Tag Archive for: Forgotten

Forgotten: Point of View

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Armodoxy for Today: The Forgotten part 3, Point of View

Not everything that is “forgotten” is due to our failure to see or to remember. Don’t discount the role of the editor, the broadcaster or the storyteller in what is remembered and what is not.

I often think about how news reaches us. I’ve had occasion to watch the news outside the United States. What strikes me is the way the news is presented. It was like watching a sitcom without a laugh-track, that is, there were no cues to when to laugh and when to cry, and the news was weighty, meaty and of substance.

Here in America, news is presented with a peppering of humor and entertainment, as a sidenote to the tragedies that take place. As bad as things may be – a natural disaster such as an earthquake or a hurricane which claimed thousands of lives – it is never so great that they can’t give you the latest football or basketball scores. Wars can escalate to genocide and scenes of cities destroyed by bombs can fill up our visuals, but fear not, the next news item is about a rapper or singer who has won a Grammy award, or better yet, will be entertaining at the Superbowl halftime event!

The consumer of that news eventually loses perspective about the weight and gravity of the different news items. Two hundred people killed in a hurricane is a tragedy with grave consequences. The love life of a celebrity may be of interest to a very large audience, but is it as weighty as the other story? Yet, the juxtaposing of these two stories back-to-back dilutes the magnitude of the consequential story. Think of your social media feed. The story about the escalation of nuclear weapons by countries is on the same feed as the picture of your neighbor sharing a funny experience with their dog. The two stories do not have the same weight or impact on life, but their positioning together desensitizes us to truly large events and stories that carry impact.

News editors are charged with arranging items such that they will be alluring and attractive to the viewer. It is the news editor and the production staff that decides which stories are worthy of broadcast and which are forgotten. Hence, the decision is made to prioritize news items for us, the consumers. Language, the perspective and the way a story is revealed, is adjusted to accommodate their goals.

Think of how we have been desensitized to the atrocities that took place in Gaza. In October 2023, Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people and took 251 others hostage in Isreal. Israel retaliated by proclaiming war on the Palestinians and at the end of two years close to 70,000 Palestinians were killed. During the war Gaza was obliterated. We kept hearing the numbers. It is easy, and in fact it is natural, to compare the numbers and the scale of the war on both sides. That’s where they want you to look, instead of looking at the human side of this tragedy. Which child – the Israeli or the Gazan – is not mourned by their family? Which person – the Israeli or the Gazan – did not bleed when struck down?

We have forgotten humanity.

In Gospel of Matthew, chapter 9, a paralyzed man is brought to Jesus. Jesus turns to him and says, “Your sins are forgiven.” He did not see the physical trappings of this man. Jesus did what he knew was necessary, to heal the man of his spiritual baggage. The people were incensed at Jesus. Who can forgive sin but God? they asked. Jesus answered, “…which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’  or to say, ‘Arise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” And he arose and departed to his house.

The people who brought this man to Jesus had forgotten that he had a soul, he had a spirit. But he was not forgotten by Jesus. The man was not to be identified only by the confines of his physical body. There was another way of understanding the picture. It was by God’s rules and not by any other. We will continue tomorrow.

For today, we pray, “Lord, have mercy. Amen”

The Forgotten, part 1: Why?

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Armodoxy for Today: Part 1 – The Forgotten, Why?

In the Gospel of Luke, chapter 7, we read that as Jesus was passing by the gate of the city of Nain, a funeral procession was taking place. The Gospel narrative gives us these details, the dead man was “the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her.  When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother.” (12-15)

The details in this story are not randomly placed here. When reading the Gospels in general, you’ll find that Jesus has a special concern and care for widows. In this story, these details – that the dead man was the only son of a widow – are essential to understanding Jesus’ compassion and why Jesus reacted the way he did. In the society of that day and age, women were identified by their fathers, their husbands, and in the event that they were widowed, by their male sons. In this story, we find the widow has lost her only son, and therefore, she will be an outcast, betrayed to a life of indigence.

Jesus paid attention to the forgotten, to those who slip through the cracks become shadows.

In my personal library I have a large selection of books related to genocide, more specifically, about the Armenian Genocide. One book stands out. Its name in large block letters on the binding call out “The FORGOTTEN GENOCIDE.” As the grandson of Armenian Genocide (1915-23) survivors, I am very sensitive to the plight of the forgotten. As a priest, committed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the forgotten are part of my mission.

In this miniseries of daily messages, I’ll be sharing with you a few stories of forgotten people, from Sudan to a prison which has housed a victim of domestic violence for 18 years. Yes, you heard right a victim, a survivor, of domestic violence, who is forgotten in a prison cell. These stories, I will present over the next days, as today’s widows, today’s only son’s mothers, who have God’s attention and deserve ours.

Lord Jesus Christ. You did not turn away from the forgotten children of the world. With your actions, you taught us to extend ourselves to hurting, to the forgotten, as a reminder that before God, there is no one who is forgotten. We are all His children. Fill my heart with compassion to extend myself beyond my reach. Amen.

Message Not to be Omitted

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Armodoxy for Today: The Message

When we proclaim our faith about Jesus Christ, we often do so about the person and inadvertently forget a fundament element of the faith, namely the message he preached. In the Nicene Creed, adopted in 325AD by the Church and recited in churches throughout the world every Sunday, we proclaim our belief in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and the exclusivity of the Holy Church. We have shorter forms of the profession of faith, one of which is confessed by the godfather during baptism in the Armenian Church. In the Western churches, such as the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches, the Apostles Creed is pronounced. In St. Nersess Shnorhali’s prayer of the 4th hour, we read an even more abbreviated form about Jesus, the Son of God, “Who descended from the bosom of the Father, and took flesh of the Holy Virgin Mary for our salvation, who was crucified and buried, and rose from the dead and ascended to the Father.”

In all of the creeds and professions of faith, the person of Jesus, the Son of God, is defined. What is missing is his message, or even more simply, mention or reference of his message. I use the word “missing” rather than “omitted” or “forgotten” because I believe the development of these creeds were products of the times and societal needs. In the case of the Armenian Church, her constituency during the early centuries was homogeneous. The people attending church and shared common values and so it wasn’t necessary to reference the message in a creed.

Armodoxy is about taking that ancient faith and placing it in today’s world and society. In a globalized society, where many different messages are vying for your attention, Jesus’ message can easily be dismissed, omitted or even forgotten because of the zealous efforts to proclaim Jesus as superior to other choices. Mature faith understands that it is Jesus’ message, that is unique and superior to all else. In his message we understand the fulness of the statement that God is love. Jesus’ message is what connects us to the beginning of time, and therein we find the Divinity of Jesus as the Son of God. “I am not here on my own authority, but he who sent me is true.” (John 7:28)

Let us pray St. Nersess Shnorhli’s prayer of the 4th hour, with addendum, Son of God, true God, who descended from the bosom of the Father, and took flesh of the Holy Virgin Mary for our salvation, [who taught the message of true love and compassion, with his words and his life,] who was crucified and buried, and rose from the dead and ascended to the Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before You, remember me like the robber when You come into your kingdom. Amen.

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