GOD & UKRAINE - LIFE CREDO
The origins of CYM are based on two main credos — a belief inGod and pride in our heritage and origins of our identity. For
Ukrainians or people of Ukrainian origin this means an
acknowledgement and acceptance of Christianity and our Ukrainianforefathers.
God created the earth and everything in it — the Universe. God of
course also created Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. Ukraine is
generally the place where our grandparents or great grand-parents
were born. For some this is not the case as our grandparents wereborn elsewhere in the former Yugoslavia, or England or even
Australia, but sometime back there were ancestors born in Ukraine.
Because we believe in God, we should abide by the
Commandments. This basically means that we shouldn't just think
about ourselves and what mum and dad might buy us next, we
should think about our immediate and wider family, our friends
and neighbours and generally about others.
KNOWLEDGE - SPIRITUAL STRENGTH & LIFE WEAPON
Knowledge gives us a weapon for solving all sorts of daily
problems. Knowledge provides a good basis on which to build a
view of the world and life philosophy. Knowledge about self isalso important as it helps us to understand our behaviour and also
our relationships with others. Knowledge assists us to understand
the achievements of others, of other nations, including Ukraineand its people. The enemies of Ukraine over many years changedthe truth about Ukraine and disseminated many lies about
Ukraine and Ukrainians by revising and rewriting its history,
presentation of our culture as heirs etc. We can fight this throughknowledge - we need to learn about Ukraine, read about it andlisten.
IDEALISTIC PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE
CYM encourages spiritual values not materialistic. This means a
belief in human spirit and soul and that each person also has his
own free will to choose the course of action he will take. This
type of world philosophy also says that humans are part of
communities of which the most important unit is the family.
In the idealistic sense nations are the highest forms of community,
formed by mutual origins, culture and traditions.
LOVE OF YOUR FELLOW MAN
Loving your neighbour is one of the highest Christian values.
Without this people would be like animals. Without this principle
it would not be possible to have friendship, community life andnations, because there would neither be a foundation nor goodwill
on which to build and develop. There would be constant fighting
and fear and a primitive way of life.
We should care for our fellow man - through love, a desire to help,
doing good deeds, even protecting and helping someone in need,
especially our sisters and brothers, our friends in our SUM family
and people beyond CYM, neighbours and school friends.
LOVE FOR UKRAINE
Ukraine is the birthplace of our ancestors - great grandparents,
grandparents and maybe our fathers or mothers. Even though mostof us were not born in Ukraine we can get to know about Ukraine
and even feel close to it through visiting, hearing about it and
learning about it. We just need to want to. No-one can force
Ukraine into your heart or make it part of your identity. It's up toyou!
There is no reason why we shouldn't be proud of our heritage. Yes
by all means eat Ukrainian food and sing Ukrainian songs but alsosupport Ukraine How? One of the main ways is not to just thinkabout yourself but also about the bigger picture - about the we,
that is the Ukrainian community - participate in Ukrainian mass,
go to Ukrainian school, participate in choirs, folk dancing,
concerts, visit old Ukrainian people. Why? To better understand
ourselves.
FAITH, HAPPINESS AND OPTIMISM
The principle of faith is very important in the Christian context
because in our belief in God we show that we believe that not
everything can be merely explained by science and logic. Some
things require a leap of faith. This is a great gift to have.
Your spirituality should include happiness and optimism because
along with faith they provide great strength to tackle and overcomenot onlyindividual but also wider community problems.
AN UNDERSTANDING OF OBLIGATION AND RESPONSIBILITY
Most people need other people. This is a human characteristic. This is why SUMivczi should understand why the carrying out of obligations
and responsibilities in relation to God, family, other people such as ourfriends and even the Ukrainian community is important. We shouldn't
try to pass off our obligations and responsibilities onto others throughlaziness or an uncaring attitude. As adults or nearly adults we
shouldn't carry out our obligations because someone tells us to, but we
should do it because we understand we are important in the scheme ofthings and someone needs to take responsibility and follow through
our obligations to show our caring for our fellow man.
