Tag Archive for: Armodoxy

New Access, Negate the Negative

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Armodoxy for Today: Negate the Negative

Immediately after the Resurrection of Christ, Scripture tells us that Jesus appeared to the disciples “Over a period of forty days and spoke about the Kingdom of God.” (Acts 1)

The Kingdom of God is often thought of as something or some place that is accessible only after we pass from this life. Jesus refers to the Kingdom as something accessible in the here and now. “The Kingdom of God is at hand,” was a message John the Baptist heralded even before Christ’s baptism. It was enacted by Christ and the active Church today.

Access to the Kingdom is available for everyone. The condition is to live a life of love demonstrated by action. In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 25, Jesus speaks of the Kingdom predicated on our actions of readiness and good deeds. Standards of goodness have no limits for Jesus, as is demonstrated in the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10). Even more, non-action is grounds for expulsion from the Kingdom.

We read: Then the King will say to those on His left…, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed… for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’  Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ … He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’

The world we live in is real. The problems that plague it are under our control. We are the agents of Christ. Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, happens with our involvement. You can’t close yourself off from the suffering in the world.

We pray, St. Nersess Shnorhali’s 9th hour of prayer, All-provident Lord, place a guard before my eyes, so that I may not look lustfully, before my ears, not to delight in hearing evil discourses, before my mouth, not to speak falsehood,  before my heart, not to think of wickedness, before my hands, not to commit injustice, before my feet, not to walk on the paths of righteousness;  rather, guide my motives, that they may be according to all your commandments. Amen.

Cover: Once you see it, it’s impossible to not see it. (Quite literally too!)

Gratitude: More than Attitude

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Gratitude: More than an Attitude

Often, we have heard the sage advice that attitude is a major component of a healthy life. There are even popular statistical notations that tout that success in life is primarily a function of attitude as opposed to circumstances. No doubt, these quaint sayings are easy to understand but more difficult to implement especially because we look for some backing and proof.

Armodoxy is a history that supplies the proof for the miraculous. Armenians have faced a history of terror, butchery, and barbarous crimes, all contributing to a country and a people that have been void of peace for centuries. Yet the essence of Armenian spiritual prayers and hymns is thanksgiving. The Armenian Church prayer book, Jamakirk, is a collection of praise and worship. In the face of horror, Armenians have composed hymns and recited prayers that reflect thanksgiving and gratitude.

If anyone has a right to protest to God for the horrors inflicted on its people and land, it is the Armenians. Instead of protest, their prayers reach to the highest heavens with praise and worship. It is herein that the Armenians have survived and built life in the face of death, being a living witness to resurrection in the face of crucifixion.

Armodoxy is the witness that gratitude is more than an attitude.

We are reminded of our Lord Jesus’ words, “…I have spoken to you that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16)

We pray, from the Book of Services of the Armenian Church, Lead us, ensuring that our steps keenly follow in Your path. Keep us focused on adhering to Your divine commandments. Embrace us throughout our lives, so that we may live lives of purity and chastity. We bless You, Father Almighty, the Living Holy Spirit with the graces of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Narrative (Story)

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Roots of Armodoxy: The Story

After your first visit to Armenia, and especially once you make the rounds to the monasteries and ancient sites, you can’t help but ask, how come no one knows about this?

You’re in the first Christian nation. You’re standing in front of the oldest Christian Cathedral on Earth at Holy Etchmiadzin, you’ve maneuvered through the caves at Geghart, you’ve entered into a pit where the Miracle of the Illuminator took place, and just about anywhere and everywhere you turn there are stories and sights that are, well to use a very crude but descriptive term, mind-blowing! You’ve watched your share of documentaries on Discovery and National Geographic, and this is your first glance at these sacred shrines and holy spaces, that have somehow escaped the curiosity of Hollywood producers. Where ever you look, there are stories waiting to be heard. You can’t help but make comparisons: Etchmiadzin is 800 years older than The Cathedral of Notre Dame, Karahounj predates Stonehenge by 5,000 years. The vortexes here pull more than they do in Sedona. Where am I and why am I just learning about this? you ask yourself.

Visiting Armenia is a journey. It is not about facts and figures but about the mysterious flow of energy that moves through this land. There is really no way of explaining or expressing the resilience and the supernatural means by which this country and its people have survived against adversity, except by resigning to the fact that this is a story that needs to be absorbed.

I was standing with a group pilgrims at one of the sacred spaces in Armenia when a group of tourists walked by and I heard the tour guide explain the history of the monastery that stood before us. She was good. She was young, born in Armenia, spoke and articulated herself in English and weaved the history together, just as you would expect to read it in a textbook. And then, she and her group moved on. Unfortunately, her group didn’t get the story behind this marvel of architecture and faith. They received the history, but the story was not there.

