Styrofoam, a Green Valley and Recycling Junk
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Outside the Armenian Church community, the larger area was transitioning as the leader of technology and innovation for the world. It would be known as Silicon Valley. Gates, Jobs, Wozniak, Allen, all names that sound big today – but just regular boys around town then. There was a granary, a couple of blocks from our home in Cupertino – it became the home of Apple Computer. We watched apricot orchards get cut down to make way for technology and egg-carton housing. Garage start-ups became the HP’s and Sun Microsystems of the Valley. For me, a small Timex computer opened the door to electronics for God’s work. I attended user-group meetings with electronic eggheads who would become the pioneers of technology within their fields. I remember another computer along the way – something called a Coleco system with tape drives. Then in 1985 Susan surprised me with an Apple IIc and I got hooked on programming. 
Celebrating (not mourning) Sardarabad – 90 years later
I love the song “Sardarabad.” I love the first lines… “Yerp chi munoom yelk noo jar, khenteru en kdnoom hunar…” [roughly translated = When there exist NO means of resolution or no remedy, the crazy ones find the means!] These words have been a guiding riff for me, challenging me to look beyond the limits. In fact, it probably goes hand-in-hand with my policy that it’s always easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.
Sardarabad is our Armenian national victory! We stood up against the Turks and won! Did you catch that – we won! We held off the Turkish advance! And that’s exciting! I mean, like think about our history… we talk about King Tigran – but that’s a couple of millennium ago. So after all the massacres and genocides throughout our history, there is this small little battle – at Sardarabad – that shines as a political/military victory. Its not a major conquest by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s certainly on the list of victories for our small group of people – the Armenians.
And – THIS year – 2008 – is the 90th Anniversary of the Battle of Sardarabad! You know how we love those round numbers! So, is there any better time to celebrate? Let’s make some noise! This is Armenia’s victory and we’re going to celebrate! Right?
Well… you can imagine my disappointment and frustration when I received a directive from the Diocese last week, ordering all the churches to commemorate the 90th Anniversary of Sardarabad with… (can you guess?) with… a Requiem Service!!! (Hokehankist!)
Wow! One of the only battles we win – even Avarayr (Vartanantz) has a twist, where we commemorate Vartan Mamikonian as a fallen hero. But Sardarabad is a win-win. Now, I’m all for honoring the spirit of the dead, but come on, is this it? Is this the only direction in which the Armenian Church can steer us? In all fairness to the diocese, the directive signed by the Primate, did mention that the order had come from the top – that the Catholicos has asked for the requiem in all of the churches. But this only makes the situation sadder.
In scripture we read that before a certain man would follow Jesus, he asked if he could go and bury his father. Jesus replies, “Follow me, and let the dead bury the dead.” (Matt. 8:22) Don’t we, as the Church, have an obligation to order the same words to our people? Instead, we’re not only freeing them from the bonds of death, we’re (with directives such as this) sending them right back to the grave.
Sure, mourn the dead, but at some point realize that what the angel said to the oil-bearing women – “Why do you search for the living among the dead?” (Luke 24:5) is what the people are now saying to our church.
So what’s an alternative? How about a celebration of resurrection, instead of the requiem? How about explaining to our people that the Holy Eucharist holds within it the power to go beyond the grave? How about a party, where bishops and priests dance with the people in a celebration of victory? Did you hear/read Sara Miles’ experience with the Eucharist? http://www.prx.org/pieces/25794-this-i-believe-sara-miles
A few years back I decided to have my left lobe poked. It was interesting to see the reaction of the people to a priest with an earring. I wrote a small piece in the church newsletter “Nakhagoch” at the time. In its entirety –http://armodoxy.blogspot.com/1993/06/guns-earrings.html – but the portion that I direct you to:
I have never hidden the fact that I don’t care to live up to these misdirected stereotypes we have of priests. A priest, as a servant of God, must celebrate life; after all it is the greatest gift God has given us. A priest must live with a zeal and excitement for life. He must be a listener of music, a singer of songs, a orator of poetry and a dreamer for the romantic. Life is here to be lived, not to be hidden away in the recesses of darkness.
The purpose of religion is to bear witness to that celebration. There is a genuine beauty in life which demands us to partake and celebrate. Christ tells us, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10) Sure, life has its share of difficulties and problems, but our religion gives us an opportunity to rise above those pains.
It’s in this same spirit that I challenge us as the inheritors of Armenian Orthodoxy today, to go beyond the requiems, to look at the power of love and the power of devotion. If not, then yes, a requiem would be most appropriate, but not for the dead at Sardarabad – but for a church that has lost touch with life and living.
Fallen Grains of Wheat – Revisted
At the Requiem Service in the Armenian Orthodox Church, the Holy Gospel according to St. John, is read.
Arguably, it is the most heard passage in the Armenian Church today, considering that more Armenian Christians would rather huddle around a requiem service than the Eucharist… I’m tempted to say that, that is another issue. But its not. Its part of the same issue.This week, Armenian clergymen will be called up to ‘perform’ requiem services for the departed martyrs of 1915. This passage will again be heard by every Armenian who attends these gatherings.
John 12:24-26 … “Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains a single grain, but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.” (NRSV)
Several years ago I worked on a project that I called “The Teotig Database” – while meditating on the above passage, I wrote this article for Window magazine. Here’s a revisit – 93 years after the assassination of a people…
FALLEN GRAINS OF WHEAT
by Fr. Vazken Movsesian (Window Quarterly, Spring 1990)
The word “martyr” conjures many images in our minds. Most of those images have little, if any, relevance for life today. Martyrdom is an abstract idea for most. Every April 24, Armenians are reintroduced to the word. A martyr, we are told, is one who voluntarily opts for death rather than deny his faith. Like a cliche, the definition rolls off our tongues with ease as we ascribe it to the 1.5 million Armenians of the 1915 Genocide.
Like all Armenians, I had heard the word used. I had heard the stories of family and friends. I had read the books. I had even given my share of “Martyrs’ Day” speeches, but “martyr” never had more meaning than after reading Teotig’s “Golgotha of the Armenian Clergy” [see note at the end of article]. It was no longer an abstract term. Furthermore, I found the Armenian Church of 1915 in a paradoxical situation. Superficially, what appeared to be a church on the verge of death, was in fact the Armenian Church living it’s most vibrant days of Christian witness.
BEYOND THE NUMBERS
Now that Teotig’s material has been transcribed and processed, the data can be evaluated in many ways. In mere numbers alone, it is evident that the Armenian Church suffered immensely. Seventy five years after the fact, we still have a long road toward recovery. Teotig’s work, however, presents much more than numbers. My intention here is not to analyze the data rather it is to reflect on the actions of these clergy and the implications of those actions for us. The documentation of the massacres gives us real life stories, examples, of clergymen, from whom we, as clergy and faithful of the Church 75 years removed from the tragedy, have much to learn. Although a few of the clergy of 1915 denied their faith, the overwhelming majority did not compromise themselves as Christians and became worthy of the title “martyr.” These clerics lead the Armenian people through that same road of martyrdom. Today, in retrospect, we have some serious questions to ask ourselves regarding the value of that decision and action. But first let us look at the pre-Genocide Church, which obviously was a more viable institution than the Armenian Church today, by virtue of more clergy, greater and closer contact with the people, Her ability to operate within hostile circumstances and most importantly, by the fact that Her followers did not abandon Her in these trying times.
What was the drawing power of the pre-Genocide Church? Why were Armenians determined not to compromise their faith, the Faith of the Orthodox Church? In the village of Kuvner, Bitlis, for example, the 400 Armenian families out of fear of persecution practiced their “worship” — not private prayer, but organized worship — in their homes.
How did the Church move men such that they refused worldly pursuits and survival, opting for the Cross instead? For example, Daniel Der Stephanian, a young revolutionary, immigrated to the United States in 1909 but returned to Gudoutz’s St. Garabed monastery, was ordained as Fr. Stephan and as a priest lead his suffering people. Or, Fr. Vartan Hagopian (Moush, Bitlis), who upon noticing that the Kurdish-speaking Armenians of Slivan (Dikranagerd) were without a pastor and on the verge of religious conversion notified the Patriarch and was assigned to the region. Fr. Vartan was martyred with his flock after returning them to the fold of the Mother Church.
What kept the clergymen loyal to the Church despite the hardships and humiliation they had to bear because of their association? In Sepastia, from the prelate down to the parish priest, clerics could not walk the streets without ridicule from the Turks. As an everyday ritual the Turks would curse and blaspheme the Armenian’s cross and faith. In Bourhan, when the village executioner finished torturing Fr. Khoren Hambartzoumian with unthinkable methods, as an ultimate indignation, he placed a dog in Fr. Khoren’s lap and demanded that the good priest baptize the mutt. Fr. Khoren was butchered.
What was the redeeming value of the Faith that these priest would demand from their parishioners loyalty until the end? Fr. Ashod Avedian, (Erzeroum) was among 4000 men separated from the women in the village of Tzitogh and shackled together. He counseled the men to be brave in the face of death, having them pray in unison, “Lord, have mercy.” And in the only sacramental gesture possible, he had the men take the “cursed” soil and swallow it as communion while confessing, “For all the sins which I have committed, in thought….” Questions about the authority and influence of the Holy Church continue to form within our minds as we read the multitude of stories of the men who not only preached the Faith but lived and died for it. The Church carried great weight in the lives of the people in 1915 as underscored by their martyrdom. Interestingly enough, the Church was not viewed as sanctuary, as is common during times of crisis.
