Tag Archive for: Simplicity

Responding to Fatherhood

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Armodoxy for Today: Responding to Fatherhood

Father’s Day gives us an opportunity to thank and honor our fathers. Fathers, just as mothers, are no longer confined to a gender. We all know mothers who, because of life circumstances, have had to be both mother and father to their children, just as we know fathers who, because of life circumstances, have had to be both father and mother to their children. Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are about the responsibility that goes with parenting.

The family unit has gone through many changes over the last century. A quick glance at television programming will remind us of just how much the image of the family has changed from Father Knows Best in the 50s, to Married with Children in the 90’s, to programs we’d be better off not remembering today. Like it or not, these are the images that came across our TV screens and have their impact on patterns of thought. They come into our living rooms and our homes, sometimes subtly, but most of the times as a reminder of where our society is at this point in time.

I’m not calling for a step back in time. But I am calling upon the teachings of the Church as articulated by our Lord Jesus Christ. He showed us a life of simplicity and personal responsibility. And pay attention to the order: a simpler life means much greater ability to take responsibility.

We fall into the materialism trap. We defend our actions by saying that we are working hard so that our children can enjoy the things we never had. We provide for our children but often don’t realize that the cost of providing is not measured in dollars. We lose sight of the goal of life. Responsibility to children means securing them with love, compassion and belonging.

Once, during a class with Junior High students, I asked them who their favorite hero was, expecting to hear the names Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Black Panther or Spiderman. Would you believe that the fantasy heroes did not even surface on their lists. Their heroes? Their parents!

On Father’s Day and Mother’s Day, I ask fathers and mothers to own up to the responsibilities entrusted to you as parents. Your children need you. Your children will mimic and become the person you teach them to be.  Working so that they may have more money and things are not the gifts your children need. Your children need your time. Your children need your love. Your children need your support.

We conclude today with a passage where Jesus talks about his parents and family. From the Gospel of Matthew (12): While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him. Then one said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.”  But He answered and said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?”  And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”

Fasting Beyond Food: Lent Day 5

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Day 5: Intense Fasting

Lenten Recipe

Recipe 5: Glazed Sweet Potatoes with Cranberries and Pecans!

 
As we approach the end of our first week in Lent, remind yourself that your accomplishments as well as your failures are behind you.  If you are fasting, and your prayer and giving cycles have increased, then these are accomplishments which should encourage you to continue and be even stronger in the weeks to come. If you have strayed from your goals, then regard this time as a catalyst for change. Challenge yourself to re-focus and be determined to take on the next few weeks with optimism.
Today we will talk about intense fasting, that is, fasting beyond food. In scripture we read a passage from the Gospel of St. Luke which says, “Jesus called the crowd to Him and said to them, ‘Listen and understand it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.’”
The message here is a strong one. So many times, and especially during the Lenten period, we are consumed with all of the laws and the regulations of life, the dos and don’ts of life. Do abstain from meat. Don’t drink milk. etc. We spend time asking the wrong questions: Do we abstain from this type of meat? Or that type of food? Rather than the rules and regulations, we should investigate the reasons for those rules. That is, we should be navigating ourselves to the true true intention of the Lenten period.
Lent, as we have learned, is a time to simplify, to bring it down to the bare basics, to find out what is necessary to live. We abstain from certain foods – meat and animal products – to help us simplify. Today we will crank it up a notch as we start to abstain from the bigger foods. We will focus on the things that defile us, or as Jesus says, “… not what goes into our system but what goes out of our system.”
What are those things that come out of our system and are they defiling us? Are there words, are there emotions that are destroying us, that are literally killing us and the people around us? I am talking about those expressions of anger, those expressions of hatred. How about discouragement and discontent? These are all emotions that tear us apart. They rip apart the relationships from people that we love. They defile us. They pollute our systems and our lives. They prevent us from becoming all that we can and should be.
As we know, the words that we speak can destroy us. There is an expression among Armenians that the wound created by a sword will heal, but the wound caused by the tongue never heals.
Think about the words that you have used in haste, perhaps in anger. Think about those expressions that have divided you from friends, or perhaps from family. Some words have even destroyed others, Willingly or maybe unwillingly, those small words have come out of your mouth and you have hurt others. Unfortunately,  more often than not, you end up hurting the ones you love most. Perhaps it’s because we think that those who love us will tolerance us, put up with us. Whatever the case or the reason, when we hurt others, we destroy relationships and in so doing, we destroy our relationship with God.
In fact in the Gospel of Matthew in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus specifically makes this point, “You have heard that you shall not murder, but  I tell you if you have anger toward your brother you are guilty of that murder!” That’s it! Christ tells us in no uncertain terms that there is no place in the life of a Christian for anger, for hatred, for  divisive conversations, and even the thoughts that are the basis for those actions. 
Now, when you rid yourself of the evil thoughts which lead to the evil actions, you must replace them with the only thought powerful enough to keep those thoughts away. That power comes from love. Love is the one ingredient of life that can overcome those thoughts and words that divide and devastate us.
Without love, what meaning or what purpose can our existence have? Love is the necessary component of life. While it is a natural element of our existence, that is, it exists in us all, nevertheless, it needs to be cultivated and nurtured. During this Lenten period we have a golden opportunity to do exactly that. By cultivating and nurturing the feelings of love in our life, we build the necessary habit to overcome the difficulties of life beyond this period of Lent. While abstinence and restrictions are one part of the Lenten journey, the greater task for the believer is to exercise love and to be in harmony family, friends, with nature, with surroundings, the world and ultimately, all of the universe, namely God. 
Let us pray:
All provident Lord place your holy fear as a guard before my eyes, so they may not look lustfully, before my ears so they may not delight in hearing evil words, before my mouth so it may not speak any falsehoods, before my heart so that it may not think evil, before my hands so that they may not do injustice, before my feet that they may not walk in the paths of injustice. But so direct them that they may always be according to all your commandments. Have mercy upon your creatures and upon me a great sinner. Amen. (St. Nersess Shnorhali’s Havadov Khosdovanim 9/24)

Simply Innocent

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Next Step #663: The Armodoxy approach to Lent: Simplifying by the numbers. Rules and regulations that form society and stripping them down during Lent. Even a Bible must be paid for: the rules that govern a simple Bible Study. A collection of Riffs from Beethoven to Zeppelin. Childish vocabulary not needed: hear the Beatitudes before it got complicated.
Fr. Vazken’s Lenten Journey (2021)
Lenten Guide 2021 Armenian
Lenten Guide 2021 English
40 Lenten Recipes (Bland Page)
Reclaim 2021
Register for Reclaim 2021 
Join Fr. Vazken this Sunday
WD168 this week 
Mars Landing 
Ian Anderson on the riffs 
Cat Steven’s Yousef’s Cafe
Cover: Simple Garden 2013 Fr. Vazken
Engineered by Ken Nalik
Produced by Suzie Shatarevyan for http://InHisShoes.org
Look for The Next Step on blubrry.com
Listen via Stitcher Radio on demand!
Listen on Apple Podcasts.