You’re in Armenia. It is a small, land-locked country, at the crossroads of three continents. It is inhabited by a peaceful group of people who have tapped into the Power of Christ, in their witness and expression. This Christ force, is expressed in its history and its story. That is what you witness in these sacred spaces and it is the reason why this place has survived atrocities, perils and even genocide.

The story is what we understand as Armodoxy, that is, the essence of the history with a connection to our lives today. Inside the monastery, the churches and the sacred sites, stone upon stone have absorbed the prayers, the candle drippings, the smoke of the incense and the tears and laughter of the people for centuries. This is the story that we tell. It’s no different than your life. You are not merely a list of historical events, but you have your candle drippings and incense filled walls as well. Yours is a story of relationships, dressed by love, hurt, pain and joy. You are who you are because of the friends who sat next to you, to the hand you extended to your children, the mother and father who disciplined you, the love that hurt you. That’s your story. Armenia has a story that is at the root of Armodoxy. It is why we understand Christianity as a power that can move mountains and heal the soul. Armenia is the living expression of the Christian experience, and every corner you turn, that power and that energy can and should be tapped into.

We pray, “Lord our God, open my heart to the wonders that are around me. Allow me to find the Kingdom that is within and without me, so that my story becomes a part of the story of Life. Amen.”

Same Rules for Religion

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Armodoxy for Today: The Same Rules

When I have an opportunity to teach or lecture at schools, particularly high schools and colleges, I’m rather annoyed that I’m treated as an anomaly. Well, perhaps, and I hope, it’s my topic rather than me. Students learn formulas, languages, history, but when it comes to religion, they put most everything they’ve learned to one side and look at the topic irrationally. Of course, the reasons for this push is because so often religion is taught as something that has to be accepted without question. Add to that the element of mystical incantations and unexplainable events, and yes, religion comes across as an anomaly amidst all the other disciplines.

Armodoxy is the study of the Armenian Orthodox Faith – Christianity in its essence, in its primitive form – a Faith that has been expounded by the Armenian Apostolic and Orthodox Church for the last 2000, and understanding it not as history, but as a living faith with applications for our life today. Just as Jesus intended His teachings to be applied to life of the common man in that day and age, so too, we must understand manifestation of Christian teaching not as bizarre and unusual, but as part of our nature today.

For instance, the Church has set aside “fasting” days and meatless days two millennia before the modern medicine steered us away from cholesterol producing meats and discovered the importance of intermittent fasting. Jesus stated the golden rule, “Whatever you want other to do to you, do also to them…” (Matthew 7:12) centuries before Newton set the laws of motion and thermodynamics – e.g., actions and reactions.  And of course, Jesus’ admonition to “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…” (Matthew 5:44) was an answer to war to produce peace. And although it has yet to be tried, simple mathematics will demonstrate and prove that x+x = 2x and ≠ 0, that is war plus war, begets more war, not peace.

Armodoxy is ancient Christianity applied today. It makes sense with all of life. Every so often, it is important to reiterate what we’re all about. Let us pray.

Our Father in Heaven, may Your name be holy, may Your kingdom come and Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation, deliver us from evil. For your is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory, forever. Amen.

 

