Small Steps too

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Armodoxy for Today: Small Steps

Richard Dawson was a popular game show host during the 1970s. In one episode of the “Family Feud,” he came out to the cheers of the studio audience and in front of the millions who had tuned in to the weekly show. He took a long puff from a cigarette, exhaled, threw the butt on the floor, stamped it out, turned to camera and exclaimed, “That was my last cigarette!” The audience cheered even louder. And then, without missing a beat, he added, “… for the rest of the show.”

Often, we are overwhelmed with the size and magnitude of our dilemmas and problems. The war in Ukraine has been going on for a couple of years. Artsakh was taken over by the Azeris. The war between Hamas and Israel continues with a new campaign. Next to wars, our planet is threatened by weather changes, overbearing populations and food shortages. Add to these global issues our own private and personal challenges of health, finance and relationships and it’s easy to see why so many people are overwhelmed and diagnosis of depression is on the up. We have heard the Chinese proverb, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step,” but our gaze is usually stretched out so far ahead that we fear inevitable defeat. We succumb to those fears and abandon the run.

Armodoxy is discovered in the long run. It has been cultivated through a history of overwhelming odds for survival and has pulled through. Armodoxy came from a people who thanked God for the day and found themselves in continuous prayer for millennia. It is the small victories, the day-to-day accomplishments that add and make the entire story of life. The smoking habit is overcome by putting out that first cigarette. That long race is won by taking the first step. Peace is achieved by the small expressions of compassion and understanding.

Take a moment to enjoy the victory of a single minute, hour, day, year and you’ll find that the prize is a life filled with meaning and purpose.

Today we pray a prayer from the Armenian Church’s Book of Hours, Jamakirk, Lord our God, we give thanks to You, for You have granted us to pass this day in peace. Grant us, O Lord, to pass this evening and the night before us without sin and stumbling, and to stand firm and abide steadfastly in faith, in hope and in love and in the observance of Your commandments. Give peace to the world and stability to Your holy Church and salvation to our souls. For to You is befitting glory, dominion, and honor, now and forever and ever. Amen.

Cover photo: Elements Envato, Cigarettes in a Pack

Indigenous Peoples’ Day

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Armodoxy for Today: Indigenous Peoples’ Day

A few years ago, by presidential proclamation the second Monday in October became known as Indigenous Peoples’ Day here in the United States. It’s a holiday that celebrates and honors indigenous American peoples and commemorates their histories and cultures. At least for now that’s what the intent is, and soon enough, as people become more familiar with the holiday, sales for houseware and vacations will creep into the dialogue.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day began in the 1990s as a counter-celebration to the Columbus Day holiday in October, honoring the explorer Christopher Columbus who, “Sailed the ocean blue in 1492.” The objection to Columbus Day came from people who pointed to the violent history of colonization, not only in the 15th century, but throughout the centuries in the Western Hemisphere.

The Indigenous Peoples’ Day holiday reverberates especially heavy with me today. Only a few weeks ago, Artsakh (Nagorna Karabagh), the indigenous home of the Armenian people, was violently stolen from the Armenian people. A historic land inhabited by Armenians for centuries is decorated from one side of the country to the other with churches and monuments of the Armenian Christian faith, attesting to the inhabitants and their history on that land. Tragically, the indigenous people were subjected to starvation, deprived of health services and, in that frail condition, the weakest of the population were killed as a threat to the rest of the inhabitants. Finally, the Armenians were forced to surrender their land to the Azerbaijan government.

I get it. I understand why Indigenous Peoples’ Day has to be remembered. When we were kids, we were given a school holiday for Columbus Day. I know how hurtful it will be in a few years when the Azeri school children are treated to an Aliyev holiday, recognizing that he (the President of Azerbaijan) stripped the land of Artsakh of Armenians.

Unfortunately, our celebrations are mostly built upon the accomplishment of warriors. Let us never forget that it is the victors who write history. A small population of people, as the Armenians are, will have a history that always must be defended against rewrites.

In February of 2017, my wife and I flew out to North Dakota to stand with the indigenous people at Standing Rock. There was a pipeline going through their land, which they referred to as “The Black Snake.” We spent several days, walking “In their shoes.” I take to heart the words of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King who said, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” We stood with several people who had come to protest. At that gathering, at the village, set up on the icy shore of the frozen lake, we stood with protesters, some for the sake of the environment, some against government policies, others because it was the place to be, or, like us, because we found a common thread in our histories – between the Armenian people and the Indians at Standing Rock – that we needed to share. One man said to me, “We’re all here for different reasons.” That’s for sure. That’s why we were there, to celebrate the different reasons that propel humanity. In other words, the spiritual Indigenous Peoples’ Day – where we understand we are all indigenous to our planet.

