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OUR LIFE Monthly, published by Ukrainian National Women’s League of America V O L XLI J A N U A R Y 1984 EDITORIAL YOU AND I HAVE THE SAME HERITAGE! We love o ur cou ntry, o ur nation! T his is a statem en t th a t is often repeated — in o ur songs, prose and poetry; w e repeat it in our art, in our hom es, even in o ur clo th in g . It is p articu larly expressed on anniversaries, es p ecially those of Janu ary 22, 1918 and 1919. These tw o dates, are the corn ersto n e under the structure of our free nation. T h ese w ere the first steps of a m odern nation tow ard a d em o cratic constitution. T h ey will never perm it the return of u ninfo rm ed masses w ith out a heritage or a nam e. Much has been w ritten not only abo ut personal love, but also abo ut love fo r ones c o u n try and nation. But w h a t is the source of this love? For those w ho w ere born and raised in U kraine, this love com es naturally. As one d issident said, “W e love H er not becau se she is the fin est; but fo r us she is the finest b ecau se she is ours — because w e love h er.” T h e o ld e r gen eration , born in U k ra in e is separated from its hom elan d by space and tim e ; but th e ir love for their land has not dim inished. It is streng th ened by m em ories and longing for their h om e land. But fo r the y o u n g er g en e ra tio n , born and raised beyond th eir native land, the so u rce of th eir love are th o s e who b ro ug ht w ith them a spark of love and w ho are able to pass this spark to the next gen eration . Yet a s p a rk alone is not eno ug h. In o rd er fo r it to develop fu lly , one m ust get to know ab o u t the subject of this love, its history, culture, art and custom s. If you do not k n o w and understand the past, you can have no future. Erich From m w rites “Love is not a sen tim en t w hich can be easily ind ulg ed in by anyo ne, regardless of the level of m a tu rity reached by h im ” and “T h e m ore kn o w ledg e is inherent in a thing, the g re a te r the love.” T h e w ords of A n to ine De Saint Ехирбгу in “T h e Little P rin c e ,” often quoted by w riters and philosophers, tell us th a t an o b ject of love b eco m es d ea r to us only after w e devote o ur full attentio n to it, a fte r w e w ork for it and after we feel responsible for it. Thu s, w e see that it is not eno ug h to know abo ut im p o rtan t dates in our history; w e m ust study history in its entirety, com prehending both its causes and its effects. W h en w e look at our history and c o m p a re it to the his tory of o th er captive nations, w e can tru ly see how m uch our nation has been able to w ith stan d. O th e r nations, subjected to w hat w e w ere subjected to, w ould have beco m e only ethnic groups. Evhen Sverstiuk, sentenced to 7 years im prisonm ent and 5 years of exile, in his “S o b o r u R yshtovan ni,” q uo tes Russian p hilo so p h er G ercen , “T h e w ild and w a r ring, yet d em o cratic freedo m of U krain e sustained itself for centuries” Ukrainians, although constantly attacked by Poles, T urks, and Russians never s u c c u m b ed .” “Even serfdom instituted by the czarist rule w as unable to e rra d ic a te artistic and individualistic feelings in U kraine. Every village in U krain e had its legend w hile Russians did not even know their own h istory.” Sverstiuk w rites, “T h e re is no logical explan ation for o ur rebirth after all w e have been subjected to. From our roots con stan tly g ro w shoots, alth ou gh they are never allow ed to blossom .” Further, “T h e y have cut us dow n at the tru nk, forgettin g that the seed throw n dow n in battle still g ro w s .” T h a t seed is the love of our land. “W hen the heads of the defeated are bow ed and th eir strength fad ed, w e see them rise o nce m ore, tall and strong like a voice of the self-preservation of a n atio n .” S everal generations of o ur nation have been raised in o pposing circum stances — som e in the free w orld and som e in th e ir native land. T ho se raised in U krain e have been totally isolated from the W estern w orld, iso lated from sources of inform ation and know ledge. U n der such circum stances, the birth of the individualism , the quest fo r truth and the w illingness to figh t fo r it can only be con sidered a m iracle. T h e dissident m ovem ent is a sign of the truly g reat strength of o ur nation. B eing in the free w orld, how do w e in turn treat them ? As long as they are in captivity, w e sup po rt them , alth o u g h not as stro n g ly as w e could. T h e re are those w ho live h e re that try to tell those w ho live th e re w hat to do. And how do w e treat those w ho have m anaged to com e here? W e do not take into consideration that our opinio ns m ay differ, a result of having been raised in d if fere n t w orlds. W e critic ize th e ir w ords, and actio ns or aban do n them because they do not live up to o ur e x pectations. W e can only w o n d e r how w e, b ro ug ht up in total freed o m and dem ocracy, have not learned to tolerate others w ith the sam e ideals and goals, but w ith d ifferen t opinions on m atters not related to these goals. T o w ho se b en efit is this? It com es to m ind that, this spark of distrust could o nly be instilled in o ur relatio n ship by those to w hom our united U krain ian society could becom e a serious threat. T ranslated by M ary Jarym o w ycz Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
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