Armodoxy for Today: Muiron Mixture Inclusion

Thus far we’ve spoken about the spiritual attributes of Holy Muiron. We’ve followed scripture and connected dots between the Presence of the Holy Spirit in our world, Muirons history and our lives today. We’ve learned about the “players” those who will be blessing the Holy Muiron and the significance of their positions. We now have the groundwork from which to look at the preparation of the Muiron itself.

The Muiron is made of olive oil, the oil of balsam and the essence of forty different flowers, herbs and vegetation. As a prelude to the ingredients, I’d like to share with you two stories, which are essential to a proper understanding of Muiron in our lives today.

I grew up in the Los Angeles area. The mountains to the east of the city are particularly susceptible to wildfire. In the 1960s the Angeles Forest went up in flames. During my sixth grade semester the school district took us to an area inside the forest called Clear Creek. There, our classes camped out for a few days and one of our assignments was to plant seedlings in the burn areas to bring back the forest. At the same time, our camp counselors gave us instruction about nature and the importance of respecting our natural surroundings.

One day, I remember vividly, our sixth-grade class stood on the ridge as the counselor, or perhaps it was a forest ranger, asked us to remain silent and listen to all of nature’s sounds. Thirty of us stood on the ridge quietly listening. Do you hear the bird? Do you hear the water running through the creek? Do you hear the frogs talking to one another? Do you hear the rustle of the leaves telling us there is a breeze above us?  And then, suddenly, our meditative state was interrupted by one of the kids in our class who made an obnoxious and rude sound, causing everyone to burst out laughing.

Obviously, the mood was destroyed. The lesson the listen was perhaps even ruined, but not for me. One of the teachers/counselors that stood there with us, quickly reprimanded the student and brought the rest of the class to some order. He was upset and came down on the boy for making the silly noise and the rest of us for laughing and destroying the experiment.

And I remember thinking at that moment that wasn’t this kid’s obnoxious sound also not a part of the moment? After all, aren’t rude sounds something that young boys make? This boy got the attention he sought and perhaps a bit more. But for me, it was the idea that why was this boy’s voice and sound not equally as valid as the sound of the birds, the creek, the frogs or the leaves? At that moment, that boy made a sound, just as the birds, the creek, the frogs and the leaves did. His voice, however obnoxious it may have seemed, was a reflection of our presence in nature and therefore, it was an integral part of the mix.

Often, when discussing the Church or learning about events such as the Muiron Blessing, it is easy to think of them as performances – as something apart from us. Church is history is not about facts and figures. Sure, the Church exists on a temporal plane and therefore has a recordable history. Those are the facts and figures, but the Church’s story is also outside of time. Its history reads as a play with you as a character interacting with the storyline. That’s the first lesson of the Muiron mix, tomorrow we’ll talk about how you become part of the mix.

Prayer from St. Nersess Shnorhali’s 11^th hour, 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. Amen.