Do we reflect God or does God reflect us? Questions on Human v Divine Nature

Do We Reflect God or

Does God Reflect Us?

Questions on Human v Divine Nature

by R.E. Slater & ChatGPT-5

In every reflection, we seek the face of God,

only to find that God’s face is also seeking ours.

- re slater & chatgpt

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INTRODUCTION

Do we reflect God or does God reflect us?

When coming to Christian theology this simple statement seems to be the heart of our question.

• Positively, if we reflect God (part a), then human dignity is grounded in God's goodness and love;

• Negatively, if God reflects us (part b), then God becomes little more than a mirror of human instability: fickled, wrathful, unreliable,and changeable. God is too much like us at our lowest (or, perhaps worst) than God's Self.

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Too Often We Make God Into Our Image

Such concerns are not unique to Christianity. In Greek mythology, these observations always seems to be asked of the gods. The gods often appear less transcendent and more human - embodying passions, rivalries, and inconsistencies rather than divine perfection. One could say they reflected the very flaws of the people who worshiped them.

Similarly, in the Semitic pantheon which shaped the Hebrew imagination, deities were often depicted in human terms as well. The biblical narrative shows this evolution: from many gods (polytheism) to one God (monotheism); from a covenantal God of faithfulness and blessing (Abrahamic covenant), to a God of wrath and judgment (Mosaic/Sinaitic covenant), to a God dwelling among his people through kingly and priestly structures (Davidic covenant), culminating in the promised New Covenant in Christ and his church.

Across the centuries of church history, this tension has endured. Theologies of God’s apparent changeability - sometimes merciful, sometimes wrathful; sometimes loving, sometimes punishing - have shaped Christian belief, worship, and behavior. Too often, God has been portrayed as a binary being governed by emotions rather than as a purposeful, consistent presence moving history toward its intended goal (teleology and eschatology).

It is precisely here that process theology, grounded in process philosophy, offers a vital corrective. By re-envisioning God not as variable in character but as relationally constant in love, persuasion, and creative aim, process thought keeps Christian faith “close to the knitting” - centering God’s nature in steadfast goodness while also affirming God’s dynamic involvement in the unfolding of history.

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I. THE HUMAN NATURE

Human nature can be understood as the composite of qualities that characterize humanity:

• Rationality and creativity (our capacity for reason, imagination, and design)

• Relationality and empathy (our need for community, love, and meaning)

• Moral ambiguity (our ability to choose good, but also to inflict harm)

• Finitude and variability (our mortality, limitations, and shifting desires)

It is this mixture - noble aspiration and flawed imperfection - that frames the reflection between God and man. It is also why the human nature may be seen as morally ambiguous.

Calling the human nature morally ambiguous captures the tension:

We are capable of remarkable acts of love, generosity, and creativity, yet are just as capable of cruelty, indifference, and destruction.

That ambiguity is precisely what makes the question “Who reflects whom?” so provocative: 

Does the divine explain our nobility, or does our brokenness distort the image we project onto God?

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The Christian Assertion

Within much of Christian tradition, human nature is described as fallen. Rooted in the Genesis story of Adam and Eve. The doctrine of the Fall asserts that humanity has turned away from God, resulting in a distortion of our will, desires, and actions. Rather than simply being morally mixed, this view emphasizes a corruption of the good creation, whereby sin infiltrates every aspect of human life.

Hence, the problem is not ambiguity but an inherited brokenness: our nature is bent away from God’s goodness, needing redemption.

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A Cultural/Societal Redress to Christian Assertion

From another perspective, the human nature may be seen not so much as fallen but as morally ambiguous - a tension produced by the interplay of biology, culture, and circumstance. Societies shape moral codes, and cultures reinforce behaviors that can incline individuals toward compassion or cruelty, generosity or selfishness. What Christianity calls “fallen” could also be interpreted as the result of systemic forces, inherited traditions, and social conditioning that magnify our weaknesses as much as nurture our strengths.

In this sense, the human condition is less an ontological fall from perfection and more an ongoing struggle within a dynamic moral landscape.

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So, we could frame it like this:

• Christian assertion: Human beings are fallen, fundamentally needing grace and redemption.

