Ukraine today is a ruptured country. Man’s inhumanity to man is hard to understand. There are groups from around the world trying to help these people with food and other supplies, but they get one load when they need one hundred loads.
Many churches were destroyed by the Russian Army and that was and is bad enough. Now the president and dictator of Ukraine is banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. What are the people to do when they wish to congregate in prayer, although God did say to build His places of worship with love, men bring stones. We must continue to pray and help in any way we can. A world that has enough resources to cover the globe is in disarray because dictators have gained control and do not wish to lose it.
Zelensky just announced that he is banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
He’s now banned news stations, political parties, jailed opposition leaders, and now religious organizations.
Some “democracy.”
He is apparently fearful that they will take up the cause of Vladimir Putin. The people there who have not been able to leave are cold, hungry, thirsty, and without shelter. They pray for relief in small groups.
Ms. McComb was from Tupelo Mississippi, she had befriended the Presley’s many years before stardom happened for Elvis. One day in late 1971 she was visiting with Elvis at Graceland Lisa was pushing her baby buggy through the hall, and I said to Elvis, ‘Can you imagine? She is soon going to be four years old. What are you going to give her for her birthday?’ Elvis paused and said ‘I don’t know – she’s all we have – she is our most prized possession. I want Lisa to know what the important things in life are. Money is not important – it is fleeting and all this is just vanity’. He said ‘A lot has happened through the years.
Do you remember, when we left Tupelo, all we had was a little trunk on top of the car’. We talked and laughed for an hour or more reminiscing about his childhood, about his mother cooking, about how his grandmother wore an apron, and about the song Precious Memories, which was sung at his mother’s funeral. He said ‘Those early values that my parents taught me are still my values, and I want my child to know them’.
Mrs. McComb’, Elvis said, (he always addressed me as ‘Mrs. McComb’ when he was talking to me, but always autographed things to me as ‘Janelle’.) ‘do you think you could take your pen and write something for me to give my little girl to tell her what the real values of life are, because I may not always be around’.
‘In other words’, I said, You want to give her ‘the priceless gift’.
He said ‘That’s right, and be sure to sign it ‘Daddy’.
I said ‘Well, Elvis, I’ll try’.
I went home and wrote the poem. When I brought it back to Elvis at Graceland, he was so touched and pleased when he read it, he ran up the stairs two at a time to hide it until Lisa’s birthday. When he came back down crying, I asked him to sign my copy of the poem. He signed it, then with his elbow attempted to wipe the tears off the paper and smeared his signature. He said ‘Oh, Mrs. McComb, I’ve ruined your copy’.
‘No’, I said, ‘someday those teardrops will be just as priceless as this poem is to you’.
Steve Haarman 