Last Saturday was the feast day of St. Nersess Shnorhali, a genius of the Armenian Church, who authored many of the hymns and prayers which continue to be said in our sanctuaries throughout the world.
As part of my personal regime, I’ve committed to praying his seminal work, Հաւատով խոստովանիմ or “I Confess with Faith”, once a day. Toward that goal I’ve formatted the text for my digital devices: the iPad, iPhone, and the Kindle.
Having this prayer with me at all times has allowed me to easily incorporate it into my daily schedule. When I find myself with 10 free minutes, I can just pull out the most convenient device and pray.
I hope that this prayer will enrich your prayer life as it has the faithful of the Armenian People for centuries.
Download
Feel free to download this prayer which includes the original (Ancient) Armenian, and the English translation. The English translation is courtesy of Western Diocese of the Armenian Church.
The sacrament of ordination is rare and special occasion. On June 2, during the commemoration of the Christ’s Ascension, seven priests were ordained. On a personal level, some of them are my friends and it was a blessing to experience this moment with them for which they have been preparing for many years.
When a priest is ordained, it is important that we keep them in our prayers, because they are called to a service, which can sometimes bring them to the edge of their capacity as human being in pursuing Christ’s example. This is something we are called to, but it is something that is expected of a priest. The pressure can be overwhelming at times. Therefore, remember them and all of our clergy in your prayers when you are able.
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We may loose hope for ourselves, but we don’t have the right to loose God’s hope for us.
There are times when the faith of the believer is truly challenged. This is a natural part of the Christian’s journey. They can be opportunities to strengthen one’s faith.
Among all the events that call God’s providence in to question, there are some which are so difficult that they can drive some to doubt and disbelief. These are the death of innocents, particularly caused by natural disaster.
Of course the 9.0 earthquake that rocked Japan, and the resulting tsunami fall in this category. It begs the question - how can a universe created by a loving God be the source of such tragedy?
Extremes
As soon as this disaster struck I could imagine the mobilization of the Christian Extremists. It’s well know that Japan is a largely atheist nation (despite the fact that they have a growing Orthodox Church). The breed of fundamentalist that calls for Holy War and advocates assassination in the name of God were predictably quick to pounce. They proclaimed that these natural events were the wrath of God cast upon an unbelieving people. The best example of this is a YouTube video that recently surfaced, in which a young girl rejoices and thanks God for proving his power to atheists by “literally picking up the island of Japan and shaking it.” This video is so awful that I’m not even going to link to it, but if you haven’t seen it already and want to upset yourself, I’m sure you can find it easily.
As a Christian and an Armenian I find even the suggestion of this explanation deeply and truly offensive. In 1988 a massive earthquake struck Armenia, a devoted Christian nation, and thousands died. These people would have us believe that sometimes an earthquake is just an earthquake, but other times its God punishment against atheists?
From the opposite side of the ideology curve we can find the Radical Atheists who claim that just such an event disproves the existence of a loving Creator. In response to the long trending #prayforjapan tag on Twitter, some have started to send messages like,
There’s a hashtag #prayforjapan?! If you’re religious surely it was your god that’s responsible in the first place?!
The true response on behalf of the Christian community, and most of the world, has been one of prayerful compassion. They’ve quickly mobilized their fundraising mechanisms in order to help those affected by this disaster, and have leveraged both their faith community and the Internet to pray for the victims.
But many members of this community, while still acting in faith, hope, and love, may still find themselves searching for an answer - an explanation of how such an event can occur under God’s watch.
The Gentle Breeze
Tragedy has had a long relationship with mankind. Man has been afflicted by such events throughout history. Indeed, the question of the role of God’s providence in a sometimes cruel world has drove man to theological frustration since before the time of Christ.
It is a Christian precept that what is good is from God, what is not good is not from God. This is the general guideline. I find this most beautifully expressed in 1 Kings 19, when God reveals himself to Elijah.
The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by”. Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle breeze.
God’s voice was in the gentle breeze, waiting to be listened for. We don’t search for God’s wrath, because it has no place in the covenant established through Christ. Neither can we look at natural disasters as being an agent of evil in the material world. This heresy was refuted during the time of the Gnostics. The universe was created by God, therefore it is inherently good.
The critical reader would point out that this is a rather convenient argument. It absolves God of all fault, and makes belief all the easier for the believer. I would respond that its convenience doesn’t disprove it, but nevertheless there is more that can be said on the subject.
A contemporary context
So, how can we explain it in a thorough and rational way? Many theologians have made attempts at this, and many have given widely accepted answers including St. Thomas Aquinas and Sts. Irenaeus and Augustine, but for me the most convincing explanation has come from Rev. Dr. John Polkinghorne, the former Oxford physicist turned Anglican priest.
His approach to the issue of “natural evil” and theology in general is very contemporary, and can be jarring for some. However, our understanding of the natural world is constantly growing, and I think its important that our theology be mindful of it. In my opinion, and as best as I’ve been able to discern, his view is quite compatible with the theological stance of the Armenian Church. To explain it in full would be beyond the purview of this blog, but I’ll try and state it in a summarized way.
According to Polkinghorne, for God it is imperative that Man have Free Will and it is also part of Man’s grace to be co-creators with Him in the world. In order for both these things to exist he created the Universe including the elegant principles that materially govern it such as relativity and quantum mechanics. But if creation was perfect, we would be without Free Will, unable to earn our salvation, and our co-creative potential would be unrealized. So the Universe, and our World, wasn’t created as a finished product, but as something that is going through a process; something that is seeking to be fulfilled. What we observe when the natural world brings disaster is a by-product of its evolving and inherent nature. Therefore, disasters are neither God’s wrath nor proof of the absence of his Love.
The truth is that while this may answer our original question, it can’t in any way be comforting for those who have suffered or lost loved ones as result of this week’s horrible Earthquake and Tsunami. Theology answers questions of faith, but doesn’t always help us apply it. To heal the wounds of loss or bring comfort to those who grieve, and more urgently to provide the material support that the victims require, we require the compassion that we were created with the potential to give and that Christ’s message inspires.
I do encourage the faithful to continue their prayers. I also encourage them to manifest their role as divine co-creators, be the hands of God, and provide material support for the victims of these disasters through their donations.
Post Script
On a final note, as I’m writing this blog I’m seeing an increasing amount of backlash in my Twitter Timeline with regard to the aid that Christian Institutions provide. I can’t speak for all denominations, but I can say unequivocally that when the Armenian Church raises funds for disaster recovery, all of the proceeds go to material support. In fact, the Western Diocese sits on the board of the Red Cross in Los Angeles, and in cases such as these, our contributions are redirected to efforts. If for any reason you doubt this about our Church or your respective Church, then by all means contribute through another organization. It doesn’t matter how the help gets there, what matters is that it’s received.
