Nebraska & Sasnashen

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Armodoxy for Today: Nebraska & Sasnashen

“Kahanayk yev joghovort” are the first words of the requiem service of the Armenian Church.  The words translate to “the priests and people” referring to a gathering of those who remember the dead in prayer. There I was singing these words, in the middle of Nebraska, of all places, there we were, the priest and people, in solemn remembrance of 17 men who perished 60 years ago to the day. I was singing the hymn, but this gathering was not in any Armenian church. Far from one, we were standing in the middle of America in Bellevue, Nebraska, near the Offutt Air Force Base. The gathering? Sixty years ago, in the height of the Cold War, a United States Air Force C-130 was shot out of the sky by the Soviet Union.  The plane crashed in the village of Nerkin Sasnashen, Armenia (about 60km Northwest of Yerevan).

I sang the hymn in Armenian and no one in the audience understood the language, yet everyone knew very well what was happening. We were connecting as people. We were uniting the remote village of Sasnashen with Bellevue. Armenia was uniting with Nebraska and all of this to attest that a group of men were united with eternity.

I had never heard of this shoot-down incident until then. I grew up during the Cold War fearing the worst, with duck-and-take-cover drills executed in our school hallways on a regular basis. But who knew that the Cold War was being played out with a shoot-down in Armenia? We should have known for in fact, this major international incident was the most publicized confrontation between the Soviet Union and the U.S. military during the Cold War!

On September 2, 1958, four Soviet MiG-17 pilots attacked and shot down an unarmed US reconnaissance aircraft after its crew inadvertently flew into Soviet airspace over Armenia. Seventeen United States Air Force airmen were killed in the crash at Sasnashen. The incident was covered up until the breakup of the Soviet Union – and then some – when the remains of the C-130 60528 crew were excavated from the crash site and interred on the 40th anniversary of the shoot-down, with a headstone identifying the members of the crew at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

Fortunately, the details of the incident, the cover-up, the years of denial, the reconciling with the facts up to the present day have been meticulously documented by Larry Tart and have been published in his book, “The Price of Vigilance: Attacks on American Surveillance Flights” (2001 with Robert Keefe).

Mr. Tart wrote to both the Eastern and Western Dioceses of the Armenian Church to for assistance in commemorating the 60th anniversary the shoot-down. Archbishop Hovnan Derderian assigned me to this event. As mentioned, the incident was news to me; however, not for long. After a few conversations with Mr. Tart, I was asked to offer the Keynote Address for the Commemoration at the Air Force base in Nebraska.

This invitation was a true honor for me on many levels. As a priest I was there to offer a prayer and a reflection. However, it was a personal experience that connected me directly to the story that was unfolding before me. My father was a veteran of the Korean War. I remember vividly to this day the overwhelming emotions that surged in me when at his funeral in 1991, military personnel presented the flag of the United States to my mother, and said, “On behalf of the President of the United States, the United States Army and a grateful Nation, please accept this flag as a symbol of our appreciation for your husband’s honorable and faithful service.” I remember being moved to tears when realizing that great men are defined by the sacrifice they make. People in service to others truly define greatness. In the church we speak of martyrdom as an expression of sacrifice. As a priest I share the Gospel of Christ, and His words, “Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (Jn 15:13) While Jesus refers to his own death in this passage, he also gives an opportunity for us to understand our service and sacrifice to others. It was the expression of that devotion and sacrifice that was moving the direction of the message I wanted to share that evening.

Even more, as an Armenian, I wanted to also emphasize the diverse set of circumstance which have contributed to Armenian history and to the events of the shoot down. As history will attest, Armenia and Armenians are often caught in the middle of battles not by our choosing. In 1958, leading to this incident, the US Air Force plane took off from a base in Eastern Turkey, that is, occupied Armenia. The plane was shot down over Armenia, occupied by the Soviets. (And yes, the plane was shot down by a Mig-17, named after Migoyan.) In every way Armenians are only the by-standers to this particular page in history; nevertheless, Armenian have a message to share that can lead to healing. And that was what I wanted to share with this group.

Join me tomorrow, on the Armodoxy for Today as we continue the story of the Shoot Down in Sasnashen on this short four part miniseries of daily messages.

Cover photo: Nebraska gathering on September 2, 2018 – 60th anniversary of Shoot Down for C-130 60528 at Sasnashen.

