tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16475018775317759322024-03-13T05:16:38.155+02:00Nshanakir/ՆշանագիրMusings of a wondering Armenian . . .RevoNishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18196532473979855428noreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647501877531775932.post-40311709734053279552024-02-03T23:57:00.000+02:002024-02-03T23:57:16.748+02:00Time and Flies<div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span><b style="font-family: georgia;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 18pt;">61. Time and Flies </span></b><b style="font-family: georgia;"><span lang="EN-US">(3 February 2024)</span></b>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip3hXKR3ODKCMLEmX4zXCbH_HIDkDTUmYtImqfn40PaFxXLVVjuMlOa3NBIBpie7GVVhmqYVB-fKLOgaOBupsLNr5oOVAhA__qw5OWLZS_zG2ajop1XzzBKMjI5wXDJU9VxjR0O_jK93Js6EdTypgjZcFQ2Z59mXgIA32GEuRTToGjf_dLGfiugx8YFm10/s1280/2024-2-1%20IMG_1334.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip3hXKR3ODKCMLEmX4zXCbH_HIDkDTUmYtImqfn40PaFxXLVVjuMlOa3NBIBpie7GVVhmqYVB-fKLOgaOBupsLNr5oOVAhA__qw5OWLZS_zG2ajop1XzzBKMjI5wXDJU9VxjR0O_jK93Js6EdTypgjZcFQ2Z59mXgIA32GEuRTToGjf_dLGfiugx8YFm10/s320/2024-2-1%20IMG_1334.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A cloudy sunset in a cold and rainy winter <br />(1 Feb. 2024 - Manara-Beirut)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;">Among the unavoidables
one encounters in life are time and flies. Both tend to fly, and in ways one
would rather not experience. For example, all the miserable events of the past
months rendered me incapable of harboring anything but angry thoughts, and the time
for writing flew away just like that. Events like the brutal takeover of
Artsakh, the desperate emptying of that Armenian homeland, and the disgraceful
leadership of Armenia drained me of any desire or ability to express myself
cogently. Sweeping the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh out of the news cycle was the
brutal military incursion from Gaza into Israel, the unsurprising outcome of
brutal occupation, repression and dehumanization by “the only democracy in the
Middle East” and “the most moral army in the world,” the darling of the United
States government. It added nothing but fuel to my desire to express nothing but
outrage, and left me to watch time circle round and round above me like a
vulture and regularly relieve itself on my head and shoulders. And through it
all, having to witness the mendacity of world powers acting as if they are the
defenders of the forgotten and downtrodden of the world caused yet more writer’s
paralysis to freeze my fingers. </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpCnzxAvsdr8Z1DFXY1R884fyd2eql_4XI4EfwX-Tc3GaWIVytal1yfgD6-LaY575e-jw4fs0Jkxbde8WiQH2Klgz-KcYFHumSatnOUxab44nm3VTlxNVFQgdVvEBzxNLXQDkTBl_zN8MYHLv1NkG_iB7TEmndDouUpIneB_Jfr3vo7wsUUVeFlw6-AFaF/s1280/2023-12-9%20IMG_0996.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpCnzxAvsdr8Z1DFXY1R884fyd2eql_4XI4EfwX-Tc3GaWIVytal1yfgD6-LaY575e-jw4fs0Jkxbde8WiQH2Klgz-KcYFHumSatnOUxab44nm3VTlxNVFQgdVvEBzxNLXQDkTBl_zN8MYHLv1NkG_iB7TEmndDouUpIneB_Jfr3vo7wsUUVeFlw6-AFaF/s320/2023-12-9%20IMG_0996.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Planting hope at KCHAG conference center <br />(9 Dec. 2023 - Monteverde)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>What a trajectory: from our cautious
optimism of this day seven years ago when we arrived in Lebanon (actual date: Feb.
1 – cf. Nshanakir No. 1), to today, when the humanity of humanity appears on the
verge of collapse. People quickly get worked up about the potential threat “Artificial
Intelligence” presents, robbing human beings of their agency and independence;
yet the thirst and lust for destruction swirling about us springs directly from
human hearts – no computer algorithms needed. A maelstrom is encompassing
Lebanon, from the storms within, the self-serving “public servants”, the clash
of a multiplicity of loyalties, the hopelessness of the population and the endemic
lack of vision, to the simmering flames of war purposely being stoked in a
country unable to deal with yet another crisis. Together these may form the “perfect
storm” that will whip up winds to drive yet more of the youth and vitality Lebanon
needs far from her shores.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX48tdxIkYLqlXuLwecSvHn0qDpZshWg5P1vh8PROwVpjgjCcpowGoK-k0PShnv5VE9Bck7sc_q1C65El0ug2-xSK2bSj94zOfW5GgMpMfeMIdgiK5pE8wbLP0tOAjv2dKfGN6CaS9Ai5jvbKcIOpG4IxuCSmf71Fc7fAmR0LqcYArCt_5u4qNcAxROeqw/s1280/2023-9-3%20IMG_0361.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX48tdxIkYLqlXuLwecSvHn0qDpZshWg5P1vh8PROwVpjgjCcpowGoK-k0PShnv5VE9Bck7sc_q1C65El0ug2-xSK2bSj94zOfW5GgMpMfeMIdgiK5pE8wbLP0tOAjv2dKfGN6CaS9Ai5jvbKcIOpG4IxuCSmf71Fc7fAmR0LqcYArCt_5u4qNcAxROeqw/s320/2023-9-3%20IMG_0361.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">How to tell you're not in Kansas anymore. <br />That and the McKafta burger (3 Sept. 2023 - <br />Nahr el Mawt)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Speaking of storms, the abundant
rain that has fallen (and continues to fall) this winter has brought about the
collapse of infrastructure in every region of the country, with landslides,
mudslides, and even Pigeon Rock-slides (the sidewalk alongside the road, that
is). Recently, main roads flooded enough to cover the bottom half of the fire
trucks sent out to rescue motorists from their cars. Long chains of trash wended
their way down the Beirut River, flowing into the Mediterranean to join the
trash sliding off of coastal “landfills”. These are just a few of the features
of “Lebanon Winter Waterwonderland”.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Since I’ve only gone skiing once in
my life, and that was more than enough to eliminate any desire to continue
skiing, I have adopted a new winter pastime: emptying water from car doors. It’s
unlikely to be adopted as a sport at the Winter Olympics, but if it is, I may
end up on the medals’ platform. Since the car’s rubber window seals are cracked
and broken, heavy rains end up inside the doors, and when I do my usual evasive
maneuvering while driving, the sloshing sound tells me it’s time to drain the
doors. It’s a very small drain hole with an un-removable cover, so I stand,
bent over, and hold it open for as long as 15 minutes until the trickle
subsides. A couple of weeks ago the rain also ended up under the floorboards,
so I got to sop up even more water. I just keep thinking about the medal that
will one day hang around my neck. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWR4Rewb2REkHm1bb38fVN_bD2R6rKegDhibie8jBYT73QvbSYxPqn0IdoAGIzdkoo2IEKsGUo3yrUMIJ6XfQ1s9hqNWNsdP7SvXe7Jhl2yt0VSjrlbcfu5IePDJw5VbAdqlF_DGf8cNWTHvxtuinuCr5YnMIDowFBE5YBT4RnI9Unnsy4XU-ctC5KTydv/s1280/2023-12-18%20IMG_1047.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWR4Rewb2REkHm1bb38fVN_bD2R6rKegDhibie8jBYT73QvbSYxPqn0IdoAGIzdkoo2IEKsGUo3yrUMIJ6XfQ1s9hqNWNsdP7SvXe7Jhl2yt0VSjrlbcfu5IePDJw5VbAdqlF_DGf8cNWTHvxtuinuCr5YnMIDowFBE5YBT4RnI9Unnsy4XU-ctC5KTydv/s320/2023-12-18%20IMG_1047.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">From Quebec? Must have missed the turn <br />at Albequerque (18 Dec. 2023 - Beirut)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Also on the subject of water, the other day the
neighborhood dry cleaner, shaking his head at the nonexistent public works,
remarked that Lebanon is a place where there is an abundance of water
(referring to the rain and the flooding) but at the same time no water (the
kind that is supposed to come out of the tap).</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Last week there was a yawn-worthy
announcement in the news about driving in Lebanon. Apparently Lebanon has the
most dangerous roadways in the world. Unmaintained roadways, poorly designed
roadways, aggressive drivers, pedestrians crossing highways, pedestrians unschooled
in the meaning of red lights, people at the edges of roadways (sidewalks? what sidewalks?)
who are run over, increasing numbers of car thefts, cockroaches (actually motor
scooters) weaving in and out of traffic in every direction, lack of proper
signage, lack of people obeying what signage there is… the list just flies by
at breakneck speed. While people behind you blast their horns because you are inconsiderately
stopping for a red light. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It was a cheerful moment last
October, in an otherwise bleak year, to bring the Armiss choir back to the
stage, even if only for two songs. Although it was a significantly smaller group
than has performed in recent years, their musicianship and sincerity produced beauty
in their singing. The occasion was the release of a book, “A Hundred Years of
Lebanese-Armenian Choral Art” by Roubina Artinian. As we continue pursuing such
artistic efforts as choral singing in these lean days it’s crucial to keep that
longer perspective at the fore. We are part of a continuum in Armenian life and
culture, and we must take advantage of that momentum so as not to lose heart
and leave a legacy for those yet unborn.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNWp3nfSao5b5rb3v14JdjkdiZfCfIUqkayIkp00GonVBsgeG8kogDFvanEn129JL8r-s_KvoEBEpjNMwA4RWo3Y8vqSA_10B6Q3wHHl3CG29SQ14_RFw_9CZV8dlpqieXkxq0Sez-WjaoJKGhyndvD76ZihPBSZqz4NW5g9EFklMR3sE1C1RCWMYT0VEN/s1280/2023-10-25%20IMG_0763.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNWp3nfSao5b5rb3v14JdjkdiZfCfIUqkayIkp00GonVBsgeG8kogDFvanEn129JL8r-s_KvoEBEpjNMwA4RWo3Y8vqSA_10B6Q3wHHl3CG29SQ14_RFw_9CZV8dlpqieXkxq0Sez-WjaoJKGhyndvD76ZihPBSZqz4NW5g9EFklMR3sE1C1RCWMYT0VEN/s320/2023-10-25%20IMG_0763.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A different view of the Genocide Memorial <br />and Research Institute <br />(25 Oct. 2023 - Yerevan)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Not only has a hundred years flown by
for Lebanese-Armenian choirs, the church Union in which we are serving is also begun
its centennial year, joining a processional of centennials of Armenian churches,
schools and institutions in the Middle East. For the Union, a June celebration
is in the works that will be the next target event for me and the Armiss Choir.
