#BeingHuman. To Uninvited Guests Who Bring Unexpected Grace... As your #Thanksgiving feasts stretch before you, we picture the Stranger reclining in a Pharisee's respectable home. Yet who dared interrupt but a disgraced woman, weighted by shame, weeping desperately for restoration? Uninvited. Undeserved. Unexpected. Unrespected. She crashed the pretentious gathering and scandalously worshipped at the feet of Jesus - the sole party crasher to pierce religious pretense with raw reverence…
This vivid scene reminds us that we all carry shame that feels too cumbersome and regrets that whisper lies we are unworthy of restoration. Like this vulnerable woman, millions of Ukrainian refugees now mimic her desperation on foreign soil. Thrust unwillingly among unfamiliar hosts by war's cruelty, they come as uninvited guests to your towns, churches, and homes. Yet you have stunned the world with your grace-filled response... like a guest, the Stranger, not like a host, Simon…
Despite the wounds of war leaving many Ukrainians intimately acquainted with trauma's shame, your open arms powerfully model the welcome of the One this woman sought. Your hands passing warm "bowls of borscht" (aid and Hope) to weary exiles reveal His hands passing the bread of life to outcasts. Your compassion mirrors the Stranger who saw beyond her scandalous story to call forth the woman she could become... not for the sake of Simon... but for the sake of the Stranger…
When forgiveness seems impossible, faith foolish, and God distant, this account shouts that the Guest sees us differently than the hosts of this world. He knows the men and women we can be when we fully embrace the restorative power of grace…
So, in this poignant hour between gratitude and grief, we lift our prayer and glass to you, courageous People of the Bridge. For by clothing, feeding, embracing the shivering exile, you point to reckless trust in lavish grace given through earthen vessels like us…
As daunting challenges lie ahead, we draw strength from friendships that transcend borders and from His faithfulness that flows even through fractured ones like ours. May we never forget the hard lessons learned... the sacrifices we have made and witnessed... and the hope that has sustained us... nor waver from welcoming the marginalized so that war-weary souls find sanctuary until the Stranger's Appearance.
May the essence of unrestrained gratitude, unbreakable community, and undying hope be alive in this uninvited woman's story and infuse our celebration as you gather this Thanksgiving. Until we feast together again... peace be with you <3
—
Taras N. Dyatlik, Ukraine
638-th day of the full-scale Russian war against Ukraine
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