Labor & Work

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Armodoxy for Today: Labor and Work

Here in America, we pause from our busy schedules every September to give a nod to our work. In other countries, they have worker’s days honoring the laborer, but here we honor the work itself and refer to this holiday as Labor Day.

For most people, I would say work is something we do because we have to. We like to eat, have a roof over our head and enjoy time with family and friends. Those things take money to acquire and so, to raise that money, we work. From early on, we make calculations and pass those calculations on to our children. If you want to live this particular lifestyle, you will need $xxx. Job xyz can provide you with enough capital to sustain that lifestyle.

A small number of people will select their life’s work based on their passion, even if the monetary rewards are insufficient to live on. And the truly blessed people are those who enjoy their work, and the monetary reward from the work is enough to sustain them without needing supplemental assistance – whether a second or third job, or a hand-out.

This may sound a bit like economics and philosophy mixed together and one may wonder what this has to do with our Christian faith. Well it has everything to do with it. Work provides certain rewards. When the rewards outweigh the purpose of the work, then desire for those rewards become the motivating force for work, for labor, for doing what we do.

Think of this: some say that gambling is wrong. Why? Every time we leave our homes, every time we sit in a car, we are gambling with our lives. Life if full of uncertainty and we gamble with our lives and much more. But the reason why gambling for money winds up high on the negativity scale is because it distorts our perception and understanding of what is valuable. Money is no longer a means by which we acquire the things we want, rather it becomes the object of what we want, our desires. It gives value to something that has no intrinsic value. A million dollars in a bank account only exists on paper. It is the number one with six zeros behind it. But when $1,000,000 is used, to buy shelter, an education, health services, act of charity, then it has a value! Money is not the object of our labor, it is the means by which we accomplish those things we need to accomplish.

Catholic and Protestant work ethics have evolved through the century. Here in the West, the Protestant work ethic, developed from the time of Martin Luther and John Calvin, is the struggle between discipline, frugality and taming the wants and the desires of a person. In the Armenian Church (and traditional Churches) we label these as seven deadly sins – anger, lust, gluttony, laziness, covetousness, pride and envy – all connected to the struggle we engage in daily.

Labor Day is a holiday and like most other holidays, the meaning is lost in vacations, excursions and sales. But for us, we will take this moment for introspection, asking ourselves the hard questions – the what and why of our work. Purpose and meaning come from this introspection.

We leave with this mediation from our Lord Jesus Christ, “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

…Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty… Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died.  But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die.  I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever… (John 6)

Love Conquers

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Armodoxy for Today: Love Conquers

St. Mary, who’s assumption is remembered in the month of August, is referred to with many titles that are also descriptors. Blessed Mother, Asadvadzadzin, the Bearer of God, Our Lady and Queen of Heaven, are among some of the more conventional names. They all point to the unique place she occupies in human history.

She said “Yes” to God and thereby Christ was made incarnate. She bore and delivered Pure Love to the world.

A few years ago, while serving as a parish priest in Glendale, I became aware of the problem of domestic violence within the local community. Like many other places, denial was widespread. Some even shunned me for daring to voice a concern about domestic violence.

As priests we often become the first point of contact for people in need. One night, after a violent scene between a husband and wife, and after hours of counseling and finding a safe haven for a young mother and her children, I asked her if we could pray together before I turned her over to the shelter. Of course, she wanted that bit of solace in her upside-down world. Instinctively, she reached out her hand so I would hold it during prayer, and instinctively I did. She screamed! I let go only to find her hands were crushed and disfigured by the act of her husband.

The domestic violence problem grew with very little mention of it by community leaders. The proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back came one night when a lady who had been on the receiving end of domestic violence for 20 years finally had the nerve and the strength to escape from her husband’s tortures and left the house, knocking on the doors of neighbors, asking – begging – for help. She was told by neighbors that “amot eh!” as in, “Don’t bring shame to the family… Go back home before you bring disgrace to your family… This is not something we Armenians do…”  From home to home this continued for 15 minutes until she finally reached a house that did not close the door on her and took her in. She was an African American woman who recognized the seriousness of the situation and immediately called the police. That night we met with her in a sanctuary area.

That was the marking moment when as a community we could no longer stay quiet. We established a grass-roots organization called, “Datev Outreach.” Datev is the name of a celebrated saint in the Armenian Church, it also was a play on words, da-tev, that is, to “give wings.”