The Armenian Church of 1915 was anything but a safe haven or refuge for Her people. As Teotig writes, “At that time the intolerance of the three Islamic nations (the Turks, the Persian and the Kurds) toward Christianity had reached its pinnacle.” The Armenian clergy were the symbols of Christianity that the Muslim Turks were fanatically molesting. To be associated with the Armenian Church, let alone be a part of it, was the same as signing one’s own execution orders. We refer to the victims of the Genocide as martyrs precisely for this reason: they willingly opted for association with the Church — to be identified as Christians — and were therefore denied existence.
Here lies the key to our questioning. The martyrdom of the people tells us that the Church in fact filled more than a social need for them. The pre-Genocide Armenian Church was exclusively a house of God. She was the Christian identity of the people and not much else. Because Armenians lived within their millet, Armenian community life was already defined. The Church did not have to take on the responsibility of perpetuating the nation. She had a tremendous influence within the lives of the people, because the people understood it as God ordained. Armenians did not understand, “In the world you have tribulation: but courage! I have overcome the world,” (Jn. 16:33) as a statement made by a mere mortal but by the Living God. Armenians took to heart the assurance, “Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven…” (Mt. 5:11-12) because it was guaranteed by the Saviour of the World.How else can we explain or understand martyrdom? It is only in these terms. Given the option to live or die, who would chose death, unless of course, the person had a doubtless belief that the “Lord is my Shepherd… even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for thou art with me…” (Ps. 23:1,4). Who would take the torture and humiliation of the cross, unless one knew for certain that the cross was not an end, but a means to the end. The Armenian Christian martyr of 1915 firmly believed in the resurrection of Christ and the guarantee of the same for his/herself.
The operative word in the definition of martyrdom is “willingly,” which implies the victims had the option to do otherwise. Some of the sources for Teotig were in fact converts to Islam. These were the few that were able to escape and live to tell the story. Teotig refers to the conversion as acceptance of the “severe order” (khisd hraman). By way of explanation, he inserts within parenthesis the word “Islamized.” Though the number of these converts was relatively minuscule, the fact that some converted asserts that the option for conversion, and therefore life was available.
THE TRUE LOSSES OF THE CHURCH
The 1915 Church in Turkey was well established by virtue of Her existence within the Armenian communities for centuries. The Armenian Church in the diaspora has only a living history of 75-100 years. The Church today is built upon the ruins of 1915. The losses of the Armenian Church were far greater than the decrease in the number of clergy. The Church lost Her impact over Armenians and lost Her place as a necessity among Her people. Her preoccupation with survival in the post-Genocide years moved Her from the sacred realm to the secular. The objective of the Church was compromised by the necessity to build. The devastation of the Genocide was too great upon Church leadership so there was no one “manning the ship.”
Meanwhile, we the post-genocide generations, found ourselves rebuilding without the proper “floor plans.” For us, the Church was not only a religious organization but a means toward national preservation. Without the necessary religious grounding, coupled with societal norms which advocate no absolutes, God lost us to the temptation of self- assurance. If the Armenian Church was to be rebuilt, it was because of our own efforts, we thought, and not God’s will. God was helpless. After all, where was God when we needed him most? Surely He did not have the power to rebuild our nation? God lost His strength and most importantly His healing power. The Armenian nation had been severely wounded and if anyone was going to heal us, it would be ourselves. And so, our community and church shifted from God-centeredness to self-centeredness. Our heroes changed. We began singing the praises of self-made industrialists who were now financing, rebuilding and healing the Church.
ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACH-THANI?
Perhaps one of the most pondered questions by people is, why evil? Many volumes on this subject line the shelves of theological and philosophical libraries. The question is simple: If God is good and if God is omnipotent then why does evil exist? Either God is not good or God is not all- powerful (e.g. He has no dominion over evil). The attempt at defending God’s goodness or omnipotence in the face of evil is called a theodicy.
Armenians at the time of the Genocide as well as today continue to ask this question. The Genocide of 1915 and more recently the earthquake of 1988 have both given us the necessary ammunition to lash out against a seemingly weak god, who accepts our loyalties throughout the centuries and abandons us in our time of need. Could God have not prevented the execution of Talaat’s orders? Could God have not prevented the extensive destruction of the earthquake?As a pastor I have been asked the same question from parishioners who are confronted with a manifestation of evil in their lives. Why cancer? Why divorce? Why young death? The deeper questions begin to surface: Does God hear our prayers? Is it fate? Is it our destiny? Ultimately, it is the Church that is on trial. Why advocate a faith in a god who is seemingly powerless against pain? The answer is by no means an easy one. In fact, as Teotig’s documentation has shown, the Church has not been spared Her share of evil. Ironically, this may very well be the beginnings of an Armenian Church theodicy.
The Church, as the Body of Christ was not rescued from evil, as neither was the actual Body of Christ, the Son of the Omnipotent. The crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ is the Church’s crucifixion. Theologian Hans Kung writes, “The crucified Jesus is present in the Church as the risen Lord. Christ does not exist without the Church, the Church does not exist without Christ. Christ is for the Church not only an event in a constantly receding past, nor only an event in the future, whether near or distant. … The Church does not derive its life only from the work which Christ did and finished in the past, nor only from the expected future consummation of his work, but from the living and efficacious presence of Christ in the present” (The Church).The crucifixion of our Lord is not to be understood as a one time event, centered in first century Palestine. During the Divine Liturgy, we herald, “Christ is among us… He who is God is here seated.” We are invited to commune with Christ who is– not was –sacrificed and shared among us. We are called to share in His resurrection, as well as His passion and crucifixion.
At the Turkish “Golgotha,” the Body of Christ was nailed to the Cross. In that misery, the Armenian Church asked the same question Jesus asked, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me” (Mt. 27:46). Today, we echo that appeal in our personal lives as well as on behalf of the Church, only to receive the same seemingly silent answer. That answer is only assumed silent when our ears are not attuned to an existence beyond this temporal one. Among the disciples who were at the foot of the Jesus’ cross, certainly some thought His teachings were in vain if His loving Father was not willing to come to His rescue. But to those who trusted His teachings, their fear diminished with the anticipation of resurrection. We too are not privy to the answer, unless first we are able to trust the living words of Christ and be ready to stand in eternal vigil for the resurrection.
God’s interaction with our world can not be confined to our limited understanding of time and justice. God does not prevent evil. This does not diminish the power of God nor His goodness. It shifts the responsibility to us — to be convinced by our faith and by the crucified and living Lord among us, that God’s love is greater than our sense of justice. St. Nersess Shnorhali writes in the hymn of the Saturday matins, “Do not judge us by justice, rather by Your mercy grant us expiation.” Justice is grounded in our temporal existence, God’s mercy transcends to the eternal. The healing power of God, to fix our wounds and abrasions is in His love not in our understanding of justice. If the resurrection of the Armenian people and Church is dependent upon human strength alone, it is doomed to fail as are all enterprises which are built upon limited faculties. The Church survives today because of human efforts. She lives today because of Christ’s eternal presence.
The Armenian clergy at the turn of the century were martyred with this understanding of Divine intervention. It is foolish to say they did not fear death; however, it is apparent from their martyrdom that they did not understand death as the final stop in a life running on hurt and pain. They believed and were convinced in the resurrection of Christ. The clergy of 1915 offer an understanding of the Church prior to Her children’s physical and spiritual breakdown. At that time, the faith of the Armenian Church was no different than the faith it expounds today. What has changed however, is our perception. As workers of the Church today we have a mission to revert back to this basic understanding of the Church. The Church does not need healing, rather we do. Healing — God’s healing — begins when we accept the Armenian Church as the Body of Christ, where our Lord lives in His Crucifixion and Resurrection. Otherwise, we are merely placing a bandage on our wounds. It is temporary, it is deceptive and will yield scare tissue.
In light of Teotig, martyrdom can no longer be an abstract idea. Rather, it is part of our commission as sons and daughters of the Armenian Church. Thank God today the Armenian Christians in America are not being forced at gun point to witness to their faith. Yet the pressure from worldly pursuits, the temptation to deny good in the face of personal gain, and the defining of the world as self-serving rather than God-serving all take their tolls upon our faith. These are the new weapons of evil. Do we question why God is not sparing us prosperity? If that prosperity has cost us our self- worth then is that not evil? Would we ever lash out against God and ask, why He is not saving us from material success? If that success has been acquired at the cost of the sanctity of family and the loss of principles, is that not evil?
Evil will always be present. It is part of a system built upon human free will. In the Garden of Eden it was the serpent, in 1915 it was the Turk, today it is the self, each demanding primary loyalty. Martyrdom for us is a denial of the evil and opting for life. This is true in our personal life as well as communal life. It begins with the acceptance of an eternal life, a life based on the will of God, a life which defines justice by God’s love and mercy.
Throughout Teotig, we read of priests who dedicated their lives to the service of the Church. Yet, tragically, many of them did not have graves nor a Church funeral. To their memory, I wish to present the Gospel passage from the funeral service. “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (Jn. 12:24-25). The pastors of 1915 dedicated their lives to God’s Holy Church. They denied the pleasures of this life for the riches of eternal life. Like grains of wheat, they fell and died. The Faith, the Faith of the Armenian Church is the fruit they bear. As we pray to God for their eternal rest, let us at the same time partake of this fruit. This in fact is our greatest tribute to their martyrdom and their blessed memory.