• Redressed view: Human beings are morally ambiguous, their nobility and depravity emerging within cultural, historical, and societal variables rather than from a primordial rupture alone.

But, is there another approach which we might use in describing the human condition and it's apparent reflection of God and of ourselves? Yes, I think there is... it's known as the Lacanian Lack.

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Definition of “Lack” in the Philosophical / Psychoanalytic Tradition

“Lack” is a concept that appears especially in psychoanalysis, i) notably in Jacques Lacan, but also in ii) existential philosophy. Some key features:

• Lacan’s Lack (manque): The idea that human desire is structured around something missing, some gap - not just an absence of a particular object, but a lack as such, often lack of being. There are different kinds of lack in Lacanian theory: e.g. lack of being (a fundamental existential gap), lack of having, etc. Desire arises because of lack: if we had full satisfaction, we’d have no reason to desire. Wikipedia

• Existentialist notions similarly speak of alienation, finitude, or nothingness: humans are aware of limits (death, meaninglessness, contingency), and this awareness carries a sense of absence or insufficiency or incompletion.

So “lack” is more than simply “we want something” — it’s a structural absence, something that cannot be fully filled, that shapes human subjectivity, striving, longing.

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Lacan's manque (lack)

The human nature is wholly possessed by a "lack of being." It is a fundamental, constitutive aspect of human subjectivity, arising from the inherent gap in our being and the inability of language or any single object to provide complete satisfaction. It is the lack of a stable, complete self and the fundamental lack-of-being (manque-à-être) that drives desire, as we perpetually search for something to fill this void. This lack is not merely an absence but the very condition for human desire and identity, a perpetual, metonymic journey that can never be fully satisfied.

The Source of Desire

• Not a deficiency, but a condition - Manque is not a simple lack of a thing or object; rather, it is a structuring absence that makes us who we are (our identity is our lack or absence which would fulfill us;  as human, we can never feel complete or fulfilled).

• The desire of the Other - Our desires originate from the Other, and we seek to answer what the Other desires, creating a space of lack and desire within ourselves.

• Desire is a surplus - Desire is not the desire for a specific object but the surplus created when need is transformed into demand by the Other.

Key Aspects of Manque

• Lack of Being (Manque-à-être) - This is the fundamental lack of a complete, self-present self. We are "wanting-to-be" because we never fully "are".

• The objet petit a - While not a thing, this is the elusive object-cause of desire that represents the ultimate, unfillable void, forever promising but never delivering satisfaction.

• Metonymy - Desire is caught in metonymy, constantly moving from one signifier to another in an endless pursuit of something that can never be fully grasped or found.

Consequences of Manque

• Unending Quest - Because desire is the difference between what we demand and what we truly need, it can never be fully satisfied.

• Subjectivity - The awareness and expression of this lack are crucial for a subject to truly articulate their history and achieve a form of self-knowledge.

• Psychoanalytic Practice - Understanding manque is central to psychoanalysis, which involves helping subjects confront the irreconcilable nature of their desire and lack, rather than seeking to eliminate it.

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Bringing “Lack” into Human Nature: Christian and Cultural Perspectives

Christian View (with Lack)

In Christian theology, you might see this “lack” as tied to the Fall:

• Recognition/Confession - Because of sin, human nature becomes aware of something missing: communion with God, moral righteousness, fullness of joy, etc. We experience spiritual emptiness, guilt, alienation.

• Redemption/Act - In Christ's atonement is presented the way to address that lack: the promise of restoration, of being filled (with grace, the Holy Spirit), and ultimately, reconnection not only with self but with God.

In Christian terms, the lack is not only descriptive (what we are missing) but normative and teleological (there can be fulfillment, and Christ's salvation provides it).

Cultural / Societal Lens on Lack

From the cultural or societal angle, “lack” might also be shaped by:

• Social structures: Inequality, injustice, poverty can produce lack (lack of resources, lack of opportunity) that becomes internalized as part of persons’ sense of identity.

• Cultural expectations / alienation: Sometimes what is “lacking” is recognition, meaning, belonging, purpose. Modern societies often produce disconnection or fragmentation, making people aware of missing connections or missing meaningful narratives.

