I wonder which part of the all the coverage of the Ukraine crisis has impacted you the most?
It’s hard to narrow it down to only one.
Early in the exodus of escaping Ukrainians I found myself struck by a young Polish mother’s generous hospitality to her unknown neighbours who’d just come across the border.
The news item showed her going out amid the crowds to invite as many people as she could to come and stay in her house, to offer them protection, food and care.
On this occasion, a mother with a young daughter, who’d just had to leave her son behind to go and fight, was welcomed to her home.
She came into what was a comfortable and largish house, unsurprisingly disorientated, to find several other similar novice refugees settling in and relaxing – there was plenty of laughter.
She came in from the extreme cold, with all her fears and tiredness and entered a warm home full of life and love.
For those given shelter by this dear woman their journey was not over, and their future remained very unclear, but the love shown to them, and repeated in so many ways by so many people as the horror of this crisis unravels must surely have fuelled their hope that good will overcome evil.
It does mine and my guess is it will for many.
It’s the kind of love that Jesus showed and continues to show, and is a reminder of what he considered so important, “to love your neighbour as yourself.”
This Polish woman is an inspiration to me in Reading given all the migrants, asylum seekers and refugees who’ve found their way here.
Jon Salmon, Trinity Church, Lower Earley, on behalf of Churches Together in Reading
