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Letting Go: Ascension

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Armodoxy for Today: Ascension from the Other Side

FORTY days after Easter, today, is the celebration of Ascension. Jesus gives the Great Commission to the disciples, telling them to baptize and keep the commandments he had taught them. Before Ascending to Heaven Jesus reminds us, “I am with you to the close of the ages,” (Matt. 28:20). He is with us forever!

We are comforted by these words, because we have come to know him – we have  broken bread with him, laughed with him, cried with him, he has cared for us, healed us, tended to our problems. He has supported us in our vulnerability and our loneliness. We certainly receive much assurance and comfort from a pronouncement that he will always be with us. This is a nice reading from the point of view of the Disciples.

But what about the point of view of Jesus Christ? Have you considered that it was difficult for Jesus to leave us, and what assurance did he have from us?  He was about to leave the children he had cared for. Would they stick to the game plan? Would they take on life the way he thought they would? Would they be safe? Would they stay faithful to all they had learned?

Perhaps the closest parallel might be with parents whose children leave home to start their life? You have cared for them, cleaned their wounds, helped them through the difficulties of childhood and adolescence and offered unconditional love. You’ve been a friend in their loneliness and let them lean on you during their most challenging moments. But there comes a time when they have to break off. It is the order of life. Every beginning has an end. Unless a mother bird backs off and allows her young to fall out of the nest, their wings will never spread to fly. And yes, there is a chance that the young bird will fall onto the ground, but it will never test its capability of flight until it tries to catch the wind.

A parent who gives their child in marriage may worry; will my child make it? Or, a parent may believe that their upbringing, the foundation they laid, will give the child the ground from where the family tree will grow and blossom. I suspect, this is the feeling Jesus had when he left his children on that Ascension Day, knowing that they were going to meet all kinds of challenges in life, but confident that his prayers, his love and his connection to God gave his children the necessary tools to take on life.

“Lo, I am with you to the end of the ages.” Of course. We have no doubt. And neither did he.

Today, I share a prayer by Yeretsgin Susan on the occasion of our son’s wedding:

Lord, we thank You for Your heavenly benediction in joining our son, and now daughter, in the sacrament of marriage.

Bless and enrich their marriage in love, companionship, mutual support, oneness of heart and progress in faith and life.

Protect their holy wedlock from sin, evil and danger. Foster between them the spirit of understanding, the spirit of forgiveness, and the spirit of peace, that no resentment, quarrel or other problems may cause them to stumble and fall.

Remind them of the lessons they have learned from their loved ones, especially those who have returned to their Maker. Grant them to see their own faults and to not judge each other. Keep their bond of love always new.  May they feel Your presence in their lives through the joy of marriage, that with one heart they may praise and glorify You forever.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen

Cover: Watercolor, The Ascension Jesus POV

Gyurmi – DNA returns

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Roots of Armodoxy: Memory in DNA

“She remembered the railroad tracks and the mountains.”

During the Armenian Genocide 1.5 Million Armenians were brutally slaughtered and a greater number of Armenians were exiled from their historic homeland creating the Armenian Diaspora, with representation in almost every country on earth. When a member of that diaspora visits Armenia for the first time, Armenian DNA returns to the land after a century in exile.

A dear friend recently made a pilgrimage with us to Armenia. She came with a story of a memory. Her mother’s mother was from Gyumri and remembered two distinct images from the landscape, the railroad tracks and the mountains.

A child’s vantage point is skewed. From a small stature always looking up at adults and the world, the world seems different than when, as an adult, standing 6 feet off the ground, the same scenery and objects are viewed.  And so, in Gyumri we searched, viewing as a child, compensating for the parallax view and invoking images in our mind’s eye from a century before. We searched for what may have been the spot where this child’s memory focused on  the railroad tracks that reached for the horizon only to find the mountain. And there it was! Tracks and a mountain.

The mind has a way of protecting itself from huge traumatic events. It will compartmentalize the memories of the Genocide and images from the mass exodus, but it will remember, and quite vividly, those things which are precious and give definition to life. They are the sacred spaces of our lives. The train tracks were a connection to home. The mountain range was home. Over a hundred years later, the DNA and the memories embedded within its double helix returned from where it was taken.

In the Gospel according to St. Luke (2:42-48) we read, that when Jesus was twelve years old, on a trip to Jerusalem with Joseph and Mary, “he lingered behind.” Joseph and Mary searched for three days and found Him in the temple, ‘sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions.  And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.” And Jesus said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s house?” ‘

Some memories honor the past. Others celebrate them while still others hinder us from moving forward. In Gyumri we found these memories and we returned one as well, one which identified this land as sacred and holy, as the place where life began.

Armodoxy asks us to look at land not as possessions but as sacred spaces that define and give meaning to life. They are created by the holy memories that we hold in our heart. War becomes obsolete because the goal is not to acquire more land but to celebrate the sacredness that belongs to us all.

We pray, “I beseech You, Living God, through Your divine blessings and pleasing graces, enlighten my mind and allow me to love You with all my heart, and through Your irrefutable might, lead me on the path of your will and Your commandments. You are my hope and refuge. You are my salvation. Amen.”

John the Baptist & Forerunner

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Armodoxy for Today: John the Baptistn

The third person in the Nativity narratives is St. John the Baptist. In the Armenian Church he is celebrated as the one who baptized Jesus, (=M’grdich) and as the foreunner (=nakha-garabed). About a week after the Theophany, the Armenian Church celebrates the birth of St. John the Baptist and Forerunner to Jesus Christ.

“John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,” writes the evangelist St. Matthew (chapter 3). John’s message was simply, “‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!’ For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight.’”

The forerunner prepares the road for the one who is to come, and so John the Baptist, was actively preparing the people for the Revolution that was soon to come, that is, for Jesus Christ. I use the word “Revolution” intentionally, to draw attention to the uniqueness and newness/freshness of Jesus’ message. It was about to explode the society and all the conventions of the religious community. If it were not revolutionary, there would be no need for a forerunner. There is no need to prepare people to maintain the status quo.

The evangelist further describes John’s appearance as being “Clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.” It is important to note that this is one of the rare occasions in the Gospels that someone’s appearance is described. John was being compared to the Prophet Elijah who was, “A hairy man wearing a leather belt around his waist.” (2Kings 1:8) According to the tradition, Elijah was a forerunner to the coming of the Lord (See Malachi 4:5) and the connection between John and Elijah is made in several instances in the New Testament.

John the Baptist was the first to recognize Jesus, while still in the womb. His mother Elizabeth was a kinsman to Jesus’ mother Mary. When the two pregnant cousins met, John “Leapt in his mother’s womb” (Luke 1:41), thus he became the first to recognize Jesus, while still in utero.

This is our take-away from the Forerunner John: he knew where he stood in the salvific process. He was in complete acceptance of his position as forerunner to the Lord. In today’s terms, he knew he was the opening act to the main event. He did not try to overshadow Jesus, instead backed off and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before Him.’ He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore, this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.” (Luke 1)

Let us pray, “Lord our God, Jesus Christ, who came to the River Jordan to be baptize by John. May my soul be humbled as I stand in your presence. May I find my calling in your service. May the example of John the Forerunner remind me to always seek the Glory of God and not my own. Amen.