• Consumer culture: Persistent advertising and social media can amplify sense of lack: “If only I had X, then I would be fulfilled,” but in fact every acquisition proves partial and temporary.

So then, culturally, “lack” may refer less to a metaphysical condition of sin, more to structural or existential deficits embedded in living.

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Comparison: "Christian Fallen Nature + Lack" vs. "Morally Ambiguous View + Lack"

Putting these together gives us sharper contrasts:

Aspect	Christian Fallen + Lack	Morally Ambiguous + Lack (Cultural View)
Nature of Lack	Rooted in sin and separation from God; spiritual emptiness; moral brokenness; lack that needs divine remedy.	Rooted in social, psychological, existential dynamics; lack of community, of dignity, of meaning.
Scope	Universal (all human nature is affected by Fall).	Varies by cultural, social, historical context; some people less affected, others more.
Possibility of Fulfillment	Through grace, redemption, spiritual transformation; ultimate fulfillment in Christian hope.	Through societal reform, psychological healing, cultural renewal, meaning-making; but may never be fully resolved.
Moral Implications	Responsibility, repentance, moral striving, dependence on God.	Responsibility too (structures, empathy, institutions), but more emphasis on systemic change and relationality.

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A More Complete Statement of Human Nature Including “Lack”

Here’s how we might incorporate lack into a revised definition:

Human nature comprises a human being created for relationship, moral goodness, and meaning - but is also a condition fundamentally marked by lack of wholeness, incompleteness, or felt lack of identity: it is not only a spiritual, existential, or moral gap or condition but also structurally concrete in its signifying felt-identifiers and self-expressions.

In Christian theology - this lack arises from the Fall and results in alienation, sin, and separation from God;

In cultural and societal terms - this lack often takes shape as unmet needs (of recognition, justice, belonging), structural injustice, and inner yearning.

Therefore, the human condition is not simply ambiguous or fallen, but always in search - seeking fulfillment of something beyond what is immediately given. 

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II. WHO REFLECTS WHOM?

Let's again provide a descriptive statement of the human nature as we did at the outset. That the human nature can be understood as the composite of qualities that characterize humanity:

• Rationality and creativity (our capacity for reason, imagination, and design)

• Relationality and empathy (our need for community, love, and meaning)

• Moral ambiguity (our ability to choose good, but also to inflict harm)

• Finitude and variability (our mortality, limitations, and shifting desires)

It is this mixture - noble aspiration and flawed imperfection - that frames the reflection between God and man.

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Four Statements (2+2)

(a) Man reflects God

• Positive: If we reflect God, then our best qualities - creativity, compassion, and love - are expressions of divine goodness shining through us. Human dignity and worth are grounded in God’s own being.

• Negative: If we reflect God, then why are we also violent, selfish, and destructive? Either God bears responsibility for our flaws, or our reflection is cracked and distorted.

(b) God reflects us

• Positive: If God reflects us, then divine imagery becomes accessible - we see God in human struggle, yearning, and history. God becomes relatable, sharing in our joys and sorrows.

• Negative: If God reflects us, then why isn’t God as fickle, contradictory, and inconsistent as we are? A God who merely mirrors humanity risks shrinking into a projection of our shifting moods and biases.

These four statements illustrate the paradox: either we reflect God or God reflects us. Both possibilities expose the depth of human dignity and the danger of projection.

• If we reflect God, our highest virtues testify to divine goodness, though our vices raise troubling questions.

• If God reflects us, divine imagery becomes accessible and human, though it risks collapsing into mere projection.

(c) Who's in Whose Image?

The mystery remains: are we made in God’s image, or do we continually remake God in ours?

Practically, we see the Christian Bible written in very human terms of God - both in projection of who God is and how God acts, as well as in justification for our own acts of sin and evil upon ourselves and others. The texts bear witness to a God of love and covenant, yet they also echo humanity’s own fears, biases, and violent impulses. Scripture becomes both revelation and mirror: it discloses divine faithfulness and compassion, but it also reflects the limits of the cultures and communities that produced those theologies as verity and assertion.