But it will be tinged with a bittersweet taste due to the reason behind the
founding of all these community structures, namely the Armenian Genocide. It is
there, lurking in the shadows of everything we do, not just as an historical
memory from the early 20<sup>th</sup> century, but also through the ongoing,
contemporary annihilation of Armenian presence from its own homeland by
perpetrators such as Turkey and Azerbaijan, and through the passivity of “friendly
powers” that provide little more than pity to the ongoing human and cultural destruction
of people groups (not just Armenians) in their native lands.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7DboMtyMFOrwDSDtdnrBnGs-kE6UOKjdiAOTAguF0aSVPbwGU7VuC1qRFXu_p2UH_EXu1NTacnbyFSs6Hhf57ze8XuxwK8YDzImp4fRSp8GbjegITw2oyu8I_zUfciN6H9BF9sHawdHqQBU-PJOLxch-91NJol8yW9CvbJ8wgpPyjmQTyVgLRb_gu00Hz/s1280/LebCat%2061%202024-2-1%20IMG_1332.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7DboMtyMFOrwDSDtdnrBnGs-kE6UOKjdiAOTAguF0aSVPbwGU7VuC1qRFXu_p2UH_EXu1NTacnbyFSs6Hhf57ze8XuxwK8YDzImp4fRSp8GbjegITw2oyu8I_zUfciN6H9BF9sHawdHqQBU-PJOLxch-91NJol8yW9CvbJ8wgpPyjmQTyVgLRb_gu00Hz/s320/LebCat%2061%202024-2-1%20IMG_1332.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">LebCat 61 - "Won't one of you <br />put down your phone long <br />enough to pet me?" (1 Feb. <br />2024 - Mar Mikhael-Beirut)</span><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I made a short trip to Armenia in October
to see my sister and brother-in-law, and at every turn was faced with concern
over Lebanon. “Is it safe there? Aren’t you going back to the U.S.?” And the least-informed
question, “Why don’t they just stop bothering Israel?” Many people were sure
that Lebanon was on the threshold of war, and few people accepted my
observation that all was not as it appeared on the surface… just as the preoccupation
with shopping and night life in Yerevan are not indicative of the precarious status
of Armenia. Looking around while I was there, the impression I got was that Armenia
has not a care in the world, even though Azerbaijan is preparing to wipe it off
the map to claim what it brazenly calls “Western Azerbaijan”. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /> </span>Lest I forget, yes, there are the flies:
drain flies, that is. Our building’s staircase has been infested with them for
several months, and they occasionally find their way into our apartment. They
aren’t disease-carriers, thankfully. But they are annoying. And since I can’t seem
to locate where they are breeding and deal a deadly blow by dumping a bucket of
hot water down their drain, all I can do is squish them on the walls where they
alight. Too bad every intractable problem can’t be managed so easily.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[LNB]</span></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</span></style></p>RevoNishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18196532473979855428noreply@blogger.com0VGVJ+JXF, Beirut, Lebanon33.8940527 35.532412433.893830057961317 35.532144179098509 33.894275342038689 35.532680620901488tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647501877531775932.post-65798028213741724872023-08-23T23:59:00.007+03:002023-08-24T07:50:37.979+03:00Oh Wow Fives
<div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: medium; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm 0cm 1pt;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: medium; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm; padding: 0cm;"><b style="font-family: georgia;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 18pt;">60. Oh Wow, Fives! </span></b><b style="font-family: georgia;"><span lang="EN-US">(23 August 2023)</span></b></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAEoMdq4FsmzGs4VVVMDTaW68KSSESJs-p5fXinJPMLzaVSIZdAxLnh9tOMbfCmOmlas7LB0gVB6-_PJxbfBpY7Iz1O5wxhBZu2NalsSl2pBAmJVf-f0V5tNEbrI8qTSCcYnnKvO7De4_D2xsxK3s-ZEtS6DW8uYCBRqHf-FO5ksth3pG0YOqcPb_em0xu/s1280/2023-8-4%20IMG_0173.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="721" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAEoMdq4FsmzGs4VVVMDTaW68KSSESJs-p5fXinJPMLzaVSIZdAxLnh9tOMbfCmOmlas7LB0gVB6-_PJxbfBpY7Iz1O5wxhBZu2NalsSl2pBAmJVf-f0V5tNEbrI8qTSCcYnnKvO7De4_D2xsxK3s-ZEtS6DW8uYCBRqHf-FO5ksth3pG0YOqcPb_em0xu/s320/2023-8-4%20IMG_0173.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Faces of loved ones sacrificed in the 2020 <br />Port explosion – a pain and an injustice <br />continually ignored by authorities. <br />(4 Aug. 2023 - Beirut Port)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span lang="EN-US">I went into
a store here in Beirut to buy something, and as I prepared to pay in Lebanon’s official currency – the U.S. dollar – the cashier saw I had taken out $5 bills and exclaimed
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(in English), “Oh wow, fives!” Her
delight was due to the fact that as businesses, great and small, abandon the
use of the Lebanese Pound, they are always in need of small denominations of U.S.
currency to return change to their customers. I provided a much-needed resource
to a small business, as people struggle to make their way through daily life
unassisted by any authorities, swimming in that morass of disinterest and disconnection
that is the country’s ruling elite. Courtesy of our son Sevag’s annual visit to
us here in Lebanon, we enjoy the privilege of having small denominations of
U.S. currency. Here I was, the hero of the moment, with my crumpled and discolored
images of Abraham Lincoln, bringing a moment of joy in the middle of the hot,
muggy summer.</span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkj6dMf_hjg1qO7HjUDWeinJoP85WI8Zs6SSBjF3cuwofcU2CoX1VJdnscdzNycQQHqt9bJU8FNWLoGYgMZEDIT1OavmERQvzbiVehVSh-ZXpiEwwqv0V34lC-14D-F6oN-JugqDEfAr2KQYZ7sxbb7mrPI3APnjONAmPDn9prU5K1dF3-bOskr36HinxF/s1280/2023-6-11%20IMG_9404.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkj6dMf_hjg1qO7HjUDWeinJoP85WI8Zs6SSBjF3cuwofcU2CoX1VJdnscdzNycQQHqt9bJU8FNWLoGYgMZEDIT1OavmERQvzbiVehVSh-ZXpiEwwqv0V34lC-14D-F6oN-JugqDEfAr2KQYZ7sxbb7mrPI3APnjONAmPDn9prU5K1dF3-bOskr36HinxF/s320/2023-6-11%20IMG_9404.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But seriously, can't you tell that the <br />infrastructure has improved? <br />(11 June 2023 - Bourj Hammoud)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>One of the most distasteful aspects
of my life today in Lebanon (though by no means the only one) is the necessity
to focus or fixate on monetary issues. Lebanese, especially Beirutis, have always
made currency exchange rates, values of precious metals, gasoline prices and
more their daily small talk. Though there is so much more to life, though much
greater depth is possible in conversation, but this is what one hears from each
passerby, from men gathered at curbsides, from women catching their breath over
a cup of coffee: the never-ending stream of analysis and “expertise” that has supplanted
hopes, dreams and ideals – the very things that young and old should be actively
investing in their country in order to push it toward a brighter future.
Instead, materialism, reinforced by circumstances created by those in power and
their cooperative external powers, is pushing the brightness out of the country
just to dissolve in diasporas around the world.</span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrZPqMhwnuSpuIOi5An514NpOykNMuEiPqBwqU_KGfxMRoSYzTEl6ADInSDHKjA4mrQJwmGARBAeuknXK0rOuAprKjcmNj4h9Lb4S41jz7WviIR6B2QM9dBrIlyf0wZAY9kuDku00amQABA1m8bb6IUB6pAtYRQFkwS2uA-Bj4ZPMDdBv1_INKsj1WFzxq/s1280/2023-8-1%20IMG_0119.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrZPqMhwnuSpuIOi5An514NpOykNMuEiPqBwqU_KGfxMRoSYzTEl6ADInSDHKjA4mrQJwmGARBAeuknXK0rOuAprKjcmNj4h9Lb4S41jz7WviIR6B2QM9dBrIlyf0wZAY9kuDku00amQABA1m8bb6IUB6pAtYRQFkwS2uA-Bj4ZPMDdBv1_INKsj1WFzxq/s320/2023-8-1%20IMG_0119.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Watermelon? Strawberry gelatin? Sevag and <br />I puzzled over this one at the Mineral <br />Museum. (1 Aug. 2023 - Mathaf, Beirut)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The impact of all of this upon the Armenian
community in Syria and Lebanon is what troubles me the most. As the Dons of
this kleptocracy look for new ways to fill their stomachs – most recently by a
farcical “helicopter tour” of the new oil-drilling rig off the Lebanese coast –small
and “unimportant” groups such as the Armenian community are left to fend for
themselves. It is interesting to see how a country can continue to appear as a
functioning entity while running on “autopilot”. A bit of electricity here,
some trash collection there, fixing a water main when it breaks, leaving NGOs to
install street lighting and traffic lights, and repair the worst potholes as highways
steadily deteriorate, while many, many employees in the public sector come to
work but once every one or two weeks, as their monthly salaries hardly cover
the cost of transportation – this is today’s Lebanon.</span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmX2aWXBJwP-Cu4OW34T_c3yHzIga0Svmvfkz6VAzkuMOnYUFa5m_Qn2GK1CT1GbnFb1jkLOP5usfguWij5MqjK14IWtGwWWrAHW4-7wHi7m6lJc4oGyehyoQEbjyERqG2vxCxTW-S171ipil4prYnnyzTVHLcJpoBUaGwcLwcWQs8Z_MSy32Rv7fnKvoS/s1280/2023-6-3%20IMG_9269.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmX2aWXBJwP-Cu4OW34T_c3yHzIga0Svmvfkz6VAzkuMOnYUFa5m_Qn2GK1CT1GbnFb1jkLOP5usfguWij5MqjK14IWtGwWWrAHW4-7wHi7m6lJc4oGyehyoQEbjyERqG2vxCxTW-S171ipil4prYnnyzTVHLcJpoBUaGwcLwcWQs8Z_MSy32Rv7fnKvoS/s320/2023-6-3%20IMG_9269.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">When gas prices rise too high, there are <br />still great ways to make use of your auto!<br />(3 June 2023 - Ainjar)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We’ve been noticing one of the
semi-comical expressions of that while driving around various parts of the
country with Sevag. It’s the “LPO mode” that auto owners have entered: “License
Plate Optional”. Earlier this year I began to notice an absence of license
plates of some cars on the road. Now it is probably up to 5 to 10 percent of
cars. The office that processes car registrations is clearly not functioning.