——————- Note ————————————
By 1921, only six years after the Genocide, a scribe using the pen name “Teotig” had compiled a volume of Armenian Church casualties entitled, “Golgotha of the Armenian Clergy”. Chronicled in this book are the perils of the Armenian Church during the 1915 Genocide. For the first time, the 412 page work written in Armenian has been transcribed into English and set as a data base by the A.C.R.A. Group research team.
The book introduces the reader to 1252 clergymen specifically, with brief biographical information and descriptions of the atrocities imposed upon these clerics. This volume by no means is an exhaustive list of losses suffered by the Armenian Church in 1915. Teotig assures the reader that some lists are fragmented and certain towns and villages had no remaining survivors from whom information could be gathered. For instance, in the town of Hiusenig, (near Kharbert) all the priests were murdered along with the townspeople. Clergy records did not survive. The same is true of the village of Khoylou as well as other localities.
Nevertheless, Teotig’s work presents a strong base and by all means is a monumental effort. It allows us to take a glimpse at the pre-Genocide Armenian Church and to understand the magnitude of the damage to the Church, to Her people and the spiritual decay which has ensued in the Armenian Church community over the past 75 years.
Golgotha of the Armenian Clergy is full of horror stories page after page, all tied together by a common thread of suffering and martyrdom. Teotig interviewed and compiled data from a variety of sources, many were first hand witnesses and clergy who escaped the atrocities one way or another. To understand the scope of his work, he confesses that the massacres were so precisely orchestrated that often villagers did not know of the destruction in a neighboring village a mile away. Yet he was able to compile and document the witness of 1252 of these clergy and their flocks.
The register includes among the most notable victims, Gomidas Vartabed Soghomonian to the most seemingly obscure, such as Krikor Kahana Zartarian, a priest of Sepastia whose finger nails were pulled, horse shoes nailed to his feet and then his skin was butchered off his body, because of his refusal to deny his faith.It is more than evident that the Armenian Church suffered immensely in numbers alone.
Seventy five years after the fact, we still have a long road toward recovery. The Armenian population has steadily increased but the number of clergy to meet the ever growing needs of the people has not.
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Is all money, money?
Several years ago (around the early 90’s) the infamous arms dealer Sarkis Soghanalian was making headlines in the Armenian press by donating to Armenian organizations and churches.
He had appeared on CBS-60 Minutes at the time and was internationally known for his sale of arms and weapons to a variety of different clients.
When there was talk that Soghanalian might donate to the churches, one of our overly righteous, self-appointed defenders of the ethical virtues of the church (a priest, no less) cried foul. How dare we, the church, take “tainted” money from this man? Ill-gotten gains, he claimed.
On the surface, this reasoning sounded good. After all, the church is an agent of peace and there’s a definite incongruity in peace efforts being funded by money coming from the sale of weapons of war. But, what got me thinking deeper on the subject was that the priest who raised the issue was serving in California’s Central Valley. In other words, his congregation made its money by working the land. And so, you have to wonder, how much of the money that came into his church’s plate was from farmers and land-owners who had exploited migrant farm workers? (Yes. Coincidence that tomorrow is Caesar Chavez day?)
And so, we have a double standard here: somehow money from guns is dirtier than money produced at the expense of people who might not rate a spot on the 6 O’clock News? Mexicans risking their lives, crossing the border for a chance to make a few bucks. They live in sub-standard conditions, and because they will, they work for very little wages. And if someone exploits these people they are called shrewd and good businessmen – after all, they are turning over a buck for less than what it would ordinarily cost. How is this any less ill-gotten or tainted than the money from the arms dealer?
So my question – isn’t money, money? If you go far enough, isn’t there some factor that will always put the money in the tainted category?
I bring this up now because I’m concerned about the role of money in our efforts. I have always insisted that we have a product that is worth funding. (Check out the “Miller Interviews” on the In His Shoes area of YouTube.) In other words, we have to stand by our product and believe in it to the point that we can (and should) ask for money for the product. If we are engaged in a ministry, we should ask people for money for the ministry. If we are engaged in helping children of war, we should ask people for money to help children of war. And so on…
What would you think of a store which sold light bulbs, but every time you walked into that store they kept handing you oranges and insisted that those oranges were good oranges? Well, for a while you’d be confused and then you’d get use to it. You’d start coming to the light bulb store to do your shopping for oranges. And eventually, the employees themselves would be convinced that their job was to promote and sell oranges. But, the savvy shopper will figure out that there are better oranges at the produce store and since you’re unsure of your main product – light bulbs – then certainly the better light bulbs must be elsewhere as well.
This is what has happened in our church. We’re selling all the wrong things. We have a product called Armenian Orthodoxy, and instead we’re selling Debutante Balls, Fashion Shows, and basketball games. So what happens – people come to our church searching for the ancient truth that they can ONLY get from the Armenian Orthodox church. They walk in, like they do to the light bulb store, and we tell them, here, have a debutant ball: this is the mission of the church. Or our children come looking for identity and we say “Join our team! We belong to a great basketball league!” Well – what do you suppose will happen? At first, people will be confused but eventually we will have a steady clientele ready to consume the products we offer. Some people will come thinking this is the Debutante store. Others will come thinking it’s the basketball store. Many of the employees will forget what the product is. BUT the savvy shopper, will figure out there are better basketball courts at the YMCA and there is certainly better places to learn about faith than a place that doesn’t want to give it to you.
In your own experience – I know we can all relate to this – you tell non-Armenians that you belong to the Armenian Church and what do they tell you? “You have some great food.” “I love the bakalava… or is that the Greeks?” In fact, just in the Los Angeles area I can tell you if people want the best pilaf it’s at one of the churches, the other has the market on kufta, and still, the other is known for its topig!
Which are the successful ministries? The ones that offer a product they believe in. Does that mean they don’t sell anything else? Certainly not. We’re all realists and we know that money is the necessary tool to get work done. But there are certain ratios that need to be agreed upon from the beginning. Albeit, these ratios may be arbitrarily established, still they are there to guide us. For instance, I have set up an arbitrary ratio in my own ministry between outreach and time allocated to admin. The same can be put in place for funding. If we can raise 80% of our funds from donations directly to our ministry then we can justify 20% of the money coming from non-ministry functions. I think this is reasonable and we’re doing it in our small corner of the world.
In His Shoes and the St. Peter Youth Ministries has been funded primarily by people who believe in the mission we’re engaged in. Even the occasional dinner dance, or concert is supported primarily by people who are supporters of the ministry, so that the events don’t come off as fund-raisers, as much as opportunities for the community to get together and enjoy fellowship and each other’s company.
Now we are engaged in raising money for poverty. Our annual Famine, raised awareness and money for world hunger. Most of the money comes from direct donations – people giving to the cause, that is, to aid world hunger. A percentage of the money comes from indirect solicitations, for instance, the sale of lemonade on the street corner – with proceeds benefitting the Famine. We have to admit that the person buying a glass is more interested in quenching his own thirst than hydrating the dehydrated children of Africa, still, in a small way awareness for the big cause is heightened.
This balance between direct and indirect solicitation is important. It will be the difference between a sincere effort to do our mission and selling oranges, just because we don’t believe in our light bulbs.
A few months ago, we saw a raffle ticket that was being sold by an Armenian organization to bring aid to the Refugees of Iraq. This was a hard one for me – because behind each of those words is a mass suffering. It’s another one of those incongruent situations where people vying for a chance to go to vacation in Hawaii might also be saving a life in the war zone. As I read the raffle ticket I wondered if the Jewish Diaspora during World War II was selling raffle tickets to vacation in New York, with proceeds benefitting displaced persons in Europe? Or even worse, if we had a large enough Diaspora in 1915, would we have raffled off a Ford Model-T so that proceeds could be sent to aid Genocide victim families and survivors?
Obviously, there are many for whom these issues – poverty, ecology, torture, violence, environment, immigration – are not important. And there are many in these categories that have money. And I would even venture to say, once that money is not used to bring aid and comforted, it falls into the earlier tainted category. AND, so the challenge is on us – the Robin Hood challenge – to take from the rich and distribute to the poor. It’s a challenge. It’s also ethically challenging because we ourselves don’t want to be tainted in the process of doing this. So it’s important that we hold our mission always in front of us and not lose sight about what we’re doing and the reason why we’re doing it. And along the way, we need to police ourselves, in case it does get out of hand. I think this is an area that we need to develop as we grow and as we expand. Certainly, if nothing else, I think the addition of these blogs and the dialogue that follows either on line or in our Questions in Faith discussion, is a step in this direction. We don’t want to be like the light-bulb store employees, who have gotten so use to the idea of selling oranges that we’ve forgotten that we have a product that is worth pushing, promoting and selling.
An Angel’s Life Does Not End
Sunday mornings, I place my cell phone on my desk before entering the church. I figure those couple of hours in the church can be spent without being wirelessly tethered to the world.
But not last Sunday. It was an early Daylight Savings Time – March 9, to be exact. And ever since AT&T fired or shot the Time lady, I’ve been using my cell phone’s clock to coordinate myself with my calendar. So this Sunday, my phone was in my pocket throughout the liturgy. It was a good thing because it was a few minutes after services were over that my phone rang. It was my close friend, telling me his mother-in-law was on her way out. She had been battling cancer for several years and now she was in the hospital.