This tension invites us to read the Bible with discernment:

• If the image of God presented is sometimes shaped by human projection, then interpretation must distinguish between the voice of divine love and the echoes of human distortion.

• To confess that we are made in God’s image is to affirm our dignity and capacity for goodness; to recognize that we remake God in our image is to remain vigilant against turning our fears, hatreds, or ambitions into idols clothed in divine language.

Thus, the paradox remains unresolved. To say we reflect God honors the divine imprint within us, but to say God reflects us cautions against confusing our projections with divine reality. Perhaps the truth lies not in choosing one or the other, but in acknowledging the tension itself - living within it with humility, discernment, and hope.

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III. A PROCESS THEOLOGY MINDSET

Process theology offers a third way. Instead of asking whether i) man reflects God or ii) God reflects mans, process thought sees reflection as mutual and dynamic. God is not fixed and unyielding, nor merely a projection of human frailty. Rather, God and humanity are bound together in a relationship of ongoing becoming.

In this view, God’s eternal character is love, while God’s concrete experience includes the world’s suffering, joys, and struggles. Humanity reflects God by participating in creativity, compassion, and moral striving. At the same time, God reflects us by taking the world into the divine life, feeling our pain and weaving it into the divine memory and experience. Reflection, then, is not one-sided but reciprocal: God influences us toward greater beauty, truth, and goodness, and we in turn contribute to the very texture of God’s ongoing life.

The four statements then leave us with a paradox: to say i) that we reflect God elevates our nobility, but to say ii) that God reflects us explains divine variability. Yet neither option on its own satisfies the depth of the question. Process theology offers a more holistic view. Instead of “either/or,” it suggests a both/and:

• Cosmic grounding and divine experience - God and humanity reflect one another in an ongoing dialogue of becoming. God’s eternal love grounds the world, while God’s relational nature means the world genuinely shapes God through the lived experience of creation’s dynamic life.

• Divine/Human nature and Reciprocity - Similarly, humanity reflects God’s creative image, even as God reflects humanity’s struggles, joys, and longings by taking them into the divine life.

In this mutual reflection, the mystery is not reduced but deepened: God and humanity are co-participants in the unfolding story of creation, joined together in the pursuit of greater wholeness.

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CONCLUSION

Process theology offers a more holistic view. Instead of “either/or,” it suggests a both/and: God and humanity reflect one another in an ongoing dialogue of becoming. God’s eternal love grounds the world, while God’s relational nature means the world genuinely shapes God in God's experience of creation. Which is a plus as it means that our cries for help, our prayers for completion, our daily interactions in a dynamically changing world, all can be heard and met by a God that is near and not far; who hears and acts in response to our changing conditions; who is as much companion as eternal God.

Further, humanity reflects God’s creative image, even as God reflects our human struggle by taking our human experience into the divine life. In this mutual reflection, the mystery is not reduced but deepened: God and humanity are co-participants in the unfolding story of creation, joined in the pursuit of greater wholeness.

Process theology therefore reframes the paradox. Rather than asking whether man reflects God or God reflects man, it sees the relationship as mutual and dynamic. Humanity reflects God in its creativity, love, and striving, while God reflects humanity by taking our experiences - our hopes and dreams, joys and sorrows - into the divine life. In this way, the cosmic mirrored reflection is not one-sided but relational: God and humanity co-shape one another in the unfolding drama of creation, bound together by the constancy of divine love.

May we live as co-creators in the divine dialogue of becoming;

reflecting God’s love, even as God reflects our lives,

until all creation is joined in wholeness.

- re slater & chatgpt

History of Eastern Russia: Prayer for Ukraine and its People

The Old Soviet line of Annexed Territories

A Brief History Of Ukraine

Mar 4, 2022

PRAYER FOR THE PEOPLES OF EASTERN RUSSIA

Thursday, February 24, 2022, has become a day of mourning for the peoples of Ukraine and their brothers and sisters found throughout Crimea, Georgia, Belarus and Eastern Russia as the Communist dictator, Putin, continues his campaigns against the free sovereign states of the former Union of Soviet Russia (USSR) serving as proxy territories to Russia's own imperialist safety and security concerns.

