Message of Fr. Vazken Movsesian,
parish priest of St. Andrew Armenian Church, Cupertino,
from the Nakhagoch Newsletter.
Electronic version archived on:
SAIN-- St. Andrew Information Network
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c. 1989 Fr. Vazken Movsesian
Address comments to: dervaz@sain.org
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March 1989

Pastor's Thoughts

After the Earthquake and After Death

A few months have past since the Catholicoi of our Church came to
the United States for deliberations and meeting regarding the
reconstruction effort in Armenia. At the invitation of His
Holiness Vazken I, Catholicos of All Armenians, His Holiness
Karekin II, Catholicos of the Greater House of Cilicia and
delegations of the Armenian Church and Armenian organizations met
in New York to plot the course of relief to earthquake devastated
Armenia.
	Some overly anxious Armenian community members began to shout
unity during and after the proceedings.  They saw these meetings
as a sign of oneness in the Armenian Church.  It is always amusing
to note, those who are the most vocal about unity are
the least knowledgeable about the Church.  There must be an axiom
somewhere that says the amount of knowledge one has is inversely
proportional to the amount of noise he makes.
	Without proper medical experience we would never consider walking
into an operating room to perform surgery.  Without law school,
which one of us would stand a chance in court? Even in a simpler
metaphor, without ever getting behind the wheel of a
car, which one of us would ever presume to drive.  Yet isn't it
interesting that when it comes to religion, most everyone is
welcome to have an opinion?  And in the workings of the Church,
isn't it interesting that those who have not stepped foot
into the Church, or at least since their baptism, are the first to
express their opinions?
	Let's put a few things out in the open.  The Armenian Church is
one!  It always has been.  There are administrative problems and
those must be worked out.  Yet for our intent and purpose, this
does not change the meaning, the nature and purpose of
our faith.  The Armenian Church is part of the living Body of
Christ.  It's prime mission is to spread the Gospel of Jesus
Christ.  It cannot be divided.
	The meetings that took place in February were for Armenian
Earthquake Relief.  That was the purpose and the focus of those
deliberations.  Anything more is conjecture, until and unless
those involved in those meetings say differently.
	The direction given by the meetings was such that each Armenian
organization would take on a specific project in the
reconstruction effort.  The re-building and reconstruction of
towns and buildings are essential and no doubt will be done over
the
course of a few years.  Yet, sadly we are not hearing of the
reconstruction and rebuilding of lives.   What is being done in
this area?

	Last month I met with a doctor who had just returned from
Armenia.  His group had brought 37 patients and parents to America
for treatment.  The details of the devastation sounded all too
familiar.  Yet two incidents he spoke of, hounded at me like
a reoccurring nightmare.
	First, in Yerevan hospitals, he reported that among the children
who were not physically hurt by the earthquake, there was a
definite refusal to eat.  They were thin and looked malnourished.
Second, on their 17 hour trip to the United States, not
one of the 37 survivors ever mentioned a word about the
earthquake!!!  Not one!!!
	You don't need a degree in psychology to know something is wrong.
 Trauma affects the personality in many ways.

	During a recent trip to New York, I had the fortune of visiting
some of these very special patients.
     Cornell University Hospital is a large and cold structure
from the outside.  It houses hundreds, if not thousands, of New
York's ill.  Guided by a list of earthquake survivor's names and
accompanied by three seminarians from the St. Nerses
Armenian Theological School, we began a quest--to locate an
Armenian, an Armenian survivor in this infirmary.  On the eighth
floor, we found one Narine Egoian.
     Those familiar with Armenian poetry and songs have heard the
classic lines describing the girl from Armenia, "Hayastani
aghchigneruÉ"   The writers of those songs must have dreamt of
girls like Narine.  Dark eyes, dark hair, with an ever
present shy smile, Narine welcomed us into her room.  She was a
girl out of time, full of anticipation.
     Narine is 18.  She is from the city of Leninakan, one of the
cities hardest hit by the quake. She has a father, mother and
younger sister, whose lives were also spared.  They remain in
Armenia.  She has suffered injuries to her legs; the
chances are good that amputation will not be necessary.
     Narine's situation was not the worst of all the patients we
visited that afternoon. She smiled, laughed and was most
appreciative of our visit.
     At the second hospital, we found six survivors.  For
unapparent reasons they were watched over by some sort of security
guard system.  Nonetheless, a couple of us were allowed to go to
visit.  This scene resembled more a Christmas morning than
a hospital.  Apparently, the New York Armenians have been good to
these patients.  Their rooms were full of toys and gadgets.  Rev.
Fr. Arten and Yeretzgin Ashjian of New York, were there at the
time, passing out gifts from their community.  The
pain of being legless, without families seemed to disappear, at
least for the moment.
     We talked with the patients only briefly here.  I expressed
the concern of our St. Andrew parishioners for their welfare and
situation. At one point, I mentioned to two of the ladies, that
once they were up and around, we would love to have
them come to our area.  I explained we were close to the San
Francisco Bay and there was much beauty for them to see.   One of
the ladies, looked up and asked a simple question, "Der Hayr, are
there earthquakes in San Francisco?"--A vital question
for her, one which I had not anticipated.  When I answered that
the earth is known to move on occasion, she graciously said thanks
but no thanks.
	
	The reconstruction of homes, buildings, towns seems to be the
easy target of the relief activity.  The more money we collect,
the easier the target.  The rehabilitation of lives is the more
difficult project.  The Church must be at the forefront of
this effort.  Pain, fear, suffering are commonplace problems the
Church has addressed, because of the Apostolic mission with which
we are commissioned--The spreading of the Good News of Jesus
Christ.  That Good News is "Christ has risen from the
dead!!!"  This was the first gospel and it remains THE GOSPEL of
the Church.  "In the world you have tribulation; but be of good
cheer, I have overcome the world." (Jn. 16:33)
	What better time than Easter to re-commit ourselves to the Gospel
message.  Christ overcomes the greatest pain, fear, and suffering.
 The Christian, in his/her life, must echo this triumph.  It may
seem difficult at times, especially during the
month of April, when we will once again commemorate Martyrs' Day
on the 24th.  The barbaric crime of genocide will once again be
the focus of countless dissertations and writings this month
(check the Armenian press).  But let us keep in mind, that
the attempted genocide by the Turks was not and will not be the
last attempt toward us or any people.  We must combat this reality
by proving our existence as a people risen from the dead.
	When the women came to the tomb where Christ laid, on that first
Easter morning, they found it empty.  They were frightened when
two men stood before them.  The question they posed was, "Why do
you seek the living among the dead?" (Lk. 24:1-5)
	As we pray during the Easter season, I am calling on our people,
to huddle around this question.  Our search for our people must be
among the living and not the dead, just as our search for Christ
must not be at the grave.  The pains we have
endured as a people, be it massacre, be it earthquake, have
happened.  We cannot forget, but neither can we let it fester
within us.  Today there is life to celebrate.  And by celebrating
life,
 we become the catalyst by which life enters those who fear, who
suffer and who have lost hope.
	We heard of the tens of thousands who lost their lives in the
earthquake last December.  Let us remember that hundreds of
thousands of lives have been effected.  Life may never be the same
for them.  Our role as the Church, the Living Body of Jesus
Christ, is stand as proof, that life can follow tragedy, that life
does not end at the grave.  We begin by strengthening ourselves.
We begin by seeking the living and not the
dead.--------------------------------------
c. 1989 Fr. Vazken Movsesian
Address comments to: dervaz@sain.org
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