But in classic Lebanese manner the population is facing the situation with
humor. It’s considered a badge of honor to drive an LPO car, even to the point,
some say, that people will remove their license plates just to be seen as part
of the LPO club!</span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This summer I walked into a store in
Ainjar, the mostly-Armenian village in the Bekaa valley. Whenever we’re going
to be there for a few days I’ll stop in to pick a thing or two, and
often times, since this is Ainjar, and since, due to my position, I can’t remain
anonymous, I’ll run into people I know including people who know me since the
1990s, or the 2000s, or current times. The lady behind the counter, who does
not belong to one of the aforementioned groups, asked me, in Armenian of course,
“Are you Ainjartsi (her intent: “originally from Ainjar, but visiting from
overseas”)? My interest piqued, I said, “No, I’m not. Why do you ask?” With no
hint of malice or sarcasm, just puzzlement, she said, “Well, lots of people are
very happy when they see you.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFRITV5SAKib0XCpp0pg8IUX7CDNx6N_MXsVmYOY571TELRyyfAaYzjw09AdUHWLPjPEpwLOqZzON4sk9vZXmfAqcSntRy3LZQz2qXfXWyAVCU95RSiD9SQQO0sP6Efzozk8vBuu6fkx-fU_gwNVv1tZL1zFSBw80DfihLzfi3cNY8BUmE7SyEjTL8SUzx/s1280/2023-8-4%20IMG_0187.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFRITV5SAKib0XCpp0pg8IUX7CDNx6N_MXsVmYOY571TELRyyfAaYzjw09AdUHWLPjPEpwLOqZzON4sk9vZXmfAqcSntRy3LZQz2qXfXWyAVCU95RSiD9SQQO0sP6Efzozk8vBuu6fkx-fU_gwNVv1tZL1zFSBw80DfihLzfi3cNY8BUmE7SyEjTL8SUzx/s320/2023-8-4%20IMG_0187.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Providing an unintentional glimpse into <br />the dysfunction of the country.<br />(4 Aug. 2023 - Tabaris, Beirut)</span><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Amid such a negative environment I’m
glad we can have positive encounters with those we meet, and grateful that our
casual interactions can be uplifting. Certainly, this is not something we can
automatically produce: without God’s encouragement in our times of frustration
and discouragement we would have little to share with others. As well, without organizations
backing us up it would be a challenge to remain positive in the enforced misery
people are subjected to each day. So, I don’t mind being mistaken for an “Ainjartsi”,
and I don’t mind that (most) people are happy to see me!</span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>During the summer a small group of young
Lebanese-Armenians in their twenties, on their own initiative, approached
Haigazian University in order to present a film series, seven items in all, ranging
the gamut from practically “home-made” to professionally produced. Their emphasis
was on increasing the public’s knowledge of Western Armenia and elevating the use
of the Western Armenian language. They delivered their introductions each evening
in flawless Western Armenian as well as English, and it was clear that they
cared deeply about the entire project, and plan to expand their efforts to develop
other materials that would interest young Armenians in their heritage, using modern
pedagogical methods in a technologically accessible way. The name with which
they christened their platform is “Hnarti” </span><span lang="HY">/</span><span lang="HY" style="mso-ansi-language: HY;">Հնարդի</span><span lang="EN-US">, </span><span lang="EN-US">combining
the Armenian words for “old” and “contemporary”. Despite the hemorrhaging of young
blood from the Middle East, vision and vitality can still emerge from this
community.</span><span lang="EN-US"></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQB2WAdKnrc8NJmjaK3XkkucTn96VDDYV1bJa-qZkxUE2KLQiyA5-2Yddg4R9SAcCrgxgfAQK6jFx1YEH12P9PGq6S_28lv9qoMdC_NqwoqnAePugK-Y-lLcdYWBfeTIfABZj2fgr8KaC6BJ85wICWPmX7PFr6PlJxkm7rVFJ3Zw3ZPTmicBhz_HsLp5m1/s1280/LebCat%2060%202023-8-14%20IMG_0289.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQB2WAdKnrc8NJmjaK3XkkucTn96VDDYV1bJa-qZkxUE2KLQiyA5-2Yddg4R9SAcCrgxgfAQK6jFx1YEH12P9PGq6S_28lv9qoMdC_NqwoqnAePugK-Y-lLcdYWBfeTIfABZj2fgr8KaC6BJ85wICWPmX7PFr6PlJxkm7rVFJ3Zw3ZPTmicBhz_HsLp5m1/s320/LebCat%2060%202023-8-14%20IMG_0289.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">LebCat 60: Every pharmacy should have a <br />watchcat at the door. <br />(14 Aug. 2023 - Hamra, Beirut)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In eight weeks I’m hoping to bring
the Armiss Choir back on stage to sing one or two numbers. Hopefully a couple
other Lebanese choral groups will also perform. A colleague and dear friend has
just published a book on a century of Lebanese-Armenian choirs (1920-2020). The
dedication of the new book will happen in October, and part of the dedication
program will be vocal selections. From real choirs singing in harmony. Live – which
is how music is best done. So, it’s time to get things organized and underway,
and to invest a bit more in the health of the country and in a couple of its modest
but essential components, that is, the arts, the Lebanese-Armenian community
and the Armenian Evangelical Church.</span><span lang="HY"></span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span lang="HY"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US">Finally, something to talk about besides currency rates!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[LNB]</span></span></p>
<style><span style="font-family: georgia;">@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</span></style>RevoNishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18196532473979855428noreply@blogger.com0VGVJ+JXF, Beirut, Lebanon33.8940527 35.532412433.8936074149384 35.53187595819702 33.894497985061605 35.532948841802977tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647501877531775932.post-39024198226321859702023-05-31T21:55:00.001+03:002023-05-31T21:55:27.533+03:00Messiness
<div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm; padding: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 18pt;">59. Messiness </span></b><b><span lang="EN-US">(31 May 2023)</span></b></span></p>
</div>
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{page:WordSection1;}</span></span></style><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7IgPRyRLqC3vhg8smSYGea9GRLzQmG21Si702BXn3yvm8UEh6REI5dnjAJzJM5JRE3EVCv1Jg-l8SuzrIb0LWKnB_B5ArVfOo_vdU_hv7ps-OWpqxqoTAMu3nVz3sWCdLqRW-W-cQOR8T6oekhRlra94CuvQU2EDGMXo2NvwTOh7h-iW2RnL__-27UQ/s1280/2023-5-9%20IMG_9072.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: georgia; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7IgPRyRLqC3vhg8smSYGea9GRLzQmG21Si702BXn3yvm8UEh6REI5dnjAJzJM5JRE3EVCv1Jg-l8SuzrIb0LWKnB_B5ArVfOo_vdU_hv7ps-OWpqxqoTAMu3nVz3sWCdLqRW-W-cQOR8T6oekhRlra94CuvQU2EDGMXo2NvwTOh7h-iW2RnL__-27UQ/s320/2023-5-9%20IMG_9072.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Even the utility poles are puzzled. <br />(9 May 2023 - Geitawi, Beirut)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s not
unusual to hear someone comment that “life is messy”. Relationships are messy.
Theory applied to real life is messy. Faith in action is messy. International
relations are messy. So much messiness. So frustrating.</span>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Local messiness – that is, life in
your own neighborhood – aside from potentially being frustrating and somewhat infuriating,
can also be intriguing, and even sometimes beguiling. The month of May being
the “Marian” month, we often heard recorded Maronite chants loudly filling the
neighborhood, both from stationary (the small church behind our building) sound
systems as well as mobile ones (huge speakers sitting on a car roof, as it led
a mini motorcade snaking around all of the area’s streets). Although I have all
but discontinued listening to recorded music, these melodies fascinate me, even
when they are Arabic words set to familiar Western hymn or orchestral tunes.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEk0DrYs4nonep8dM2edmJTug9PZE6tNTnd2Pn7DV_j0p5dnnoIfYEfjVGaOVJzBXDdE14XiFXSTGA5pJp1MCOdJPc-RXJSjAPdE9_WHaIlDfQuPRgFjMZsf-GcXne_L9nfN0awmCocZNOdF_PeCGEeImdsIAM424ue7ryC1dceQ3TCJLvhivJ9d8Niw/s1280/2023-5-16%20IMG_9126.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEk0DrYs4nonep8dM2edmJTug9PZE6tNTnd2Pn7DV_j0p5dnnoIfYEfjVGaOVJzBXDdE14XiFXSTGA5pJp1MCOdJPc-RXJSjAPdE9_WHaIlDfQuPRgFjMZsf-GcXne_L9nfN0awmCocZNOdF_PeCGEeImdsIAM424ue7ryC1dceQ3TCJLvhivJ9d8Niw/s320/2023-5-16%20IMG_9126.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A beauty of a building in beastly <br />condition (16 May 2023 - <br />Ashrafieh, Beirut)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> </span>The street in front of our building
is the main artery connecting our neighborhood, with its two major hospitals,
to the neighborhood of Mar Mikhael, the dollarized drinker’s Shangri-la. Which
means in addition to the late night, loud conversations as people walk between
their apartments and the bars, we also get ambulance traffic, complete with
sirens. And so, yesterday the ecclesiastical chants boomed from speakers behind
us while sirens wailed from the street in front of us. It was a strange effect,
the messy “music” of our neighborhood, both off-putting as well as fascinating,
both alarming and strangely comfortable. A moment of eternity and human fragility. In an audible way it epitomized our
neighborhood as well as our lives.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Maria occasionally says, “Everybody
around here knows you, don’t they?” We, too, have become part of the backdrop
of this neighborhood, sought out by producers for their movies and soap operas.
