A few hours later, there’s a news report on local TV about Obama’s visit. I listen inattentively as they described his trip to Dreamworks studio. But my ears perk when I heard the word “Armenian” in the report. No, it wasn’t about the little Armenian Church that sat across the landing strip. It was a story about a group of local Armenians who “ask President Obama to display the Orphan Rug at the Smithsonian.” What? What local Armenians? I was there. We were the local Armenians. What was this all about?

I did a quick Google search. What happened today? Did I miss something? No. The search led me to the unreliable pages of the Glendale Newspress. And there I read it for the first time. A group of local Armenians got together to ask President Obama to display the Orphan Rug. There they were. Clergy, laity, political leaders and the infamous Glendale School Board. One was missing: President Obama. Yes, they were “asking” President Obama for recognition, but he wasn’t there to hear them! What a non-story! And it was being reported! I expect non-stories from the Glendale Newspress, but I also heard it on NBC-4. Well, so goes their credibility.

Let’s think about this for a moment. A group of Armenians get together, they have a press-conference to address the president. The President is not there to answer back, so we know the answer is not going to change, that is, it will be no. So this sad group goes to battle, knowing it will be defeated and their message is one of complete dependence – asking someone else to verify their reality. (Underlying the Orphan Rug controversy is the bigger issue of Armenian Genocide recognition.)

Instead of the Non-Story…

The bigger story would have been if a group of Armenians offered a message of Thanksgiving to the President. This evening, our small Church on the corner, packaged and delivered turkeys, and boxes of food to hungry people throughout the area. In fact, it’s something we do weekly as part of the parish’s outreach. We walk “In the Shoes” of the homeless and the hungry because we were once homeless and hungry. Yes, the same people who were once called the “Starving Armenians” are now feeding the starving. THERE is your answer to recognition. Why would I want to be a victim if I AM a victor? Why would I need someone else to verify my reality?

The President was standing across the street from an Armenian Church. This Armenian Church exists today because I exist. It exists because there are generations that didn’t die but live today. To the point, two little girls, four generations removed from the Genocide, came by during the presidential-visit. They laughed, spoke and sang in Armenian with me. They even learned some Armenian sacred painting techniques from Arpine. Yes, Armenians are not only here after Genocide, we’re creating and teaching the next generation. Who or what entity do I need to verify, recognize or acknowledge this reality? Our Armenian Church has a sign on it that proclaims its OUTREACH through Epostle, In His Shoes and Armodoxy. Simply put (and to the point): We are alive and creating.

So I offer a Thanksgiving message to President Obamba: Mr. President, to me you are a symbol of the United States of America. This Thanksgiving we take a moment not to complain about the things we don’t have but rather to be thankful for the things we do have. The freedoms that we enjoy here in the United States are empowering. I know. My grandparents were immigrants escaping the tyranny of the Turkish Ottoman state. They were survivor of the most heinous of all crimes, Genocide. They found refuge in this great country. My grandfather filled vending machines in New York City. He worked and supported my grandmother and two sons. Together they laid the foundation for my father’s education, career and life. My mother’s father cut hair. He took care of his family and laid the ground work for my mother’s life.

Sound familiar? Of course. It’s the story of America. Our parents gave us the necessary tools to become the people we are. This is a story of strength and growth.

Are there problems here in America. Of course. I’m looking at one of them right now. We’re so scared of ourselves that we have to protect our leaders with massive armor and might. That’s a price we pay. There’s inequality around us. There are economic issues and now, the battle for equitable health care opportunities. But in a society where we can dialogue and engage in conversation, all of our problems can be resolved. America is not a sinking ship

Preparing Thanksgiving Meals – Once starving, now feeding

because it is built on hope. That hope is what America gave to my grandparents. Hope is what gives me strength. I’m thankful to America for that Hope.

I wish everyone would know the story of the Armenians. It is not up for debate. It is a matter of history. If the president chooses to ignore it, we are hurt, but his ignorance doesn’t change the reality. We change the reality when we allow our documented and true stories become non-stories. That’s what happened today by the sad attempt to create a story out of something that wasn’t there.

Happy Thanksgiving. Thanks!

Video clips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XyLX_ref3I

A series and collection of events, every day-in and day-out

Thursday – Worked at the Ascencia homeless shelter. In the process of food distribution, thought about the place of responsibility. Sixteen kids lived in the shelter, seven of them from one family. Where’s the conversation about birth control and the need for personal responsibility?

