It’s one of Russian painter Nikolai Yaroshenko’s most iconic works. Out of the window of a prison car, a small child feeds a group of pigeons. We’re not told who the child, his mother, or their fellow captives are. Yaroshenko’s title is our only clue: Life Is Everywhere. 

As the world watches the situation unfold in Ukraine, we are forced to deal with the world’s fundamental brokenness and the stark reality of human evil.  

But at the same time, there’s something even more pervasive than evil and death: life. Today, even in Ukraine, babies will be born, marriages officiated, and neighbors will gather to sing and pray. 

On an even deeper level, redeemed life is everywhere. Jesus came that we may “have life and have it abundantly.” That life is not about material wealth. Neither is it about simply waiting for heaven. 

Rather, it’s the reality of God’s Kingdom right now. That can be simple as feeding pigeons or giving a cup of cold water to those in need. The joy Christians are able to take in life points to an ultimate hope: a hope that cannot be shaken.