Lenten Journey Day 14 – The Prodigal Son

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Day 14: The Prodigal Son

Lenten Recipe

Recipe 14: Hot and Sour Cabbage

Lenten Journey Day 14 – The Prodigal Son

Every Sunday during the Lenten Season has a unique name. Today is known as the Sunday of the Prodigal Son. Accordingly, the lesson of the day comes from the Gospel of St. Luke, Chapter 15, where Jesus teaches using a parable, commonly known as the story of the Prodigal Son.
Perhaps if nothing else reached us from the time of Jesus except for this one parable, it would be enough to explain our relationship with God. It is a story of reconciliation, and expresses the unconditional love that God has for us and therefore, requires of us.
The story of the Prodigal Son unfolds like this: A man has two sons. The younger son asks for and receives his inheritance. He takes his share of his father’s estate and squanders it on reckless living. While he has funds, he is popular with many friends. But when his money ran out, so did his friends. No money, no parties, no extravagant lifestyle, no friends, he goes out to look for work. But it is of no use. He can’t make enough to survive.
One night, when he is really down, he sees some pigs feeding and he actually considers eating the pigs’ food because he is so hungry. It is at that point that he comes to his senses. He remembers his father’s home and remembers that that his father’s servants live better than he. That night, he makes a decision to go back home –to his father – to beg for forgiveness. He even strategizes that he will ask to be taken-in as one of his father’s  servants.  
Now, while the son is returning home his father sees him on this road. His father comes running toward him, grabs him, hugs him and kisses him. He doesn’t even give his son a chance to talk nor to explain his deeds while away from home. The father then orders his servants to come around and bring him the best clothes and put the ring of authority on his hand. Then he orders a celebration! The fatted calf is slaughtered for this party.
The story of the Prodigal Son doesn’t end here. Remember he had an older brother. Now this older brother was working in the field and heard the sound of merriment and dancing. He didn’t understand and protested to his father. He said, “Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!” He just could not understand the unfairness of life. He (the older brother) had done everything right and the younger brother had wasted his inheritance. “Where is the justice?” he demanded. Why is the bad guy getting rewarded while the good guy continues to labor and struggle?
The father, with compassion and understanding, explains to the older brother, “You are always with me, and everything I have is yours.  But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”
So ends the story of the Prodigal Son, but here begins a tremendous opportunity to reflect on the many dimensions of this short parable.
In the next few days of the Lenten Journey we will look at the father and older son characters separately. For today’s discussion we will focus on the younger son. Let’s begin with the young man’s desire to want a better life and to enjoy it. That is not a foreign or unusual feeling. In fact, we all have entertained thoughts of better life. Why not? Why shouldn’t we have the better things in life? For in fact, in this boy’s case, he had the means, his father had the resources, so why not take advantage of the situation and go for it all? What then is the “sin” of the younger son? He is driven by his passions and the energy that comes with youth, and perhaps a little bit of impatience. He seizes the opportunity and takes what he can! Where’s the sin?
Taking what is given to you is not a sin. That is your gift. It belongs to you. The sin is squandering the gift! The sin is taking your gift and abusing it.
One of the challenges that comes to us on this 14th Day of the Lenten Journey is to list and inventory the gifts that have been given to you. Are you using that gift? Or are you abusing it? Are you respecting that gift or are you squandering it?
God has given each of us talents. He has given us life itself. Indeed the breath we breathe is a gift, as is the smile on our face, our ability to hug and our passion to reach out. Unfortunately, much like the Prodigal Son, we squander what is given us in a reckless and sometimes abusive manner. We consume our lives with the minutia and we therefore abandon quality. God has given us a smile that would light up a room and we cover it up, we are ashamed to show that smile. He has given us the ability to talk and instead we keep our mouths closed, or if we do open it we fill it with idle conversation and gossip. He has  given us the ability to hold, lift up and to help others instead we tie our hands down and refuse to help those in need. He has given us feet to walk in the paths of righteousness and instead we take our bodies to dismal hangouts.
We are each a prodigal son. We have taken the gifts of God and instead of using and enjoying them, we have squandered, abused and wasted the goodness in a prodigal life. We have missed the mark and by missing it, we fall short of realizing and maximizing our potential.
As we are inventorying our talents and gifts from God, let us also ask ourselves how we are using those gifts. Are we squandering the precious elements of life? Or are we using those talents for the betterment of all?
Tomorrow, we will continue with the parable of the Prodigal Son by observing the character of the father. For now let us pray the prayer of St. Nerses Shnorhali
Heavenly Father, true God, who sent Your beloved Son to seek the wandering sheep. I have sinned against heaven and before you. Receive me like Prodigal Son and clothe me with the garment of innocence, of which I was deprived by with sin. Have mercy upon your creatures and upon me a great sinner. Amen (3/24)

Lenten Journey Day 6 – Facilitating the Vision

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Day 6: Facilitating the Vision

