Tag Archive for: Time

Patience

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Armodoxy for Today: Patience

This week we’ve been taking a look at time and timing. Directly connected with the measurement of time is one of the virtues, patience. Patience is understood as an essential quality for leading a fulfilling and balanced life and tops the list of virtues.

Expectations are the cause of our disappointments. Expectations are built on our perception of time. We expect certain things to happen – to get something, to be accepted into a school, to fall in love, to receive a promotion, to have a wrong corrected – and when those expectations are not realized we, at the very least, are disappointed. Expectations are built on our self-imposed time-tables and patience is thrown out the door when we impose those restrictions. If you think about it, it is the disappointment and the discouragement that leads to the large numbers of depression and mental anguish in our day, caused from a society that is based on immediate gratification. Walk into a store, or go up to a vending machine, put your money in or hand it over, and you are gratified. And note, that I didn’t say satisfied. As we develop patience, expectations are reduced, hence disappointment and frustrations are eliminated from our life.

Next week, the Lenten Season begins. It is a time to grow in Faith and to strengthen out of our weaknesses. It is a time where patience can be developed through the dietary and disciplinary practices imposed on us by the Church.

Lent begins on Monday. The Sunday before Lent, this coming Sunday, is referred to as “Poon Paregetan” or “Boon Barekendan” depending on which side of Ararat you come from. The word translates to Good Life or Good Living. It is a day of indulging before the Lenten practices kick in.

The duration of Lent is forty days. But the real purpose of Lent are the 325 days that follow the forty. The skills, the discipline and patience that are learned in Lent are what help us in our everyday life. Armodoxy is about training the self to be at peace with his or her world, developing the virtues that build relationships that are cornerstone for a world of peace and understanding.

Celebrate the Day of Good Living this Sunday and then join me on Monday as we begin the Lenten Season.

We pray, Lord Jesus Christ, you gave yourself for the salvation of the world. On the Holy Cross you endured the suffering and persecution of your Creation. Your patience on the Cross was defined by Your Love for us. Help me to understand my limitations and build the virtue of patience to overcome my challenges with the tool of Love. Amen.

God’s Time

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Armodoxy for Today: God’s Time

This week we’re exploring timing: how events, large and small, take place over the course of time. Time marches slow when you’re young. You can’t wait to get older, to walk to school by yourself, ride a bike, later a car. To date. To stay out. You can’t wait to get older. Time is slow. And the older you get, time seems to be rushing through at too fast of a pace. You want to pull the breaks, but there’s no way to slow it down.

Time is in fact, relative, not on because of any complex Einsteinian equation but by simple mathematics. For a child of two years, a year is a half a lifetime! For a person of 70 years, that same year is 1/70th of a lifetime. Of course it goes by fast!

Sometimes to cut our anxiety and temper our impatience we refer to “God’s time,” an idea that God has a predetermined time for events to happen, and that it may differ from our own sense of time. In non-religious terms, we say, “In due time.” God’s time is beyond our measurements. In the passage where Jesus is tempted by the Devil, it says, “In an instant he showed him all the kingdoms on Earth.” (Luke 4) That instant might be understood as outside of time.

In Armenian churches throughout the world the symbol of “է” (pronounced ‘eh’) is found atop altar tables, on khatchkars (stone carvings of crosses) and on ornamental vestments. The “է” is the seventh letter of the Armenian alphabet, seven being the number of universe, or completeness, that is, the combination of four (for the corners of the earth) and three (the number of the heavens as in the Trinity). In the Armenian language that symbol/letter is the verb to be in the present tense. It is. It is, is the name of God. No He was, not He will be, but He is. He is the eternal present. In the Old Testament, in the Book of Exodus (3:14), God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the People of God: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” And before Biblical times, throughout Armenia, near the base of Mt. Ararat, at the cradle of civilization, markings and symbols point in temporal terms to the eternal truth of living in the moment. That’s Armodoxy. That’s “O.G. Christianity.” In Jesus’ experience, “in an instant showing all the kingdoms of Earth.” As we grow in faith we align more and more with the Eternal and with eternity, with the “է”.  Aligning with “է”, finding God, is the purpose of good religion and certainly the call made to us by Christ. There, we find that God’s timing is perfect.