During the short-lived life of Datev Outreach we heightened awareness tremendously within the Glendale area. We organized walks through the streets of Glendale where we received the support of many families who came out to voice their oneness with us and the scorn of others who heckled us as we walked by: “There’s no such thing! You’re making it up!” Datev Outreach organized classes for women, gave women opportunities to educate and self-determine their lives. It was a powerful program in the community.

Like many good things, politics got into the way and we closed up our offices after two years, but not before establishing firm ties with the YWCA and ensuring that victims would have a place to find sanctuary.

One of the remaining treasures of Datev Outreach is the beautiful icon of the Blessed Mother. Artist Gregory Beylerian created this icon which cried out to the world the double message that Violence Hurts – there’s no denying it – and Love Conquers – providing the solution! The icon, with the Asdvadzadzin and the Baby Jesus, is a new icon for the contemporary world. It is an icon of Armodoxy because it has a double message boldly proclaiming the horror of violence and articulating the solution in reference to St. Mary, the bearer of Love.

Saints are living today. They are active in our lives today. While many descriptors are ascribed to the Blessed Mother, we must never forget that she takes away pain (cf. Gyumri’s Yot Verk Church) and answers with solace in her capacity to bring Love to the world.

Let us pray, the prayer of intercession of the Armenian Church, Christ, our God, who chose and embraced those who witnessed You and partakers in Your passion. We ask for the intercession of all saints in order that through their fervent prayers and mediation You may grant us peace and protect us from enemies both visible and invisible. Grant us, O Lord, the vision to follow in their path. Amen.

Conditioning with a Laugh Track

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Armodoxy for Today: Conditioning with a Laugh Track

At what point did we stop believing in the power of love? When did we lose faith in love’s power to melt or crush a heart of stone? Those were the questions with which we left yesterday. When did we give up on love?

Perhaps some may point to an event, or to a person who pushed things a bit too far, and through betrayal and hurt, the power of love was diminished, or in the worst case, was rendered absurd. For the most part, however, it is a matter of conditioning. We have lost faith in Love because we’ve been conditioned by life experiences to not believe in its power.

Sitcoms, or situation comedies, have had a life even before television, with radio broadcasts of plays and book readings. Early radio had live audiences where you could hear the reaction to actors and their dialogue. People laughed at humor, wowed at amazement, sighed at surprises and whimpered at sadness. Early television took place in front of studio audiences and, likewise, the gamut of expression in between a smile and a tear could be heard.

As the boundaries of the sitcom expanded, studio sets were used to stage houses, schools, hospitals, banks and stores. Canned laughter became a means of bringing the audience into show without the need for large auditoriums.

For the last 70 years, at least, sitcoms have brought entertainment into our homes and along a synthetic audience that was manipulated by the producers of the show. The reaction and laughter of an audience was and is strategically placed in the dialogue at points deemed funny. In other words, someone decides what subject is funny, and the degree to which it’s funny.

The father says he left his keys in the car and the child says, “Dad you’re getting old and forgetful.” And the audience laughs. The student opts to sneak out on a date and doesn’t study for her exam, so at school, she yells out “Puerto Rico” in answer to “What is the Capital of the United States?”  And the audience laughs. Perhaps hysterically. The laughter, placed strategically in these spots, tells us that mocking senior forgetfulness or idiotic answers during tests are funny, rather than sad or pathetic.

Try this experiment, watch a sitcom and when you hear the canned laughter and ask yourself, was that really funny? Probably not. But multiply half-an-hour, over the period of a season, over the life of the show, and times all the shows that you’ve watched with canned laughter, and… you get the idea. You start, if not believing, at least accepting that mocking senior forgetfulness or idiotic answers are funny! It’s called conditioning. Intentionally planned or not, we are conditioned by so many different influences. By the way, you’ll find that the shows that are truly funny are filmed before a “live studio audience” although even there, much of the laughter is stimulated with signs or augmented with add canned expressions.

Back to our question: When did we stop trusting love? When did we stop believing that love is a better answer to evil than evil? The answer is easy. Look at the centuries of conditioning we’ve been subjected to, not by laugh tracks but by political realities, by talkers who have never looked beyond themselves and thought of the necessity for peace. From the Trojan War to the Peloponnesian War, to World War II to Ukraine, we have been conditioned to fight fire with fire, even though we all, without exception all, know that you fight fire with water. The conditioning has been so intense that we have not given love a chance and we’ve shelved Jesus’ command to love, even our enemies, in the category of impractical idealism.

