Good morning…
“Unfortunately, this is not true,” a loyal subscriber from Canada wrote after the music video I posted yesterday of Ukrainian President Zelenskyy reportedly singing “Endless Love” with his wife in March 2022. Our regular reader sent me a link exposing the truth that the music video was mis-captioned, adding the following facts. “While Zelenskky can’t be seen singing ‘Endless Love’ with his wife in this video, he truly had a successful entertainment career before becoming president of Ukraine. Zelenskyy won Ukraine’s ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ voiced Paddington in the Ukrainian versions of the films “Paddington” and “Paddington 2,” and starred in a satirical show called ‘Servant of the People’ about a teacher who suddenly becomes president of Ukraine.”
Clearly a man of compassionate creativity, the world is captivated by this person who leads his country with caring conviction in the midst of horrific circumstances. This tender rendition of a familiar love song seems quietly in keeping with Zelenskyy’s life-affirming character.
A few minutes later I received the following text and image. “Love to wake up and read your messages each morning,” wrote a friend from church. “This is a beautiful video, however you might be interested in this.”
“A woman from Canada wrote me first thing this morning, debunking this music video also,” I texted back. “I think we are all fascinated by the loving strength of this common man. We are learning this is not him in the video. We are learning this is not his wife. Might we also be learning that our fervent prayers for him and his country ground us all into the deeper source of Endless Love? Thanks for your text. It reveals to us God’s growing edge.”
“Sue,” came the next text, “I am uncomfortable forwarding this to you, but thought you would be interested.”
“I am grateful you are sharing,” I replied. “I think God’s fingerprints are all over my ‘mistake.’ The Endless Love for the Ukrainian people is not a human trait. No person or couple can generate on their own the compassion we see demonstrated in Zelenskyy’s leadership for such a time as this. What God’s enemy meant for harm (this mis-captioned music video) is actually being used for God’s purposes. I will post tomorrow about the Holy Spirit inviting all of us deeper into the Endless Love of our eternal God. I appreciate you helping me to learn what God is teaching us today.”
“Love this thought,” she replied. “‘The Endless Love for the Ukrainian people is not a human trait. No person or couple can generate on their own the compassion we see demonstrated in Zelenskyy’s leadership for such a time as this.’ As usual, your wisdom and leadership shines.”
“God uses our mistakes for his greater glory,” I admitted. “Please pray over these thoughts with me, that they flow naturally into tomorrow morning’s message. I am so grateful for our longtime friendship.”
On this new morning, with the touching video correctly captioned, might we be drawn more deeply into the protective presence of our First Love?
We love because he first loved us (1 John 4:19, NIV).
…Sue…
