This time of year brings to mind a story that, I understand, took place in Kiev, Ukraine. Let me share it with you.

Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin was a powerful politician. As a Russian Communist leader, he played a part in the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. He was a full member of the Politburo and the editor of the Soviet newspaper Pravda ("truth"). He wrote extensively on economics and political science.

The account is that this man, Bukharin, took a journey from Moscow to Kiev in 1930 to address a large assembly. Focusing on the subject of Christianity, he presented arguments and proofs against the faith. He mocked and insulted its adherents. An hour later he was finished. He looked out at the audience and asked, "Are there any questions?" Silence filled the auditorium; but then one man approached the platform and mounted the lectern, standing near the communist leader. He stood and surveyed the crowd. Finally, he shouted the ancient greeting well known in the Russian Orthodox Church: "Christ is risen!"

En masse, the crowd thundered the response: "He is risen indeed!"

The voice of that assembly in Kiev reminds me that, while voices of oppression continue to speak today, the message of resurrection, new life and hope prevails.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

Steve Thiessen, CEO

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