Our only hope for survival as humankind is connected to our ability to respect one another, respect the uniqueness of each person. Respect is built upon understanding and walking in the shoes of others is a means of understanding, of showing empathy. In Armenian, we have an expression, tzav’t danem which literally means, “let me take your pain,” but it is more powerful in its true meaning, of “let me feel, and therefore understand, your pain.”

Everyone feels pain. Everyone has felt pain and defeat. Indigenous Peoples’ Day should also give us an opportunity to empathize with others, to have goodwill toward one another to bring, Peace on Earth.

Let us pray, O Lord Jesus Christ. At your birth, the angels proclaimed your purpose for being with us: Peace on Earth, Good will toward one another. I thank you for the elements that make me who I am. As I celebrate my uniqueness as your creation, let me never forget that I belong to the larger family of humanity and let my actions and work be to promote a better understanding of people, each of us, as indigenous inhabitants of this planet. Amen.

Cover photo: Standing “In His Shoes” at Standing Rock, North Dakota. Listen to the Podcast 2017

 

Discipleship

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Armodoxy for Today: Discipleship

This weekend the Armenian Church celebrates the “72 disciples of Jesus.” Before you accuse me of having my thumb on the scale, adding an extra 60 to the group we’re all familiar with, read the details in the Gospel of Luke (chapter 10), “The Lord appointed seventy-two others also, and sent them two by two before Him into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.‘”

Discipleship in the Gospel was a calling given to a group of students, in this case of Jesus, with a mission. Jesus sent these 72 disciples with these words, “Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road. But whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house.  Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’”

With these words, Jesus sets the tone for Christian missionary activity. It is focused. It is selfless service. It is to spread the Gospel which, as we hear in the passage, it centered in peace.  With this same invitation many people have followed the call of Jesus, some into the clergy, others, have embraced it as a way of life as their personal lay ministry.

It is from this passage that Christianity was delivered and spread. In the case of the Armenian Church, when we reflect on its apostolic roots, today we are reminded that the holy apostles, be they Thaddeus, Bartholomew or one of the others, were part of this mission. Everything we know of Jesus, His Love and His teachings was delivered to us because of the work of these faithful disciples of Jesus, working through this Holy Body, the Church.

The word “disciple” may conjure images of men in the apostolic age. DaVinci’s “Last Supper” is perhaps one of the most famous depictions of Jesus with his twelve disciples. Today’s focus on the 72 help us go beyond the stereotypical images. In the passage we read, note that the 72 are referred without reference to gender. In the early Church discipleship was accessible by all.

At every moment of our lives, we are invited to be disciples of Christ. Never look further than yourself to find the necessary openness to the divine teaching of Jesus Christ.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one of the most prominent Protestant theologians of the 20th century, was killed by the Nazis during World War II, for his defense of the Jewish populations. He was outspoken about the despicable and horrid treatment of that population. His weapon of criticism was the Gospel of Jesus Christ and he went to his death in defense of that Gospel. He wrote much about discipleship.

On this weekend where we focus on discipleship, I leave you with these words of Bonhoeffer on discipleship and Grace. Here are words for contemplation, for meditation:

True discipleship is characterized by obedience to Christ. There is “cheap” and “costly” grace. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession. It is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate. In contrast to cheap grace, costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus. It comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart. It is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace because Jesus says: “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Cover photo: Disciple at Ghazanchetsots Cathedral, 2014 Fr. Vazken

Reciprocity

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Armodoxy for Today: Reciprocity

Jesus gives a specific instruction on how to pray. He says to make it concise, that God already knows our needs and therefore pray like this: Our Father, who is in heaven, may Your name be holy. May your kingdom come, and may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread and forgive us the wrong we have done as we forgive those who have done us wrong. And keep us away from temptation and deliver us from evil. (Matthew 6:9-13)

Of all the requests that we make in that short prayer, Jesus emphasizes forgiveness by adding to the prayer, For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

At one point, Peter asks him “How often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” and Jesus replies, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. (Matthew 18:21-22)

And he shares a parable in which a wealthy man, in this case a king, who wants to settle his accounts. A servant of his owed him $10,000 and was unable to pay his debt. The king ordered a repayment plan that would put severe hardship on him, his wife and his children. The man, fell at the king’s feet and begged him to be patient and he would take care of the debt. The king was so filled with compassion that he forgave the servant his debt.

