Patience

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Armodoxy for Today: Patience

This week we’ve been taking a look at time and timing. Directly connected with the measurement of time is one of the virtues, patience. Patience is understood as an essential quality for leading a fulfilling and balanced life and tops the list of virtues.

Expectations are the cause of our disappointments. Expectations are built on our perception of time. We expect certain things to happen – to get something, to be accepted into a school, to fall in love, to receive a promotion, to have a wrong corrected – and when those expectations are not realized we, at the very least, are disappointed. Expectations are built on our self-imposed time-tables and patience is thrown out the door when we impose those restrictions. If you think about it, it is the disappointment and the discouragement that leads to the large numbers of depression and mental anguish in our day, caused from a society that is based on immediate gratification. Walk into a store, or go up to a vending machine, put your money in or hand it over, and you are gratified. And note, that I didn’t say satisfied. As we develop patience, expectations are reduced, hence disappointment and frustrations are eliminated from our life.

Next week, the Lenten Season begins. It is a time to grow in Faith and to strengthen out of our weaknesses. It is a time where patience can be developed through the dietary and disciplinary practices imposed on us by the Church.

Lent begins on Monday. The Sunday before Lent, this coming Sunday, is referred to as “Poon Paregetan” or “Boon Barekendan” depending on which side of Ararat you come from. The word translates to Good Life or Good Living. It is a day of indulging before the Lenten practices kick in.

The duration of Lent is forty days. But the real purpose of Lent are the 325 days that follow the forty. The skills, the discipline and patience that are learned in Lent are what help us in our everyday life. Armodoxy is about training the self to be at peace with his or her world, developing the virtues that build relationships that are cornerstone for a world of peace and understanding.

Celebrate the Day of Good Living this Sunday and then join me on Monday as we begin the Lenten Season.

We pray, Lord Jesus Christ, you gave yourself for the salvation of the world. On the Holy Cross you endured the suffering and persecution of your Creation. Your patience on the Cross was defined by Your Love for us. Help me to understand my limitations and build the virtue of patience to overcome my challenges with the tool of Love. Amen.

God’s Time

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Armodoxy for Today: God’s Time

This week we’re exploring timing: how events, large and small, take place over the course of time. Time marches slow when you’re young. You can’t wait to get older, to walk to school by yourself, ride a bike, later a car. To date. To stay out. You can’t wait to get older. Time is slow. And the older you get, time seems to be rushing through at too fast of a pace. You want to pull the breaks, but there’s no way to slow it down.

Time is in fact, relative, not on because of any complex Einsteinian equation but by simple mathematics. For a child of two years, a year is a half a lifetime! For a person of 70 years, that same year is 1/70th of a lifetime. Of course it goes by fast!

Sometimes to cut our anxiety and temper our impatience we refer to “God’s time,” an idea that God has a predetermined time for events to happen, and that it may differ from our own sense of time. In non-religious terms, we say, “In due time.” God’s time is beyond our measurements. In the passage where Jesus is tempted by the Devil, it says, “In an instant he showed him all the kingdoms on Earth.” (Luke 4) That instant might be understood as outside of time.

In Armenian churches throughout the world the symbol of “է” (pronounced ‘eh’) is found atop altar tables, on khatchkars (stone carvings of crosses) and on ornamental vestments. The “է” is the seventh letter of the Armenian alphabet, seven being the number of universe, or completeness, that is, the combination of four (for the corners of the earth) and three (the number of the heavens as in the Trinity). In the Armenian language that symbol/letter is the verb to be in the present tense. It is. It is, is the name of God. No He was, not He will be, but He is. He is the eternal present. In the Old Testament, in the Book of Exodus (3:14), God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the People of God: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” And before Biblical times, throughout Armenia, near the base of Mt. Ararat, at the cradle of civilization, markings and symbols point in temporal terms to the eternal truth of living in the moment. That’s Armodoxy. That’s “O.G. Christianity.” In Jesus’ experience, “in an instant showing all the kingdoms of Earth.” As we grow in faith we align more and more with the Eternal and with eternity, with the “է”.  Aligning with “է”, finding God, is the purpose of good religion and certainly the call made to us by Christ. There, we find that God’s timing is perfect.

We pray, from the words of St. Peter, (2Peter 3:9) Lord, You are not slow in keeping Your promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, You are patient with us, not wanting anyone to perish, but for everyone to come to repentance. Keep me strong in my faith and in my love for You and all my brothers and sisters. Amen.