We pray for the free peoples of the Russian empire. For their courage, wisdom, caution, and resistance to the propagandist campaigns of Russian autocracy even as we pray for the unity and community support of the peoples of Russia during another era of manic harm and suffering imposed by the cruel and evil forces found in this unjust world.

Together with the peoples of both the free world as well as all those held under imperialist dictatorships we pray for the peace and protection of loved ones, community and countries unfairly harmed or broken by the wicked of this age. An age which has continued in its agony since man's beginning when in search of power, rule, and wealth - but not for God, love, or the solidarity of one's countrymen.

Lastly, we pray to the God who is everywhere present to use the resources He has to save the innocents of this world - the families of men, women, and children - who cry out for a Savior to help them from their dilemma wrought at the hands of evil men. That God comfort and protect all who seek His help and favour who might bring God's own peace and presence into these horrific times of fear and need.

For our loved Ones,

R.E. Slater

February 24, 2022

Western Russia

A brief history of modern Ukraine - BBC News

Feb 25, 2022

When the Soviet Union collapsed in the 1990s Ukraine was one of the largest new nations to emerge. It held its first elections in 1991. 

Bordered by Russia on the east and by Hungary, Poland and Slovakia on the west, politics in Ukraine have always been divided along those looking east towards Russia and those looking to the West. 

Putin has said that Ukraine is “ancient Russian soil” but  the majority of Ukrainians don’t feel this way, with 68% of Ukrainians in favour of joining the EU.

Slavic Nations

Ethnicities of Eastern Russian Territories

The origins of Russia - Summary on a Map

Jun 24, 2021

Geo History

Let's retrace on maps the first origins of Russia, from the creation of Novgorod during the IXth century, until the end of the Time of Troubles and the beginning of the Romanov dynasty.

English translation & voiceover: - https://www.epicvoiceover.com/
Original French version: https://youtu.be/og8yLsgvbYM
Russian version: https://youtu.be/eqVXKsnQuMY
Arabic version: https://youtu.be/DeDEVmmM6XE
Spanish version: https://youtu.be/Mmb6a_wTUi8
Portuguese version (Brazil):
Coming soon Japanese version: Coming soon

Music: Created for Geo History
Software: Adobe After Effects

Chapters 00:00 The Varangians 01:15 Kievan Rus’ 02:52 Russian principalities 04:56 Catholic and Mongol threats 06:24 Mongol invasion 08:00 Grand Duchy of Moscow and Lithuania 09:59 Ivan the Terrible 11:43 End of the Rurik Dynasty 12:56 Time of Troubles

BELARUS

Wikipedia - Belarus

Belarusian Coat of Arms

Belarusian Flag

A History of Eastern Europe: Ukraine-Russia Crisis

Dec 15, 2016

Wondrium

Taught by Professor Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius, an award-winning professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, these 24 insightful lectures offer a sweeping 1,000-year history of Eastern Europe with a particular focus on the region’s modern history. You’ll observe waves of migration and invasion, watch empires rise and fall, witness wars and their deadly consequences—and come away with a comprehensive knowledge of one of the world’s most fascinating places.

This video is episode 23 from the series A History of Eastern Europe, Presented by Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius

Learn more about Eastern European History at https://www.wondrium.com

This course goes far beyond issues of military and political history. Professor Liulevicius delves deeply into the cultures of this region—the 20 nations that stretch from the Baltic to the Black Seas. You’ll meet the everyday citizens—including artists and writers—who shaped the politics of Eastern Europe, from poets-turned-politicians to proletarian workers who led dissident uprisings. Breathtaking in scope and crucially relevant to today’s world, A History of Eastern Europe is a powerful survey of a diverse region and its people.

00:00 Ukraine Erupts Into Crisis in 2014

02:10 Background to Ukraine-Russia Crisis

07:26 West Vs. East Conflict in Ukrainian History

11:03 A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian

13:52 Ukraine Gains Independence

15:59 Ukraine Becomes Dependent on Russia 

18:37 Gains for Ukrainian Reform Lead to Disappointment

22:31 Russian Media Denounces Protesters as Nazis

25:54 Ukraine-Russia Conflict Becomes "New Normal"

27:44 Russian Power Abuse Echoes Late 1700s

UKRAINE

Wikipedia - Ukraine

Ukrainian Coat of Arms

Ukrainian Flag

  

Phil Snyder says it best...