When I pass through these streets seated in the back of a taxi, shopkeepers
will occasionally wave to me as I go by, just proving my wife’s point. I find
that being part of the local messiness allows me to wave a greeting to
shopkeepers and continue on my way without feeling obligated to submit to their
entreaties. No offense intended, nor taken.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgynd0y0tt2sOQ7iuu_S5nINO4PzAkTQ_pS9Cy60nAnuJpBZQxwIv44kyoty1pr6w-JM1JsHgx5irz4I53dDExoOG5OkS7njlXa8c-fgjBXqfMs-sGGlEWRilcQeGf443oswrs4xgE3fMnJ9jmya8e9k2R3dqu6akGj-Cs2Nemn88aJHb7yOHJVWm3PFQ/s1280/2023-5-23%20IMG_9223.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgynd0y0tt2sOQ7iuu_S5nINO4PzAkTQ_pS9Cy60nAnuJpBZQxwIv44kyoty1pr6w-JM1JsHgx5irz4I53dDExoOG5OkS7njlXa8c-fgjBXqfMs-sGGlEWRilcQeGf443oswrs4xgE3fMnJ9jmya8e9k2R3dqu6akGj-Cs2Nemn88aJHb7yOHJVWm3PFQ/s320/2023-5-23%20IMG_9223.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">When walls talk... <br />(23 May 2023 - Khalil Badawi)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> </span>A nearby bakery is run by a fellow
who was formerly chef at a fancy restaurant, along with his wife and son. The
menu at any local bakery throughout Beirut is very predictable: small
pizza-sized manouché, with either zaatar (thyme) or cheese on top. Plus
lahmbajiin (lahmajun for us Armenians), mini pizzas (with the inescapable
canned corn topping) and spinach pies. Occasional variants are out there, but
this is mostly it – the typical Lebanese breakfast food. This baker, however,
features his wife’s home-cooked dinner entrees for lunch. Each morning I
receive a photo of the whiteboard on the easel out front with the plat du jour
written on it.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>One day recently I went to get two
portions of this “slow food served in a hurry” – something made with flat
beans, a few cubes of beef, swimming in lots of its juices. You have to
understand, whenever I stop there to get the plat du jour, or even just to
inquire about it, Tony (name not changed to expose the guilty) nonetheless
insists on feeding me a soup spoon full of whatever the main course is. Although
I’m going to be eating that exact dish in a few minutes, I am required to
sample it right then and there in his shop! Well, that’s where my American
logic kicks in – not pure logic, but suburban American logic, which considers
this kind of behavior as unnecessary, unhygienic and imposing. You know – the
logic that prohibits all the things that help people feel they are part of a
community. Until now I was able to emerge from these force-feedings unscathed. But
last week the plat du jour did me in. Tony placed almost the entire spoonful
into my mouth, but a bit of the juice ended up running down my shirt. Not a
problem, he handed me a tissue to wipe it off… So, the rest of the day I wore that
badge of honor on my shirt, a tribute to our messy/friendly/business
relationship. Each time he feeds me a spoonful of the plat du jour (even if I
don’t buy it that day) is followed by “Good, no?” in his borderline English. To
I invariably answer in my borderline Arabic: “Akeed!” (“Of course!”) or
“Tayyib!” (“Tasty!). And it is! Messy and tasty!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYpGl1cxdPstVwk_3ZOC7h0qALAR91zs2lcKIHXP83k1PrnPu3zDyjcCCHwpUhNZ93zJ0yqZO61Q8d6QJZcgw-hNgtnfZyalpW8Zjjxsm9t4rrl8CYLIIbPRwMgoYiHy1t5ceRSLNFF13sbCoe5l6tcpxhiPuswnwQnyMsTl9fjOVhe82urVHAky0tcQ/s1280/2023-5-30%20IMG_9252.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYpGl1cxdPstVwk_3ZOC7h0qALAR91zs2lcKIHXP83k1PrnPu3zDyjcCCHwpUhNZ93zJ0yqZO61Q8d6QJZcgw-hNgtnfZyalpW8Zjjxsm9t4rrl8CYLIIbPRwMgoYiHy1t5ceRSLNFF13sbCoe5l6tcpxhiPuswnwQnyMsTl9fjOVhe82urVHAky0tcQ/s320/2023-5-30%20IMG_9252.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">How many languages do you need to get the <br />message? (30 May 2023 - Bourj Hammoud)</span><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> </span>I’ve experienced similar encounters
all around the neighborhood, each one deepening the connection. At the falafel
place up the street I am called “Abouna” (“Father”) by the owner, who also
invariably hands me a piece of falafel to munch on while he makes the falafel
sandwiches. A bonus! At another bakery the baker knows my usual order and
rather than me ordering my usual “cocktail” (round flat bread, thin and a bit
crispy, with half zaatar and half cheese), when I enter he says, “Cocktail?”
and all I need to do is smile and nod. At the mini-markets around here I am
also a known quantity, but I enjoy seeing the puzzled look on the shopkeepers’
faces when I show up in clergy garb, knowing I have messed up the category I
have been inhabiting. The next time I enter the store they are clearly unsure
about how to address me…</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvQPD1ysgcBp0vJJlG4zhI1s_EjG7zEw68o-7HDpmA0TKxTQM-i6GxS7XehZPLkSLQDGkZD2iCJo7lqy1IFD65_TCty8Nc9JbDy8A54keWHja6xt3bMCMadMNojKnOSsFSOVX4aJK0FsGJV7KN8VPPXmxTB8xYpylw58yAszf3jc1dSw5fL3imqnw_Ig/s1280/2023-5-20%20IMG_9164.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvQPD1ysgcBp0vJJlG4zhI1s_EjG7zEw68o-7HDpmA0TKxTQM-i6GxS7XehZPLkSLQDGkZD2iCJo7lqy1IFD65_TCty8Nc9JbDy8A54keWHja6xt3bMCMadMNojKnOSsFSOVX4aJK0FsGJV7KN8VPPXmxTB8xYpylw58yAszf3jc1dSw5fL3imqnw_Ig/s320/2023-5-20%20IMG_9164.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A mini-marathon to celebrate 80 years of <br />Armenian Evangelical Education!<br />(20 May 2023 - Ainjar)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> </span>None of this is an excuse for the
mess that passes for a government here, or the absence of public utilities that
brings ever more electric wires to the mess of wires overhead to make up for
that absence, or the lack of desire to pursue the common good, only the advantage of your own group's </span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“boss” </span>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: georgia;">(witness the recent elections in Turkey). And I haven’t even begun to
speak of the state of Armenian communities, organizations and institutions the
world over, including Armenia, swimming in money and expertise (and, in the
case of Armenia, tourists), but lacking the clarity that comes from a
well-studied and broadly accepted national direction.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We Armenians caught a brief glimpse
of unity 105 years ago when, despite the shortcomings of officialdom, Armenian leaders
organized troops and volunteers to put a stop to the genocidal enemy’s plan to
overrun and annihilate Eastern Armenia along with its Western Armenian
refugees. The battles in May 1918 at Bash-Abaran, Kara-Kilise and Sardarabad
are a paradigm of wise strategy and unity in the midst of disarray and
discouragement in the wake of the “ethnic cleansing” perpetrated by Ottoman
Turkey. Today, as the same enemy continues the same genocidal efforts from
Artsakh to Armenia, we are amazed at the country’s indifference towards these
existential threats, and its inability to find, foster, or choose leadership with
these qualities and this far-sightedness. What a mess our people are in!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_8-mffWMIffycaHuycTIq0dNOh7f4tBpkdU8kaFQQ7WXy5fImtqzlV9qFW1gPB2eWiHyeK1NIX4GXw5ZDzfwYvcFDN001gaL85cPtTpajw6ksbHsu7DC7E76k_-uQW6afvll5EaD1TFCSrHluIj_VWugUG2Gg9bhlnajW71yKZS1BPdmSfjxkgGYDhQ/s1280/LebCat%2059%202023-5-19%20IMG_9141.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_8-mffWMIffycaHuycTIq0dNOh7f4tBpkdU8kaFQQ7WXy5fImtqzlV9qFW1gPB2eWiHyeK1NIX4GXw5ZDzfwYvcFDN001gaL85cPtTpajw6ksbHsu7DC7E76k_-uQW6afvll5EaD1TFCSrHluIj_VWugUG2Gg9bhlnajW71yKZS1BPdmSfjxkgGYDhQ/s320/LebCat%2059%202023-5-19%20IMG_9141.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">LebCat 59: "This is Tony's bakery, right? <br />He uses cheese, right?" <br />(19 May 2023 - Mar Mikhael, Beirut)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> </span>Messiness is how life is. But being
a mess is simply irresponsible.</span></p>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As
we do our daily adjusting to the messiness of existence and all the predictable
unpredictability of life in Lebanon, we of course keep in mind the training we
dutifully took as part of our appointment here, which instructed us to avoid having
the same daily routine, to change our commuting routes each day, to have
contingency plans at the ready, to be on the lookout for threats, and so forth.