We have never tried love as a solution to evil. It is just as ridiculous as Puerto Rico being the capital of the United States and we assign it an obligatory laugh track.

We end today with a meditation by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The words flow from the lips of our Lord and Master: “Ye have heard it said of old that thou shall love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, love your enemies. Bless them that curse you. Do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you, that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven.”

These are great words, words lifted to cosmic proportions. And over the centuries men have argued that the actual practice of this command just isn’t possible. …Far from being the impractical idealist, Jesus is the practical realist, and the words of this text stand before us with new urgency. And far from being the pious injunction of a utopian dreamer, this command is an absolute necessity for the survival of our civilization. Yes, love is the key to the solution of the problems of our world, love even for enemies.*

*Excerpt from a sermon delivered by Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Detroit Council of Churches’ Lenten Service, March 7, 1961

Cover photo: Envato Elements

Melting Love

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Armodoxy for Today: Melting Love

When we were kids, one of our favorite fairy tales was “The Frog Prince,” rendered by the Brothers Grimm. My sister and I would listen to an old phonograph record which told the story of a spoiled princess who reluctantly befriended a frog. The friendship was the frog’s request as his reward for retrieving her golden ball. She was irritated that she, a beautiful princess, would have to hold, or just be in close proximity, of this old repulsive waddler. But the frog kept pushing his friendship on the princess. Little did she know that he was a prince who had a spell cast upon him and was trapped in the body of the frog.

Our phonograph record would play with the pops and hisses that we were accustomed to hear when playing the black vinyl, and we’d listen to the old froggy voice beg for the princess’ love. In his reptilian voice, he spelled it out, “Love could melt the heart of stone!”

As children those words were very powerful. A stone heart melting through the power of love! It was many years later that as a seminarian I heard similar words, not from the raspy mouth of a frog but from the golden hymn of Nersess Shnorhali, “Jesus, by name love, may your love crush my heart of stone.” Ser anoun Hisus, sirov kov jmlya sir dim kareghen. Yes, indeed, the power of love is so great that it can crush the heart of stone.

There are many images that are exaggerated as a matter of romantic reflection, whether in a fairy tale, or in a hymn. Heaven knows how many poems and songs have been penned with images touting the magical powers of love.

And certainly, the entire Gospel message, is one of Jesus instructing us to repay evil with love and he even demonstrates this on the Cross. The Resurrection itself is the victory of Love over the ultimate evil.

So today we ask, at what point did we stop believing in the power of love? When did we lose the faith in love’s power to melt or crush a heart of stone? When did we give up on love? When did we stop answering evil with the power of love?

As children we tend to take things literally. When the coach says, “Keep your eye on the ball, we may awkwardly walk up to the ball and place it under our eye until we realize that it is merely an expression to pay attention. There is a naivete that is characteristic of childhood and as we grow older we come to understand expressions in place of the literal meanings.

In the case of Jesus and his expression of love, he took it to the end exactly as he expressed it throughout his ministry. The Creed of the Armenian Church saw, “Jesus Christ, yesterday and today, the same for eternity.” Armodoxy attests that Jesus is Love incarnate, and therefore love, is the same yesterday, today and for eternity.

So we must conclude that Love has always been powerful. Love can indeed melt or crush the heart of stone. It is us that need to retrain and revert to our initial understanding of Love, literally as the means by which we overcome evil. It is on us, then, to seek and find, Love and as it was given to us through the Babe in a manger, to bring peace on earth and good will toward one another.

We pray today, “Lord Jesus Christ. God is love. Your name is love. Love exists in the eternal present. Rekindle in me the flames of love that were present in my childhood, when I believed the power of love could overcome the worst of the worst. Direct my path in the direction of my childhood dreams, where goodness and love are my strengths and my protection. Amen.”

Revolution: Evolving Love

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Armodoxy for Today: Evolving Love

When political systems do not work there is a call for revolution. The word itself comes from revolve – that is to turn around. In Christianity we use the word “repentance” which means to turn direction and aim toward God.

From early apostolic days, the term repent was used to imply a change in direction toward God. The Apostle Peter urged people to “repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” (Acts 2:38)

Repentance or repenting is a necessary part of the Christian life. What is often forgotten is that repentance takes place after self-evaluation. The necessity to repent is part of the human condition because we are not perfect.

