afterwards; these photos are an instant in time.  Did the soldiers turn back; did the people succumb to occupation?

Unfortunately, we do know what happens to opponents of this particular dictator: he has them killed.  Even those who happen to be in the same area are killed similarly.  We know this because of what happened in Salisbury, just a short distance from one of Christianity's greatest cathedrals.  The dictator ordered a harmless opponent to be killed using a deadly nerve poison and in doing so his minions killed an innocent woman.

So it is in Ukraine.  Soldiers may attack; soldiers may defend but it is those close to these actions who suffer.  That is the result of evil decisions and actions.

This weekend, as some of us gather to worship God and to pray for the peace that Jesus offered to the world, why not join us as we bear witness to God's love and to our opposition to evil in this world?  Stand up and be counted.  Amen.