Tag Archive for: Learning

Learning the Lesson

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Armodoxy for Today: Learning the Lesson

Most probably everyone has at one time, or another, brought their hand close enough to an open flame or a hot object to feel the heat, and then quickly retracted their hand before a burn. And sometimes, maybe not quick enough, with blisters betraying the slow withdrawal we feel the pain. Most everyone has come to learn to be cautious of heat because of their near-burn experiences. No matter how many times a child is warned, it’s that close the encounter with the heat source that drives home the point that a flame can burn.

Imagine if we didn’t learn from our mistakes. Imagine if every time we saw an open flame we had to bring our hand close enough to it to feel the heat, retract our hand, and then, only then, realize that it can burn. Yes, experience is the best instructor, provided we learn from our mistakes.

Jesus tells a parable in Matthew 18 about a man who is given a lesson on forgiveness, when his debt is cancelled by his creditor. Yet, when he finds someone who owes him money, he does not show any compassion nor mercy and demands that the debt be paid immediately. While the parable focuses on the act of forgiveness, there is an underlying lesson on the responsibility that comes from learning.

All of life is a learning experience, with events that beg us to make decisions. Those decisions are based on what we have learned, by the many lessons that life teaches us.

Armenians are the people of the Cross, a fact that is celebrated by the Armenian Church through its liturgics and teachings. The Cross is a symbol of suffering and victory, of crucifixion and resurrection, for the Armenian people. They have learned the lessons and the way of the cross from their history as a Christian nation. 1915 records the first Genocide of the 20th Century which took place against the Armenian people living in the Ottoman Empire. A hundred-plus years later, (2023) the campaign of ethnic cleansing took place on Armenian lands again, in Artsakh. The world looked on in 1915 and again in 2023, Another lesson learned – to have genocide and to be isolated in in the world.

Today another campaign of ethnic cleansing takes place and is publicized on media centers all over, to a world deaf and numb to the news. A genocide is taking place in Gaza. It is not a political issue, but a humanitarian one. The Armenian Church is a witness to the crucifixion – a witness to the Cross – and cannot remain quiet while professing the Gospel of Resurrection. Herein we understand that necessity for Armodoxy, the Armenian Church in action in our world today. To apply what we learn to life today is what is demanded of us as humans. It is the underlying lesson of the parable Jesus uses to teach us to learn from our past.

There are many lessons that are more painful and more severe than a burn from an open flame. The soul of humanity is lost when we ignore the most fundamental lessons of speaking out in the silence for justice and life.

We pray for courage to stand up for what is right, even when it is difficult. Help us to be instruments of Your peace and justice, reflecting Your love in all we do. Amen.

“Walking” to School: The Jemaran

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Armodoxy for Today: “Walking” to School

Summer vacation is over, and schools are back in session. Learning takes place in the classroom and as well as on digital platforms.

A unique method of learning comes from the Armenian Church. It has been practiced for centuries and can serve as a model for learning in a world of complexity.

The word for seminary in Armenian is jemaran, with its root coming from the word for walking = jemel. In the seminaries, the long and wide walkways around the monasteries were the lecture halls of the day, where the young monks would huddle around one of the masters – a vartabed – who would teach by engaging the students in a dialogue. Philosophy, theology, Christology and cosmology would come together in these talks.

The “jemaran model” of learning, is yet one more device of the Armenian Church worthy of emulating. In a world where misunderstand is the norm, where personal conversations are replaced with the quick text messages, and complex problems are spurted out in a post, the opportunity to engage in meaningful and productive conversation is an art form that just might be an answer for peace.

We pray, O Lord, you gave us one mouth to speak, and two ears to hear. Save us from our conceit and allow us to hear and engage in conversation with one another. Imprint on my heart the rule to reach out and embrace others to make our world better. Amen.

Back to School

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Armodoxy for Today: Back to School

As Summer winds down, school doors are opening to welcome new classes of students and hopefully, future graduates.

Today, a wide variety of learning takes place in the classroom. Along with the teacher, professor or nurse maid who stands at the head of the class, a large assortment of human and mechanical devices from monitors to cellphones, to AI chatbots are vying for the attention of students. Several schools are restricting use of cell phones during school hours, citing their presence is disruptive to the learning environment, not only because of the temptation to play games but also they are open invitations to interact with other students and people in different parts of the country or world. All this takes away from class time. And for those without the devices, there are several intimidating factors that begin to surface and hinder a rounded education.

There are also people on campuses who use unscrupulous means to appeal to the students, so that the traditional “Three-R’s” – Reading, Writing and Arithmetic – are supplemented much more.

As a priest, I am often asked what my thoughts are on prayer in school. It is a topic that comes up rather routinely in different discussions about education. For the record, I’m against organized prayer in school. Teach your children to pray at home. I certainly don’t want someone who has archaic or bizarre ideas about the nature of human existence, to be leading a prayer to a deity that represents values opposed to my own. Rather than placing the responsibility of religious education, have discussions, open ones, with students at home, take them to church, have them involved in communities and allow children to focus on the 3-R’s in the school.

Tomorrow, we will focus on a unique practice of learning that comes from the Armenian Church, that has been practiced and can serve as a model for us in a world of complexity.

Today, we pray, Lord our God, protect and nurture our children. Give them grace and peace of mind so they may focus learning the essentials to maneuver through life and give me – my children’s first teacher – the guidance to share Your Love, Your Light, and their gifts with others. Amen.

Okay to Question

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Armodoxy for Today: OK to Question

Quick, think fast: Who was your favorite teacher in school? Who were the teachers from whom you learned the most? Chance are they were not the straight lecturer, who sat you down, infused your brain with knowledge and then dismissed you 50 minutes later at the end of the period. I’d venture to say the best teachers, instructors or professor was not a lecturer at all, but one who engaged you in dialogue. A teacher who challenged you by giving you material to ponder, wonder, ask questions, and form your conclusions was one who imparted knowledge and perhaps some wisdom.

Asking questions is a means by which we learn. Jesus taught by posing questions, by engaging his students and disciples in a thought process by which they came to know him, to know his love for them, and the high truths about the Kingdom of Heaven. Even the crown of his teaching, the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) which is laid out as a “lecture” is a series of Q&A with statements stating the known and answering with the teaching. “You have heard…” Jesus would say with a given, such as “You should not murder, but I tell you…” he answers with his lesson for thought, contemplation and eventual learning.

As a loving and caring God, He asks us to come to Him out of love and a desire to know Him closely. We are all different with very different upbringings, dilemmas and joys face us. It is only natural that we will have questions. Why evil? Why pain? Where is joy? Finding heaven?  To each of us, He grants the opportunity: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”

Yes, it’s okay to think and it’s okay to ask questions.

We pray Psalm 4 today, Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness. You have given me room when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer. In peace, I will both lie down and sleep; for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. Amen.