It feels a little funny to me to be sitting at the keys of my computer in the comforts of my own home today\u2026 having a cup of coffee\u2026 quietly delighting in my daily, refreshing quiet time. It was a full week, in fact\u2026 work, walks, even time for a few Netflix Originals. Some of the week was hard \u2014 a couple tough conversations\u2026 a mistake made by me\u2026 and Publix not having the specific sushi I wanted when that\u2019s what I was sincerely craving. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it dawns on me deeply\u2026 we don\u2019t always know what \u201chard\u201d really is\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Approximately 5,596 miles away (thank you, Travelmath),<\/em> sits Kyiv \u2014 \u041a\u0438\u0457\u0432, as written in Ukrainian \u2014 the capital city, which along with the rest of the Eastern European country is currently under attack. Russia\u2019s invasion is the largest military assault by one European state on another since World War II.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ukraine has an estimated population of 41.2 million people. Suffice it to say those 41.2 million people know today what \u201chard\u201d is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n War is hard. While no war seems a good war, so-to-speak, war may be necessary \u2014 assuming an anti-pacifist perspective \u2014 as outlined by the Just War theory, especially as advanced by Saint Augustine; sometimes war may be the only means of restoring justice. While longer explanations are noteworthy, among other principles, a Just War means that war is only waged as a last resort; all nonviolent options must first be exhausted; the ultimate goal is to reestablish peace; and civilians are never permissible targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To be blunt and brief, Russia\u2019s war is not just.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As explosions continue in key cities as we speak, <\/em><\/strong>the potential global destabilization from this vicious act is enormous. I\u2019m no expert. None of us are. We\u2019re not even close. And even though the Intramuralist has been on a year long personal effort to pay more focused attention to the foreign affairs academics and actually read U.S. State Dept. briefings in the fragile foreign areas, I\u2019m still not certain I have a complete grasp of all that\u2019s going on. The reality is that while this invasion is the largest military assault by one European\/Asian state on another since World War II, most of us have only read about WWII in history books; we haven\u2019t seen this live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so there\u2019s something in me that simply wants to acknowledge what we don\u2019t know. Sometimes I feel because we don\u2019t know, we don\u2019t care\u2026 <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2026 I don\u2019t know a person who\u2019s like that, so it\u2019s easy for me to have this opinion\u2026 I don\u2019t know anyone who\u2019s in that situation, so I really don\u2019t care very much\u2026 Out of sight, out of mind, right?\u2026 <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And so sometimes I feel at least I \u2014 maybe you\u2019re a little wiser, more-tuned in than me \u2014 but sometimes I feel like precisely because I can simply sit behind the keys of my computer, leisurely drink my coffee, relax and enjoy my morning \u2014 or because I can even be irritated by an inability to satisfy my specific sushi pining \u2014 I don\u2019t care enough, know enough, or perhaps empathize enough with what I don\u2019t fully understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I don\u2019t want my personal comforts and convenience to keep me from knowing what\u2019s going on in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Better yet: I don\u2019t want my ease to taint my awareness of what\u2019s really hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If I\u2019m honest, I have really more to say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I simply want the comfort and ease of my own home to not insulate me from the painful realities of all that\u2019s going on in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n God be with the people of Ukraine and so much more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Respectfully\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It feels a little funny to me to be sitting at the keys of my computer in the comforts of my own home today\u2026 having a cup of coffee\u2026 quietly delighting in my daily, refreshing quiet time. It was a full week, in fact\u2026 work, walks, even time for a few Netflix Originals. Some of … <\/p>\n