(un)Earthed: Spoiled Soil (?)

(un)Earthly, early Headlines: "Ukraine war threatens to cause global food crisis...Ukrainian farmers are about to miss critical planting and harvesting seasons..." As a significant portion of the world is focused on rearranging who and where they will get their natural gas and oil from, just as many are concerned with food security, let alone soaring prices of all the foregoing. Meanwhile, just this morning, as I was contemplating the full text of this post, I heard more local versions, the ones that affected those living in the region, in the country being invaded, in the towns, the major cities...

Despair in the Air, over There: Interviewer, "Foreign Correspondent" (location unknown), to a Ukrainian national, just having set foot of foreign soil, having sought refuge in a neighboring land, an adjacent country, a benevolent host: "Aren't you afraid to go back, are you sure of your decision...?"          Foreigner on Foreign Soil: "Afraid? No! I'm going back to spread a spirit of hope and encouragement, to defend my country; it's no time to be afraid". Come to find out, from reading and listening, she was in good company, with a legion of Ukrainians, as well as others throughout the world, a desperate diaspora, those who have been so suddenly, violently...

Uprooted: Regarding the unearthly, almost unimaginable being played out on a global stage -- including, but not exclusive, to the Ukraine, the country wherein millions of individuals have been displaced within the country, from their home towns, cities, farms, in the midst of trying to plant, being instead supplanted...hundreds of thousands traveling across their land to one they had once considered a distant thought, but now a place of refuge, foreign soil, whereas others, being forcibly removed, taken to a place far east, a destination unknown. Really foreign soil. When and how this will end is the focus of ongoing negotiations, diplomacy, incremental forms of intervention. But for the millions of displaced Ukrainians, when/if they are able/allowed to return "Home", they may find themselves returning to a land that is forever changed, one which may no longer be as sustainable, as in the ability to readily produce a crop of wheat...

Spoiled Soil (?) As in a soil that has had to absorb all the toxins, blood being poured out due to the mass destruction and carnage already accumulated. Which in one major city this morning by an observer "on the ground" amounted to 90% of the buildings being damaged or destroyed. This, accompanied by a report that a large number of people were trapped underground, underneath the ruble of a building that was presumably off limits to the invaders to target for bombing. This, accompanied by a report that a chemical factory was damaged, releasing ammonia and other noxious chemicals in the air and into the soil, with an attached advisement for those at risk to seek refuge underground, if possible. And this, following reports we all watched anxiously regarding two different nuclear sites being damaged, at risk for release of radioactive waste (which we all know now has a very long "half life", the amount of time it takes for half of it to break down and become inactive). It is difficult to ascertain whether life for these inhabitants will be sustainable, let alone allow for a sustainable crop to support others throughout the world. So many unanswered questions...

The Answers: "Loof for help from above" the church sign indicated this morning, while a book written by my uncle and several collaborative theologians and archeologists (he was both), informed us that "The Answers Lie Below", as in underneath the seas, the soil (he did a lot of work with the "Dead Sea Scrolls", dating as far back as between the 3rd C. BCE and 1st C. CE). Those who will eventually stand to answer, on the other hand, for the spoilage, are already known to us. As others throughout history, for other atrocities...

Deeply Rooted: Rooted in the depth and breadth of history, the long arc of which bends toward justice. History which is being written, that resonates in part with the previous Nazi pillagers' philosophy of "Blood and Soil". History which is replete with lessons of war. Lessons that President Zelensky informs us will have to be accounted for by a few principals, the impact of which promises to have a long half-life.