It was also a day that we had gone to church in only one car. So I asked Susan and Christaphor to join me out to Woodland Hills. At the hospital I found Arlene with her family huddled around her in the Intensive Care unit. One of the last times I had seen Arlene was at the TV studio – I was doing my weekly show and she was doing a promo for the Armenian Bone Registry. We discussed her cancer. We discuss her faith. It’s very interesting how God makes these meetings possible – sometimes using the most unlikely places where we can share and exchange matters of great importance. I walked away from that meeting so impressed by her attitude. She had too much to live for. She wasn’t going to let this dreaded disease get in the way. She approached life in a very big way – with much zest and love: a small lady that filled up the room with her smile and charm.
And so, in this Intensive Care unit, this small body was taking a very rough and hard beating.
It didn’t look like she was awake, but I’ve learned in all these years that it’s not our call to figure out if a patient can hear or not. So I went up to her and said, “It’s me, Der Hayr. Your Der Hayr.” I’m not really sure what gave me that extra bit of confidence to personalize myself to her life, but I felt it was right.
We all stood around the bed, holding hands. I began the Lord’s prayer and then the Gospel passage. I read from John 14:
- “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
The emotions in the room were running high. A lot of tears, you wouldn’t expect anything less: a life was being cut short. I followed Arlene’s daughter and her husband into the waiting room. We began talking about the twist of life and fate. We were hitting on some of the big issue of life when a cousin came up to us and said, “You’ve got to come.”
We walked back into the room and there was Arlene, at peace. She wasn’t breathing. The breath had left her body exactly a minute since hearing the Gospel message. Her suffering had ended. She was at peace.
I know we were all moved and stunned. “Do not let your hearts be troubled” says God and certainly, the trouble had left the room. Her peace was touching each of us.
There are times in our lives when things just work. This was one of those. Arlene was leaving an incredible message to all of us. She was waiting for this final blessing – she was squaring things with her Maker and at the same time letting everyone know that at the end of the day, this was the ultimate reconciliation one needs to make in life.
As her motionless body lay there, I thought about the last words she heard, “I go to prepare a place for you… I am the way, the truth and the life…” She heard these words with her most treasured possessions standing all around her. She left this world at peace, leaving behind the pain, the suffering and the disease. She received a blessing sure, but at the same time each of us in that room knew that there was something greater happening here. We were blessed by this experience.
As a priest, I find a very profound point of equilibrium – where we give and it comes back to us in many different forms. In all of these variations we find the presence of God peaking at us through the thin veils of human experience, touching us – almost shaking us up – to reconnect to our humanity.
Today was the funeral. I went wantingly. I wanted to be there because it was a miracle that touched me. In the filth and disgust of something called cancer, a beautiful expression was blossoming.
I spoke about the angel Arlene. An angel is a messenger and Arlene was that angel that brought us the message: love never dies. She loved, she was loved and in her relatively short life of 59 years, she lead a very full existence. Her life was one which touched others.
At times like this we use some thoughtless terms such as paying our “last respects.” Or she “succumbed” to the disease. Or she “lost the battle” to cancer. With people like this, there cannot be a “last respect.” Honoring a person like Arlene is to live the example of the life she lived – more than a positive attitude, she had an attitude of love. She cared for and touched others. How dare we end it for her by saying she lost or succumbed to anything? Arlene was a victor, not a victim. Anyone who loves is a winner, because in return she’s gained all of eternity. She has reconciled with the ultimate force of the universe. She is one with God.
We all have a certain number of years – some get only a few, others many and still others get an over abundance. 10, 50, 80 or 100, its really doesn’t matter how many – sure life is sweet and nice, but the real measure is in how and in what way those years are filled. It’s something we all know, but when a life like Arlene’s touches us, it’s just one more opportunity for us to fortify our understanding of the power of love in our lives.
May God rest her soul. I stand today in thanksgiving for having known this very special woman.
Matt. 15: 22 Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” 23But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” 24He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” 27She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.
Thoughts on the passing of Arlene Titizian (1948-2008)
Responsibilty: the Armenian Church and China
One of the many clergyman that had his impact on my life and my becoming a priest was Archbishop Asoghig Ghazarian. He served in United States in the 1950’s. Later, he became the Primate of the Diocese of Iraq.
I met Bishop Asoghig on the few occasions when he visited America and he’d come over to our house. He was the priest that blessed my parent’s wedding engagement and through the years they had corresponded with him, staying in-touch enough so that when he would come from Iraq we’d have a chance to visit with him at our home. One day back in 1974 we even had the chance to take him to Disneyland. Though I don’t remember him on the Matterhorn, the image of him on the It’s-a-Small-World boat is still in my head.
In 1977 he passed away. His last wish was to die in Armenia. They brought over the ill prelate on a special plane from Bagdad to Yerevan. I was a student at the Seminary of Etchmiadzin that year. I remember that the venerable Catholicos Vazken I was truly heartbroken and saddened by his colleague’s passing. As a young seminarian, I participated in his funeral. Even more, along with two priests at the ancient monastery of Gayane, I prepared his body through a ritual bath provided for the clergy. I mention this here because his body was a bit different from others, and especially other priests.
You see, Bishop Asoghig had served in China. There he was persecuted and tortured. The same hands and forehead that had once absorbed the sacred Holy Miuron, were bound and beaten by communists and thugs. It was his private hell and, though we met on a few occasions, he didn’t share his stories or experiences with us. Back then I was too young to know, but now looking at his pictures, you can see the blank stare of abuse in his eyes.
I bring this up today because the persecution continues today in China. This week, the Newspress Question for us clergy was about the new religious freedom in China and what is says about our faith. (http://inhisshoes.com/In_Theory/China%20Freedom.htm) Imagine that… China and the Armenian Church? What’s the connection? Well, Bishop Asoghig for one. But Bishop Asoghig was and today China’s violation of human rights and support of regimes supporting Genocide viz. Sudan, is.
China is one of Sudan’s largest suppliers of arms, and in return Sudan is China’s largest overseas oil project. Official data shows that China now takes 40% of Sudan’s oil output. China can and must play a role in bringing an end to the genocide in Darfur.Being descendants of genocide survivors ourselves, there is a moral imperative, no less dictated by our faith that we stand in the shoes of others who are going through the sufferings we’ve endured. And our motivation to do so comes from the possibility of, what might have happened had the world disarmed Turkey at the time of the Armenian Genocide (1915)?
With religious freedom in China, I’m hoping that the same Christian mandate that moves us to search and work for peace will lean heavily on the government to end the Darfur genocide. George Bernard Shaw reminds us, “Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.”
The people who make a difference in our lives, like Bishop Asoghig, are the people who dared to take the responsibility for their lives. They were the ones who cared enough to put it all on the line. As a follower of Armenian Orthodoxy, he was a follower of Christ, taking up the cross no matter where it was planted – in Iraq, China, Armenia or on Calvary. Our responsibility is the same, but the way we can express it is much easier – it means standing up for what is right and being ever-vigilant.
Today, we were very happy and encouraged to learn that US filmmaker Steven Spielberg abandoned his role in the Beijing Olympics, as a host of prominent figures accused China of not doing enough to press its ally Sudan to end devastating violence in Darfur. Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080213/ts_afp/uschinasudanunrestdarfuroly_080213040036
The turn is really ours. As a Christian Church, as the Armenian Church – as the one Church which traces its roots to Jesus Christ himself, do we have any other choice but to rise to the occasion and take this responsibility? We need to walk the walk of Christ, and certainly at this point, talk the talk of Christ. In other words, the Armenian Church is definitely concerned about China, as it should be about everything else in the world. Armenian Orthodoxy is our belief system. Christ cared and his Body follows the directions of its Head.
Take two Nareg and call me in the morning
At our first Husgoom* service on Wednesday evening, when we prayed the prayer of St. Gregory of Nareg (Naregatzi), between the priests, deacons and people we had a nice rhythm going. (There are few occasions when this happens naturally. Most recognizably during the “kohootiun” portion of the Badarak – when a percussion section with high-hat and tom-toms would fit perfectly.)
The words of Naregatzi are intense, to say the least. The words are simple, yet complex. They seem like compound words but lack bridges. They delicately express some of the most basic emotions of the the human soul. His words come from the spirit and speak to the soul.
This week as we were singing, I got caught up in the tempo and beat. It was hypnotic and at the same time made me pay attention to the detail. I saw the punctuation marks and how they split the flow of the words. And then it hit me that those punctuations are so critical to the understanding of St. Nareg’s prayer and lament.
Like most of the liturgies of our Armenian Church, there is a tendency to “perform” rather than experience the prayers and song. That is, we understand the services as part of a prescription for our spiritual well-being – take a two Naregs, one Shnorhali, top it off with a Badarak once a week and call me in the morning. In the event of difficulty breathing, extinguish incense and use flavored candles instead.
Our work toward defining “Armenian Orthodoxy” is exactly the opposite. The words are not there to be taken (swallowed) but to challenge and motivate us to be one with Christ. Each word of Naregatzi stands as a koan waiting to be explored. Each word can become a key to your heart. Each word can be a door to the Kingdom.
Naregatzi – as well as all of our services and prayers – are not meant to be ingredients in a prescription, nor should they be part of formulas that solve spiritual dilemmas. They are the means for us to take the responsibility of our human condition and find peace.
