Seeing Darkness

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Armodoxy for Today: Holy Thursday – Seeing the Darkness

Holy Thursday is remembered as the night that after Jesus broke bread with his disciples at the Last Supper, he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, was betrayed by Judas, arrested, tried, tortured, mocked and humiliated and sentenced to death.

In the Armenian Church, the evening is marked with the service called “Khavarum” (=darkness) during which the Passion narrative from the perspective of the Four Evangelists – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, is read aloud in church. Following the story the evening unfolds portraying God who has humbled himself to understand His creation, and now we the created, have an opportunity to understand our God, our Creator.

Seven different passages from the Gospels are read during the evening, intertwined with the singing of a sharagan (hymn) called “Aysor Anjar” written by St. Nersess Shnorhali, the 12th century Armenian Church theologian and Catholicos. Alphabetically arranged according to each letter of 36 letters of the Armenian alphabet, the hymn follows the Passion of Christ by juxtaposing ideas and events that stimulate wonder, ponderings and mediation on the events of this night.

As the evening progresses, one by one, the candles in the church are extinguished until the congregation is left in complete darkness, hence the name Khavarum. As the narrative and the Passion plays out, the Light of the World, Christ, is betrayed and executed. In the darkness, you contemplate what the world would be like, without Christ in our midst.

Tonight is the night of light and darkness. Somewhere in the shadows of the night you actually see darkness. It is not emptiness, but a darkness that begs to be lit. You are in the courtyard now. The trial is taking place insider. Peter is about to deny Christ. You hear the moans and cries of your Savior, you notice the indifference of the people, you hear the lies of religious establishment and in between, you ask yourself where and how you stand.  Who is Jesus? Who is he to you?

“Eh” The Eternal Now: Christ Consciousness Awakens in a World on Fire

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Ancient Armenian wisdom meets today’s spiritual hunger. Father Vazken reveals why the Kingdom of Heaven isn’t coming later, it’s already here, right now, if we dare to live it.

Los Angeles, CA – April 1, 2026

Highlights from a candid, 54-minute conversation recorded in the shadow of the San Gabriel Mountains, Epostle’s Gregory Beylerian and Father Vazken sat in Greg’s restored 1986 VW West camper van for what may be one of the most timely spiritual dialogues of the year. Just days before Easter, in the middle of Holy Week, under the full moon that sets the date for Easter, the two friends unpacked the single most radical idea in Christianity, one the Armenian Church has guarded for 1,700 years: Christ is not a memory. Christ is presence.

The conversation begins with Archbishop Derderian’s prophetic vision from last year: “Epostle is the future of the Church available today.” Father Vazken smiles and says, “We were talking about Christ consciousness centuries before the world gave it that name.”

At the center of their exchange is one small, luminous Armenian letter: Է (Eh) the seventh letter of the Armenian alphabet, the verb “to be” in the present tense. “It means ‘is,’” Father Vazken explains. “Not ‘was.’ Not ‘will be.’ Right now. He is. God is. Christ is.”

Greg recalls walking into ancient Armenian churches in Armenia  with Father Vazken. in 2014 and seeing that same symbol glowing above every altar. “I asked Father Vazken what it meant, and when he told me… it was my aha moment. Eckhart Tolle, Ram Dass, Oprah, they were all pointing to the same doorway the Armenian Church had been pointing to since the 5th century.”

From there the dialogue flows like living water:

The Kingdom is now. Jesus didn’t say “the Kingdom is coming.” He said, “The Kingdom of God is in your midst.”

Greg responds, “So no one needs to die first to get there.” The resurrection is not a future event; it is the victory of light over darkness that happens the instant we choose love over fear.

The cross is not a symbol of torture, it is the ultimate symbol of love. Father Vazken shares the story of an Indian Orthodox Catholicos who removed his ring, handed it to him to read the Armenian inscription, and told his people: “These Armenians have never known Christianity without suffering. Listen to them.”

Revolution is not protest with an end time. Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday as a protest against empire. He didn’t go home at 4 p.m. He went to the cross. That is the difference between temporary activism and eternal revolution.

Father Vazken doesn’t shy away from today’s headlines. He calls the absurdity of solving problems with violence “the playground logic of grown men who never grew up.” He challenges the idea that any war can be fought “in the name of Christ.” And he reminds listeners that the Armenian people were invaded, genocided, exiled, never lost the one message that still offers the world hope: Presence.

The conversation crescendos as the two men connect the dots between the full moon that determines Easter, the resurrection that turns the worst Friday into “Good Friday,” and the personal resurrection each of us is invited into right now.

“Suffering is not the end,” Father Vazken says. “It is the a doorway to resurrection. You cannot get to Sunday morning without Friday. But once you see through the lens of resurrection, even Friday becomes good.”

Greg closes the episode with a simple, powerful question that lingers long after the recording ends:

“If fear has brought us this far… what would love do next?”

Watch or listen to the full conversation.

Because the future of the Church is not coming.

It is already here.

Eh.

He is.

We are.

Right now.

“Eh” Artwork by Gregory Beylerian

Presence of Christ

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Armodoxy for Today: Presence of Christ

On this Great Wednesday of Holy Week we focus on the Presence of Christ. During his ministry Jesus continually referred to the little children as the pure, innocent, uncorrupt ones who are in tune with God.

“Let the little children come to me,” says Jesus, “and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 19:14) The children, being pure of heart, have access to God, and therefore, the Presence of Christ.

Before He was betrayed, before his trial and crucifixion, Jesus ate one last meal with his loved ones. Known as the “Last Supper,” this is where Jesus gave his instruction to disciples. Addressing them by using the same descriptive phrase, “Little children,” Jesus tells them, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13) He placed love as the highest standard for identification as a follower of Christ.

As they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” (Matthew 26) These words of Institution established the ritual of Communion.  It is a sacred and a holy act by which we literally and completely absorb Christ as the energy source by which we live the expression of love. The Christ Presences is not outside of you, but, in the words of Jesus, “Indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”  (Luke 17)

As we move through Holy Week, today we must answer a simple, and fundamental question: Where is the Christ Presence in your life?

Hint: Look at your acts of Love.