And we scratch our heads. And we trust God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>[LNB]</span>
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{page:WordSection1;}</span></span></style></p>RevoNishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18196532473979855428noreply@blogger.com0VGVJ+JXF, Beirut, Lebanon33.8940527 35.532412433.89383005772978 35.532144179098509 33.894275342270227 35.532680620901488tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647501877531775932.post-16022856487792408602023-04-30T23:29:00.000+03:002023-04-30T23:29:04.874+03:00Hesaid-Shesaid Disease<div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 18pt;">58. Hesaid-Shesaid Disease </span></b><b><span lang="EN-US">(30 April 2023)</span></b></span>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span lang="EN-US"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKYB523XagB5xjfEchZXcr03VYISvI9JMbttBq7NeqPS56pbuFs3tauY-5qncP5gsJMF3Jy-MStlXdAoqBsmEgJEdPlO8gIk31hX_FmElqxC9UdUbFjV7rVl76VWP7zWnpVjhkAd2qz0oMNMIlvN_uEwjroRPIbc5gpbJkmE2iKPPCgC0mJC9CHqy5nA/s1280/2023-4-2%20IMG_8749.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKYB523XagB5xjfEchZXcr03VYISvI9JMbttBq7NeqPS56pbuFs3tauY-5qncP5gsJMF3Jy-MStlXdAoqBsmEgJEdPlO8gIk31hX_FmElqxC9UdUbFjV7rVl76VWP7zWnpVjhkAd2qz0oMNMIlvN_uEwjroRPIbc5gpbJkmE2iKPPCgC0mJC9CHqy5nA/s320/2023-4-2%20IMG_8749.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It's springtime, and the Mediterranean is not <br /><i>too</i> cold for a swim. (2 Apr. 2023 - AUB, Beirut)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Supermarkets
in the U.S. have (or used to have) bulletin boards near the entrance, a place
to post community activity announcements, job advertisements, lost dog posters,
Fire Prevention Week fliers, you name it. Occasionally I would notice someone
standing and examining each notice; but usually these bulletin boards were
merely something to pass on your way out or your way into the store. Now, times
have changed, and the bulletin board as well as its relative, the newspaper
gossip column, have transformed into a new, electronic format, eagerly consumed
by people the world over. </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPAbZh2lv-lttBUho7Pr8-G7kpW-LFEQ5iTpuUtrgojTV5QrB_0UsDdbWXEFPh4WoH0mfvnC1lC_mfuH7qD5HYxkQUV8Ij88dxyZim_C1tkUaBEfctCnEbSoocy8KNUGdVs8tMzpq4w5T9-EkWfZjX1FfL8b0sy93BggrYDmtNNEW6Nr0PKXerpYIzNA/s1280/2023-3-27%20IMG_8703.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; font-family: georgia; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPAbZh2lv-lttBUho7Pr8-G7kpW-LFEQ5iTpuUtrgojTV5QrB_0UsDdbWXEFPh4WoH0mfvnC1lC_mfuH7qD5HYxkQUV8Ij88dxyZim_C1tkUaBEfctCnEbSoocy8KNUGdVs8tMzpq4w5T9-EkWfZjX1FfL8b0sy93BggrYDmtNNEW6Nr0PKXerpYIzNA/s320/2023-3-27%20IMG_8703.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">“</span><style><span style="font-family: arial;">@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</span></style><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US">Lake Laziza</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">”</span></span><style><span style="font-family: arial;">@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</span></style><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-US"> – stagnant waters <br />collecting in the site of yet another <br />useless construction project. <br />(27 Mar. 2023 - Mar Mikhael)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Social media platforms guide the
thinking of so many people, young and old. Sometimes it guides its users to
access well-thought-out writings about important issues or events. Often it entices
us into habits that divert us from looking deeply or critically into topics. I
would propose that our God-given minds and consciences are also “platforms” to help
us consider what is true, or beautiful, or healthy, as well as what is “good,
acceptable and perfect” (cf. Romans 12.2). The condition of today’s “marketplace
of ideas” – a condition that predates the Internet – swarms with lies and half-truths,
as well as with vested interests, mixed together with Truth. Separating the worthwhile
from the worthless is akin to trying to separate the ingredients of a <i>tabbouleh</i>
salad once it is mixed.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But effort must be spent in
separating the good and bad, no matter how painstaking the task. The discipline
of deep thinking, including research and debate, is crucial to avoiding a
relativism, antagonism and shallowness. And it is a rare, perhaps endangered,
species.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbiDgGeedY5SFpSVJiWOchtRKxC2ATH6sdqe_Oo2_lBjiZpFjexIeF9A4Fvy_aH4oh5_Xs5zmyIsNCmqpYSDDHzfZrgw-wSCbDykjwsLwk_eEb-EaFU1eDoVEZE-BfMFDi7QVpjx-HNcuKkpQbTGqtBGh9Z0BFSI82h9Umg8KtkHVs7PSPJuL1KObipg/s1280/2023-3-10%20IMG_8623.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: georgia; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbiDgGeedY5SFpSVJiWOchtRKxC2ATH6sdqe_Oo2_lBjiZpFjexIeF9A4Fvy_aH4oh5_Xs5zmyIsNCmqpYSDDHzfZrgw-wSCbDykjwsLwk_eEb-EaFU1eDoVEZE-BfMFDi7QVpjx-HNcuKkpQbTGqtBGh9Z0BFSI82h9Umg8KtkHVs7PSPJuL1KObipg/s320/2023-3-10%20IMG_8623.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Another sign of spring, high in the mountains <br />of Lebanon (10 Mar. 2023 - Azzounieh)<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"> At one time newspapers and
periodicals bristled with the pointed tips of journalistic and academic inquiry.
They played an essential role in in piercing shells of deceit and kept the “He said-She
said Disease”, so prevalent in partisan and entertainment “news”. It pushed
back the waves of mendacity of the powerful, and challenged vested interests.
Where there should be courageous truth-telling, too often news reports are
filled with “he said this, but, on the other hand, she said that”. A shrug of
the shoulders, and on to the next story.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: georgia;"> <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And this is why April is the
bitterest month for Armenians. They suffer from the “Hesaid-Shesaid Disease” that
runs rampant in popular and populist media. Their just cause, and the
unacknowledged and unpunished crime against them, has been turned into a target
of the propaganda war by those responsible – the governments of Turkey and
Azerbaijan. The Armenian nation, in its struggling Eastern portion, and its
exiled Western portion, has been seated at a table replete with impotent
statements of sympathy from world powers demonstrating their prowess in verbal
gymnastics.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5FIZTFfNFx9sw6NMaeETXjWg3-A82erBJ4VfvU84sF7j4uUI5o5RF6JtH3saQLqT1_hCvXt0KMqAyb_NGMyaIDsb7J0SnbYC28dAGZHxL2XSRtjGSKINOEpt1EjILJr4xTmASlbAeUm_kODdjc-7lylNztFXAP3pS4OFKjWsBUHpXzQ3IbyFc01GcZQ/s1280/2023-4-6%20IMG_8778.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; font-family: georgia; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5FIZTFfNFx9sw6NMaeETXjWg3-A82erBJ4VfvU84sF7j4uUI5o5RF6JtH3saQLqT1_hCvXt0KMqAyb_NGMyaIDsb7J0SnbYC28dAGZHxL2XSRtjGSKINOEpt1EjILJr4xTmASlbAeUm_kODdjc-7lylNztFXAP3pS4OFKjWsBUHpXzQ3IbyFc01GcZQ/s320/2023-4-6%20IMG_8778.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And this is why we now have 24-hour <br />electricity. And a working elevator.<br />(6 Apr. 2023 - Geitawi, Beirut)<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Caught in such a worldwide web as this, it
is no wonder that militant groups have emerged from among all subjugated people
groups, and not just from Armenians. Those who are silenced or sidelined from
public forums can often see no other way than this: to force the powerful to
pay attention to (and sometimes feel on their own skin) the injustices that are
freely roaming the streets of every city and country, easily ignored by an
otherwise occupied public. Sadly, the chronic disenfranchisement of such people
groups leads to their disarray, dismemberment and dissolution, something widely
observed among my people. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span><span> </span>Allowing “Hesaid-Shesaid Disease” to spread unchecked
may be intentional. It enables genocidal regimes to bend the wills of “great
powers” who don’t want to endanger their access to resources. It allows Turkey and
Azerbaijan to declare historic Armenian lands and culture as its own. It
emboldens them to claim that Armenia and Armenians never existed. It gives them
a green light to persist in their genocidal policies, both “soft genocide” and “hard
genocide”. It gives credence to Hitler’s dismissal of concerns over his
genocide against the Polish people, telling his generals in 1939 to abandon
their humanitarian scruples: “Who speaks nowadays of the annihilation of the Armenians?”</span> <br /></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXbT5S_bSc07KGTfQUI8mTILxYsRD9SHWfvNFZzKf1K4EJ96YjJ-kRFUw99-L_8gY850Nq3b-VaxSybLhdAJCiDTMcNREhij0vR_5OIFEl5lB3LcErwuYhxOJ2XLF8jL3bq2EiL11Jh7QepEP_cadb6lZJg-5UCAEQvU9p0wpbpXaU7T9gvkwqDiBwzA/s1280/2023-4-15%20IMG_8885.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: georgia; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXbT5S_bSc07KGTfQUI8mTILxYsRD9SHWfvNFZzKf1K4EJ96YjJ-kRFUw99-L_8gY850Nq3b-VaxSybLhdAJCiDTMcNREhij0vR_5OIFEl5lB3LcErwuYhxOJ2XLF8jL3bq2EiL11Jh7QepEP_cadb6lZJg-5UCAEQvU9p0wpbpXaU7T9gvkwqDiBwzA/s320/2023-4-15%20IMG_8885.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Armenian scouts headed to their Saturday <br />meeting, while street lights are being <br />replaced with solar-powered LED fixtures. <br />(15 Apr. 2023 - Khalil Bedawi, Beirut)<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The disease has no cure. It is as
old as the dialogue between Adam and God in the Garden of Eden (cf. Genesis
3.9-13) and ingrained within the human heart. Although it cannot be eradicated,
it can – and must – be kept at bay. As mentioned earlier, deep and rigorous
thinking is one of the necessary treatment regimens. Another is careful and
considerate listening, something that takes time and commitment. And time is one of the
casualties of the information/entertainment glut engulfing the world. The third
treatment is to “make love your aim” or to “follow the way of love” (cf. I Corinthians
14.1). Loving others as yourself. Loving the truth. Loving (including a fear
of) God. </span></span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5mywR4f0MMmuBlJm0LxI9_0ruTpZvZq9UnPx7IFAIYI9OarvgW9Vd4GAzBWAHguozQAWqhgNAhIj6rv33ebJeD8OipX-GZ5FS1gNdJan2wnOPyJGO0rXCukEBqgXXyRXb56IIdLio4FnsbeWAa1p0Gjiny51vESl8YdsB47WQzbI1GsUQqGvFbLQHbg/s1280/LebCat58%202023-3-26%20IMG_8691.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; font-family: georgia; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5mywR4f0MMmuBlJm0LxI9_0ruTpZvZq9UnPx7IFAIYI9OarvgW9Vd4GAzBWAHguozQAWqhgNAhIj6rv33ebJeD8OipX-GZ5FS1gNdJan2wnOPyJGO0rXCukEBqgXXyRXb56IIdLio4FnsbeWAa1p0Gjiny51vESl8YdsB47WQzbI1GsUQqGvFbLQHbg/s320/LebCat58%202023-3-26%20IMG_8691.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">LebCat 58 - Not sure how I got into this <br />building (UAECNE HQ). Could you provide <br />me with an escape route? Please?<br />(26 Mar. 2023 - Geitawi, Beirut)<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>April 24th – Armenian Genocide Remembrance
Day – has come and gone, with various and sundry observances here in Lebanon
and in many places throughout the world. It was noted by the diseased as well. The
governor of Istanbul forbade its observance for the second year in a row.
Azerbaijan increased its propaganda about the nefarious designs of the Armenian
government, and intensified its military aggression against Armenia and Artsakh.