Below, I’ve placed the prayer of St. Nareg that we sang during Husgoom. Read it through. Then, cut and paste it in a word-processor and split it up at each of the commas or semi-colons. If you have a bulleting function on your word-processor, bullet each of these. You will find small meditations that will perhaps haunt or perhaps calm you. Read one bullet and let it take hold of your thoughts and your soul. This is easier said than done, but don’t try to “solve” a word, rather, let it guide your prayer life.
For instance, one of the verses is, “abolish my pleasures of a deceiver, O ever victorious.” Don’t follow the natural tendency to ask “How am I a deceiver? What do I need abolished? How is God victorious?” etc. Because we already know those things! Think about it, you wouldn’t be in a “Lenten Journey” if you didn’t already realize that you had some issues to work out and the solution to those problems are from a source greater than you!” Instead, take this one sentence and let it soak in your heart as you pray, as you worship, as you live, as you love. Let it be a part of your life, so that when you pay for gas at the gas station or when you are stirring the soup (thinking of somethings mundane), the words “abolish my pleasures of a deceiver, O ever victorious” don’t stand out as words, but are nestled inside of you. Don’t rush anything to “Look for an answer.” Instead, pray with this one line in your heart for a week or two. You’ll find that the words begin to have more of an impact on the things you do, your relationships, your movements, your life. Then move on to the next line – to the next bullet.
This is the way of Armenian Orthodoxy. You’ll find the prayer will stimulate you to move toward God.
Prayer of St. Gregory of Nareg
Receive with tenderness, O might Lord God, the supplications of mine embittered self!
Approach me with compassion, I who am in deep disgrace; dissipate my sadness filled with shame, O thou most generous with gifts; remove mine unbearable burden, O merciful one; sever mine unbearable burden, O merciful one; sever my mortal habits from me, O thou inventor; abolish my pleasures of a deceiver, O ever victorious; disperse my demoniacal mist, O lofty one; arrest my course of perdition, O redeemer; destroy the evil devices of the captor, O thou seer of the concealed; scatter the assaults of the warrior, O inscrutable one!
Inscribe thy name with the sign of the cross upon the skylight of mine abode; encompass with thine hand the roof of my temple; mark with thy blood the side posts and the upper door-posts of my cell; imprint thy sign upon the trail of the footsteps of thy supplicants; fortify with thy right hand my couch of repose; free from snares the covering of my bed; protect with thy will my tormented soul; purify the breath of life with which thou endowest my body; surround me with troops of thy celestial army; array them against the battalion of demons.
Grant soothing rest like death unto the slumber in the deep of this night, through the mediatory supplication of the holy Mother and all the elect ones.
Closely envelop the windows of the visual senses of my mind, placing its dauntless against turbulent troubles, worldly anxieties, fantastic dreams, foolish hallucinations, that, through the memory of thy hope, it may remain protected beyond all harm; and that, roused anew with full wakefulness from the profundity of my slumber, standing erect before thee filled with soul renovating joy, I may forward this cry of supplication scented with faith, unto thee in heaven, O most hallowed king of ineffable glories, in unison with the hymns of praise sung by the celestial bands; for thou are glorified by all beings, forever and ever. Amen.
(For St. Nareg’s “Lamentations” check out Prof. Tom Samuelian’s website: http://www.stgregoryofnarek.am/)
* Husgoom = literally means “vigil”. The Armenian Church has seven hours of worship. Two of those hours are the “Peace” and “Rest” hour. At our parish we pray the prayers of these two hours and refer to it as the Lenten Vigil, i.e., “Husgoom.”
Life has no thumb drives
I received an ad from Office Depot just in time for the start of Lent: 40% off USB Flash drives; 2GB or more, it said in the fine print. I looked through the drives and sure enough, the 4GB and 8GB are within price reach. And I suspect, by year’s end we will see standards of 64GB or even 128GB.
What does this mean? Well basically, everything that you’ve been storing on your laptop’s hard drive can now be conveniently placed on an electronic stick and toted on your key chain, around your neck or in your pocket.
I remember when those small (3.5”) floppies were marketed for their size. Before those, my first hard drive – a 5MB Apple drive – was the size of two large Yellow Pages books put together. By today’s standards, it held only the equivalent of two photographs taken on a nice pocket digital camera. But back then, I never imagined I’d fill up that hard drive. But I did. And later, I filled my 20MB drive. Then came the ads for the Zip Drive, “Store more stuff!” and I did. And along the way, with each subsequent generation of technology, I was relieved that my excesses didn’t have to be jettisoned during the migration to a new computer or new hard drive; rather, I could take along and store them safely in folders buried in folders. And I know I’m not alone in my feelings of relief. Google, Yahoo and Microsoft have all developed search utilities just for this purpose: to find those bits and pieces from our past that we refuse to clean up or throw out.
So now today – thank God – we can store more, save more and protect more. We really don’t have to deal with cleaning or clearing up. Wouldn’t life be great if we could do the same with all of our “stuff?” But like the poor fool in Luke 12:13-21* discovered, you only get one chance at life. So you better make sure you prioritize your lists and keep those things that are necessary.
Lent is a proactive experience. You have a chance to clear out your memory and your baggage. It’s a time to really bring life down to the bare essentials. What does it really take to live? You know how the questions go… If you had a fire in your home – what would you take with you? If you were stranded on a desert island, what 10 CD’s would you want there to comfort you? If your hard drive crashed, and you had a chance to recover only 10 files, what would they be? These questions are reactive.
Lent is proactive: before things get bad, slow down, lighten up and live. What are the 10 files that are most important to you? Which relationships move you closer to your humanity? What are the things that you would want to present to God at the final check out? What is necessary to exist? What is necessary to survive? What is necessary to live be happy, i.e., live?
Lent is the time to inventory your inner drive. It’s a time to move some of the bones and garbage to the trash bin. Some files don’t even open up with today’s software, you know? Let’s start with those, at the very least.
Ultimately, you have to do your own inventorying. No one else can do it for you. That’s the way we begin the Lenten journey. What a great time we’ve been given.
* Luke 12:13 And one out of the multitude said unto him, Teacher, bid my brother divide the inheritance with me. 12:14 But he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? 12:15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and keep yourselves from all covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. 12:16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 12:17 and he reasoned within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have not where to bestow my fruits? 12:18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my grain and my goods. 12:19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, be merry. 12:20 But God said unto him, Thou foolish one, this night is thy soul required of thee; and the things which thou hast prepared, whose shall they be? 12:21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. Luke 12:13-21 ASV
Preface to the Next Step
Preface to the “Next Step”
It is 25 years to the day that Fr. Vazken was born. Pretty much to the minute, too, 25 years ago I bent on my knees and received the apostolic transfer – through the laying on of hands – of the priesthood.
I would like to say that today is no different than any other day that I look at myself and ask the questions of worthiness, but it is an appropriate anniversary: One quarter of a century since I took off the old garment of Hovsep and became Father Vazken. If not different from other days, but it is an opportunity to put some thoughts in writing – to make them more than thoughts.
Archbishop Vatché Hovsepian, ordained me. It was on the 27th anniversary, to the date, that His Holiness, the venerable Catholicos Vazken I was consecrated as the Supreme Patriarch of the Armenian Nation. In recognition of that anniversary, the ordaining bishop renamed me Vazken.
Archbishop Vatché introduced me to the congregation for the first time as Fr. Vazken and explained that a Christian is not “merely a follower of Christ. A Christian is a restless person… He will endure hardships, criticisms and danger because of his faith.” He went on to explain that the Catholicos Vazken was that type of man and that the name was fitting for me.
It is in this context that I was ordained. I never understood the priesthood as something easy. In fact, while most kids move toward adulthood there’s a period of rebellion and mine came in a different context. It was rebellion against the establishment. I left everything in knew in the United States to go to Armenia to study at the Seminary of Etchmiadzin. The year was 1977, during the cold-war era. I was in Brezhnev’s Soviet Union, studying. Away from family and friends – a hardship brought upon myself by virtue of the profession I had selected.
It was kind of freaky, now that I think about it. It just didn’t make sense, by the standards that people have for the Armenian priest. Why would I get a degree from USC and not pursue some type of business/profession that had some obvious social and monetary rewards attached to it? Why would anyone leave the comforts of the US and go to a country which had so many question marks attached to it? Where mail didn’t get to us for a month and that, only after it had been searched and censured? Where phones didn’t connect within the city, and definitely not across trans-Atlantic lines? Where, in case of an emergency, a ride home might take days, if not weeks? And the guilt of leaving two grandmas that were reaching the end of their lives? Where there would be no movie theaters to go to, because there were no girlfriends to take? It just wasn’t the thing a 21 year old USC graduate would do.
And on top of it all, for what? To be a member of a brotherhood that was as mysterious as the language I didn’t speak? An ancient faith inside the shell of antiquity, looking for definition. A people in the aftermath of the Genocide, searching for meaning and turning to this ancient church, which had no apparent answer to her people’s prayers. Nevertheless the church was the last of the hold-outs. There was no where else to turn. I saw it and see it today as the salvation of our people as a people. It is within this nationalistic framework that I defined the church, but not as the end of all of our woes. In other words, if we were to find salvation for the Armenian nation, we needed to first and foremost find salvation for the people that made up the nation. A nation (the collective) can only be as good as its people (the parts), correct?