Untime

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Armodoxy for Today: Untime

“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die,” says the author of Biblical Book known as Ecclesiastes (chapter 3). Nature has its rules, you are born, and one day you will die. Sometimes, however, time does not play by nature’s rules and children are the casualty. Appropriately, we refer to the death of children as “untimely” – it is against the natural order of life. In my ministry, sadly I have had to officiate at too many funerals for children, while their broken families looked on in disbelief and torment. Even one such funeral would be “too many,” but illness, accidents, drugs and war have all taken away lives that were just about to begin, so “too many” is exactly what you understand it to be.

Back in 2006 I was called to officiate the funeral of a 15-year-old named Vahagn. Classmates, friends, relatives, and just people who knew him or his family, packed our church in Hollywood. I remember the enormity of the crowd, filling the pews, the balcony, the aisles and even standing outside the windows on Vine Street, to be a part of this service. While most people knew or knew of Vahagn in his life, I had a unique vantage point: I got to know Vahagn through the expressions and tears of his loved ones and friends. Each story that was shared that day expressed the love someone had for this young man. It’s one thing to love, and quite another to be loved. Vahagn was both, he was loved because he loved. In that love, now I have come to know him.

Soon after his passing, the family established a charitable foundation in his name with a specific goal to ensure that Vahagn’s passion for music, the arts, laughter and human joy will continue to flourish in the community he loved so dearly. Every year, the Foundation organizes an event such as runs, 5K walks or a tree planting ceremony, around the Beverly Hills City Center, where they live. At one of the events, I remember Vahagn’s father memorializing his son’s words, “There are no big or small stories, they all need to be told.” We planted a tree that year, and the area was designated as Vahagn Setian Grove. His father continued to explain that the tree will grow and provide shade to people for years to come, many who will never know Vahagn.

And so, a story was told that morning. Time stopped. Vahagn will forever be 15. For the new generations that enjoy the shade of the tree and the beauty of the grove, time will continue. They will know only the love of Vahagn. Biblically, the phrase, “Love never ends,” is defined.

Through the years, I have attended the annual gatherings. They are early enough on Sunday mornings so that I’ve been able to get in a 5K walk and still make it to church services. At one of the early memorials, they passed out a green rubber bracelet with a simple message from Vahagn, “Live, Love and Laugh.” I have worn that bracelet ever since. It is my daily reminder to live, love and laugh from this young but big life that had a great impact on so many.

We pray, Heavenly Father, you gave us the gift of life and we are grateful. Help us to honor and cherish your gift of time. Instill in our hearts the love for simple and elegant gestures of love. May we find the message of hope, faith and love in those acts. Bless the little children. Amen.

Monument: Time back to front

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Armodoxy for Today: Time back to front

This week we’re exploring timing: how events, large and small, take place over the course of time, what is meant by “God’s time” and why patience is a virtue. Yesterday, I shared with you the story of the Armenian Martyrs’ Monument in Montebello which received historic landmark status by the state of California.

My grandparents, all four of them were survivors of the Armenian Genocide (1915-1922). They came to America with literally the shirt on their backs. The next generation, that is, my parents, were the ones that built life up from scratch. They were the ones that recognized the importance of remembering the past to prevent it from happening again. The Montebello monument was built with that intention by the efforts of an entire community of people who supported the idea of remembering. A small group of 18 men spearheaded that effort, and I’m proud to say that my dad was one of the Monument committee members. In April 1968, His Holiness Vazken I, the Catholicos of All Armenians, dedicated the monument in a ceremony that was witnessed by thousands.

So, there I was at the foot of the 75-foot monument, with a few hundred people in attendance, to turn over the monument to the State of California in its dedication as a historic landmark, in line with places such as the Golden Gate Bridge, Hearst Castle and the Los Angeles Coliseum. I was standing as the center link of five generations in the time continuum that unites us. My grandparents and my parents are memories today that are sparked by this monument. I’m standing there looking out at an audience that included by children and grandchildren. Five generations represented with memory, presence and a future. I was honored and privileged to offer the opening prayer for the dedication of the monument as a Historic Landmark.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for this beautiful day and this chance to leave a legacy by designating our Martyrs’ Monument as a historic landmark. Bless all those who made this a possibility.