As I walk out, I’m confronted by an ex-heroin addict. He tells me he’s cured by Jesus. In the same town, Glendale, on TV, the Church, clergy and Christ are being degraded and humiliated. People listen and applaud. People listen and support.

Meanwhile, a priest, his church and the love in the heart of the congregation has not asked any questions, only fed the hungry based on Christ’s message to help and have compassion.

Friday – I’m dealing all day with a woman victimized by her husband in an overt case of domestic abuse. We’re careful not to call it “violence” because she has not been beaten, but she has endured the wounds of words and neglect on her psyche and soul.

We reach out with wings. It’s “Datev” Outreach. A couple of us offer help and support. All of sudden she’s been given the greatest of all gifts, she has hope. She believes that things can get better. Her brows ease up and a smile appears on her face.

At what point do the husbands stop beating their wives? When do we identify problems of anger, lust, addictions and address the issues before those issues destroy lives? Where and when does the true “manliness” conversation begin to the responsibility to love?

And all the while, it’s a small group of the Church. It is the Body of Christ that is in motion.

Saturday – Funeral service. She’s lived for 89 years, married for 66 of those years. This woman radiated beauty. She was in church every Sunday until her dying day. She brought her children up in the Church. Some of the grandkids don’t speak Armenian, but no one would dare to question their ethnicity. They are Armenian all the way through – mind and soul without a question, without a doubt.

We’re a long way from Glendale: Fifty miles to the South, light years in mentality. This woman raised her family in the Armenian Church. There was no compromise when it came to the Armenian Church. It was the place where she lived. The same Armenian Church that today is passed up for the soccer field and the Armenian clubs on Sunday mornings.

Sunday – Divine Liturgy. We’re in another parish. It’s a brand new building. The priest’s voice is beautiful. Is there more to say? Some 20, maybe 30, people show up for worship. What do they get from the service? What is redeeming about it? It’s very difficult to sit through one of these. Here’s the question – why would anyone want to sit through a terrible opera?

We have a good thing in Glendale. It’s taken us several years to get it to that point. It’s a different understanding of spirituality at our church. It’s a process. It’s singing. It’s participating. But what do we find on the outside? Is this a unique reality? Or are we just seeing a smaller version of the norm throughout the Armenian Church world?

It’s depressing. It makes us depressed. We’ve done everything to make the Church accessible. It’s not being accessed and in other parishes, even that little access is denied. When do we reach critical mass to effectuate change?

We talk about the Church as the “Body of Christ.” Where else do you find or see this understanding of the Sacred Institution, the House of God?

I get it. I’m on another page. That’s why the need for Armodoxy. The Church if not there. It’s traditions and liturgy are beautiful. They speak to the angels. But to us mortals? The connection is lost. So before it’s too late we have to make sure we are there. The need for relevancy is ever more accented this day.

Before going to sleep that night I read a sorry story of ANOTHER loss. How many of these will it take before we say enough? Here we find a young woman who is unable to connect with her Church. She’s in a stand-off and rather than fight and expelling the people who don’t belong there, she jumps ship and finds expression elsewhere. How many more of these will it take?

I go to sleep, but I can’t. It’s a toss and turn night until a dot wakes me to consciousness.

Monday – We have a meeting to organize our work. It requires putting the pure entity into a box. The box gives it structure and also boundaries. That’s OK for an organization, a club or a fraternity, even for a hospital. What about the Body of Christ? Can that be put into a box?  We can’t. You see, I just got word that another 130 people were killed in Darfur and the Genocide continues. It’s been the enough moment too long. While the Armenians are going to commemorate 100 years of Genocide, the evil continues. There’s only one answer to evil. I know it. We have it. 

The box is there. It’s the structure that gives form. It’s the structure that fools us into believing the building is the church. It makes us lose sight of the mission that defines the Church. The box is the structure that gives the awards and accolades to people, while ignoring those who give a hand and those who need a hand. The box makes us believe that the Institution is corrupt, and even prevents us from supporting the sacredness of Church, i.e., the Body and its Mission. Yes, support is withheld in the guise of thoughtful giving.

And so… when someone criticizes the Church and shies away from using the name of Jesus Christ, I have to think it’s due to a fundamental misunderstanding of terms and function. But I also feel it is due to our betrayal of the fundamental foundation of our Faith.

I’m done. It will not be a stand-off this time.

The name of Love is Jesus. Crush my cold and stony heart with your love. -St. Neress Shnorhali