The church was the hope for the people. There was hope in the walls of the church, but I was watching that hope and seeing something false – people living for something that wasn’t there or couldn’t be there. Much like the early Zealots who saw Jesus as the liberator of the physical Jewish state, we too, were looking at the church as the liberator of the Armenian nation, but not willing to buy into it to the point of personal discomfort. Much like the Catholic Church which was targeted by one of her priests, Martin Luther, for selling favors in heaven, the Armenian church was and still is, peddling something which it doesn’t have a right to distribute and so, is lost in a struggle to define herself – to herself and to her children, the members of the nation.
Twenty five years ago, the Holy Chrism –the Miuron – dripped out of the beak of the golden dove. The archbishop chanted the hymn – “medzatzayn hunchmamp” – a loud proclamation was made. That Holy Miuron was smeared on my forehead in the sign of the cross as he gave me my new name. His voice cracked in a gesture that you would expect from a father giving his son the right to life.
He gave me the chalice and the right to consecrate the Holy and Pure Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, for the living and the dead. He tied the belt around me and passed along the apostolic authority to tie or loose sins here so that they may be tied or loosed in heaven.
It has been 25 years since that date. Since the day I came on my knees and proclaimed my fidelity to the Armenian Church and her Orthodox teaching I was joined always in spirit and in body by my soul mate, Susan. My ministry quickly became ours.
The Gospel passage on at my first Divine Liturgy – October 17, 1982 was from Luke 4. I had always taken that as my own personal mission statement. Only today did I notice –while listening to an old tape of my ordination – that this same passage was read during the Ordination Divine Liturgy as well.
Luke 4 (NRSV)
The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry
14Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. 15He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
16When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
This is my mission statement. I believe it to be the mission statement of the Armenian Church as well as the Church Universal. If we are the Body of Christ, then there is nothing more that needs to be said. We are committed to the same mission Christ proclaimed at the start of his earthly ministry.
Early in the game, I’m not really sure when the calling came to be a priest, but I do know that in High School – age 15 – I had written a paper for a guidance class where I outlined the process to become a priest. I wanted to a priest at the time, though it was as part of a multiple profession, after finishing med school. I even remember a guy named Mark who mocked me in class for my desire to follow this career path.
Every anniversary of my ordination I listen to the tapes from my ordination. In particular I am fascinated by the sounds and prayers of the service on calling, on the night prior to the ordination. There I am “grilled” by the ordaining bishop with questions about my sincerity and willingness to take on the difficulties of the priesthood. “Do you promise,” he asks, “to take on the challenges of being a servant of Christ and not trade them for the comforts of this world?” He asks my sponsors, Fr. Arshag Khatchadourian and Fr. Levon Apelian –both monks of the church at the time (dzayrakoyn vartabed)- if I had the training and the upbringing to be a priest? I always wondered what secrets they knew that would allow them to answer in the affirmative, but they each would qualify their answers by saying, “to the best of my knowledge.”
I am brought to tears many times while listening to the tape, because of the language of that particular service. It is so simple and compelling. The archbishop goes through a list of 159 heretics who would otherwise be long-forgotten by us, if not for us! In other words, the only people who remember these heretics is us, ironically, as we recount their heresy and then pronounce them as anathema. I think to myself, how wonderful if others could understand this beautiful language. How often we find the excuse of language for not understanding our service, when in reality it is our unwillingness to listen with our hearts that is the problem.
The ordaining bishop, and I don’t think any other could do it as meaningfully or dramatically as Archbishop Vatché, when he seals the list of heretics with the words, “Anathematized and condemned are the group of heretics” who make up the “satellites of the Evil One.”
The drama needs to be there. It is the drawing card. Jesus was charismatic. He attracted not only by his works and person, but by his personality, his charisma. The human soul reacts to the suffering and the singing. In this sense, I feel my 25 years as a priest and the many years prior in the church have been blessed by an incredible cast of characters who laid the foundation for the faith. Unfortunately, gone are these superheroes of the church. These were the leaders that really took the church out of the ashes of the Genocide and brought us to the point where we’re at today.
In that group, I knew and watched so many priests and bishops who were all ‘larger than life.’ The priests who were my pastors (no particular order): Fr. Dirayr Dervishian*, Bishop Aris Shirvanian*, Fr. Sam Aghoyan*, Bishop Yeghishe Simonian, Abp. Torkom Manoogian, and Fr. Torkom Saraydarian, Abp. Yeghishe Derderian, Abp. Tiran Nersoyan, who invited me to New York to take on the task of the editing the St. Nersess Theological Journal, Abp. Shnork Kaloustian, Catholicos Vazken I, Abp. Asoghig Ghazarian, Fr. Isahag Ghazarian*, Fr. Shahe Semerdjian*, Fr. Shahe Altounian* and of course, Archbishop Vatché (*attended my ordination). There is a generation among these priests that is no longer there – no longer accessible. It is sad when you look around among the ranks of the clergy, the brains and intellect may be there, but the spirit is missing. There was a generation of powerhouses that we’re missing today.
The path over the past 25 years has taken us through some strange areas that we would probably never have known if it weren’t for the priesthood. We’ve met people that have been great in the world and political landscape as well as people who made the world and the landscape great.
I remember when George Deukmejian ascended to the Governor’s office in California and Susan and I attended the inauguration. We offered the prayer for the governor at some event – I can’t remember what it was, but remembering that someone came up and thanked us for being the only Armenian priest attending governor’s inaugural events.
We watched Cupertino turn from apple orchard to an orchard of Apples and change the world through technology. I was the priest of the Silicon Valley. We brought together Armenians and non-Armenians in understanding and harmony. We carried the people the day after the Armenian earthquake and the uncertainty of our people’s future. We built a church in Silicon Valley and made it a model of Armenian Church life – where Armenians from every part of the world came and became one, under the umbrella of the Church as the Body of Christ. That church we built was later erected in stone, but the big church we built was the one of a group of people loving and respecting each other.
We moved to Pasadena to accept the challenge of a larger parish. How can we ever forget going into the church in Pasadena for the first time and finding only 35 elderly ladies present for the Liturgy. And we were told that this was a “good day” because the people were expecting to meet their new pastor. We took on the challenge. We got to see the workings of an Armenian School and our children went through the ranks. What an experience! And we expanded, built the school and laid the foundation for the new church. We also learned much about human nature and the extent to which unbridled egotism can go. We saw corruption up close and the dangers of a church which had lost sight of its mission as Christ’s Body.
We built up camps and youth movements. My heart was with the youth because deep down I am a kid. I couldn’t conform to adult life. And when our own kids came into the picture I was truly challenged to question, what is it that we’re giving them? How dare we presume that we’re giving them is any better than what they have? Jesus calls us to become like children and then, rather than pay attention to his words, we immediately want to clone our kids into replicas of us. Why? Have we really created a world that we should be so proud of? With wars, pollution and poverty, maybe its time to take a break and look at our children and say they deserve something better?
Secondly, the plight of the youth has always attracted me because they have always been excluded from any serious discussion of the church. It bothered me and still bothers me when I hear that phrase, “the children are the future of the church.” What does that mean? Its one of those church-clichés that rolls off of our tongue like the one about the “Ladies Society is the backbone of the church.”
Kids reacted and loved the church. The church saw growth on many levels. I always challenged myself to be the person Archbishop Vatché wanted me to be – a “restless” person. “A Christian is a restless person,” he said during his sermon on the day of my ordination. I took to heart his admonition from 25 years ago. Coupled with my belief and the songs that inspired me, I always felt it was better to “burn out than it is to rust” (Neil Young). So much of the church and the priesthood around me was and is rusting that I knew we needed to keep the wheels oiled so we can move forward. We have to be restless with our work and never be content with the status quo.
The last three to four years have been challenging. The new administration has tried to push me into a corner and contend that my priesthood is a local one. He’s tried to pigeon-hole me into the parish priest category, meanwhile, the plight of our youth is being handed over to social and political organizations. One of today’s Armenian papers, “Armenian Reporter” came out with an issue about the AGBU this week, filled with pictures and essays about the young people. It was four years ago that we started the Youth Ministry with a plan to reach out to and for the children: a plan that was only marred by the failings of human personality. It was a plan of educating children through the Sunday School system, having them work through the summer camp program and populating the parishes through service-outreach in their ACYOs. It was a plan that was ordained by my bishop but dismantled by the new administration. Guised under the banner of an “unnecessary program” in our diocese, “After all,” the new Primate expressed to the 2004 Diocesan Assembly, “Every church that I go to is filled with you.”
In a sense, we don’t want to cry over spilled milk, but on the other hand, this is more than a carton of liquid, it’s the writing on the wall that troubles me and the end is coming sooner than we thought.
This year we examined many dimensions of “forgiveness” and how many times have I thought about forgiving the church administration for what it has done, but its not mine to forgive. The destruction is to the entire Church. And that is what is unforgivable – the denying of the work of the Holy Spirit!
And so… the Next Step…
There has to be a Next Step, otherwise we will rust. The next step is just as dangerous as the first step, but it was for this that I was ordained, it is the restlessness that burns inside of me that pushes me to the “Next Step.”