One of the prayers offered by the priest in the Armenian Church is a prayer that you will never hear read over you, and if you do hear it read over you may want to check our surroundings. It is from the funeral service of the Church where the priest asks God, in His Mercy, to forgive the person of his sins, “because who is it that lives, and does not sin?” And in an explanation (if not to God then to all who hear this prayer) the priest confesses that “Only You (God) are sinless and to You belong the kingdom of all eternities.”

In fact, “sin” is merely an acknowledgement of our human condition. It means we are not perfect and we miss the mark of perfection. Think of a dart board, it is a target with a bull’s eye in the middle. Now imagine tossing darts at the board. For every dart that misses the center, that dart is said to be in sin. The dart that misses the bull’s eye by one ring and the dart that misses by three rings, as well as the dart that misses the entire board, have sinned; they have missed the mark.

Sometimes repentance is described with the phrase turning 180 degrees, that is, turning completely around. Not so. Sometime smaller adjustments are necessary, and the only judge of the degree of adjustment is you yourself. That is why self-evaluation is so important in the life of the Christian, and for this reason the Armenian Church gives opportunities, through days of prayer and fasting, for self-evaluation.

Each of us is in need of correcting our courses in various degrees. This is the revolution that is the beginning of living with heightened awareness. Inside of the word revolution is the word evolution and in reverse form the word love. The true call to Repentance is the call to turn around the LOVE that is missing from our lives so that we can evolve. All living forms evolve. Evolution is part of the living process. Things that are dead, decay. They do not evolve. And rightly so, they do not have the capacity to love.

The God-gift that is inside each of us is the capacity to love. Revolutions that do not accent the love within them are doomed to failure. Revolutions that have turned around the love within them are of the type that Jesus Christ ushered in with the Kingdom of Heaven. And so he instructs us to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all else will fall into place. (Matthew 6:33)

We pray a prayer from the Book of Hours of the Armenian Church, “O God, Merciful, Compassionate and Patient, who pains for the sufferings of His creation. Console and grace us the reason for repentance so that we may enter Your Holy Church with spiritual enrichment, confession and repentance and along with your saints praise and glorify You, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirt. Amen.”

The Dream at 60

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Armodoxy for Today: The Dream at 60

Dreams are more than nighttime subconscious expressions. Dreams are inner desires and wishes finding form and forum. Many inventions, businesses, relationships, fantasies, impossible possibilities are found in dreams. Since man has looked up at the night sky and pondered the flashing lights and wondered the phases of the moons, there have been dreams of conquering space. Novelist Jules Verne wrote adventures of moon voyages in the 19th century, which became the inspiration for the many scientists and eventually astronauts who ventured to the moon in the 1960s.

Sixty years ago, on this day, August 28, The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered a speech in Washington DC, most famously referred to as the “I Have a Dream” speech. He articulated a dream which all men and women have had since the beginning of time, to be free, to be respected and thereby an opportunity to create one’s own destiny. It was a dream which was spelled out in the Declaration of Independence as the American colonies seceded from England in 1776, and a dream that President Abraham Lincoln brought closer to reality in 1863 with the Emancipation Proclamation.

But dreams of human desire, that eliminate hatred and prejudice, are not easily enacted and so 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, a March on Washington took place, August 26, 1963. More than 250,000 people participated in the march for jobs and freedom. At the foot of the Lincoln Memorial, Rev. King delivered one of the most powerful, and earth-shaking orations in history.

While acknowledging history, he laid out the dream, “When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men — yes, Black men as well as white men — would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

And went on to personalize it, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. was 26 years old when he received his doctorate in systematic theology from Boston University. He was 34 years old when he gave the speech at the March on Washington. A year later, at age 35 he won the Nobel Peace Prize. With all of his accolades, degrees, accomplishments and the honors, he was emphasized that about everything else, he was a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He was committed to this Gospel and knew that true liberation and salvation, yes, in this world, came through Jesus Christ. In his words, “By opening our lives to God in Christ, we become new creatures. This experience, which Jesus spoke of as the new birth, is essential if we are to be transformed nonconformists . . . Only through an inner spiritual transformation do we gain the strength to fight vigorously the evils of the world in a humble and loving spirit.”

The world has much to learn from the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. when it comes to bringing about change. He understood and implemented Jesus’ teachings in his and his community’s life. He said, “He (Jesus) knew that the old eye-for-eye philosophy would leave everyone blind. He did not seek to overcome evil with evil. He overcame evil with good. Although crucified by hate, he responded with aggressive love.”