Therefore, I have no choice but to do my part to combat this disease with faith
in God, for the sake of my descendants and the inheritance of their rightful
legacy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[LNB]</span>
<p><style><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</span></span></style></p>RevoNishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18196532473979855428noreply@blogger.com0VGVJ+JXF, Beirut, Lebanon33.8940527 35.532412433.893607414206386 35.53187595819702 33.89449798579362 35.532948841802977tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647501877531775932.post-10926522166863832802023-02-28T22:33:00.004+02:002023-03-01T08:55:44.792+02:00Dead Foxes<p>
</p><div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: medium none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm 0cm 1pt;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: medium none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm; padding: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 18pt;">57. Dead Foxes </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(28 February 2023)</b></span></p>
</div><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2zabok8JB3BP9eW8eSMu7nkqGofsUj3_WbR2QQx2KJOKJYQUD_6AF4ilhNuwx-O6AMts7qvttAbw5_e4tXcwNNOS9YMXnMYIEvqHP6DWyTxBodydJhanhxpFLCJzZtcuQdwggUTTwCXX2FmTiNtuzZmUYwNn4KLdUdbyT9luBDggSeCPBjrx2GYEShQ/s1280/2023-2-26%20IMG_8403.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2zabok8JB3BP9eW8eSMu7nkqGofsUj3_WbR2QQx2KJOKJYQUD_6AF4ilhNuwx-O6AMts7qvttAbw5_e4tXcwNNOS9YMXnMYIEvqHP6DWyTxBodydJhanhxpFLCJzZtcuQdwggUTTwCXX2FmTiNtuzZmUYwNn4KLdUdbyT9luBDggSeCPBjrx2GYEShQ/s320/2023-2-26%20IMG_8403.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Commemorating 35 years since Azerbaijan <br />began targeting Armenians for <br />extermination. (26 Feb. 2023 - Beirut)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;">Earlier this
month, while driving along the coastal highway, I slowed down behind a line of
cars and trucks exiting and noticed an animal lying alongside the roadway,
obviously dead. From a distance I could tell it was too large to be a cat, too
small to be a dog, and my guess was confirmed as I slowly crept alongside… a
red fox. I was happy and sad at the same time; happy that there is still
wildlife in this overbuilt metro area, and sad that it met this fate. I realize
that those in rural places might not share my dismay, considering the losses
they may incur because of foxes. Here this death is sadly poignant. While actual
foxes become road kill, human foxes are left alive. And the “fox hunters” trying
to pursue this latter kind are systematically eliminated, and the foxes pretending
to be humans continue their sadistic rule over the henhouse.</span><p></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDZqKtXxulCCOJgNL8-dK1GhFR_OmuHAkMGHGncJSqZAJAyNo76ndhajVJVvCcsKc_LQo9kh0OU2suea-8xK4kzpUl8TncOsvXrDpG9nVWh6rSoi5RsatqEDnu-obpsEmTs-bg0KiJW4nQhCcd1-RLaSSpSqjC533W4Ag0PpyFBIOPcDERM6pJurFCmw/s1280/2023-2-20%20IMG_8390.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDZqKtXxulCCOJgNL8-dK1GhFR_OmuHAkMGHGncJSqZAJAyNo76ndhajVJVvCcsKc_LQo9kh0OU2suea-8xK4kzpUl8TncOsvXrDpG9nVWh6rSoi5RsatqEDnu-obpsEmTs-bg0KiJW4nQhCcd1-RLaSSpSqjC533W4Ag0PpyFBIOPcDERM6pJurFCmw/s320/2023-2-20%20IMG_8390.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Empty since the port blast, Lebanon's electric <br />company building - gutted, just like the service <br />it provides (20 Feb. 2023 - Mar Mikhael-Beirut)</span> <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>One of the more insidious of that
species is now facing a “natural disaster” of his own making. Over the years he
granted waivers for poorly constructed housing in exchange for ballot-box
loyalty, so that he could establish full political control. That
narcissism transformed the tragedy of this region’s February 6 earthquake into
an unmitigated disaster. Will he be held accountable for the crimes he is now
heaping upon the corrupt lower-level operatives? Not if the spin doctors around
him can do their psyops job well, and transform this fox’s image into, let’s
say, that of a pussy-cat. A devout, embattled fighter for the rights of the
ordinary citizen. A strong leader his country needs to rebuild it and make it
proud. Any of a raft of addictive lies that people in so many lands believe,
sad to say.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ZHb5YOC7de_wD-Z8uTPOX_9qy93L785emM9kO2f7Jf5T1swlcitU9pSlhnOuQkw8SlxGE-Uj_IqepngngQvbpGsy-nX0enwrzHOM-wNO9QPtKoHebdVqQwTYVeL-F0vsCN2NuqQIy014c73j0V883Tq-E3RunIeXJcuBYXBymqFK98_W4tbhbCZIZw/s1280/2023-2-27%20IMG_8446.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ZHb5YOC7de_wD-Z8uTPOX_9qy93L785emM9kO2f7Jf5T1swlcitU9pSlhnOuQkw8SlxGE-Uj_IqepngngQvbpGsy-nX0enwrzHOM-wNO9QPtKoHebdVqQwTYVeL-F0vsCN2NuqQIy014c73j0V883Tq-E3RunIeXJcuBYXBymqFK98_W4tbhbCZIZw/s320/2023-2-27%20IMG_8446.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The value of $300 in local currency, in <br />2019 (right) and 2023 (27 Feb. 2023 - Beirut)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </span>Meanwhile, others try to dodge the
traffic that would run them over and put an end to their positive impact.
Though contributing to the betterment of society, and though they are not the
ones able to cause a fundamental, systemic change in the status quo, yet their
activity is nonetheless significant in the long term. Unlike the wealthy foxes
who continue to find ways to launder their money or sink it into building more
empty buildings in the capital, they are a different sort of investor. They sink
their time and effort into human capital; into teaching students to think, into
inculcating character and faith into young people, into creating cultural
riches to feed the souls of generations yet unborn. The anniversaries of the region’s
Armenian institutions (churches, schools and so forth) are reminders of the
deep investment our forebears made to rebuild and sustain a broken nation after
the Genocide, making the Middle East’s Armenian communities the powerhouse of
the Diaspora. And it continues to serve in that capacity, feeding and nurturing
Armenian identity but with a frighteningly small number of visionary laborers
engaged in this crucial work. </span><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9qnGz6_wbblK9cAQf4A0Xk2n-Q0-qoSVsfQBN9lw5R7b8KGdgmCTUZiPFNw4jIm10Wdbiju6DL1QgQNKVSXJNzQH7c-TOFaX3hfcwxE1C1402MW62hlKVaEl3uAELl6tQlGuAWrIGs5q1OajbO9BKh0RrhhseM14Z4mXdJ5zNWp0PPlK-pyRYRySR4g/s1280/2023-2-27%20IMG_8438.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9qnGz6_wbblK9cAQf4A0Xk2n-Q0-qoSVsfQBN9lw5R7b8KGdgmCTUZiPFNw4jIm10Wdbiju6DL1QgQNKVSXJNzQH7c-TOFaX3hfcwxE1C1402MW62hlKVaEl3uAELl6tQlGuAWrIGs5q1OajbO9BKh0RrhhseM14Z4mXdJ5zNWp0PPlK-pyRYRySR4g/s320/2023-2-27%20IMG_8438.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">As spring approaches, tree branches and <br />neighborhood generators begin to <br />sprout offshoots<br />(27 Feb. 2023 - Bourj Hammoud)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Who are they? First of all, they are
teachers of all subjects and in all manners. Especially focusing on language,
history and culture, they might be using state-of-the-art methods and
materials, or they might be solidly stuck in the 19th century in
their approach, but at least they are making an effort. Others who develop new,
relevant materials for various grade and knowledge levels are also part of that
army, along with those who digitize existing materials (a special shout-out to
the Armenian National Library in this regard). Then there is anyone making a
difference in just one child’s or adult’s awareness or self-awareness of his
(or her) identity as an Armenian. I would also include “influencers”, who know
how to make effective use of information media and place it or disseminate it
in easy-to-find locations. Really, in our world so full of foxes, all Armenians
should be engaged in this effort on the micro or macro scale, and spend less
time self-absorbed in things that do not satisfy (see Isaiah 55.1-2) or edify,
such as self-promotion on social media platforms.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeqFCSm16EDPmzHDVTqPO0KNKyHybrqjBeywnqHyVJzEK7hOZ2Ote19Emkf6LaExn34t77y0l8Zd9dgJUsD1Uubcv4Dj7nQ4yRVr3U7GHHT272oE5aPu-5eZSoodsvkYqivtvk1JMaCC2z1JHa20keIFhmCegZebqCGfpwHGAopvMP8dKBmhnMK6QFVg/s1280/2023-2-28%20IMG_8457.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeqFCSm16EDPmzHDVTqPO0KNKyHybrqjBeywnqHyVJzEK7hOZ2Ote19Emkf6LaExn34t77y0l8Zd9dgJUsD1Uubcv4Dj7nQ4yRVr3U7GHHT272oE5aPu-5eZSoodsvkYqivtvk1JMaCC2z1JHa20keIFhmCegZebqCGfpwHGAopvMP8dKBmhnMK6QFVg/s320/2023-2-28%20IMG_8457.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A reminder to continue being visionary, <br />despite it all<br />(28 Feb. 2023 - Gemmayzeh-Beirut)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> I’ve noticed that Armenians (myself
included) tend to put things in life-or-death terms; maybe it is because
Armenians, like nearly all minorities, face life-or-death realities much more
frequently than majority populations. Majority populations and those intent on
a homogenized, globalized mono-culture, tend to object to this existential
angst, seeing it as unnecessary (which it isn’t) or disruptive (which it must
be). The angst felt among Armenians here in the Middle East is because they are
battered and dishonored, treated as collateral damage by the major foxes and
their sub-foxes who play at political and financial war. As it was a century ago,
so it is today. Enabled by a disengaged international community, foxes circle around
Armenia and Artsakh, drooling over the thought of ruling over an emptied
henhouse, expertly using propaganda, lies, threats and a sham “protest” to lay
hold of the remainder of the Armenian homeland devoid of Armenians. </span><p></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsJPP8DYC2X-Bwx7LDxJc12EWM6KeOGzHrumjbnICEzzILEBP64HQ-BvoNBB56ru_FIqxfMAbw0PLruxP5r1oXbpxJWtJ3rfFSh0BvsY_Z_Au7KkHoFg1gxr3kpuHhXJunxj5DftRM7uODRB0ENHDREfccRRBPWDSuFAgn09F9dHS3n8IwWHEsFmEWQg/s1280/LebCat%2057%202023-2-28%20IMG_8451.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsJPP8DYC2X-Bwx7LDxJc12EWM6KeOGzHrumjbnICEzzILEBP64HQ-BvoNBB56ru_FIqxfMAbw0PLruxP5r1oXbpxJWtJ3rfFSh0BvsY_Z_Au7KkHoFg1gxr3kpuHhXJunxj5DftRM7uODRB0ENHDREfccRRBPWDSuFAgn09F9dHS3n8IwWHEsFmEWQg/s320/LebCat%2057%202023-2-28%20IMG_8451.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">LebCat 57: Hard at work receiving phone bill <br />payments. This may explain a few things about <br />the system. (28 Feb. 2023 - </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Geitawi-Beirut</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"> When the Lord Jesus faced off
against the oppression his people were bearing, he dared call the ruler of that
day a “fox” (Lk. 13.32). It was a calculated, public insult, and a challenge to
his duplicitous authority. Despite the deadly actions of all manners of foxes,
God will accomplish his purposes, he will bring hope and healing to the
downtrodden, and will revitalize life within all who trust in his Son.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[LNB]</span><p></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
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{page:WordSection1;}</span></style></p>RevoNishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18196532473979855428noreply@blogger.com0VGVJ+JXF, Beirut, Lebanon33.8940527 35.532412433.8938300574036 35.532144179098509 33.894275342596409 35.532680620901488tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647501877531775932.post-50143375908056577882023-01-03T20:47:00.003+02:002023-01-03T20:47:45.967+02:00With Whom Is God Pleased<span style="font-family: georgia;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 18pt;">56. With Whom Is God Pleased? </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(3 January 2023)</b></span><div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;">
</div><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyxN7LZN0ET5XRYDfH046rE_3jEQrWxO8VwMIYdsMRVmHoHh2qOEIHKDu-wqp1MGv4EtQG4qu2xUo5hrU9O6IrILbjUCeUAE2oFnzyyav98BP-nXuQ566jcpGqP300qCr4Qr0PLTZP4ANvyN0-l85gSc3mDx4wBVHkXI3jI_shn_9_XdD5E0Hxldy9-Q/s1280/2022-12-30%20IMG_8001.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyxN7LZN0ET5XRYDfH046rE_3jEQrWxO8VwMIYdsMRVmHoHh2qOEIHKDu-wqp1MGv4EtQG4qu2xUo5hrU9O6IrILbjUCeUAE2oFnzyyav98BP-nXuQ566jcpGqP300qCr4Qr0PLTZP4ANvyN0-l85gSc3mDx4wBVHkXI3jI_shn_9_XdD5E0Hxldy9-Q/s320/2022-12-30%20IMG_8001.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A glimpse of Christmas joy in the <br />neighborhood, powered by <br />"ishtirak" <br />(30 Dec. 2022 - Geitawi, Beirut)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Holidays in
Lebanon, especially in the winter, have fallen off my list of favorites,
probably in no small part due to the lack of electricity we (and so many other
Lebanese) experience at home. The offices where I work close, meaning that our
building’s generator stays off. Our subscription for supplemental power covers only
about half of the day, anyway, bringing inside temperatures close to what is
outside. And municipal power supply continues to emulate Halley’s Comet in its rare
appearances. Combining all the national holidays with the ones of various religious
denominations, plus Armenian holidays, here in Lebanon we experience close to a
month each year of these “off” days.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But there is another layer of distaste.
