Credit: BBC News

In the midst of inflicted anguish, grotesque brutality, diaspora, death, grief and immeasurable pain, we witness Ukranians, male and female, young and old, showing the world what immense courage and leadership are really all about.

As though staying alive were not huge task enough for them, there are people so generous, so big hearted, so hopeful for the future of their country they're taking time to cover, hide and protect their precious works of art, their heritage, the very landmarks of their bringing to birth, their childhoods, their youth, their marriages, their parenting, maturing, old age, and the honouring of their dead. All with the sound of deadly shelling ringing in their ears.

What the brave people of Ukraine are courageously defending is that 'art,' that love, that is literally beyond price, because it is the immortal 'pearl' of life beyond borders, beyond even death: they are defending SOUL … and ultimately the life of all humankind will depend upon planet-wide insistence upon doing the same.

πŸ™πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦πŸ™