Dn. Matthew Ash

Seemingly Interesting Miscellany From Around My World

Posts tagged with “Armenia”:

Revolution of the Mind

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“Have I been blind?” I found myself asking this question to an empty room the other day. In fact, I’ve been asking myself this question a lot lately.

Before my joining the Kevorkian Seminary, I felt as though I had a solid grasp on a few things. Putting aside things digital in nature, my knowledge of the Christian Faith and the Armenian Church were right at the top of the list. I was no theologian, but my foundation was strong, and I was confident that the fundamental elements of my faith were well within my grasp.

Boom

Despite this, over the past months even some of the most basic Sunday-School-level truths have been revealed to me in ways I never before appreciated. St. Paul says that as a Christian you need to undergo a revolution of the mind (or a renewing of the mind). I feel like that’s what I’ve been experiencing here. Not a fantastic all-at-once mind blowing revolution, but the sort of revolution that occurs in spurts and lurches. Something more akin to real change.

Prayer, reflection, and the good instruction of men with insight have made this possible. Yet, what good is knowledge unless it can be shared?

In effort to practice a skill that will most likely be the cornerstone of my career, I’m going to try and distill this learning into simple and straightforward writing that I hope people will find understandable and will resonate with their spirituality even a fraction as much as it did with mine.

Over the next month, and especially the next two weeks, I will be blogging about these topics.

  1. Resurrection: Faith’s Tipping Point
  2. The Holy Trinity, the Eternal Party
  3. The Holy Trinity Part II, and my Emblem
  4. What Is a Priest?
  5. In Church All Day Long
  6. Playing with Patterns and Symbols
  7. The Badarak, Rebooting
  8. If You Can Say It, You Can Sing It
  9. The Other Creed
  10. Simeon Yerevantsi and Productivity
  11. Today’s Church and Why It Shouldn’t Be Necessary
  12. The Early Church, A Doctrinal Wild West
  13. And more! Maybe…

Short and Sweet

My goal with these blogs is basically to discuss these topics with brevity and lightness. I’ll try to provide as many links as possible so that the reader can jump off and explore these topics further, if they’re so inclined.

Another motivation I have is that I have not often found literature on the Internet which either regards these topics in general or directly speaks the Armenian Church’s take on them (in English). So hopefully these will become a few more nodes on the Internet that the intrepid Googler can stumble upon when seeking to know more about our faith.

My First blog should be posted tomorrow, or the next day. I hope you enjoy them and please post feedback or questions!

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Living in Armenia is no different then living in other countries. You never take the time to visit the nearby sites and do the things that really make that place special. I’ve been living here for over 8 months, and have only taken a few opportunities to get out the city, and visit the sites that make our homeland so wonderful. Today, Annie and I took a few hours to drive out to the Monastery of Geghard, and the temple of Garni. Geghard is called as such because for many centuries it protected the tip of the lance which the Armenian Church believes was used to pierce Christ’s side while on the Cross. The lance is now kept at Holy Etchmiadzin, but the complex is still one of the most beautiful places in Armenia. Geghard is hune into the side of a hill and according to tradition was established by St. Gregory the Illuminator in the 4th century. In one of its passages there is a sacred spring from which water flows forth and travels through small channels through the sanctuary. It is truly a place that inspires the spirit to prayer. Garni, a place which I personally have not appreciated in the past, is an ancient pagan temple established during the time of King Trdat in the 1st century BCE. In a treaty settled between the Roman Empire and Armenia, Armenia’s gods where admitted in the Roman pantheon, and a Roman-style temple was erected. During this visit I appreciated a previously unnoticed aspect of the site. Garni has been used as a fortress and spiritual site throughout Armenian history. You can see situated immediately adjacent to one another a stone erected during the Ancient Urartian period (8th C. BCE), the pagan temple (1st C. BCE), and a Christian church (6th C. CE). This is truly awe inspiring. Visiting these sites is considered a required part of any tour for first timers to Armenia, but its nice to return to them and take some time to really appreciate them. Check out the photoset!

Living in Armenia is no different then living in other countries. You never take the time to visit the nearby sites and do the things that really make that place special. I’ve been living here for over 8 months, and have only taken a few opportunities to get out the city, and visit the sites that make our homeland so wonderful.

Today, Annie and I took a few hours to drive out to the Monastery of Geghard, and the temple of Garni. Geghard is called as such because for many centuries it protected the tip of the lance which the Armenian Church believes was used to pierce Christ’s side while on the Cross. The lance is now kept at Holy Etchmiadzin, but the complex is still one of the most beautiful places in Armenia. Geghard is hune into the side of a hill and according to tradition was established by St. Gregory the Illuminator in the 4th century. In one of its passages there is a sacred spring from which water flows forth and travels through small channels through the sanctuary. It is truly a place that inspires the spirit to prayer.

Garni, a place which I personally have not appreciated in the past, is an ancient pagan temple established during the time of King Trdat in the 1st century BCE. In a treaty settled between the Roman Empire and Armenia, Armenia’s gods where admitted in the Roman pantheon, and a Roman-style temple was erected. During this visit I appreciated a previously unnoticed aspect of the site. Garni has been used as a fortress and spiritual site throughout Armenian history. You can see situated immediately adjacent to one another a stone erected during the Ancient Urartian period (8th C. BCE), the pagan temple (1st C. BCE), and a Christian church (6th C. CE). This is truly awe inspiring.

Visiting these sites is considered a required part of any tour for first timers to Armenia, but its nice to return to them and take some time to really appreciate them.

Check out the photoset!

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Ever wonder what makes up Armenia’s State Budget? I was recently shown Civilitas’ 2009 Annual Report, which is a very sober and informative assessment of Armenia’s domestic and global standing. As an addendum to this publication, a foldout graphic was included, which visualizes Armenian’s 2010 State Budget. Besides being very informative, it’s good graphic work, and especially above par for Armenia. The text is appropriately indicative, the color usage helps to delineate the information, and the photos don’t distract from the content. I’m not sure why Dollar bills were used to indicate “National Debt”, as the amount is in Armenian Drams, but thats about the only criticism I have. Check it out!

Ever wonder what makes up Armenia’s State Budget? I was recently shown Civilitas’ 2009 Annual Report, which is a very sober and informative assessment of Armenia’s domestic and global standing. As an addendum to this publication, a foldout graphic was included, which visualizes Armenian’s 2010 State Budget.

Besides being very informative, it’s good graphic work, and especially above par for Armenia. The text is appropriately indicative, the color usage helps to delineate the information, and the photos don’t distract from the content. I’m not sure why Dollar bills were used to indicate “National Debt”, as the amount is in Armenian Drams, but thats about the only criticism I have. Check it out!

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Annie recently took a short trip to a beautiful part of Armenia called Jermuk. The area is famous for its natural mineral waters. As part of her stay there, her and her companion were medically treated in various and silly ways using, primarily, the local mineral water. Classic Hayastan. Click through to view the photoset.

Annie recently took a short trip to a beautiful part of Armenia called Jermuk. The area is famous for its natural mineral waters. As part of her stay there, her and her companion were medically treated in various and silly ways using, primarily, the local mineral water. Classic Hayastan. Click through to view the photoset.