In turn, the man went out and found a fellow servant who owed him a much smaller amount, about $100, and demanded – even manhandled him – “Pay me what you owe!” The person fell to his knees and begged the man to be patient and promised to pay the debt soon. Instead of showing even a small bit of compassion, he ordered the person be thrown into prison until he should pay the debt.

When others saw what had happened, they reported this the king. The king called him and said, “You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?” In his anger, the king had the servant delivered to torturers until he should pay all that was due.

Jesus summarizes the parable by saying, “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.” (Matthew 18:23-35)

Forgiveness is the cornerstone of Armodoxy. Understanding, compassion and love are all built upon the foundation of forgiveness. It is so essential to the understanding of Christianity that Jesus reiterates it at the end of the “Our Father” prayer and shares this parable asking us to put our feet in the shoes of others. Don’t let the use of personalities, such as kings and servants, file this story under irrelevant, understand that we all fall into the trap of the servant. God has forgiven us our trespasses. He has forgiven the greatest debt we hold. We start with a clean slate at baptism and each opportunity to commune with Christ. Accordingly, we don’t have the right not to forgive others.

As the world comes to terms with the wars and abandoned diplomacy, we build a life of prayer which begins with forgiveness, both ours and those of others who have hurt us.

Let us pray, Lord our God, we ask that you heal the wounds and the ills of this world. You stepped out of the comfort of Heaven to place your feet in the shoes of humanity. You forgave without reservation. In that spirit, help me to understand the pain and struggle of my fellow human being, to forgive those who have hurt me. Keep your example ever before my eyes. Amen.

Cover photo: 4/24/2005

Alternatives

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Armodoxy for Today: Alternatives

Yesterday, in our message about wisdom, we spoke of processing knowledge. I gave two examples of how Jesus was confronted on issues of knowledge and instead opted to answer with wisdom. Looking deeper into the two examples, we find wisdom presents alternatives that are overlooked when only knowledge is applied to the decision-making process.

In John chapter 8, a woman is caught in the act of adultery and the evangelist tells us that they brought her to Jesus “To test him.” (vs 6) The law given by Moses to the Jews, commands that such a person should be stoned to death. The “test,” then, was to see if Jesus would say yes or no to stoning. If he refuted it and gave her a “pass” they would hold him in contempt of the law. If he agreed to stoning, they’d question the sincerity of his message of love and forgiveness.

Jesus agrees to the stoning on the condition that whoever is without sin throw the first stone! One by one her accusers backed away until she was left alone. Jesus asks her, “Where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” Neither does he condemn her, and says, “Go, and sin no more.”

It is important to mention that of all the people huddled around the woman, only Jesus, being sinless, was qualified to throw a stone, but he doesn’t. Given two options based on the knowledge of the law, Jesus, in his wisdom, overrode the law by presenting an alternate solution.

The second incident was also a test with a seemingly binary solution. We read in Matthew 22:12-21, they ask if it is “Lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” (vs 17) The Jews were subjects in the Roman Empire and the question of paying taxes might explain where Jesus’ loyalties lied. Saying yes to taxes would make him a friend of the Roman Empire, saying no would set him up a troublemaker among the people. Again, having the knowledge as background, Jesus gives an alternative within the parameters of the circumstances. Asking for a coin, he asks, whose face is on the coin? The answer, “Ceasar’s.”  Accordingly, he directs them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

Some people acquire wisdom based on life experiences and inner conviction. But Jesus is wisdom, says the theologian and saint of the Church, Nersess Shnorhali.

Throughout the Gospel Jesus is put to the “test” to select one or another way? “Should we forgive a person who sins against us seven times?” he answers, “Not seven times, but seventy times seven.” (Matthew 18) “Send the people home so they can eat,” the disciples warn Jesus and instead he feeds the crowd of 20,000. (Matthew 16) They bring a quadriplegic for him to heal, and he says, “Your sins are forgiven.” (Matthew 9) And the list goes on.

Jesus, the “wisdom of the Father,” presents an alternative to the yes/no answers we assume are the only options. Looking at a world plagued by war, hatred, greed, and pollution of body, nature and soul, often we reduce issues to factors based on knowledge and miss the options granted by wisdom.

St. Nersess Shnorhali offers this prayer request which we read today, Jesus, Wisdom of the Father, grant me your wisdom that I may speak, think, and do that which is good in your sight. Save me from evil thoughts, words and deeds. Amen.  

