Gravitas is a word we don’t hear much of these days. It is a Latin word that has made its way into our vocabulary. It means, “dignity, seriousness or solemnity of manner,” according to Oxford Languages.
There is a lot to be serious about these past few weeks since Russia invaded the Ukraine. Unfortunately, thanks to the twenty-four-hour news cycle, some have made comments that show a lack of gravitas or at least good sense. I have heard remarks calling for the assassination of Vladimir Putin. Do not these people remember what started World War I? In 1914, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were assassinated in Sarajevo. A chain of events followed and Europe was plunged into the First World War. This ended with the loss of 40 million lives and the devastation of Europe.
Many are calling for NATO to establish a No-Fly Zone over the Ukraine. If just one NATO plane is shot down by the Russians, it will invoke Article 5, the commitment clause of the Alliance, forcing all countries in the Alliance to engage in the war. War is hell, there is no doubt about that. We are no longer talking about conventional war though. Many of the nations involved have a nuclear capability and heaven forbid, we could be talking about nuclear war.
Those of us who have lived in the nuclear age know that the possibility of nuclear war is very real and we should be ever so careful to not enter into a conflict that could trigger such a war. Words matter and we need to have a certain gravitas when discussing the possibility of actions that could indeed escalate into a nuclear conflict.
Image by Boa Photo Studio, courtesy of Pixabay.
Valerie Cullers 
Hi Valerie, While I appreciate the validity of your post, the Bible says they’ll be wars and rumors of wars. We don’t know who’ll start the wars, what their weaponry will be, but we know who wins!!! The Bible says when you see these things begin to happen … we’ll we’re seeing them. We know God’s in control, He holds us in the palm of His hand, and when we pray in His name, we can move mountains. So we pray that this “mountain” tumbles and lives are spared, changed, and at peace in Jesus. 🙂
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Yes, I so agree with you! Thank you so much for your insight. It really helps to keep our eyes on Jesus and His words!
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I couldn’t agree more, Valerie.
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I try not to watch much news but the sometimes it is unavoidable.
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Yes, and it is SO upsetting at the moment with all the suffering in the Ukraine!
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You make a good point about the need for gravitas in the present crisis.
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Our leaders need to be SO careful with their words!
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Particularly nowadays when much (most?) of what leaders say is taken out of context.
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Absolutely!
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I am in agreement with you in the choice of words. The chain of events things can evoke can easily plunge Europe into war. I pray against such a thing. May the Lord put an end to this.
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Amen!
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Absolutely – words matter! And not only have some shed the cloak of gravitas but they have removed the garments of civility too.
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Boy, so agree with you!!! Right On!
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I remember in school we practiced drills of hiding under our little wooden desks in case of a nuclear bomb going off. I laugh at it now, but I guess they were trying to give us something to do to get our minds off the threat. We need to change our focus where it belongs, on God. He’s got this!
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He does but it still is ugly down here and could get very ugly quickly!
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I know! I heard a great lyric yesterday, “when the sky is falling who I turn to, I turn to the One who put it up there in the first place.”
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