Overkill

Armodoxy for Today: Overkill

One of the great disservices we do to our Faith is when we overdramatize or fictionalize the characters of our faith to the point that they represent a fantasy. Accordingly, they lose meaning and relevance for us.

This weekend the Armenian Church celebrated the feast of the Archangels Gabriel & Michael. The word angel means messenger. Angels are the ones who reveal a message to us. Think of all the different ways we have overdramatized angels, from Old Testament imagery to Church iconography, to stained glass windows, all the way to the Hollywoodization of angels with wings, harps, bows and arrows, white robes, halos, to the point that they enter the category of fantasy, and their purpose and message is forgotten.

The night Jesus was born, the angels brought a message: Peace on Earth, goodwill toward one another. That’s it. It was that simple. It’s what the message of Christianity has always been. This past week we had presidential elections. Along with the elections a narrative was given about Christianity, which all but missed the point of peace on earth and goodwill toward one another. Think of the many articles of Faith that get overdramatized. For instance miracles. Hollywood would have us believe that miracles occur with thunder and lightning, and while we’re looking up to the heavens for these spectacular sights, we miss the true miracle of a smile in our child’s eye, or that paper-like fingernail on a newborn that cannot be duplicated by any machine or person. In other words, we lose sight of real miracles when we downgrade the word to fantasy.

In the Armenian Church and in all of Christianity – an angel is a messenger – often sent by God to reveal a truth to us. The angel was sent to Mary to let her know that she is with Child of the Holy Spirit. We have no details of what that angel wore, what he looked like, what color his garments or skin color were. Nor do we know anything about his moral character, because that is not the point of the story. The story is to convey to us that Mary had found favor with God and would bear the Christ Child.

When our attention is grabbed by outward expressions such as wings and halos, we lose sight of the message and even worse, we lose contact with something very special. God is always talking to us but our receptors are so dull that we don’t hear. God’s messages are all around us. Our children, our parents, the flower in your garden, the beautiful landscape across the hills are messages sent to us daily.

When we make the images and the articles of faith bigger than life we don’t have a chance to interact – to dialogue. The entire point of religion is to engage us, make life – our existence and our world – into a better place. And this is why we reject the idea of jakatagir – fatalism.

In an old Los Angeles neighborhood stands the St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral. Today the neighborhood is made up of many different ethnicities. Across from the cathedral there is a big sign atop another building: We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly by embracing one another. (Luciano De Crescenzo).  It is a beautiful expression of messengers engaging in a dialogue. We can fly only if we connect with one another.

A prayer from St. Gregory Datevatsi dedicated to angels, Radiant servants, who serve the everlasting uncreated Creator classes, thrones, Seraphims and Cherubims of Heavenly armies. Principalities, powers, governments, archangels and angels, Michael and Gabriel, heads of heavenly armies who ceaselessly glorify the Holy Trinity, sings “Have Mercy, O Creator, do not forsake, do not abandon Your creation.” Abet and protect the servants of God. Amen.