The Transfiguration Transcripts Part 1

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Armodoxy for Today: The Words that triggered the Transfiguration

This week the Armenian Church celebrated the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ. This event, which is recorded in the synoptic Gospels, is akin to the Theophany, in that God is revealed to humanity during the Transfiguration. On a mountain top, Scripture tells us, Jesus stands radiating the Light. “His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.” In the witness of three of his disciples, Peter, James and John, two characters from history appear, Elijah representing the Prophets and Moses as a symbol of the Law. Jesus stands between the Law and the Prophets, the Voice of God the Father expresses that Jesus is His Beloved Son. Jesus is the completion of the Law and the Prophets.

The Light that Jesus radiates is the Divine Essence. The Transfiguration as a singular event in human history is prefaced by a series of statements made by Jesus. This week, on Armodoxy for Today we will explore, what I call, the Transfiguration Transcripts – the words leading to God’s Revelation in our midst, each day, with “one-minute-for-Summertime.”

Nektarios: From Within

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Armodoxy for Today: Nektarios, the saint that directs us to the inside

St. Nektarios, venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Tradition, directs us to “Seek God in your heart, not outside of it.”

The world is a big place. From mountain tops to ocean floors, the vastness can be overwhelming. In our attempts to engage with life and our passions, we may fall victim to that vastness, that is, because life is so big, it’s difficult to focus and life can go by without you fully exploring all that it has to offer.

God is the author of all. Seeking God within, that is, in the heart, is the starting point of all exploration. You are assured of being equipped with the necessary tools to appreciate the deepest and highest points of life. Jesus words are, “The Kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:21)

Today’s one minute for Summertime.

Charents Passing Along Hope

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Armodoxy for Today: Charming children

Yeghishé Charents was the main Armenian poet of the 20th century. He lived and wrote his creations following World War I, the Genocide and into the years of communism in Armenia, and was imprisoned for political reasons. In that gloominess, his poetry reflected the beauty around him, in a small patch of land called Armenia.

Charents wrote, “All my life, my impossible aim was to finish a song to charm children.” He wrote these lines on a handkerchief to his friend and fellow poet, Avetik Isahakyan, after hearing a prisoner sing one of Isahakyan’s songs in a neighboring cell.

“Charming children” in the midst of ugliness is more than swelling with optimism or staying positive, it’s recognizing the importance of new life and passing along hope.

Hum the song of the new day to the words that speak to your heart.

Today’s one minute for Summertime.

A Box of Matches for the Church

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Armodoxy for Today: A Match to Light our Worship

One Sunday morning, one of the young altar boys of our church, handed me a small box. On the box was a handwritten gift tag, “To the Church. Open now!” it said. It was wrapped in Christmas paper, though it was mid-July.

The celebration of the Divine Liturgy was about to begin and although I insisted on punctuality for the service, my curiosity got the better of me. Quickly I opened the package. In it was a book of 50 matches. I looked over at Mher, and he didn’t wait for me to ask. He reminded me that last week I looked all over for matches to light the altar candles. So this young boy took the initiative to solve the problem. During the week he went shopping and now provided enough matches to last the entire year.

At eight years old, Mher understood this was his church. He saw a need and took care of it. It’s not more complicated than that, or as Jesus taught, “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17)

Today’s one-minute for Summertime.

7×77 Time, Really!

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Armodoxy for Today: That many times, really?

July 7 is a very special day for us at Epostle.net. It was on July 7, 2007 that we organized the first-ever forgiveness day international conference, under the In His Shoes banner, featuring speakers from Rwanda, Armenia and Mexico, events, discussions with scholars and produced a human chain of sevens. The day was numerically written as 7/7/7 which corresponded to Jesus’ answer to Peter’s question, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?”

“I say to you, not seven times,” answered Jesus, “But, until seventy-seven times seven.” (Matthew 18:21-22)

Certainly, the numbers are irrelevant. That is, 7×77 is not to be worked out at 539, but as a code for countless. Jesus puts it out as the Christian imperative: Forgive, without limits. Further, he assures us that our Father in Heaven forgives us our trespasses, by the same scale that we forgive those who trespass against us.

Forgiveness is the hallmark and calling card of Christianity. It is central to understanding the power of Jesus’ message for peace and harmony in the world. The date is merely a pointer, a way of remembering that our only hope – whether for individual relationships, or to achieve global harmony – our only hope is through this ultimate weapon of love.