"As if our world could take one more thing.

"War is ruined time. It is forged for the sake of ego and empire, and it leaves those who put their faith in it forever hungry for more, with an insatiable thirst that is never satisfied, all while those who so desperately want to avoid war instead find themselves weeping for irretrievable pasts and lost futures, wondering how they will endure it all, or if they can endure it all. 

"War doesn’t fill the void, it exploits it, exposes it, enlarges it. Violence begets violence, and the world loses count. There is no glory in warfare, only loss, only sorrow. Loss of life for the victims, loss of soul for the perpetrators, and loss of promise and possibility beyond anything we will ever know. War is an incalculable evil that breeds irreparable loss. That nations try to find meaning and purpose in it is a sickness unto death. 

"In Dante’s Inferno, there’s a place in hell where despots and warmongers have to acknowledge the traumatic truth of who they are, to come face to face with how much suffering they caused. Only then can they change. But the problem with that is not just that it’s fiction. Even if it were real, by then it is still too late for this world, where the warmongers have already created too many hells on earth. And it does nothing for those in Ukraine, who just want to sleep and just want to live, who just want to be able to step outside and walk down their street. Which shouldn’t be asking too much.

"Justice is always too late for this world, it seems, and I guess sometimes that just grieves me beyond words.

"My heart and prayers are with the people of Ukraine." 

- Phil Synder, Feb 24, 2022 

GEORGIA

Wikipedia - Georgia

Georgian Coat of Arms

Georgian Flag

  

CRIMEA

Wikipedia - Crimea

Crimean Flag

RUSSIA

Wikipedia - Russia

Russian Flag

Russian Coat of Arms

Ethnicities of Russia

Post-Colonialism never really leaves, it just morphs into something else. To be trully committed to freedom one must be willing to give up biases and hatreds and learn a new language of love, respect, and understanding. - re slater

REPORT

What has set the stage for the conflict?

Ukraine was a cornerstone of the Soviet Union until it voted overwhelmingly for independence in a democratic referendum in 1991, a milestone that turned out to be a death knell for the failing superpower.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, NATO pushed eastward, bringing into the fold most of the Eastern European nations that had been in the Communist orbit. In 2004, NATO added the former Soviet Baltic republics Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Four years later, it declared its intention to offer membership to Ukraine some day in the distant future -- crossing a red line for Russia.

Putin sees NATO's expansion as an existential threat, and the prospect of Ukraine joining the Western military alliance a "hostile act" -- a view he invoked in a televised speech on Thursday, saying that Ukraine's aspiration to join the military alliance was a dire threat to Russia. 

In interviews and speeches, Putin has previously emphasized his view that Ukraine is part of Russia, culturally, linguistically and politically. While some of the mostly Russian-speaking population in Ukraine's east feel the same, a more nationalist, Ukrainian-speaking population in the west has historically supported greater integration with Europe. 

In early 2014, mass protests in the capital Kyiv known as Euromaidan forced out a Russia-friendly president after he refused to sign an EU association agreement. Russia responded by annexing the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and fomenting a separatist rebellion in Ukraine's east, which seized control of part of the Donbas region. Despite a ceasefire agreement in 2015, the two sides have not seen a stable peace, and the front line has barely moved since. Nearly 14,000 people have died in the conflict, and there are 1.5 million people internally displaced in Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian government.

In the eight years since, Moscow has been accused of engaging in hybrid warfare against Ukraine, using cyberattacks, economic pressure and propaganda to whip up discord. Those tactics have escalated in recent months, and in early February the State Department claimed Putin was preparing a false-flag operation to create "a pretext for an invasion." 

What does Putin want?

In a lengthy essay penned in July 2021, Putin referred to Russians and Ukrainians as "one people," and suggested the West had corrupted Ukraine and yanked it out of Russia's orbit through a "forced change of identity." 