Today, as people struggle and protest for rights and freedoms, as wars escalate and hateful talk takes form in evil actions, the words of Christ speak an answer that is undeniable and Rev. King attests to it not only by words but by his actions.

In the text of today’s message, you will find links to the “I have a dream speech” in both written form and in speech form. I highly recommend that you watch or listen to the speech, to feel the impact of this minister of the Gospel.

Read & Listen to the “I Have a Dream Speech”
Watch the video of the “I Have a Dream Speech”

Sixty years have passed. The dream is not fulfilled, but the call to us is to keep dreaming and working for the realization of that dream.

Today, I share with you a prayer written by Rev. King, from a book of his prayers called, “Thou, Dear God.” God grant that the resources that you have will be used to do that, the great resources of education, the resources of wealth, and that we will be able to move into this new world, a world in which men will live together as brothers; a world in which men will no longer take necessities from the masses to give luxuries to the classes. A world in which men will throw down the sword and live by the higher principle of love. … That there will be the time we will be able to stand before the universe and say with joy – The kingdom of our Lord and our Christ! And he shall reign forever and ever! Hallelujah!

Opium

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Armodoxy for Today: Opium

The words of Karl Marx are often quoted by people trying to discredit religion. “Religion is the opium of the masses (or people),” wrote Marx.

The first time I read this statement, I was a student in college, and, honestly, I was not offended. I was somewhat sympathetic to what Marx was saying because so many people lean upon religion to deal with their pain and suffering. But I also saw the power of a turn-to-God in the life of people. The opium is not in religion, as much as the false security that is granted by religion.

We each have different tolerance levels for pain. For some that pain can be alleviated by a couple of aspirin, Tylenol or Motrin, as their preference may be. These are temporary fixes, as the instruction label tells you on the pill bottles that if the pain persists beyond a time limit of (usually) two weeks, then consult with a physician. Of course, greater pain levels require more potent solutions and under the care of a physician, we have laws and rules as a society that allow for those drugs. Again, these are temporary fixes. Opium adds another dimension to pain relief in that it is habit-forming. Drug dependency no longer recognizes the drug for its medicinal value.

I believe this is why I was not upset or offended by Marx’s statement. In context, his entire statement reads, “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.” There are people who become religion-dependent and the religion is no long recognized for its redeeming value.

Our journey through Armodoxy these few last weeks has taken us through a maze of mystery and supernatural phenomena, to making and understanding that within us, the supernatural can become natural and normal. Religion should not discount personal responsibility. Just the opposite, by demanding personal accountability for actions, it empowers the individual to take control of his/her life. The original gospel, that is the good news, was heralded at the Nativity and Revelation of Jesus Christ: Peace on Earth, Goodwill among all people. Pure and simple. Everything beyond this earthly life is in the domain of the Divine. The goal of religion, and most especially Christianity, is to make this life – the one we have been graced and gifted with – a better place, by teaching us to love, respect and forgive one another. This is why we pray, “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” We pray that God give us the strength, patience and tools in this world. When religion loses its focus and pushes us to be consumed with end times, and qualifications for entering the afterlife, then it has lost its main direction, just as a drug which loses its function and becomes the substance of addiction.

The second time I came across Marx’s statement about religion was when I was a student in the seminary at Holy Etchmiadzin. The country of Armenia was occupied by communists and Marx, Engels, and Lenin were quoted on billboards and posterboards throughout the country. The communists tried to dissuade the Armenians from their religion. To the degree they succeeded, it was not on philosophical grounds, rather it was because of the number of churches they closed, their anti-church propaganda and the destruction of the priesthood.

Today, the words of Marx seem to be echoed beyond communists in various fields and environments. We spoke earlier about the prejudice, the pre-judgement of people toward Christianity. And so it is important to study and learn the early understanding of Christ’s message. This is Armenian Orthodoxy connected to today, or what we call Armodoxy. The more we learn about the ancient traditions as expressed through the Armenian Church, the easier we can debunk myths and understand Christianity not as an opium, but as salvific, a means of surviving and living in the world God has given us.

Let us pray, Psalm 27, The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.

Cover photo: EnvatoElements

Fasting as a Tool

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Armodoxy for Today: Fasting

In the Gospel of Matthew (17:13-21) we read,

A man came to Jesus, kneeling down to Him and saying, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.”