Montebello means beautiful mountain, and with this monument and all that it symbolizes – the 1.5 million  martyred SAINTS of the Armenian Genocide, this has become a holy and sacred mountain for us, a place where we can remember the past and also stand in thanksgiving to this country, the United States of America, for opening its doors to us as a place of safety and a place where we felt belonging.

Bless, O Lord, the work of our hands. May this monument continue to stand as a beacon of remembrance and inspiration, inspiring us and the generations to come, to remain vigilant against injustice and wherever the unspeakable crime of Genocide is thought of in this world. May we be moved to action and work for peace. We ask this in the name of the Prince of Peace, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.”

Join me tomorrow as we continue on this thread.

Monument joins Golden Gate & Coliseum

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Armodoxy for Today: The Time is Right

On Friday, February 21, 2025 the Armenian Genocide Memorial Monument in Montebello, was designated as a historic landmark by the State of California, joining other historic landmarks across the state such as the Golden Gate Bridge, Hearst Castle and the Los Angeles Coliseum.

Plans for the Armenian Genocide Monument began as a dream 60 years ago. It was around the same time that plans were taking form in Yerevan, Armenia’s Capital, for the Tsitsernakaberd Genocide Memorial Monument, which today is part of a complex that is visited by hundreds of thousands of people every year.

The Armenian Genocide claimed 1.5 million Armenian lives from 1915 to 1922. It was the children of the Genocide survivors – both in Armenia and in California – that dreamt of and brought to fruition these memorial monuments.

My father was one of the dreamers. He was one of 18 men who made up the Armenian Monument Council (Montebello) and brought that dream to reality in 1968. I was 12 years at the opening of the Monument, but I remember several activities, from the groundbreaking on, where we – the kids of the Council members – were the “gofers,” doing the leg work, selling trinkets and pins at the events to collect a few dollars.

Timing is everything, they say. The timing was right for these structures to take form. In Armenia, which was part of the Soviet Union, the time was right. It was in the post-Stalinist era that this came to be. In America it was during the Civil Rights movement that ethnicity was being celebrated. The African American community was rebelling against segregation. Martin Luther King Jr. had made the “I have a Dream” speech in 1963, and protestors were chanting, “Black is beautiful” as a mantra of ethnic pride. It caught on and Mexicans were heard chanting, “Brown is beautiful” and Armenians joined in the chorus with “Olive is beautiful.”

The time was right and it all came together. This week on Armodoxy for Today, we’ll explore timing and how events, large and small, take place over the course of time, what is meant by “God’s time” and why patience is a virtue.

I share with you this gentle prayer, “Dear Lord, grant me the strength to be patient in moments of difficulty. Help me to trust in Your timing, knowing that everything happens according to Your divine plan. Guide my heart to remain calm and steadfast, even when the path seems uncertain. Fill me with Your peace and understanding, so that I may endure with grace and faith. Amen.“

Realigned on Track

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Next Step #800 – February 22, 2025 – Back on track, episode #800 is a recharge, realignment and recommitment to the goals and purpose of the Next Step. The Armenian Genocide Memorial in Montebello is designated as a California Historic Landmark. Fr. Vazken shares his thoughts as he sits through a ceremony that recalls the past, praises the present and offers questionable options for the future. Remembrance of the opening days in 1968. In this episode you’ll hear a move from hopelessness to a realignment of purpose for the Next Step podcast and his ministry.
Montebello Monument Historic Landmark Ceremony (video)
Prayer over Montebello Monument – Historic Landmark Designation
Coverage: Montebello Monument Designated Historic Landmark
ABC Coverage of Monument Designation
Leveraging Love is the Next Step
The Mother Ship: Epostle.net
Life is a Long Song by Jethro Tull
Daily Podcasts – Armodoxy for Today – epostle
Produced by Suzie Shatarevyan for http://Epostle.net
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Religious Scams & the Weakest Link

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Armodoxy for Today: Religious Scams & the Weakest Link

We have all become familiar – too familiar – with this word, scam. We have heard of Internet scams, financial scams, email and telephone scams, and try to exercise some degree of caution against them. Banks, financial institutions, even health care foundations issue warning about the threat of being scammed. But when it comes to religious scams, we are certain that it could never happen to us. After all, we think, I’m a Christian, born and raised a Christian, and I know what I believe to be true. In that statement we find the weakest link in what protects us from religious scams.