That type of historical revisionism was on full display in Putin's emotional and grievance-packed address to the nation on Monday announcing his decision to recognize the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, while casting doubt on Ukraine's own sovereignty.    

But Ukrainians, who in the last three decades have sought to align more closely with Western institutions like the European Union and NATO, have pushed back against the notion that they are little more than the West's "puppet." 

In fact, Putin's efforts to bring Ukraine back into Russia's sphere have been met with a backlash, with several recent polls showing that a majority of Ukrainians now favor membership of the US-led transatlantic military alliance.  

In December, Putin presented the US and NATO with a list of security demands. Chief among them was a guarantee that Ukraine will never enter NATO and that the alliance rolls back its military footprint in Eastern and Central Europe -- proposals that the US and its allies have repeatedly said are non-starters.

Putin indicated he was not interested in lengthy negotiations on the topic. "It is you who must give us guarantees, and you must do it immediately, right now," he said at his annual news conference late last year. "Are we deploying missiles near the US border? No, we are not. It is the United States that has come to our home with its missiles and is already standing at our doorstep."

High-level talks between the West and Russia wrapped in January without any breakthroughs. The standoff left Europe's leaders to engage in a frenzy of shuttle diplomacy, exploring whether a negotiating channel established between France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine to resolve the conflict in Ukraine's east -- known as the Normandy Format talks -- could provide an avenue for calming the current crisis.

In a news conference with the new German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on February 16, Putin repeated unsubstantiated claims that Ukraine is carrying out a "genocide" against Russian speakers in the Donbas region and called for the conflict to be resolved through the Minsk peace progress -- echoing similar rhetoric that was used as a pretext for annexing Crimea.

But less than a week later, after Russia's upper house of parliament approved the deployment of military forces outside the country on February 22, Putin told reporters that the Minsk agreements "no longer exist," adding: "What is there to implement if we have recognized these two entities?"   

The agreements, known as Minsk 1 and Minsk 2 -- which were hammered out in the Belarusian capital in a bid to end a bloody in eastern Ukraine -- have never been fully implemented, with key issues remaining unresolved. 

Moscow and Kyiv have long been at odds over key elements of the peace deal, the second of which was inked in 2015 and lays out a plan for reintegrating the two breakaway republics into Ukraine. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently stated that he did not like a single point of the Minsk accords, which require dialogue on local elections in the Russian-backed separatist regions and -- although unclear in what sequence -- would also restore the Ukrainian government's control over its eastern borders. Critics say the agreement could give Moscow undue sway over Ukrainian politics.

Putin previously responded in blunt terms by saying that regardless of whether Zelensky likes the plan, it must be implemented. "Like it or don't like it, it's your duty, my beauty," Putin said in a news conference alongside French President Emmanuel Macron. Zelensky, a former comedian and TV star, won a 2019 election in a landslide on promises to end the war in Donbas, but little has changed. Responding to a question about Putin's stark, undiplomatic language, Zelensky responded in Russian, saying bluntly: "We are not his."

- CNN

What does Putin want in Ukraine? The conflict explained

https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/24/europe/ukraine-russia-conflict-explainer-2-cmd-intl/index.html

Lions and Lambs - A vision of humanity living together with one another.

Isaiah 11.6-9

6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,

and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,

and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;

and a little child shall lead them.

7 The cow and the bear shall graze;

their young shall lie down together;

and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,

and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.

9 They shall not hurt or destroy

in all my holy mountain;

for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord

as the waters cover the sea.

And the lion shall lay down with the lamb...

by R.E. Slater

When I read verses like Isaiah 11.6ff it tells me that the God of Love who is unwilling to be God without us also urges us to learn to live together in love and kindness towards one another. That we, God's children, are unwilling to be called such if we refuse to love one another.

The biblical hope in Isaiah 11 s for predatory people to stop destroying their fellow vulnerable members. To hold, rather, a vision of living rightly together with one another in supportive communion, grace, forgiveness, mercy, equality, and fairness without slander, harm, gracelessness, thoughtlessness, or hate.