Processing Knowledge

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Armodoxy for Today: Processing Experiences

There is an old adage that says with age comes wisdom. It’s based on the supposition that through life experiences we acquire knowledge, and we process that knowledge into wisdom. But the process of processing that knowledge is not consistent across the vast variety of people, that is not every one’s processing of knowledge leads to wisdom.

The Book of Proverbs, found in the Old Testament, is about wisdom. The first few lines of the Book of Proverbs explain why the book is written:

To know wisdom and instruction,
To perceive the words of understanding,
To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity;
To give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion—
A wise man will hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,
To understand a proverb and an enigma, the words of the wise and their riddles.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

When the Armenian Church monk Mesrob Mashdots invented the Armenian alphabet at the beginning of the 5th century, the first bit of text that he translated were these words of preface of the Book of Proverbs. It is said that he did so to test the discovered letters before embarking on the translation of the entirety of Holy Scripture.

It is worth re-reading this passage with the knowledge that for the Armenian Church, this quest for wisdom was a priority of mission. Armodoxy attests to this. Most religious traditions share a quest for wisdom. Today, in an age where knowledge is a google-search away from anyone with a keyboard and processor – desktop, laptop or phone – the mechanism for processing that knowledge into wisdom is lost.

An anecdote which illustrates that process of knowledge to wisdom, is a beautiful story which has a counter part in many different traditions. In Buddhism it is told of a master and a student, in Armodoxy we tell it of an elderly priest and the young seminarian. In an effort to trick the master, the young student comes up with a scheme that will certainly prove that the wisdom of the elderly priest was not processed knowledge. The student placed a small bird in his hand and hid it behind his back. He turned to his teacher and said, “I am holding a bird in my hand, can you tell me if it is dead or alive?”

The scheme was rather clever. If the master said the bird was alive, then the student would crush it in his hand and reveal a dead bird. If the master said the bird was dead, then the student would merely open his hand and the bird would fly away. In both instances, the master would be wrong.

With bird in hand tucked behind his back, the young man approaches the elderly priest and asks, “Tell me master, is the bird I am holding in my hand, dead or alive?”

The priest, with a smile on his face, responds, “The answer is in your hand.”

The wisdom from this short story is profound, as most wisdom is. We are living in a time and space where we are quick to spew out bits and pieces of knowledge, and we now even have computer assisted means by which we can gather more and more knowledge. Wisdom is the necessary processing of knowledge. Jesus, processed knowledge into wisdom when he allowed for the stoning of the adulterer, but only by those who had no sin (John 8), or answered the question of taxation by saying “Render unto Ceasar what is Ceasar’s and unto God what is God’s.” (Matthew 22) In fact, on closer look we find that Jesus is wisdom. St. Nersess Shnorhali refers to him as “Wisdom of the Father.” Our survival as a people and species depends on finding wisdom. That wisdom is within our reach.

We pray, from St. Nersess Shnorhali’s 11th hour, Jesus, Wisdom of the Father, grant me your wisdom that I may speak, think, and do that which is good in your sight. Save me from evil thoughts, words and deeds. Amen.  

Cover photo: Courtesy Gregory Beylerian

Alive

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Armodoxy for Today: Alive

Sunday was proclaimed as a National Day of Prayer for Artsakh and for the Armenian Artsakh. Throughout the world, Armenians especially, got down on bended knees to pray. The prayer was not to a state leader, a diplomat, a politician, a social media personality, musician or celebrity.

In the Western Diocese, we celebrated the Holy Divine Liturgy at the St. Leon Ghevontians Armenian Cathedral. Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, the Primate, called on the community to unite in prayer, “turning that prayer into the soil for new life. From that prayer,” he said, “Will come the inner power arising from faith, to manifest good works.”

At a time when the losses of the Armenian people are so great, the call to a life of prayer, has changed the emphasis of finding answers from within, rather than seeking them from without.

As the Archbishop was about to end his sermon, a group of Sunday School students came into the packed sanctuary and lodged themselves at the foot of the altar, in the chancel area of the huge cathedral. They were holding in their hands sheets of paper with crosses drawn on them. Each child had drawn and decorated a cross to bring to church this morning. Archbishop Hovnan announced that the day was dedicated to the Holy Cross of Varak (a small town in the Van region of Armenia, where the Cross of Christ was kept during a time of persecution). The young kids were now the new owners of these crosses.