These days we have everyone and their uncle professing authority in all matters concerning Christ, Christian faith and Christianity. Quote a few Bible verses and do it loud enough on a social media account, and anyone can proclaim just about anything with some degree of authority by virtue of the platform. Fake news gets tagged; but anything goes when it comes to religion, especially Christianity. With wars and talk of wars escalating, the field is open for end-of-world predictions that have to do with a battle called Armageddon.

Because religion is a personal matter, people don’t really care to know the background story. For instance, the Armenian Church, being an Apostolic Church, that is from the time of the Apostles, has a unique spot in the Christian world and speaks with authority when it comes to Christian concepts and dogma. Still, it’s easier for people to believe what they want, as hideous as things may be, rather than educating oneself.

So, in the interest of passing along some information which you may not know, here are a few things to keep in mind as you read through the scary predictions which are being made in the name of Christ and Christianity.

1 The Old Testament is not salvific. Jesus Christ is the fulfilment of the law and the prophets.

2 Jesus is the Son of God and therefore His ethnicity transcends our understanding of ethnicity. He belongs equally to everyone and to all ethnic groups.

3 The word Israel means the “people of God.” After baptism in the Armenian Church, we proclaim the person a member of the “New Israel” which is not to say they belong to the Jewish state in the Middle East.

4 Jesus will return. His return is imminent, but it has been imminent since the 1st century. For this reason, Jesus says, “About that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Matthew 24:36)

5 The location of Jesus’ return is not disclosed. It’s his business. He asks us to love and care, not to predict places. Despite what you have read or heard, if Jesus decides he wants to come back in Puerto Rico or in Armenia, you can site all the pages in the Bible and all the preachers that you’ve heard, he doesn’t have to go by those rules. Again, He asks us to love and care, not to predict places.

6 Anyone who predicts Jesus’ return on a specific date or place is running a scam.

7 The Book of Revelation was written by St. John, one of the 12 disciples. He was imprisoned on an island writing to the Christian’s of the time. He wrote in a code that they, the people of the time, would understand. The message is simply: endure the sufferings and persecution, God’s victory is guaranteed in the end.

8 Who goes to Heaven is God’s business. Ours is to love and care for one another and leave the rest to God. Our prayer – your prayer – should be: Lord have mercy.

These are just a few items I wanted to share with you considering all the scary religious misinformation that’s being pumped out in the name of Christianity. There’s much more and that’s why we created Epostle and hope you follow the ancient teachings.

Pray the Prayer that our Lord Jesus taught us: Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

Divine Liturgy: Constant Witness to a Miracle

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Armodoxy for Today: 144 year old witness to a miracle

Last year I was in Seattle celebrating the Christmas Eve service on January 5 at the Holy Resurrection Armenian Church. I was filling in for their parish priest who was away on assignment for the Diocese. The weather was cold and wet which is expected that time of the year in the Northeast US. The Holy Resurrection Armenian Church stands just in the right position for its large stained-glass window of Christ to shine and illuminate the dark night. It was welcoming. I was greeted by the church’s deacon who led me to the vestry in preparation for the service.

At the altar table I opened the “Book of Mystery” (Khorhrtadedr) which contains the prayers, both audible and private, for the priest. The deacon pointed out the publication date printed on the first page: 1880! On the page that followed, the imprimatur  sanctioning its publication, by His Holiness Gevork IV, who served as Catholicos of All Armenians from 1866-1882.

The church filled up with worshipers and we celebrated the Divine Liturgy that evening. Young and old families gathered. The young children brighten the inside of the sanctuary as the stained-glass window had lit the outside darkness. The big “family” of the Church was present.

Every one of us was about to participate in a miracle, a miracle which may have gone unnoticed even though everyone was a part of it. There were no thunderbolts or lightning strikes to announce this miracle. In fact, this miracle had its origins before electricity even reached our houses! In front of the Holy Altar was a book, the Khnorhrtadedr, which was printed 144 years ago (in 1880), before cars or flight and much before the Genocide which tried to destroy a people. This book had made it through the Genocide, through the years of communism and was now in a spot half-a-world away from where it began, leading the worship of Armenians. The fact that we weren’t supposed to be living and are now not only alive, but worshipping Christ, singing Christos dzunav yev haydnetsav – Christ is born and revealed in all corners of the world, against all the odds is a testament to the greatest miracle of all!