Today’s one-minute for Summertime.

If you’d like to learn more about the international conference on forgiveness? Visit the links below.

https://epostle.net/peace-spiral and at https://epostle.net/7×77

Voltaire’s Deal of the Cards

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Armodoxy for Today: The Deal

Likening life to a game of cards, French Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire observes, “Each player must accept the cards that life deals him or her. But once in hand one must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game.”

The trick is to take control of what has been entrusted to you. Whether a simple game of cards or a complex life, looking back at the shuffle is a waste of time. Thank God that your eyes are in front of your head and not looking back. Celebrate what you have and take charge of those tools and talents to make a difference. Find the aces or your strongest talents. Play them to the best of your ability.

Today’s one minute for Summertime.

 

Reset-to-truth

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Armodoxy for Today: One minute for summertime

Reset

Jesus says, “The truth will set you free.” That truth is not an arbitrary bit of fact or evidence. This statement of Jesus is taken from his proclamation: “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” For us, Truth is a person, Jesus Christ, who boldly proclaimed, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.”

Before Christ, during his earthly ministry, in the centuries since, people have struggled for freedom and have tried to “be free” by fighting, whether with sword, gun or bomb, based on the illusion that violence will bring about peace, and therefore, people will be free.

Jesus put out distinctly, you are free in him. The past is behind you. No more guilt. You are forgiven. You have hit the reset button on life with Christ. It’s a new slate. You are free. St. Nersess Shnohali (12th Century) gave the primer: “The name of Love is Jesus.” Love is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Find true freedom in that Love.

Today’s one minute for Summertime.

Separate, but a part of

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Armodoxy for Today – One minute for Summertime

Separate, but a part of

All things are connected to one another in a universal network of life. Economics gives us the resources to buy the Bible, which defines sin, which psychology attempts to diminish. Physics explains the movement of the building blocks which chemistry and biology exploit into physical realities; art presents in forms that express ideas that form ideologies that philosophy dissects and analyses. Politics creates systems that organize those ideologies, and religion is there to ensure the equity of distribution, claiming to have a connection to a higher understanding of fairness. At least, that’s the Armodox understanding of what the religion, primarily Christianity, should be.

In a free society, the separation of church and state is indeed necessary so that conscience can be expressed, however the separation of church and state does not mean that clergy should not and cannot comment on political realities. Quite the contrary, they are the ones who might align those realities to higher understandings of selfhood and responsibility. The call and consecration to priesthood is a sacred one not because it is aligned with God, but because it is service of humanity.

Today’s one minute for summertime.

Declaring is half of it

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Armodoxy for Today – one minute for Summertime

Declaring is half of it

On this third day of our dive into ideas of freedom, it’s important to understand that we take this dive without regard to political ideology. Sure, we offer this series in anticipation of the Fourth of July celebration, and we live in political realities, and each of us comes to the mix with our own persuasions, but freedom is in itself a God-given and considered the birthright of the human soul.

The Armenian Church has lived within monarchies, kingdoms, dictatorships, oppressive and barbaric regimes, and even through atheistic Soviet society. The Gospel Message of Christ is greater than any political ideology and within the expression of the ancient Apostolic Church, that Message maintains its integrity despite the political climate of the age.

Declaring these truths is only half of the story. Living out the dream with our actions is the other half. The Independence Day celebration grants us an opportunity to reflect on our responsiveness to freedom and liberty, to the declarations we make, and to how those declarations are played out. Contemplate true freedom and independence as we continue tomorrow. This is today’s one-minute for Summertime.

 

Something to Say

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Armodoxy for Today – One minute for Summertime

Questions to More Questions (On Freedom & Independence part 2/5)

The United States of America celebrates its 250th Anniversary of declaring independence from England on the Fourth of July. For a quarter of a millennium, this country, a nation of states, has wrestled with the concept of freedom and its limits. The Declaration of Independence signed on July 4, 1776 expressed that equality among men was self-evident as an unalienable right given to these men by their Creator.

Which men? All men? Define “men”. Does that include women? Questions that have been asked and answered, and have provoked new questions along the way, have tested and continue to test the boundaries defined in the Declaration and subsequently in the Constitution of the United States. Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

This week, we are looking and listening to that voice… today’s one minute for Summertime.