...of deep darkness and flickering light.
- robert gamble
- 2d
- 2 min read
“It is a world of magic and mystery, of deep darkness and flickering starlight. It is a world where terrible things happen and wonderful things too. ...." ( see below Buechner's conclusion...)
It's the end of the year; the time most people think about giving to nonprofits and charity.
Ukraine is always on my mind. Every essay, news story, novel I read, every film I watch, lyric I listen to, speech I give, or sermon I read or write, every story of struggle to overcome improbable odds, reminds me of Ukraine.
The end of the year reminds me of how long ago this war began. On Feb 22, 2026 it will be 4 years. Our 4 year olds are now 8; our 10 year olds are 14, Some 14 year olds are now in college. Here are the report cards from our two students at the University of New Mexico. Remember, these are two students whose native languages were not English. They had a year of high school to take them from Intermediate to top of the class.
Jenya
Daria
If I were to give a report card to our staff here in Ukraine, they would also get A's. We have the right people, we thank them and encourage them. They are top of their class.
I wish the power of the good we do could overcome the power of the evil waging war against Ukraine. Perhaps that is what we all hope for in our world, that good, that love, that God who is love, will defeat the evil of this world. Not a day goes by that I don't look at the news on my laptop or cell phone, so full of violence, evil, and destruction of life and living, and then look at the faces in the photos below, so full of joy, care, and life. In the contradiction of the two, I see this epic battle raging. Frederick Buechner wrote something like this, only with more grace and beauty, in the prose I often turn to when I can't find the words to say. Read below.
"It is a world where goodness is pitted against evil, love against hate, order against chaos, in a great struggle where often it is hard to be sure who belongs to which side because appearances are endlessly deceptive. Yet for all its confusion and wildness, it is a world where the battle goes ultimately to the good, who live happily ever after, and where in the long run everybody, good and evil alike, becomes known by his true name….That is the fairy tale of the Gospel with, of course, one crucial difference from all other fairy tales, which is that the claim made for it is that it is true, that it not only happened once upon a time but has kept on happening ever since and is happening still.”
May there be Grace and Peace in this New Year,
Robert and Oli
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