The Divine Liturgy, represented by this old book, is the constant witness to the miracle.

It all fell in place that evening. We remembered the Baby in the manger, and the voices of the heavenly hosts proclaiming, “Peace on Earth and goodwill toward men.” We acknowledge this miracle and accept that we can be the agents of peace and goodwill in this world. Christ is born and revealed!

We pray, “Lord our God, Thank you for revealing your miracles in small packages. The book that leads our prayers, or the manger which holds Your Son, are Christmas miracles that we celebrate everyday. Amen.”

Cannonballs and Butterflies

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Armodoxy for Today: How many times?

In the early 1960’s, Bob Dylan wrote and sang a beautiful song which also became an anthem for an era and a generation. In “Blowing in the Wind” Dylan asks a series of questions beginning with, “How many roads must a man walk down before you call him a man?”

“The answer is blowing in the wind,” is his answer to each of the questions. It is a folk song where the poetic words reverberate with the thoughts and worries we may harbor. One question in particular strikes me today, “How many times must a cannonball fly before they’re forever banned?”

The history of the world is a history of war, blood and violence. In the last few years Hamas attacks Israel, Israel retaliates hundred fold. Russia attacks Ukraine, Ukraine fights back. World powers choose sides, supplying weapons and troops. Still fresh in our minds, we witnessed the cowardly barbaric actions of the Azeris that exiled a group of people from their historic lands, against the backdrop of silence from the world community. And the same silent atmosphere prevails around lesser-known hotspots, particularly in Darfur, Sudan and the Congo.

Ironically, we can only wish that they were hurling cannonballs at one another. The art of war has escalated so far that the answer is blowing in the wind – a wind carrying debris, the stench of death and nuclear fallout.

Economically, people complain of higher prices, but concerts and sporting events sell out with exorbitant prices tags on the tickets and Amazon reports record profits year after years, with an assortment of products, from electronics to housewares. I’m reminded of another one the many voices of the 1960’s, John Lennon, who once observed, “If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there’d be peace.”

Could the answer to peace be as simple as that? That we merely must want it and, therefore, demand it? Certainly, we’re seeing Amazon rake in millions of dollars selling second, third or fourth television sets to people who demand it. Why are we not treating peace as something we want, and therefore demand? We have turned over the rights to geo-governance and determination to politicians and so-called leaders who have betrayed our confidence, to say it politely.

In these Armodoxy lessons, I’ve brought to you the message of Jesus Christ which the Armenian Church has followed for centuries. It is simple: Peace is at hand, our hands. God has endowed each and every one of us with the ability to create our story, personal as well as communal. Our eyes are before us, not behind us. Look forward. In Jesus’ words, “Seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness.” (Matthew 6:33) The answer may be blowing in the wind. Catch it and realize we hold that answer.

I leave you today with one of my favorite anecdotes of a young monk who is determined trick his master with a simple question. With his hands behind his back, he says, “Master, tell me, is the butterfly in my hand dead or alive?” The young boy thought he cornered his elderly teacher in a place he could not escape. If he says, the butterfly is alive, I will crush it in my hand, he thought, And if he says, it is dead, I will open my hand to let the butterfly fly away.

The master was truly worthy of that title. He looked at the young monk in the eye: “The answer,” he said, “Is in your hand.”

 

Kierkegaard: Backward & Forward

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Armodoxy for Today: Directions to past and present

Albert Einstein once said that a ship is always safe at shore, but that is not what its built for. The shoreline is always safer than the waters that carry the boat beyond the horizon, unless, of course, the shore is susceptible to erosion, tide wave, or the squabble of men in war. Granted, there are safe and dangerous conditions connected to every decision we make.

The Christian is called to a life of productivity, using his or her talents to the best of his or her ability. This direction forward can be stifled by fears brought upon by past experiences. Theologian and philosopher Søren Kierkegaard writes, “Life must be understood backward. But it must be lived forward.”

The gentle balance between learning from the past, and living for the day is Jesus’ message, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Matthew 6:34)

We pray from the Armenian Book of Hours, the morning prayer, We thank You, O Lord our God, who granted us restful sleep in peace. And being awakened, caused us to worship Your awesome and glorified holy name. Grant us to pass the remainder of the day in peace. Living our lives with pure behavior in this world, may we reach the peaceful haven in eternal life. Amen.