Chiastic Love

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Armodoxy for Today: Chiastic Love

A chiasmus is a literary form as old as recorded civilization. It is defined as a reversal in the order of words in two otherwise parallel phrases. For instance, sayings such as, “Say what you mean, and mean what you say” or on the lighter side, “Never let a fool kiss you or a kiss fool you.”

St. Augustine appealed to the chiasmus form when he said, “The measure of love is to love without measure.”

Loving without measure is one of the hallmarks of Christianity. Love without limits allows us to understand all the other teachings of Jesus, such as charity, forgiveness or humility, as the challenge to be Christ-like.

The measure of love is to love without measure. Today’s one minute for standard time.

Cover: Envato Elements

Birthing Rooms

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Armodoxy for Today: Birthing Rooms

A foxhole is a hole in the ground used by soldiers as shelter against enemy fire. It’s been said that there are no atheists in foxholes. It’s an aphorism to suggest that in times of extreme fear or threat of death people will appeal to a higher power. In other words, when looking in the face of death, even the atheist will admit to a God.

Many years ago, I discovered another place where there are no atheists. The night my first child was born, it occurred to me that there aren’t any atheists in birthing rooms, either. When looking in the face of life, in its most delicate and novel state, you realize that the loss of your emotions is a connection to something greater than yourself. The details of fingernails that are thinner than paper point to life as anything but an accident.

I tested the theory a couple of times after that first experience. Same conclusion: There are no atheists in birthing rooms.

Today’s one minute for standard time.

Charming Children

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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 area 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 standard time.

Addendum: The above verses continue with “just as all hearts quicken with the tempo of yours.”

Cover: Children outside the cave, 2023, Fr. Vazken

The Deal

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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 standard time.

Cover: St. Anna & Gatoghikeh in Yerevan. Photo by Gregory Beylerian