The Next Step begins on the premise that we, the Armenian Church, are not an island. We have needs and we have resources that can be shared with others. It is based on the principles of “In His Shoes” a concept that our kids taught us. To be Armenian and an Armenian Christian means that you have to rise from the mundane. There is more to being Armenian than language. There are parrots that speak Armenian, there are professors who have mastered the language, but that does not make them Armenian! Being Armenian is much more than some words put together.
Many times the non-Armenians are fascinated by our foods. We even get a good chuckle out of it when people attend our churches for the quality of food. A practice we have adopted from the Greeks. “The best shish-kebab is served at St. Michaels.” “You know, St. Gabriel uses real butter in their pilaf.”
Imagine where Christ’s ministry has come if these are the measuring sticks by which we’re defining the church. The Next Step demands that we stand true to the calling given to each of us – after all, we are all members of Christ’s body. It is the calling of the Church as defined in Luke 4 by our Lord Jesus Christ. It is to bring the good news to the poor, recovery of sight to the blind and let the oppressed go free. It is my calling because 25 years ago the Spirit of the Lord visited me through the Holy anointing.
I choose to call this next step, “Armenian Orthodoxy.” In other words, what is at the heart of our faith? What if we can strip away SOME of the politics and SOME of the egos, can we maybe find the heart of the faith? Can we find the Next Step of where the Armenian Church can go? Where do we, as first, second, third and fourth generation Armenians define ourselves in relation to our Creator and one another? Where and how can we acknowledge the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives?
This is the Next Step.
Twenty five years came and went. I know today is just a day on the calendar. Hopefully with God’s help, it can be the day we take the next step toward Armenian Orthodoxy.
26 September 2007
Globalization and the Armenian Church
The Impact of Globalization on
the Armenian Church: An Assessment
by Fr. Vazken Movsesian
Presented at the University of Southern California, 10 June 2005 at a symposium titled, “Globalization and the Armenian Church” on the occasion of a pontifical visit by His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians
View the Entire Conference at http://vimeo.com/15291175
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ood morning. I’m truly honored to be sharing this platform with such distinguished scholars as Dr. Miller and Dr. Dekmejian. And I am humbled to be offering these comments in the presence of His Holiness the Catholicos of All Armenians. I thank His Eminence Archbishop Hovnan Derderian for the opportunity he has granted me to make this presentation. I do so with a genuine love and respect in my heart toward the Armenian Apostolic Church – a church I have served for the last three decades – and I offer this presentation with the hopes that we can truly evaluate and better serve this sacred institution.
I’d like to begin today’s presentation by reading to you from an article which appeared in this morning’s Glendale Newspress:
As a young Latina girl stood up to receive a blessing from His Holiness Karekin II, the staff at Los Angeles Children’s Hospital drew near to them. It didn’t occur to her that this clergyman had traveled halfway around the globe, from a landlocked country named Armenia, to be here. She looked at him with a warm smile, one which could have melted the coldest heart. But there was no need to soften anything or anyone that day. Amidst the disease and illness, hope and love were radiating. And even though she didn’t understand every word spoken by the Armenian pontiff, she knew exactly what was happening.
His Holiness, in that moment of prayer and warmth successfully harnessed the energy of globalization and presented an opportunity for the Church to work out its mission…
Globalization is a phenomenon that takes on many forms. Its meaning is unclear. We are only beginning to ponder as to how or what its impact on us will be now and in the long run. But there are a few things that are for certain, namely, that there is no turning back the tide and we – the Armenian Church – need to deal with the implication of globalization if we are to remain a viable force in the Armenian nation.
On first thoughts, it seems like globalization is the ultimate atmosphere in which the Church can live out its mission – ONE world, and ONEKingdom of God under Jesus Christ are the core of the evangelical challenge. Is this not the words of the founder of the Church, “…and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” It was the words of Tim Rice’s Judas, who introduced to the public and thereby popularized the notion of Jesus in a world taken by globalization. In the opera Jesus Christ Superstar, Judas asks, “Why’d you choose such a backward time and such a strange land? If you’d come today you would have reached a whole nation Israel in 4 BC had no mass communication….”
Globalization is a double-edged sword: Thanks to globalization we can cut through the barriers of our finitude and transfer the message of peace, hope and everlasting life instantly throughout the globe, but it’s at a cost. The other side of the sword can cut apart individuality, options for self-expression and self-determination – ideas which are vital for the prosperity of any nation.
Let’s talk about the Armenian nation for a moment.
For many, this is an open and shut case – its all part of the same equation. The dreams and aspirations of the Armenian nation are melded into the fabric of the Armenian Church. Let’s first tackle the so called “dual mission” of the Armenian Church. A very simple way of understanding this duality is to look at the invention of the Armenian alphabet. (This year happens to be the 1600th anniversary of this invention.) The alphabet was created for one simple reason – to translate the newly adopted faith of the Armenian people into a language that could be understood. Mesrob Masdotz was commissioned by the church not mere to find a lettering system, but to do so for the purpose of translating Holy Scripture into Armenian. As a result, the Armenian people received their Bible along with a means to document and define their language… As was to be expected, the alphabet was used to translate other writings into Armenian. The history of the people was recorded. Subsequently, Armenia went through its “golden era” where volumes were written – poetry, prose, philosophy, social teaching, as a result of this invention – which was commissioned and brought to fruition because of the Church! In other words, Armenian nationalism and culture flourished thanks to this ecclesiastical invention.
Next, I’d like to also bring into our discussion, the Genocide of 1915 – this debilitating and traumatizing event.
The pride of the Armenian Church is to find roots during apostolic times, or even 1700 years ago with St. Gregory the Illuminator. Armenians have, what we may call “national slogans” – among them perhaps the most famous is “First nation to accept Christianity as a state religion” Sure, the Armenian Church has a history of 2000 years but a life, for all intents and purposes, of only 90 years. In the Turkish plan for annihilation, they went for the jugular vein of the Armenian nation, which was the church. What we have today, what we call the “Armenian Apostolic Church” is built on the ruins of 1915. Add to that the 70 years of communism that invaded the land of Armenians from 1920 to 1990 and you cannot possibly begin to fathom the depth of the hurt and destruction on our church. The first generation of clergy that led the church in post-Genocide times did so with nothing short of a miracle on their side. The likes of Tiran Nersoyan, Torkom Kooshagian, Gevork Chorekjian, Yeghishe Derderian, Shnork Kaloustian, and even in reflection Vazken Baljian, rose to the occasion despite the fact that they did so in and through an infrastructure that was debilitated and even destroyed.
While the Genocide by the Turks and the atheism spewed by the Soviet state were visible and concrete forms of persecution, at least they were perceived as the enemy, but, globalization comes in stealth fashion. It threatens the very essence of the Armenian Church because it threatens the very cause and reason of the Church’s existence, namely the Armenian people and the Armenian nation. This is what we are concerned with today – the people – the nation – this is who is being victimized by globalization and unless we – that is the Armenian Church – know how to harness the energy of globalization, we will find ourselves on the losing side of the battle.
At just about every Armenian Church function, someone inevitably will recite or sing Vahan Tekeyan’s ode to the Armenian Church. Written as a poem, it metaphorically places the Armenian Church in a unique spot in the process of salvation. It talks of the Armenian Church being a secret road to heaven. The poem conjures many romantic images for the reader – images that at one time would spark love and respect for the Armenian Church. Yet the Armenian Church has become like grandmother’s home – a place that you feel comfortable, a place that will offer safe haven, but not necessarily a place you’d want to live. You love her, she loves you, but her home is kind of dusty, has its rules and despite all the pleasantness of the company and good food, it’s just not YOUR life, its not where you’re going to live and define your being.
We know and hear the statistics. As is the case today, the Armenian Church has one of the lowest per-capita church attendance rates of all churches and even national-churches. In a study by Garbis Der Yeghiyan conducted of all Armenian Churches in the Southern California area – including Apostolic (Etchmiadzin and Antelias), Catholic and Protestant – on any given Sunday church attendance is just 1% of the population.
But on the other hand, never has the potential been so great as it is right now. There is a tremendous spiritual void in the lives of people that is being filled with religion of the variety of levels that have been fashioned by globalization. Because the opportunities are there to peer into the traditions of others, we are picking and choosing the best of all worlds – and truly finding options that can elevate the self. While outwardly this sounds healthy, it signals a decay in the collective – that is society. The collective can be compromised, so long as the individual is saved.
Many years ago when I went to Armeniaone thing which struck me as peculiar was the manner in which envelops were addressed. Imagine two brothers writing to each other – one in the US and one in Armenia…
ENVELOPES IN USA
John Garabedian
123 Main Street
Hollywood, CA 90027
USA
ENVELOPES IN ARMENIACIS
Armenia, Yerevan
456 Abovian Street
Karapetyan, Hovhaness
Whereas we here in the United States and the West are familiar with the name of the individual being on the top of the addressing sequence, the reverse is true in Armenia, where the country and state were on top. It was a subtle difference, in that subtlety a set of values was being projected. Without running the risk of boasting the virtues of communism, there is something to be said about the sense of community that is being lost at the cost of individuality. Thanks to globalization we have created a society and a world that is self-centered rather than community centered. And so – anything and everything necessary to keep the PERSON ON THE FIRST LINE is permissible.