Then Jesus said, “Bring him here to Me.” And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.

Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”

So Jesus said to them, “… This kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

In this short story from the life of our Lord, he mentions fasting, perhaps only as an addendum to prayer, but we understand that it is a powerful tool for the Christian.

Yesterday, His Eminence Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, the Primate of the Western Diocese announced a 24 hour fast for solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Artsakh. For the last year, the Azerbaijan government and people have blocked food and medical supplies from reaching the Armenian population of Artsakh. They have targeted the Armenians for annihilation, in other words, they are in the process of committing the second Armenian Genocide.

Like prayer, fasting is one more necessary element in the life of the Christian. In Matthew 6, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus speaks about the necessity of fasting. Not only did he teach it, he practiced fasting, most notably during his 40 day period of seclusion in the wilderness following his baptism and prior to beginning his ministry.

Fasting strengthens the will and resolve of an individual. During a fast, an individual feels hunger, sometimes accompanied by pain. It is at those moments of physical yearning that we understand the words of Jesus during his 40 day fast, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

A call to fast and prayer is a call to learn about your strengths and limits. It is necessary to prepare and strengthen your inner self for spiritual warfare. Behind all the physical wars out there, there are even bigger spiritual wars that cannot be escaped. Often, people look outside of themselves for the solutions to their fears and problems. Let us not forget that the Christian is called to personal responsibility. We may look at the current situation, whether in Armenia, in the Ukraine or in Sudan, and look for answers from others, especially large governments but that excludes us from the solution. Each of us have it within ourselves to rebel and be a part of the solution. Fasting aligns in the proper modality, and in the case of a nationwide fast, as the one called for by the archbishop, we align with others of similar goals. We begin to form a block in the spiritual warfare we wage.

Today’s meditation is a reading of Jesus’ temptations while fasting for 40 days and nights,

When He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.  Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’” Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

Goals

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Armodoxy for Today: Goals

The entrepreneurial spirit was defined yesterday by risk. The parable of the talents, offered by Jesus (Matthew 25), illustrated the importance of risking talents and resources with which God has entrusted you. We ended yesterday by pointing to the prize, which was the Kingdom of Heaven. It is not enough to work or labor unless the goal is worthy of that toil and effort.  The goal of our efforts must always be in our focus.

Goals may be devious. In the parable of the talents, it is easy to assume that the monetary riches are the goal of their managerial skills, but on closer inspection, it is obvious that the monetary amount is the reward, and not the goal itself.

With the world in turmoil and with fighting close to home, it is imperative that we zoom in on the goal that sits before us. Jesus sets it as the “Kingdom of Heaven.” This is not a place or a time to come, but in Orthodox understanding, it was enacted with Jesus. It is a state of mind. It is, within and without us. It is, as Jesus says, “…Like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” (Matthew 13:45-46)

When our efforts and actions have purpose beyond the temporal plane, meaning comes to our life.

Today, there is a blockade of food and medical supplies to the Armenian population of Artsakh. The government of Azerbaijan has targeted the Armenians for annihilation, in other words, they are in the  process of committing the second Armenian Genocide. Like the expressive monkeys – see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil – the world has closed its eyes, ears and mouth to the plight of the Armenians.

So, what now?

Today, His Eminence Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, the Primate of the Western Diocese will announce a 24 hour fast for solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Artsakh. This is a simple effort by which a huge goal can be accomplished by a small group of people. It is an effort in which everyone can participate. Most importantly, the goal of the effort benefits others. Jesus says, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (John 15:13) It is in sacrifice that love is revealed and the Cross as the symbol of suffering transforms to the symbol of Love. Make the connection with the Parable of the Talents and now we understand that if the end goal is the Kingdom of Heaven, then it is expressed by the love we have for one another.

Tomorrow we will look at the power of fasting to overcome the worst evil. For today, accept the challenge to fast. (*The fast will be announced at 5PM PDT, at the Azerbaijan consulate in West Los Angeles.) Obstain from eating for 24 hours. It’s hopeful to expect that the Azeris will have a change of heart because of your fasting, but have no worries, because something remarkable will happen as a result of your fasting. You will have a change of heart. You will understand the power that is within you to bring about change. You will not need to look elsewhere for solutions that are within you. The Kingdom has been enacted!

We pray the prayer that the Lord Jesus taught us,

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours in the kingdom and the power and the glory. Amen.