My late Finnish mother-in-law, sturdy and strong, though petite, grew up during the days of the Russian incursion into her homeland. She lost her only sibling, a brother, during one of the battles. So she was never able to laser off all the emotional scars that were tattooed onto her life. Thus, when in her twilight years with dementia having robbed her of her reasoning capacities, she retreated back to those traumatic years and replayed many of the mental tapes of Russia’s invasion into Finland. Consequently, she would rip through her nursing home hallways on her wheelchair, mowing down staff and residents alike while shouting, “The Ruskies are coming!” “The Ruskies are coming!”
War robbed my mother-in-law from being joyful and gentle, but it did make her prayerful. How timely then to come this Sunday of Memorial weekend to the passage in our sequential march through the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi. It calls for Christians everywhere to be joyful, gentle and prayerful.
