Do not turn away.  Watch what is happening.  While we are living our lives and going about our business, we are simultaneously seeing atrocities play out before our very eyes.   These images are eerily familiar to those seen in World War II.   The evil that is being perpetuated on an independent, free people has caused me to think about life and its tenuous meaning.   In the end, family, friends, faith and having a home are all that really matter.  These are the things we must remember and hold onto as life swirls around us.

The people of Ukraine are facing  unremitting death every day.   How do they survive this?   I feel helpless, watching this play out like some long, agonizing horror show.   And in the end, what will all this human suffering amount to?  No one can watch what is happening in Ukraine and not feel an overbearing sense of pain, sorrow and anger.   The parts that break my heart the most are seeing the most vulnerable suffer:  pregnant women fleeing bombed-out hospitals, children and senior citizens having to navigate dangerous corridors and hunker down in underground bunkers.

As a human, who happens to be a writer, I am at a loss for words.   Mostly I am just very sad.    But what gives me the greatest of hope in the face of death and destruction is the will and strength of the Ukrainian people.   This is their land, a part of who they are – their identity.  Deep in my heart, I believe in the David and Goliath story.   I believe the underdog who is seemingly weaker and less powerful will prevail because their hope and sheer courage cannot be measured. 

Look at the words of Anne Frank, a 12 year old Jewish girl hiding away in an attic for 2 years with her family as they were fleeing the Nazis.  I used a part of this quote in a scene in my screenplay LET IT SHINE about a young girl named Melody who stutters and fears speaking.   Anne Frank wrote in her diary:

These words are even more haunting today.  Anne Frank died at an Auschwitz camp.  But her story and words live on and give us an overwhelming hope.  Yes there is suffering, but goodness and light will always prevail and outshine evil and darkness.

I leave you with this spark of hope below.  It has been viewed by millions of people around the globe.  It’s about yet another girl named Amelia who sings her heart out in a bunker in Ukraine as the war wages on from above.  Look at the amount of people in this shelter and how they stop and witness this brave girl sing “Let It Go” from Frozen.  Her joy is something to behold…but more, at the end of the song, watch how Amelia raises her hands to her mouth – so happy, yet there is an innocent humility.  Given this context, that humility speaks volumes.