Lenten Recipe

Recipe 6: Roasted Veggies

Saints are remembered on the Church calendar during the Lenten Season, as they are throughout the year. On the first Saturday of Lent this year the Church remembers St. Theodore the Warrior, a personality from the 4th Century.
In Orthodox tradition we look to the saints as examples of living life with purpose and in the path of Christ. Saints are never worshiped. Each of them are people just like us. In their humanity, they were able to rise to the occasion, usually through selfless sacrifice, and express their love in unique ways. One such saint that the Church remembers is St. Sahag Barthev. He was a saint who used his God given talents and spread the Gospel of love and hope to the world.
St. Sahag lived in the 5th century. His story begins a hundred years yearly, when the Armenian people accepted Christianity in 301AD. Immediately, the move to educate the people in the ways of Christ was underway. Quickly it became obvious that first and foremost in the education of the people, it was necessary to translate the Holy Scriptures into Armenian. An Armenian monk by the name of Mesrobe (St. Mesrobe Mashdots)  had the vision to invent an Armenian alphabet with the sole purpose of bringing the Christian message to his people. He found a partner in making that vision a reality in the person of the Chief Bishop, or Catholicos, Sahag Barthev. As the head of the Armenian Church, St. Sahag commissioned and underwrote the project. It was in 431 AD that the translation of Bible into Armenian was completed.
In Armenian Orthodox tradition, the Bible is precious and sacred that is has a unique name. It is called the Breath of God, or Asdvadzashoonch.  The vision became a reality. The Armenian people were able to read and understand scriptures in their native language.
Each and every one of us has our own dreams. We have our own visions of what our life and communities should be. We dream of goals for our family and ourselves. Each of us walking through the Lenten Journey should seize the opportunity to inventory those dreams. During Lent we have reviewed and altered our diet and inspected our relationships. Today, we look at our dreams closely. What dreams do we have for ourselves, as well as our families and our communities? What dreams to our family and friends have that can use our support? Today’s lesson is about turning dreams into reality and to freely give the encouragement and support that you possess to others. Mesrobe Mashdotz realizing he could not actualize his dream alone, plugged into a larger community of people who shared his vision. Sahag Barthev realizing he had a desire to do good, needed to find the means by which to make his dream come true. Together, they make the dream come true.
Let us find strength in our relationships with family and friends. Find people who share your same vision. Encourage the little steps others take to make the big strides, and eventually the goal, possible. And now push yourself to think bigger…
As we heighten our prayer life during Lent and as we turn inward in meditation, let us keep in mind that Jesus also has a dream. It is a dream for peace. His dream involves love, kindness and charity to all of His children. He’s counting on us to be the Sahag Barthev that will encourage and support His Dream. He looks to us, His Holy body the Church, to become the facilitators, the means by which peace can come. We become the arms, the legs and the mouth to do His work here in this world.
Let us pray the prayer of St. Nerses Shnorhali:
Oh Jesus, Wisdom of the Father, Grant me wisdom so that I may think, speak and do that which is good in your sight. Save me from evil thoughts, words and deeds. Have mercy on your creatures and upon me a great sinner. (I Confess with Faith 11/24)

Three Column Religion

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Next Step #767 – February 23, 2023 – Three column hymn or prayer books are common place in the Armenian churches, often referred to as the format of the pew book. The commotion behind the curtain: Lenten Sundays have started. Expulsion without the traditional exiles; Connecting the dots with the seven deadly sins. Final words on the goodness being remembered.
Armodoxy for Today (Daily/Lenten msgs) 
Lenten Sundays: Expulsion 
Lark Musical Society
Կirakē 
Reclaim 2023
Armenian Public Radio Retrograde 
Cover: Envato Elements
Produced by Suzie Shatarevyan for http://Epostle.net
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Narrative of Relevance

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Next Step #741: In this edition – An explosion in Yerevan rocks the city and its people, and then stops shaking. Notre Dame burns while Etchmiadzin struggles with renovation. The search for relevance is beyond-the-beyond. Planting money and the camp meeting. A revelation at Grapeblessing leads to the strength found in Armodoxy and Epostle.
Yerevan explosion
“I found the pearl”
John 15 – the Vine and Grapes
Grapeblessing explained
Ararat 1915 by Michael Ganian
Cover: ShareFaith Media
Produced by Suzie Shatarevyan for InHisShoes.org and Epostle.net
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Don’t Look Up

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Next Step with Fr. Vazken #729: Ascension… The story of Christ continues through the Church with a strict command to NOT look up. The work of the Church is around us. The shooting in Texas, the death of children, and conditions of the world… where then to look? Beyond the “whys” is the “where” – making sense of faith on the street and not in the books… The Next Step is a step toward Armodoxy.
Ascension according to Acts
Texas Shooting
NPR: What now?
The Sound of Santour
Produced by Suzie Shatarevyan for InHisShoes.org
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Cellophane Reality

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Next Step with Fr. Vazken #715: A check on reality- altered, augmented, synthesized or processed, from radio to ntf’s to the latest Webb telescope images. The groundwork for understanding: religion, belief and disbelief. The endless cycle of war and stepping out of the game via Armodoxy.
Does s/he exist?
Webb telescope
Monster galaxy discovered
Sarky Mouradian/Armenian Classic TV
Moog synthesizer
Wendy Carlos, Switched on Bach
Cover: Cellophane Reality, Fr. Vazken 2022
Produced by Suzie Shatarevyan for InHisShoes.org
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Tag Archive for: Armodoxy

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