Holidays are too often turned into platforms for social and political assertiveness,
rather than times of rest, reflection, redirection and rededication. Firecrackers
(and bullets) fill the air over neighborhoods where a particular holiday is most
observed. Not to forget the obligatory firecrackers and fireworks launched at important
life events, such as funerals and weddings, or your World Cup football team
scoring a goal. We were able to watch three games of this year’s football “Mondial”
in early December since we were visiting Armenia for a week. There, games were
broadcast on Armenian state television for anyone to view. Here was a different
story, as is the case with so many things. The sounds of firecrackers and nearby
fans yelling would prompt us to refresh the official website in order to see the
latest scores — a somewhat anticlimactic method.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFJaW0mdDP_5wSN2qUJj1EqaB2zUSuSiQn_mb00XJRJ2vu6ckyIi1Gjq2-YxxkQN2itc_F8W-bzKQB71ctAp8GntaERA-LQugn-qtBfGNGqtbfHjucAz9vVx-laS8eDIlPS6AYfLOvISGwQMQPs7Okm9A23WSW6dPrECXRJk_RBe-JTvaxsxedhaRYPw/s1280/2022-11-30%20IMG_7773.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFJaW0mdDP_5wSN2qUJj1EqaB2zUSuSiQn_mb00XJRJ2vu6ckyIi1Gjq2-YxxkQN2itc_F8W-bzKQB71ctAp8GntaERA-LQugn-qtBfGNGqtbfHjucAz9vVx-laS8eDIlPS6AYfLOvISGwQMQPs7Okm9A23WSW6dPrECXRJk_RBe-JTvaxsxedhaRYPw/s320/2022-11-30%20IMG_7773.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Constructing the "New Year's tree" at the <br />Yerevan train station <br />(30 Nov. 2022 - Yerevan, Armenia)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> </span>In this particular season the biblical
phrase, “Peace on earth, good will towards men,” is widely touted, or more
commonly quoted simply as “Peace on earth”, without involving men (in the generic
sense) or good will. The more intricate version of Luke 2.14, “Peace on earth
among those with whom God is pleased,” is avoided, likely because it doesn’t
fit neatly into 21<sup>st</sup> century greeting cards (i.e., social media
platforms and posts)<i>, </i>and likely also because it states that there is a
God, also implying that this God makes judgments. About us. Also not fitting popular
sensitivities in these oversensitive times.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8ntbFYYwDuC7lerss1n_EwIoOaA79hIGIRsPy03ErDNEwG_70pfKxqHa-HwntC-byDDxt8Adm7caVH71fKfWMYMvwhFtADLPVV8bn_eeBq-P8fb-QdWxSv0KjBCJXITEi5SQSLAjPr2JglUM73I0r4VN53qqq-26R2I-ojZUWC2ao38QpjecqY6s95w/s1280/2022-11-29%20IMG_7747.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8ntbFYYwDuC7lerss1n_EwIoOaA79hIGIRsPy03ErDNEwG_70pfKxqHa-HwntC-byDDxt8Adm7caVH71fKfWMYMvwhFtADLPVV8bn_eeBq-P8fb-QdWxSv0KjBCJXITEi5SQSLAjPr2JglUM73I0r4VN53qqq-26R2I-ojZUWC2ao38QpjecqY6s95w/s320/2022-11-29%20IMG_7747.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A garden of Armenian letters seemingly <br />growing out of stones, hopefully an inspiration, <br />more than just a tourist attraction. <br />(29 Nov. 2022 - near Artashavan, Armenia)<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table> </span>Whether or not it plays well in mass
culture, a question sticks in my mind: With whom is God pleased these days? My
immediate guess is “no one”, as evidenced by the lack of peace on earth. The lofty
goal of peacemaking is left largely untouched, while nations allegedly aim for (but
fail to reach) the lower goal of temporary cease-fires. Yet even where
cease-fires are attained there are always those who find ways to continue their
aggression.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Since mid-December and continuing
into the New Year, Azerbaijan-sponsored phony “environmental activists” have
been blocking the only lifeline for food or medicine or transit that Artsakh Armenians
have, the “Lachin corridor” linking it to Armenia. Add to this the Azeri government
and industries that are driving all of this, entities that blithely cut off
energy supplies to Artsakh in the cold of winter. Add to this the inaction of
those charged with keeping the road open, allowing the situation to be created.
And finally add to this the meaningless verbal bravado (and little more) of world
powers, busying themselves with statements and resolutions condemning the blockade,
but unwilling to intervene in a sovereign country. If all of this looks and
sounds like world powers’ failure to prevent the Genocide in 1915, there’s a good
reason for that. Summing it all up, it immolates the dove of peace over the flames of
war.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXWL6g-nSlmG8vQxANU2t03Xk0I6Q4vJw76QVNvFIdUEWVmvRQcEPT82cUMFkgKIdjMkjmWnjW88f8BmuTzUVmXJs5r0fWP2JZawQMniYmnTcBSZJOOsz08f1lqpgMwyHuIG6RvvOLkzexwcoLsTF39zWiZChaLOox5xX65mM63_NWMXq3VEeyf-3a9w/s1280/2022-12-8%20IMG_7890.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXWL6g-nSlmG8vQxANU2t03Xk0I6Q4vJw76QVNvFIdUEWVmvRQcEPT82cUMFkgKIdjMkjmWnjW88f8BmuTzUVmXJs5r0fWP2JZawQMniYmnTcBSZJOOsz08f1lqpgMwyHuIG6RvvOLkzexwcoLsTF39zWiZChaLOox5xX65mM63_NWMXq3VEeyf-3a9w/s320/2022-12-8%20IMG_7890.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A mural depicting Old Beirut, in a park where <br />an old Beirut building was torn down. <br />(8 Dec. 2022 - Geitawi, Beirut)<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table> </span>Peacemaking can be torn apart in
various ways: by individuals, societies, companies, governments, you name it.