The heavenly communities we envision here on earth must first begin here, on earth, with us, everywhere. Otherwise we have not done our job disobeying Jesus to live peaceably with one another.

And if you think about it, there is no magic formula in heaven which brings people together, as so many people here on earth  believe. If Jesus is the magic formula than the possibility of heaven lies also here on earth with us, and it is we, Jesus' followers, who are not allowing this to happen.

So many say, "God wins." Which is not true, God wins ONLY when "Love wins." Otherwise the formula is backwards. Fear, hate, racism, ends when love wins, not God. 

God works through us to create the possible. If we refuse then God cannot work. The God of Love is the God of the possible who has enlivened His love in us. Submit, therefore, and be enlivened to God's Spirit of love.

Love is relational. It relates to all things - from earth to people. Live love, be love, seek love-and-reparation with all. Be the lion that humbles itself to live with God's lambs. Those without hope. Of a different color. Who believe differently (not toxically like so much of the Christian religion bent on "overcoming evil with evil").

Be the dove of peace, the sacrificial Lamb of God, the Servant of El Shaddai, who whispers, "Peace be still." God wins when Love wins.

R.E. Slater
November 7, 2021

Other verse references 

https://www.openbible.info/topics/lion_and_the_lamb_lay_down_together

The Lion shall lie down with the lamb

https://kingsenglish.info/2011/05/26/the-lion-shall-lie-down-with-the-lamb/

by By Glen on May 26th, 2011

Here’s a phrase that has morphed from it’s biblical origins.  Isaiah wrote about “the wolf dwelling with the lamb while the leopard lies down with the kid… and the young lion” (Isaiah 11:6).  Yet, as with a phrase like “Pride goeth before a fall." it’s the abbreviation that has survived the test of time: "the lion shall lie down with the lamb."

But however it’s phrased, what could sound more unnatural than a wolf or lion lying down with a lamb?

It’s a vision that has drawn mockery from many quarters:

—  “Only in art will the lion lie down with the lamb, and the rose grow without thorn” (Martin Amis)

—  “No absolute is going to make the lion lie down with the lamb unless the lamb is inside.” (D.H. Lawrence)

—  “The lion will lay down with the lamb, but the lamb won’t get much sleep.” (Woody Allen)

Isaiah has painted a deliberately provocative scene.  Nature, as Tennyson reminded us, is red in tooth and claw.  How absurd to think that nature itself could be tamed!  What could possibly bring about such a cosmic reversal?

Well, as ever, Isaiah answers by pointing us to the Messiah.  In the face of warring nations and warring nature, Isaiah continues to set our hope on a miraculous birth.  He will be called Immanuel or the Prince of Peace, or here in chapter 11 He’s called “the Branch.”

And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: 2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; 3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: 4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.  5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. 6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them… 9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.  (Isaiah 11:1-9)

When the true King reigns in righteousness, the world is set to rights.  This is not a spiritual truth divorced from historical and physical reality.  There will be a day when actual wolves and actual lambs graze together contentedly.  When seals will swim happily with great white sharks.   When children will play with crocodiles.

Impossible! Ridiculous! Fairytales! you might say. Yet Isaiah refuses to live in a double-decker universe. We often think that Christian truths apply to a spiritual realm while the real business of life occurs on some irredeemable physical level. We might concede that Jesus has spiritual power but, we imagine, it has no bearing on the way of the world.

But Isaiah cannot believe in such a divorce of spiritual and physical.  He believes in a very earthy Messiah.  He believes in God with us.  A God who becomes a Child.  A God who really enters into our world – to be born as a human king.   The power of heaven will enter into this world from the inside.  Not simply to grant spiritual benefits to spiritual people, but to remake His own creation.

We know that the false king, Adam, brought spiritual and physical death.  Well then, is Christ less powerful than Adam?  Is His victory less decisive than Adam’s fall?  No.  Therefore Christ, when He comes again, will bring spiritual and physical redemption to the ends of the earth.

The believer in Christ has a physical hope – death defeated, wars vanquished, disease abolished, nature itself brought to peace and prosperity:

6 And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. 7 And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations.  8 He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it. 9 And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.  (Isaiah 25:6-9)