Armodoxy for Today: The Magic of Ararat (Part 2 from yesterday)

If your passport was stamped in Armenia with the line-drawing depicting Mount Ararat, you have a collector’s item in your hand as the image has been removed from the official passport-control stamp. Thankfully, the government action can’t erase the meaning that so many have found in that majestic symbol of the Armenian nation. It dates back to the beginning of time. As the resting place of Noah’s Ark (Genesis 8) it’s the second birthplace of humanity and makes for a nice companion to the Garden of Eden, found just down the road (as outlined in Genesis 2:10).

Armenia is a small country at the crossroads of three continents, Asia, Europe and Africa. Every conqueror and would-be conqueror has invaded, raped and pillaged the land and people. And while, many of these people, their tribes and empires have been long forgotten, the small nation of Armenia sits below the watchful eye of Ararat.

Mount Ararat stands 17,000 feet high, with year-round snow caps, casting a shadow on Armenia – a shadow which has acted as an umbrella of hope for everyone it cradles. During the worst of times, it has been a symbol of hope with people casting their gaze at her majesty and dreaming of freedom, perhaps beyond the peaks, or hoping for life and a future.

As I mentioned yesterday, in part one of this message, if by chance the air is foggy or misty, or even a cloud hides the mountain, you’re never farther than a few feet from thousands of decorations, painting, drawings and logos with Ararat’s twin peaks. Coffee shops, souvenirs stores and just about any type of clothing accessory one can imagine has the Ararat mark on it, not to mention cigarettes, cognac and bottled water. Most homes have a picture or two of the sacred mountain hanging, even though they have a clear view of the real deal right outside their window. They have taken the image off of the passport, but the mountain is there. It is unavoidable.

Now the oddity in all of this is that Ararat Mountain is not in the borders of Armenia. Currently, that land is occupied and exists outside Armenia’s borders on international maps. Yet it is recognized as the Armenian mountain, and Armenia is identified by the shape, the stature and image of Ararat. It is connected to a people who do not live on its hallowed hills.

Ararat is a sacred mountain and exudes a mystique by its presence. It mystically ties every Armenian throughout the world to the land. It is magical in the sense that it is not supposed to be there, and it is. A look at its peaks takes the imagination over the top to dream of the impossible.

I started this message in Armodoxy yesterday, defining the word “virtual” as describing something that does not physically exist but is made by software to appear as if it does. Today, in the case of Ararat, it is more like magic, conjuring up images of a history and laying the hopes of tomorrow. They have taken the image off of the passport, but the mountain is there. It’s not going anywhere. It’s the magic of Ararat that asks us to believe.

God, you have created all things with wisdom. You have scattered the wonders of the world around the earth like the scatterings of stars. May the sacred Mt Ararat continue to inspire and allow us to dream of the days to comes. Amen.