We pray, from the words of St. Peter, (2Peter 3:9) Lord, You are not slow in keeping Your promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, You are patient with us, not wanting anyone to perish, but for everyone to come to repentance. Keep me strong in my faith and in my love for You and all my brothers and sisters. Amen.

Monument: Time back to front

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Armodoxy for Today: Time back to front

This week we’re exploring timing: how events, large and small, take place over the course of time, what is meant by “God’s time” and why patience is a virtue. Yesterday, I shared with you the story of the Armenian Martyrs’ Monument in Montebello which received historic landmark status by the state of California.

My grandparents, all four of them were survivors of the Armenian Genocide (1915-1922). They came to America with literally the shirt on their backs. The next generation, that is, my parents, were the ones that built life up from scratch. They were the ones that recognized the importance of remembering the past to prevent it from happening again. The Montebello monument was built with that intention by the efforts of an entire community of people who supported the idea of remembering. A small group of 18 men spearheaded that effort, and I’m proud to say that my dad was one of the Monument committee members. In April 1968, His Holiness Vazken I, the Catholicos of All Armenians, dedicated the monument in a ceremony that was witnessed by thousands.

So, there I was at the foot of the 75-foot monument, with a few hundred people in attendance, to turn over the monument to the State of California in its dedication as a historic landmark, in line with places such as the Golden Gate Bridge, Hearst Castle and the Los Angeles Coliseum. I was standing as the center link of five generations in the time continuum that unites us. My grandparents and my parents are memories today that are sparked by this monument. I’m standing there looking out at an audience that included by children and grandchildren. Five generations represented with memory, presence and a future. I was honored and privileged to offer the opening prayer for the dedication of the monument as a Historic Landmark.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for this beautiful day and this chance to leave a legacy by designating our Martyrs’ Monument as a historic landmark. Bless all those who made this a possibility.

Montebello means beautiful mountain, and with this monument and all that it symbolizes – the 1.5 million  martyred SAINTS of the Armenian Genocide, this has become a holy and sacred mountain for us, a place where we can remember the past and also stand in thanksgiving to this country, the United States of America, for opening its doors to us as a place of safety and a place where we felt belonging.

Bless, O Lord, the work of our hands. May this monument continue to stand as a beacon of remembrance and inspiration, inspiring us and the generations to come, to remain vigilant against injustice and wherever the unspeakable crime of Genocide is thought of in this world. May we be moved to action and work for peace. We ask this in the name of the Prince of Peace, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.”

Join me tomorrow as we continue on this thread.

The Third Nativity of Theophany

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Armodoxy for Today: The Third Nativity Narrative of Theophany

The third Nativity narrative I spoke of is quite different from the other two we heard yesterday. Without Wise Men and in the absence of the shepherds we read the narrative from the Gospel of John. It is not a story from 2000 years ago, but from the beginning of all time and eternity. It connects us not to Bethlehem, Egypt or Nazareth. Instead it links us to the first seconds of recorded time, where eternity finds definition, where emptiness takes form and light pierces the darkness. In a sense, it is a cosmic revelation because it defies space and time. Shepherds and wise men, we all understand. But this narrative is for those who have heard the essential truths and teachings of Jesus Christ. Here then, we hear the narrative of the Theophany, the Revelation of God:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ”

And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. (John 1:1-18)

 

New Year: Marking Time with Jesus

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Armodoxy for Today: The Advent Series – Marking Time with Jesus

On the sixth day of Christmas your true love may give you six geese a-laying, but for most of us, we will be receiving a turnover on the page of the calendar. It’s the end of the old year and the beginning of a new one. In the interest of religious neutrality, the convention for identifying time is BCE and CE (Before the Common Era and Common Era). Some will remember when another convention was used, BC, Before Christ and AD, Anno Domini, that is, in the year of the Lord. The majority of the planet marks time in reference to the Birth of Jesus Christ.

The New Year celebration is a mark in time, a convenient point to reflect on the past and plan for the future. You have done this many times before at this turning point of the old year into the new one. But this year you are on a journey through Advent. You have been awakened to the Teachings of Jesus. As you reflect on the past, include your preconceived notions about Jesus which may have fallen by the wayside as you’ve come in a closer relationship with his words and teachings. Use your journey journal and reflect on how this new understanding moves you into the new day and the New Year.