The Archbishop asked the children to raise their cross drawings up high, so that members of the congregation could see them, as we all sang the Lord’s Prayer together. The kids began buzzing with excitement. They took their papers with ornamental crosses painted on them and they began waving them as we sang the Lord’s Prayer. In that wave, we witnessed energy and vitality. Their enthusiasm was dispensed and transmitted to all of us. We smiled at their naive understanding of faith and realized we were being given the signal from God. The next generation was sharing an enthusiasm that came from deep within each child. We were singing “Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done on earth as it is in heaven” and we were being treated to the manifestation of God’s will – the love and life expressed by these children – in our holy sanctuary.

The miracles are always around us. If we are willing to open our hearts to God’s love, we can become witnesses to those miracles. Today, we record a miracle as a first step toward victory. Children living, making noise and waiving the cross, the symbol of resurrection and victory, in the midst of an Armenian church. We understand it as a miracle because it happened before a community that knelt and prayed. And if at any time you doubt that such a small gesture is a true miracle, think of the fact, that only a 100 years ago, the same enemy had proclaimed that there would be only one Armenian left and that Armenian would be found in a museum. Every noise, every prayer, ever raised cross is a miracle pointing to victory. Add to this, it all takes place inside an Armenian Church 12 time zones away from where the Armenian Church began, on the other side of the planet, at Holy Etchmiadzin. Only by the Grace of God does this miracle take place.

We prayer the prayer from the Evening Hour of the Armenian Church. Lord our God, increase within us Faith, Hope and Love. Amen.

Oil to Prayer, Miuron

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Armodoxy for Today: Oil to Prayer

One of the sacred traditions of the Armenian Church is the preparation and blessing of the Holy Miuron (Chrism). It is done with much fanfare and grandeur, once every seven years. Holy Miuron was scheduled to be blessed this year, 2023, on October 1.

The process of blessing begins forty days earlier. That special ceremony took place presided by His Holiness, Karekin II, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians. The base of the Miuron is olive oil and the essence of 40 different fragrant flowers. Just as this, the mixture, was absorbing the prayers, hymns, incense and the energy of Holy Etchmiadzin, the spiritual center of the Armenian Church, the Azeris fired on the innocent civilians of Artsakh, prompting the Blessing of Muiron to be postponed.

At the blessing of Holy Miuron, the holy relics of the saints are brought out of their sacred spaces within monasteries, to the altar table of Holy Etchmiadzin, along with the sacred Geghard, the Holy Lance that pierced the side of Our Lord Jesus on the Cross (John 19). The Holy Miuron is mystical and powerful. It unites us to Christ and the History of the Holy Church. It is used to christen individuals into the Church, to consecrate clergy and buildings into the sacred service of the Holy Church. It is the life blood of the Church.

This year, the body of Armenian Church, took a major hit. A large portion of that body, namely Artsakh, was cut off of the Body. Understandably, the life blood, the Holy Miuron, would need to strengthen. With the postponement of this year’s blessing, His Holiness, the Catholicos, has ordered the holy relics of the saints and the Holy Geghard to be brought to Etchmiadzin’s Holy Altar during this most difficult time, to console the people with a special blessing.

This Sunday, October 1, has been designated at an International Day of Prayer for Artsakh and the Artsakh Armenians who now seek refuge as their land is occupied and they are exiled from their homes. A Day of Prayer is a call to the children of the Church to focus on God as their only hope. This is our opportunity to return to our roots and understand the true power of God to work His miracles through each of us.

We at Epostle.net will be simulcasting the ancient Armenian Divine Liturgy from the St. Leon Ghevondyants Armenian Cathedral with English commentary. Please join us for a live stream at 10:30AM Pacific Daylight Time, on October 1, that’s Coordinated Universal Time -7 at Epostle.net.

Today we conclude with Psalm 23: The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for You are with me. Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Amen.

Eternal Present

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Armodoxy for Today: Eternal Present

At the top of most altar areas is the Armenian Church there is a solitary symbol that stands still amidst the paintings, icons, brass hardware and tall curtains vying for our attention. It the seventh letter of the Armenian alphabet “Է” and pronounced “eh” as the “e” in elevator. The symbol also finds its way into artwork, books and on khatchkars (carved cross stones), where it has also served as a secret code during times of persecution.

The letter “eh” is the verb to-be (is) in the present tense. In the Armenian Church it is the name of God. In Holy Scripture, Moses asks God, … When I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them? And God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM. And He said, Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’  (Exodus 3:13-15)

The name of God is “I am” and accordingly, “He is!” He is in the eternal present – not He was, or He will be, but forever, He is! Is it any wonder that Jesus uses the same words to present himself? I am the light of the world, I am the good shepherd, I am the way, the truth and the life… I am, He is, “eh” is the name of God which appears mystically in ornament and overt form.