We are familiar with the term “Cafeteria Catholic” which evolved from the phenomena of Catholics who were comfortable in church skin even if there were holes that were left open. For decades, since the invention and marketing of birth control pills, contraception has been used despite sanctions against it by the Church. Likewise, there are Cafeteria Christian – especially today – ones who can pick and choose according to the comfort level within the framework of the gospel. Hence, someone who is against same-sex marriages and stem cell research can feel comfortable being referred to as a Christian even though they’ve ignored the Matthew 25 imperative to feed the hungry, visit the prisoners and help the indigent.
Definitions are garbled because of globalization. Absolutes are gone and all religions are seen as paths to the same end, no matter how destructive or unproductive they may be. We have heard many times the justification given to various forms of religion, by saying all paths lead to the same place. We all remember President Bush’s statement following the 9/11 disaster, when he equated Allah with the God of the Jews and Christians, without giving any consideration to theology or dogma. And while the idea of a universal creator or divine architect which runs across many countries, continents and nationalities may be politically correct, it personifies a god, rather than discussing the essence of a life force which is common among all human and natural life.
There’s no turning back the trend. For the first time in history, sitting in a chair in the United States, you can chat with members in a variety of traditions, you can contribute to their causes, comment on their teachings and if the spirit moves you, kneel and offer a prayer in any language your keyboard and/or voice recognition software allows you to do so. And if the resources are available, you can meditate in the Himalayas, whirl with the Dervishes, hang with Rastafarians, get a Scientology reading – all while racking up frequent flyer miles that can be spent on gifts celebrating the Birth of Christ in December or January.
In 325, the Church Fathers met in Nicea and formulated a creed which became and continues to be the defining proclamation of a Christian. That is, without making a value statement, the Nicene Creed articulates the basic faith of what is to be called a Christian. Anyone who deviated from the points of the Creed was unable to be considered a Christian. Today, the Creed is still at the center of Church teaching, along with an anathema against all those who might profess otherwise. The lack of enforcement of those anathemas coupled with the tide of globalization has weakened the institution. In a sense, we are ‘augmenting’ –if you will – the creed of the Church with a host of doctrines that feel right and even appropriate. I saw a humorous bumper sticker the other day which expressed this very eloquently: “Your dogma ate my karma!” Think about it… That’s a bi-product of globalization.
So along with Cafeteria Catholics and Cafeteria Christians, we find a new phenomena in the Armenian community is “Cafeteria Spiritualist” and this is spreading rampantly. This offers everyone the best of all worlds. The phrase, “I’m not religious, I just believe in God,” characterizes this movement. Because spirituality is a need and a desire of the human heart and spirit, it needs to be fulfilled with the energy and juice that comes from beyond. A quick peak in Armenian newspapers will testify to this, and readers find no incongruity of a paper which may don the image of the Catholicos on its cover and inside be filled with ads for psychics and paranormal phenomena.
And this incongruity increases exponentially. On something as devastating and destructive as the Armenian Genocide, a vast majority of Armenians today will argue for recognition of the Genocide. We will lobby, write, sing, write and even pray for justice. Meanwhile we see no incongruity in staying silent as the killing in Darfurescalates. Just as Armenians were quiet during Rwanda and Cambodia before that.
The economic and political ramifications of globalization have put the United Statesand its large allies in behind the steering wheel as globalization drives forward. Our need to be justified and accepted by world powers is important for the political wars but they wear away at the psyche of the Armenian people and nation. Yes, the very people our Church is suppose to serve and free from the bonds of dependence on their path to self-determination are now DEPENDENT on others. So where is the process of self-determination for the Armenian nation? Every April 24 we march out on streets demanding recognition and the insult is added to the injury when the responses come back in the negative. Meanwhile, a Church which is based on the concept of justice and equity, which should be striving for the perfect stands dormant as the death continues to mount in other countries – all suffering from the same fate of Armenians.
Our children are seeking answers to the difficulties life is hurling at them, at an enormously accelerated rate. Money, materialism, prosperity have all been equated with happiness according to the trends of globalization. And the church does no service to the youth by only accentuating these patterns of conformity and greed. Sexuality is the nothing new, but the confusion that is being thrown out at them with intolerance and groups that are hiding behind the Bible rather than professing the truth of a loving God. Finally, ethically, all paths do not lead to the same place. This is not meant as a prejudiced or judgmental statement, merely a statement of fact that concepts of good, love, devotion, commitment, truth and justice are truly worthy of our pursuit. This is what I meant by harnessing the energy of globalization. We have the means to present a message that is in the Armenian Church but is unknown to the world.
Some 10 years ago, while serving the Armenian Church community in San Jose, we shared our church building with a congregation from the Indian Orthodox Church. (The Indian Orthodox Church is in communion with the Armenian Church, and traces its Apostolic roots to St. Thomaswho evangelized in Indian in 52A.D.) With the blessings and permission of our Primate, this congregation would celebrate the Divine Liturgy at our parish’s altar. When their Catholicos came to visit, in a gesture of appreciation they invited me to the celebration. At the gathering, the Catholicos asked me to have a seat next to him. I was surprised, honored and humbled. But what he had to say changed the way I understood our role as members of the Armenian Church.
The Indian Catholicos took off his pontifical ring, handed it to me and asked that I read the inscription inside. To my amazement, I saw Armenian letters spelling the name ‘Vazken I’. Quickly, the pontiff explained to his community (and to me) that this was a gift to him from the venerable Armenian Catholicos Vazken I. “We in the Indian Orthodox Church,” he explained, “have always enjoyed Christianity and a uniquely high status in India. We have been respected by the Maharajas, the royals and elite. We have never known Christianity without joy and celebration. But the Armenian, they have never known Christianity without suffering and hardship. They have struggled and suffered to maintain their faith. We can learn a lot from the Armenians.”
At that moment I felt a very clear mission for the Armenian Church on the world scene. Imagine that, the Armenian Church was unique in its suffering. But that suffering is much more than a reason to attract the pity by others, rather it is our compliance with Divine Teaching, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24)
A change in metaphor – from victim to victor – can be a pivotal point for us in the Armenian Church.
When His Holiness reached out to the little Latina girl, he did so as a partner in her suffering. He harnessed the energy of globalization.
We no longer need to be victims in the new metaphor. Rather as victors, the Armenian Church has a much larger role in the life of nation – it becomes pertinent and therefore a viable option for the congregant. It takes on a new purpose and stature in the history of the world.
It is interesting to sit through the Armenian Church liturgy, and then through the various hours (jamerkootiun) of worship and count the number of times the phrase, “Khaghaghootiun Amenestzoon” (Peace unto all) is repeated. It is disproportionate to the number of times that it is used by other churches. Isn’t it strange that a people that have only known hardship and suffering, who have been raped and pillaged would dare to offer PEACE to anyone? Could it be that the peace that is being offered is much more than a physical peace, but truly a tranquility that surpasses all words and understanding?
And what do we do when we spread this peace – we replace self-centeredness with community-centeredness. There is an opportunity to share – to become a part of a bigger entity, to serve the goals and aspirations of others. One of the hallmarks of Armenian communal life is the table. In Armenia where the Church is flourishing – there is this idea of “sharing the pain.” The Church is “real” when it is working and living. It does so by having confidence and faith in its own teaching.
The way I became involved with the youth in Glendale was about 6-7 years ago when Linda Maxwell called me. She was running Bliss Unlimited and hiring many Armenian young girls and boys. She asked them about the Armenian cross they wore on their necks and none were able to give an answer as to what it meant. They new it had to do with Jesus. When they were asked if they went to church, they replied, yes. What do you do there? We light candles. Why? And so… Linda called me. It should be mentioned that Linda is a practicing Buddhist, but the necessity for her to align her kids with a faith that was understandable to them was at the core of her actions. Linda had harnessed the energy of globalization. It reflected the confidence in her faith to the point of allowing, even inviting, others into her life.
Likewise, the Armenian Church serves the Armenian Nation when it first and foremost accepts its own calling and acts according. To me, the dual nature of nation and Church is expressed very simply: The Armenian Church is a Christian Church with its highest calling to work the message of love and hope as expressed by Jesus Christ. If it does so, the Armenian Nation will and must be strengthen.
Two years ago, a group of young Armenian men and women got together and came up with a new metaphor to express the direction of their efforts. They settled on a name, calling themselves “In His Shoes.” What is unique about this group is that they wish to express the best of what their past has to offer, but they want to do so in a positive light for their peers and friends. The metaphor is simply to stand in the shoes of those who feel pain. And there is no one else better equipped to do so than the Armenians. The Armenian nations has “been there and done that.” And throughout the persecutions and sufferings, it was the Armenian Church which stood next to them as a safe guard, an inspiration and a bastion of hope.
On April 24 this year, this same group of young Armenians went on a march in the desert. They donned a simple shirt with the mathematical equation 7×77. It was in reference to Jesus’ command to forgive those who hurt you – how many times? Seven times seventy seven! By forgiving, there is no room for denial. The Genocide is not up for discussion. And in accepting, the youth have a chance to take control of their destiny.
I bring this up, because we need to harness and use the energies that are part and parcel of our tradition. Globalization is on everyone’s lips. Globalization is destroying the Armenian nation by giving it the false hope and dreams that destiny is real, that its survival is in the hands of others, that self-determination is only an illusion. The Church cannot be a party to such trickery; rather it is called to witness to the faith and tradition that brought it to this crucial juncture in history. In so doing, the Church becomes the viable and essential institution in the life of the community and the soul of the individual.
Thank you.
© 2005 Fr. Vazken Movsesian
USA
www.inhisshoes.com