We end with the final verse, the 24th hour of St. Nersess Shnorhali’s Confession of Faith, Glorious Lord, receive the prayers of your servant and fulfill my requests that are deemed good. Through the intercession of the Holy Mother of God, and St. John the Baptist, and St. Stephen the first martyr, and St. Gregory our Illuminator, and the Holy Apostles, Prophets, Doctors of the Church, Martyrs, Patriarchs, Hermits, Virgins, and all your saints in heaven and on earth. Unto you, indivisible Holy Trinity, be glory and honor, forever and ever. Amen.

Timing is Everything

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Armodoxy for Today: Timing is Everything

A few years back, as we rounded the corner on the last leg of a 39-mile walk, we saw the finish line glistening like an oasis, waiting in anticipation of our arrival, with cool water and a row of electric foot massagers and chairs. We walked through the streets, hills and coastal area of Santa Barbara for two days while participating in the 39-mile walk to end breast cancer sponsored by Avon. My sister is a survivor and while throughout my ministry as a priest I have shared prayers and hugs with several cancer patients and their families, when cancer hits close to home the finality of life – time – hits you in a different manner. You remember childhood experiences, travel down the timeline of life, and realize that the line does end at some point.

We organized a small group of walkers from our church under the name “In Her Shoes” and set off to join those making a difference in the fight against this ugly killer. We walked 26 miles on day one and 13 miles the next day to the finish line, where an assortment of “help” awaited, from water, music and family members who made sure we saw that a car was waiting to take us back home.

The experience is a memorable one and spiritually uplifting. Avon did a nice job of organizing the walk, with attention paid to detail. Over four hundred of us walked the route. Although there are so many moments that make the experience magical and memorable, it was on that last stretch that I heard the theory of time relativity in a manner I can’t forget.

The end was a half a block away, and volunteers were passing out flyers to the walkers inviting us to next year’s walk. A lady next to me took the flyer, looked at it and confessed, “This is just like childbirth. During the excruciating pain of labor, every woman swears they will never do this again! But after the baby has come, after a few weeks, or months, the possibility of another baby becomes more and more doable.”

Timing is everything, they say. Whether having another baby or stretching the limits of your physical abilities, the decision to do so depends on timing. We ended up walking in several of these annual walks raising millions of dollars for cancer research. And then, in 2018, Avon ended the program.

In Scripture, there are a popular set of verses that are quoted at events marked by time. From Ecclesiastes, chapter 3, we are told, “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.” While Hallmark has made its profit off these verses, people with ill intentions have used these phrases to justify wars and senseless acts of killing. A prophet does not predict the future, rather he or she speaks to the times.

Today, we meditate upon these verses. Listen carefully to what is being said. These words are merely an observation of our reality, they are not meant as a permission to hurt, kill or destroy. This then is a reading of Ecclesiastes, chapter 3, verses observing the reality around us.

To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.
A time to be born,
And a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;
A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
And a time to build up;
A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;
A time to tear,
And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence,
And a time to speak;
A time to love,
And a time to hate;
A time of war,
And a time of peace.
(3:1-8)   

Eternity at Datev

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Roots of Armodoxy: Datev

Albert Einstein’s E=mc2 is one of the most recognized scientific notations by non-scientists. At most, people know it has something to do with time and space, though the mechanics escapes them. At the least, people know it is connected to Einstein and the theory of relativity. Around the same time Einstein was putting together the formulas for the general theory of realtify, American write, Henry Van Dyke was stating the relativity of time in these terms, “Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity.” That’s right, time is relative. It moves according to the vantage point of the observer.

At the end of time is eternity. It is difficult to accept and impossible to comprehend. Eternity exists in the absence of time, and as such is goes counter to all of our natural experiences. We may use words and phrases such as forever-and-ever but they describe time, not eternity. One such place where we come close to touching eternity, however, is at the monastery of Datev* or Datevivank. It is found in the Syunik Province in southeastern Armenia. Nestled in the forests, atop a hill, the Monastery is a marvel of Armenian architecture. Stone-placed-upon-stone, the shell of the church holds within it a very sacred space where the energy is so strong that time seems to be bent. While at Datevivank, you can experience eternity because time is absent. Though the structure itself is finite, inside you lose yourself to the marvel of faith that has constructed this shrine.