When His Holiness Vazken I, of blessed memory, came to open the Armenian Martyrs’ Monument in Montebello in 1968, he brought with him a khatchkar which is placed as the centerpiece of the monument. It presents the “eh” boldly, becoming a mark of the First Christian Nation on Earth, in the public space in the secular world.

And it is not by chance that the “eh” – the eternally present “He is” – is the seventh letter of the Armenian alphabet! Mesrob Mashdots who invented the 36 letters of the Armenian alphabet strategically placed “eh” as the seventh letter as letter of completeness. Seven is the sum of four (the number of earth with four directions) and three (the number of heaven, the Holy Trinity). The seventh letter, “eh,” the name of God, is the ALL, completeness, heaven, and earth.

And there’s more… such as the year of Armenia’s conversion is the 301 which has two prime factors: 43 and 7. But we’ll save that for another day.

When we view life, and thus history, we view it in four dimensions – place and time. God’s view is outside of time and eternally in the present. God’s vantage point sees the Crucifixion and the Resurrection at the same moment. Jesus challenges us to live in the moment. His statements about the “Kingdom of God” are void of time reference. Furthermore, he cautions us not to live in the past and not to worry about tomorrow. The past is gone and cannot be changed or altered, hence his demand for us to forgive. (Matthew 18:21-22) The future, on the other hand, has no guarantees, as the parable of the “Rich Fool” (Luke 12:13f) graphically brought that reality to our attention. For us, the challenge is to live in the only accommodating space, namely the present. It is a difficult but worthy exercise.

For today, we think of God as eternal “I am” or “He is.”

Let us pray, O Lord, Jesus Christ, you taught us to pray, “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name…” You presented Him to us as Father, surrounded by time, and as eternal Divinity, not bound by space or time. Help us to accept this Mystery and focus our energy on living in the moment – loving those around me, caring for those who hurt, extending comfort to those in need. Help me to keep my thoughts on sharing the love you have placed in my heart and sharing that love without restraint. Amen.   

Day after Crucifixion

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Armodoxy for Today: After the day

If you were in Jerusalem in the early Spring of the year 33, and you happened to see the persecution, mock trial, torture and eventual execution of Jesus of Nazareth, you’d most definitely be confused, as were the people of the time.

The year is 33. Jesus began his ministry only three years earlier. He spoke of love. He healed the sick and miraculously cured the people of their many social and physical ills. He spoke out against the establishment, which got him into trouble with the religious authorities. They persecuted him and finally arranged for his crucifixion. It was Friday afternoon. Word had gotten around that he was, in fact, the Son of God, and so they mocked him, saying, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.” (Matthew 27:42-43)

If on that Friday evening you left town, after witnessing the life beaten out him you would have only been privy to half of the Jesus story. If you witnessed the crucifixion and left, you would understandably believe that the Jesus story ended there and then. You would believe evil has won and the promise of God was merely, words with no action.

Fortunately, we know the story didn’t end of Friday with the crucifixion. That is why we have the audacity and courage to refer to that day as “Good” Friday. We know that on Sunday, Jesus resurrected from the dead.

The Christian has the unique perspective of viewing life through the looking glass of the Resurrection. In other words, we’ve seen the Crucifixion but we know the Resurrection awaits! Viewed from Easter Sunday, from the vantage point of the Resurrection, we can proclaim along with St. Paul, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting.” (I Corinthians 15:55)

Today we stand in witness of the Crucifixion of the Artsakh. As the Armenian Church, we are the witness to the Resurrection. We were there in the year 33 on that Sunday morning at the Empty Tomb. We were there at the end of St. Gregory’s imprisonment at Khor Virap in the 4th century. We were there at Avarayr with St. Vartan in the 5th century. We were there during the persecutions of barbarians through the centuries. We were there in 1915 and in 1918. We mourned the loss of our martyrs and also rang the bells of Sardarabad. We were there through communism and there when communism fell. We are there today, proclaiming the same Truth we have for centuries. The Crucifixion is not the end because there is Resurrection. Good overcomes evil, life is what is lasting over than death. Darkness can never overcome the Light. And Love is always more powerful than evil.

If at all we feel hopeless, we only open our hearts to the message of Resurrection from the Holy Church.

Today’s meditation is from the Resurrection account of St. Luke,
Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’