I had my first celebrity sighting today!

In Palmer Square, as I was in line for the best ice cream ever at the Bent Spoon, Andrew Shue (of Melrose Place) walked right by me! He is hotter in person than he was on TV!

How long, O Lord, how long?

How long will the denial of genocide be allowed to continue?

I used to want to spread the truth about the Armenian Genocide of 1915 because of the stories of people like my great-grandmother. I still do. But now I think it's even more important because it is a HUMAN RIGHTS issue. People must be held accountable for CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY.

If you have 18 minutes, check out this interview with Orhan Pamuk, a Turkish writer who has suffered the wrath of Turkey's nationalist government for speaking out about the Armenian Genocide. The comments by the Turkish lawyer also interviewed are scary and downright sickening.

http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2006/turkey_pamuk_200k.asx

another great site with lots of Genocide info:
www.twentyvoices.com

I think I'll be blogging about this a lot in the next month or so, as April 24 is the day of commemoration of the Armenian Genocide.

Another bit of Billy Joel's awesome lyrics:

Honesty is such a lonely word
Everyone is so untrue
Honesty is hardly ever heard,
And mostly what I need from you.

When I was little, I used to want a magic ring that would make the world stop if I needed it to. Today, I'm reverting back to that wish.
This is one of those days where I'm freaked out that I have WAY too much on my plate. Patristic theology paper, senior planning committee, school play, general schoolwork, job search/discernment, and some other stuff too. Any chance they'll think of a way to stop time in the next 48 hours?

YOUR WHISPERING

speaks louder

than what you say.

Words that have been running through my head all day (to a beautiful choral piece by John Rutter):

God be in my head, and in my understanding
God be in my eyes, and in my looking
God be in my mouth, and in my speaking
God be in my heart, and in my seeking
God be at my end, and in my departing

So it's been a while since I've posted anything, and that is for 2 major reasons.

1) the school play is taking over my life.
2) I went away for the weekend with 2 of my best friends in the whole wide world, to a place with no internet access.

While I want reason #1 to go away, I will take reason #2 any day of the week. Aghchigner - I love you!!!!

So yesterday, I had the opportunity to speak at church about women's role in the church in the 21st century.

It was affirming, invigorating, energizing.

Because here's the thing - I said some "bold" things (at least our church would consider them bold) but seminary has begun to pay off and I was able to back all of it up and stand on very solid ground.

A few highlights:

1) the Armenian Orthodox church doesn't allow women to preach. Yet from the very beginning, church Tradition provides evidence that women filled this role. There is evidence of women prophesying in church gatherings in Paul's letters. St. Gregory the Illuminator, the patron saint of Armenia (late 3rd-early 4th century), said in his Teaching, "Not only by men, but also by holy women the gospel of life was preached throughout the world." Women as preachers and missionaries were an integral part of the Armenian Church Tradition.

2) the church hesitates if not refuses to admit that there were female apostles. Yet in Romans 16 Paul praises a woman named Junia as "prominent among the apostles." St. John Chrysostom (4th century) lauds her: "How great the wisdom of this woman must have been that she was even deemed worthy of the title Apostle." Women are also named as disciples, co-laborers and workers in the Lord, and dedicated followers of Jesus.

3) the church resists reinstating the female diaconate, which was a strong part of the church's Tradition until the last century. An inscription on the door of the mother cathedral of Etchmiadzin is dedicated to the "archdeaconess Hripsime." Phoebe is named by Paul as a deacon (1st century). Olympias, Chrysostom's close friend and confidante and receiver of many of his letters, was a deaconess (4th century). Deaconesses in the Armenian Church were prominent in medieval times as well. Today there is one living deaconess left. The church would rather her die off and let the office of the female diaconate become extinct. This is not part of church Tradition and ignores a vital and life-giving ministry that the church is in dire need of today.

If only the church hierarchy could admit this...

Quoted (and it made me laugh):

"Man, I'm getting old. I better get married and have some babies before I keel over and die."

It takes being happy to realize how miserable you've been.

Thank God for good friends.

I AM NOT INVISIBLE.

but it sure feels that way sometimes.

::Sad::
I got the phone call that my parents put our dog to sleep this afternoon.
I'm much sadder than I thought I would be. I'm the only one in my family who can't be there to bury her.
Distance is such a blessing and such a curse.

Today...

A bittersweet melody.

Empty.

Well, it's no big sin to stick your two cents in
If you know when to leave it alone
But you went over the line
You couldn't see it was time to go home

Billy Joel sang it best:

"Go ahead with your own life, and LEAVE ME ALONE!"

This is one of those days where I want the world around me to go away so I can breathe.

Rule of professionalism #4:
When your interviewee shows up at the postponed time, apologize again for inconveniencing her.

Rule of professionalism #5:
End each interview with some sort of closure so that the interviewee knows what to expect next. Some examples: "Thank you for your time. I will contact you via email within the next week." "Thank you for your time. We are interested in having you on board, so please let us know within (name the amount of time)." Or some facsimile.

Basic rule of thumb:
Become a bishop. Then you can make people do whatever you want and live like nobody is as important as you are.

Rule of professionalism #1:
Don't call 3 hours before the interview to ask if I have some flexibility to make it for an earlier or later time.

Rule of professionalism #2:
Especially don't do that if you haven't done your homework enough to realize that I'm coming in by a 1 1/2 hour train ride.

Rule of professionalism #3:
Don't admit that the reason you need to change the interview time is because you just realized that your boss wants you on a conference call at that time.

There are some things in my life that lack integrity, but I can't seem to rid myself of them:
1) two-faced friends
2) doing things out of guilt or shame
3) control freaks (I'm REALLY sick of them)
4) needing the approval of people I will never get it from

Ugh.

What a day.

This morning, I had the privilege of leading chapel worship here on campus. After a lot of hard work and very little sleep in planning it, I was really looking forward to it. The service was full of the Holy Spirit and it was a very prayerful, worshipful experience. The thing that got me is, my church says that women should not be doing the very thing I did this morning. And afer numerous experiences like this one, I am so convinced that they're wrong about that. Not because it's all about me, but because you cannot ignore the movement of the Spirit in your heart. And I know I felt God's presence with me this morning. Until the service started, I kept thinking, Should I really be doing this? God's presence there answered that question loud and clear: YES. It was such an affirming experience.

I'm left with so many more questions than I had yesterday.

things I find amusing:
1) people who are so screwed up that it's blatantly obvious to other people.
2) old men who start chatting with you when you're trying to read in Barnes & Noble.

things I find annoying:
1) when people are totally screwed up and it's only obvious to other people.
2) old men who don't care that you're trying to read and keep chatting with you in Barnes & Noble.