Datev is the reason why people look up when they think of heaven or eternity. On this hilltop some of the greats of the Armenian Church have lived and been inspired, including St. Gregory of Datev (14th century) who is entombed inside the sanctuary. He was a theologian and philosopher whose influence on the church is felt to this very day. During the early part of the 20th century, as the Genocide was coming to an end, the Datev Monastery was the inspiration and backdrop for greats such as Garegin Njteh as he chartered out the course for a new and independent Armenia, with his priorities expressed in a trilogy of ideas, God, the Nation and the Fatherland.

As we were visiting this bit of heaven on earth, a service uniting heaven and earth was taking place. The head of the monastery, Fr. Michael was administering the sacrament of baptism on a young boy of nine or 10 years of age. The boy’s godfather was a worker from one of the local villages. Those in attendance to witness the Christening were the boy’s immediate family and us, a group of pilgrims open to the blessing that may come our way.

Fr. Michael baptized and confirmed the boy with holy Miuron and then offered a prayer of thanksgiving, “We thank you Lord for replenishing your Church with this new servant of yours.” That word, “Replenishing” was the key to eternity. Here on this high peak, inside this monastery, in the witness of simple people, a miracle was taking place. Eternity was taking form; the continuity of space and time unfolded in our presence. At Datev we may not have comprehended eternity, but we did understand that eternity is not something to come but is in our midst right now. Henry David Thoreau expresses it concisely, “You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment.”

Fr. Michael turned to us and gave us a blessing. He is a simple monk of the Armenian Church who understands the power of uniting us with eternity. For those moments at Datev, we saw and were united to the vastness of eternity, and with the certainty of the continuity of life.

We pray today, “Heavenly Father, we say that to You belong the Kingdom of Eternity. May we be in your Divine presence, in that eternity, now, as well as forever. Amen.”

* The Armenian name Տաթեւ, maybe be transliterated into Latin characters as Datev or at Tatev.

Cover Photo: Fr. Vazken 2023

Order of Time

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Next Step #764 – February 2, 2023 – Groundhog Day, biological times, smells, and rhythm of our lives, how the Church calendar brings discipline to that beat. Armenian Christians under attack in Jerusalem and St. Sarkis, more than a captain and commander, a witness to Jesus Christ. Candlemas, Mid-winter, and 40 days after Christmas.
Epostle.net
Daily Messages “Armodoxy for Today”
Groundhog Day 2023
Armenias attacked in Jerusalem
Dog in Mid-Winter, Jethro Tull
Cover: Rhythm of Time, 2023 Fr. Vazken Movsesian
Produced by Suzie Shatarevyan for http://Epostle.net
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Motherhood & Apple Pie in July

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Next Step #631: If the blind can find their sight, the bereaved can find their dead. Themes of freedom and independence are in focus for this audio blog. The Art of Connecting the Dots. Exploring the 4th dimension even further – where are dead in Christ in space-time? Raw thoughts after waking up this day.
Louis Armstrong La Vie En Rose 
Next Step #630 – The Forgotten Fourth Dimension
In His Shoes a Ministry of the Western Diocese
New formula for dog years 
Cover: Three Red Apples / pickpik.com
Technical Director: Ken Nalik
Produced by Suzie Shatarevyan for InHisShoes.org
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Armodoxy: You Say You Want a Revolution?

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Next Step #121 – September 30, 2010

Defining the self within the structure of Armenian Orthodoxy as children of the 21st Century. “Validating” the new generation of Armodoxy as the last link in a chain, beginning with Time, with the center Golden Link Christ and an open end for what’s to come. A tribute to John Lennon as his 70th birthday approaches- the Revolution of the Sixties and WWJS: What would Jesus sing? Avoiding the pitfalls of traditionalism by not giving too much credibility to past at the cost of discounting the present.
Globalization and the Armenian Church http://www.vimeo.com/15291175
Song: “11 11” by Rodrigo y Gabriela  http://www.rodgab.com/
Ani’s Bubbles: The Golden House http://scrubsmag.com/nursing-theories-love-em-or-leave-em/
Produced by Suzie Shatarevyan for epostle.net

updated 041821 mm