A woman praying right in the middle of raging clashes | Photo by Mstyslav Chernov/Unframe via Wikimedia Commons
Part XIX: The Ukraine Crisis
Yes, many citizens of many member countries of the United Nations are praying for the safety of Ukrainians and the Zelensky government, especially its armed forces. People also want to do more to help Ukrainians.
Church members of almost all denominations and faiths do “second collections” to support charitable causes and concerns involved in humanitarian work in Ukraine. People are donating money and in-kind support to the Red Cross, the Red Crescent, the Catholic Charities, the Doctors Without Borders, the World Central Kitchens, and other humanitarian entities helping refugees and victims of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In social media, online groups have been formed. One of the biggest of them is the Facebook Group called “Pray for Ukraine,” which will soon reach a milestone of 40-K members in less than two months of existence. Readers may like to visit and join it at this link.
And to honor Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was a former comedian before he entered politics, people are cracking jokes about the Russians. The BBC.com has a very-good narrative of how Mr. Zelensky, the comedian, became a national leader and now an international statesman.
“People are donating money and in-kind support to the Red Cross, the Red Crescent, the Catholic Charities, the Doctors Without Borders, the World Central Kitchens, and other humanitarian entities helping refugees and victims of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.”
Yes, bitter jokes, especially about the Russian president, cronies, and military dummies. More wit, humor, and satire exercises are directed even against Mr. Putin’s foreign supporters like former President Donald J. Trump. This columnist was way ahead in referring satirically to Mr. Trump as “Mr. Trumputinski” since the 2016 election campaign. And worse, many Democrats now call Mr. Trump’s supporters in the GOP the “Trumputinski Republicans.”
One of the best jokes was first circulated among the members of the “OFW/OF/Filipino Nation (Mother Chapter)” Facebook Group, with nearly 44-K members. “OFW” is the acronym for “Overseas-Filipino Workers.” And “OF” stands for “Overseas Filipinos.”
The Filipino exercise of humor against the Russian invasion of Ukraine was probably started by nearly a thousand OFWs working in the beleaguered country. The tall tale says that to help the Ukraine military fight the Russians, the OFWs began praying for the Redeemer to help the Ukrainians sink the cruiser Moskva, a Russian flagship in the Black Sea. They prayed that the Redeemer perform another miracle similar to this at that wedding in Cana (Judea). And apparently, their prayers were answered. A miracle allegedly turned all the potable water, including bottled water, turned into vodka. And so when the Ukrainian Navy launched two Ukrainian-made Neptune missiles against it, all the more than 500 Russian crew members were partying and drunk or at least tipsy. It was why, despite the cruiser’s state-of-the-art radar and early-warning defensive features, no crew member or officer noticed the incoming missiles. They sank the Russian flagship.
If readers want to hear more jokes circulated by Filipinos and other nationalities, they may wish to contact this writer to include them in this coming Sunday’s column. Or send him the jokes via the Facebook Messenger they created or heard from friends. This journalist will compile them so that they should fill up an entire column episode or two. What say you, dear readers?
