Life Changes Our Plans, Sometimes

This particular episode was not planned in my schedule, but it is something that has been impressed on me for the last few days. The situation in Ukraine, with Russian aggression, is devastating and discouraging. But we can see that the leadership of Russia does NOT have the full support of his own people, and certainly not that of the rest of the world. It would be sadly foolish to blame all Russian people for what is happening there.
So, I want to present this prayerful meditation for peace and compassion in the region... for both Ukraine and Russia. It is not such a long meditation, but peaceful music continues to play after my voice ends, so you may wish to continue sending thoughts and prayers for Peace to Ukraine and Russia even after I stop speaking.
NOTE: some people are not believers in sending "thoughts and prayers". In this case, as individuals, there is little else we can do. Also, research has shown that positive intention, as expressed by thoughts and prayers, can have an impact on the real world. (Check out Dr. Gary Schwartz's book, "The Energy Healing Experiments", and Lynne McTaggart's Healing Intention experiment at https://lynnemctaggart.com/results-of-the-first-healing-intention-experiment/ .) And honestly, even if the effect each of us individually can make is small, isn't peace worth it?
It is a bit like the well-known story of the little boy and the starfish on the beach:
One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed boy picking up and gently throwing things into the ocean.
Approaching the boy he asked, “Young man, what are you doing?”
“Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die,” the boy replied.
The man laughed to himself and said, “Do you realize there are miles of miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make any difference.”
After listening politely, the boy bent down to pick up another starfish and threw it into the surf. Then, he smiled at the man and said, “I made a difference to that one.”