It does not have to be done in the obtuse ways that Armenia’s rapacious neighbors
are so fond of. Sometimes it can be as subtle as tolerating inept (fill in the
name of your favorite country) governance, or by making self-centeredness and
self-indulgence a societal value, or in disdaining others in order to elevate
yourself.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Yet despite all attempts to kill it, peacemaking is alive, and peacemakers
are at work. Whenever we hear about or witness a teacher who goes beyond the
lesson plan and above the minimum requirements to help her class learn to relate
with care for each other, there peace is being inculcated. Last week I was in a
store in Bourj Hammoud when an older fellow in tattered clothes stood at the
door with his hand raised in greeting - not for a handout. The Arab worker (who happens to speak
Armenian) addressed him affectionately, giving and receiving words of blessing;
this, too, is peace-building. When someone in the course of a conversation asks
me to pray for him right there on the spot, God’s peace hovers over both of us
and enables us to express more grace to others.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoclPHlD5PgXqPhSX3Oe2lW8K2ZMk3j2btCdrDusXecPzi8Qnk77cLJAV58uGv4ivtR5G4qDOYfpN4DIBN91pB4whnDHAS6GvsewqtJUw_BMsTy3NPpE3m7OiagJ9iA_UIxxAMrHk51t0bqdeFXedeVWae4i6X-Cl-yWGJlrchC-ennlJBIwV4TldH4w/s1280/2022-12-22%20IMG_7947.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="905" data-original-width="1280" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoclPHlD5PgXqPhSX3Oe2lW8K2ZMk3j2btCdrDusXecPzi8Qnk77cLJAV58uGv4ivtR5G4qDOYfpN4DIBN91pB4whnDHAS6GvsewqtJUw_BMsTy3NPpE3m7OiagJ9iA_UIxxAMrHk51t0bqdeFXedeVWae4i6X-Cl-yWGJlrchC-ennlJBIwV4TldH4w/s320/2022-12-22%20IMG_7947.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Christmas bazaar at the Zvartnots Center, <br />which brings hope and love to special needs <br />children.<br />(22 Dec. 2022 - Nor Sis, Bourj Hammoud) <br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table> </span>That message to the shepherds heralding
“peace” at Christ’s birth is more of a challenge to self-absorbed humanity than
a statement of present reality. The One whose appearance they announced made it
his aim to establish peace through servanthood and a particular act of
sacrifice. It grew more intense and pervasive as he grew “in stature and in God
and man’s favor” . We might strain to see those around us who join him in this
endeavor, but the thread that joins each instance together, shining with the
angelic light seen outside ancient Bethlehem, is that of service.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Serving others, motivated by love,
produces peace. And only God himself can fill and refill that love. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir_8bCmBTFgGGTQq6ch6aJel66uXmeiu33Wuw2jQ9L8jOHKPaR5fWIj16u-a13AdC2LHWPbMSCMTwdIrgR9ZxtDlk0xHGS-Bq2QMWfXmxCd4R99wxZnvwqGMY3Ie7cy4f_kqula_zFwjjjq_S0L9qTSFhkh09IX6SkgrpsMOywyAQQyyCROGzH8shiiQ/s1280/LebCat%2056%202022-12-30%20IMG_7990.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir_8bCmBTFgGGTQq6ch6aJel66uXmeiu33Wuw2jQ9L8jOHKPaR5fWIj16u-a13AdC2LHWPbMSCMTwdIrgR9ZxtDlk0xHGS-Bq2QMWfXmxCd4R99wxZnvwqGMY3Ie7cy4f_kqula_zFwjjjq_S0L9qTSFhkh09IX6SkgrpsMOywyAQQyyCROGzH8shiiQ/s320/LebCat%2056%202022-12-30%20IMG_7990.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">LebCat 56: Since the electric company isn't <br />using these anyway, I'll just settle in. <br />(30 Dec. 2022 - Mar Mikhael, Beirut)<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table> </span>Since “Armenian Christmas” is but
three days away, an Armenian greeting on the occasion and a wish for God-pleasing
peacemaking: Christ is born and revealed; blessed is the revelation of Christ!*<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[LNB]</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">*<i><span lang="HY" style="mso-ansi-language: HY;">Քրիստոս ծնաւ եւ յայտնեցաւ. օրհնեա՛լ է յայտնութիւնն
Քրիստոսի։</span></i></span></p><p><style><span style="font-family: georgia;">@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</span></style></p>RevoNishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18196532473979855428noreply@blogger.com0VGVJ+JXF, Beirut, Lebanon33.8940527 35.532412433.893830057525491 35.532144179098509 33.894275342474515 35.532680620901488tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647501877531775932.post-34629167014076142312022-11-25T18:42:00.001+02:002022-11-25T18:42:47.998+02:00Waiving the Flag<div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm; padding: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 18pt;">55.Waiving the Flag </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(25 November 2022)</b></span></p>
</div><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDv-KesA_w3NsYzppf2TPQtkW7zHKCBoDt87CytP7-nvWYYAT7-c_htJa3oUo5-Xbh_RE9BdGVZA4PtXD1z2263WD1IIf1qbX87UwKPJy_hvjqWCm8MY2CthEIbVlXcIYzkt2uMf2tLTWUYpg423BOocjWz6tqf5Yoq-3xcEIEHheCNGc59YSGK0iNSw/s1280/2022-11-17%20IMG_7508.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDv-KesA_w3NsYzppf2TPQtkW7zHKCBoDt87CytP7-nvWYYAT7-c_htJa3oUo5-Xbh_RE9BdGVZA4PtXD1z2263WD1IIf1qbX87UwKPJy_hvjqWCm8MY2CthEIbVlXcIYzkt2uMf2tLTWUYpg423BOocjWz6tqf5Yoq-3xcEIEHheCNGc59YSGK0iNSw/s320/2022-11-17%20IMG_7508.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Preparing for school celebration of <br />Lebanon's Independence Day <br />(17 Nov. 2022 - Geitawi, Beirut)<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table>Now that World
Cup football (soccer for you Americans) has taken over the world for the coming
four weeks, enabling some pleasant diversion from the strangeness of these
times, Lebanon is once again subjected to the ineptitude of its kleptocracy. No
government here means no decision-making regarding broadcasting rights for the
World Cup on state television. Which means that football fans, of which there
are many, will not enjoy a month away from talk shows reviewing their all-too
familiar daily miseries. Daily cheering could provide positive, natural
chemicals to bring health to the tired bodies in this country, without having
to scour pharmacies for artificial remedies. Instead, a very few people with
the financial means to do so will watch the games at home, though many of them
will suffer with Lebanon’s insufferable internet speeds, with frozen screens
and with dropped connections. </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjDO-AR-KWcLyvm6AnC6SctDJmCw1SJnM8kHBI5zuy0zhoE7yZshVAmgJ65a6un9TUtioJ5u9YD6rsWvOmrqF7ykhXadtvZaSubpGTrkrW2ESyw45ttOjV729D06DVQVqAChX3IpZ23ufLYGUoKlmvhxpx87TZebiz8OPhDW48wPvZiUr88vvVSqXswA/s1280/2022-11-14%20IMG_7499.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjDO-AR-KWcLyvm6AnC6SctDJmCw1SJnM8kHBI5zuy0zhoE7yZshVAmgJ65a6un9TUtioJ5u9YD6rsWvOmrqF7ykhXadtvZaSubpGTrkrW2ESyw45ttOjV729D06DVQVqAChX3IpZ23ufLYGUoKlmvhxpx87TZebiz8OPhDW48wPvZiUr88vvVSqXswA/s320/2022-11-14%20IMG_7499.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">"Green" transportation may not exactly mean <br />this (14 Nov. 2022 - Ghabi, Beirut)<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table> </span>A recent news report about this situation
in Lebanon showed photos of Lebanese with a multitude of flags of their
favorite teams while also recording the fans’ dismay at being deprived of the
tournament. They could paying for a month’s cable subscription in order to
watch it, but that would be tantamount to telling your family they will not eat
for a month. One person quipped, “Meanwhile our politicians are probably in
Qatar, watching the games live.”</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It’s not surprising that Lebanese
Independence Day, November 22, passed by this week with hardly a mention. Yes,
there was a smattering of interesting broadcast advertisements with the
independence theme, and an event or two was held for select groups of people. As
always, students participated in their schools’ programs in observance of the
day. There were even small Lebanese flags planted along traffic circles and
roadsides. But there were no army parades or air force fly-overs, and no
grandstands because empty chairs would have had to have been placed there for officials
yet to be elected/appointed. What was in abundance were the many who expressed
their dismay at the use of the word “independence” in today’s reality, since it
is apparent to all that Lebanon’s problems and solutions are dependency issues,
dependent on other, outside players. On Independence Day 2022 the flag was
waived more than it was waved.<span lang="HY" style="mso-ansi-language: HY;"></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM1dSiVMnwOFfj1jiJslYg0T_mAnm4IsaVMSANLwCVxbxwIT-ZAl0kYkwJ9QmiV6U_wVEjrdmP5OwQYAn7sbK3Y-16cTNsbcLUtd2S6_oJl-cRK6YH9unz3SU0eNEZdAEIP5xfUhuQyeQXAsGdpU9BUIKYDcAIP8Y03JAK6YqLH9AeqXzq7PtwfGG2Ew/s1280/2022-11-13%20IMG_7490.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM1dSiVMnwOFfj1jiJslYg0T_mAnm4IsaVMSANLwCVxbxwIT-ZAl0kYkwJ9QmiV6U_wVEjrdmP5OwQYAn7sbK3Y-16cTNsbcLUtd2S6_oJl-cRK6YH9unz3SU0eNEZdAEIP5xfUhuQyeQXAsGdpU9BUIKYDcAIP8Y03JAK6YqLH9AeqXzq7PtwfGG2Ew/s320/2022-11-13%20IMG_7490.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The best way to make music is to do it <br />yourself (13 Nov. 2022 - Geitawi, Beirut)<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table> </span>It’s encouraging to see that despite all of this, rather than
waiting for things to “get better,” people move forward to organize events and
activities. This is most apparent to us in our church and university settings,
though it is not limited to those circles. Concerts, plays, worship events, film
premieres, lectures, debates, leadership training, conferences, infrastructure
upgrades, publications, and of course, weddings! And this is just within the Lebanese-Armenian
community! None of this means that conditions are improving. The economy is still
floundering, the currency is still tumbling, the government is still
somnabulate, and youth are still edging towards the exit doors. But there is a
realization that consuming one’s time and energy in worry will not lengthen one’s
days, and will only yield regrets for things undone or unattempted. So, I am
glad when there are more activities that I want to attend than there is time to
attend them.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipbhQW5TOE6E3dFPuY476BlvHMbjGmiTlPPZ_Hv9FF67nUDci3UsXk1zXBRvhAcuwKNbqbwli40gXl8zp_N9IDMb4rxkgz0qhkcQ2EQjO9adModzK3AcGBHx10u2vxhLrjSHxysHLTpyXZbtiInYcG6CaXvrKCCNXTdpA73qFjmOlMnyuL4qFbxehVPQ/s1280/2022-10-29%20IMG_7396.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipbhQW5TOE6E3dFPuY476BlvHMbjGmiTlPPZ_Hv9FF67nUDci3UsXk1zXBRvhAcuwKNbqbwli40gXl8zp_N9IDMb4rxkgz0qhkcQ2EQjO9adModzK3AcGBHx10u2vxhLrjSHxysHLTpyXZbtiInYcG6CaXvrKCCNXTdpA73qFjmOlMnyuL4qFbxehVPQ/s320/2022-10-29%20IMG_7396.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">An imaginary cedar of Lebanon, perched on <br />a narrow outcropping of rock... perhaps not <br />imaginary at all (29 Oct. 2022 - Gemmayzeh)<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Despite these robust signs, the
present and future of the Armenian people is ever on my mind. For Armenia and
Artsakh, for the near Diaspora and the far. Few Armenians learn from their past,
though they study Armenian history in their school years. Names, places,
events, dates, enemies are never in short supply, and swirl around in the minds
of those with an Armenian education. But it is rare when your average “Hovsep”
can appreciate the myriad mistakes and missteps that Armenians have made over
the millennia, especially in the past century or two, up to this day, and then sketch
a wiser path forward. Alongside this general concern (dare I say “worry”?) I see
a glimmer of hope in my limited encounters with Armenian youth, as they wrestle
with questions that their history presents, note similarities with today’s
events, and ask “Can’t we do this differently?” Change will only happen when
people are free to ask questions and pursue answers, not when they line up in
rows and columns and follow leaders unthinkingly.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn2ptL7PYM6AWB2HVgWN0-yn_7MNZajG_VZRtneCkTJyt-C6UiFc73ZMc8S5oGXveIW9tcywrNXCy38B7B0agoGUHYLcSpVsmgOSNzAqzxVETiq7qAhbVBeOOh8WTxLbPvEGNoJJnSEwI0QyBosD5K0xv5cwxNZccm6ybjCVoCebIqrO7InCtfzP0sgQ/s1280/2022-11-17%20IMG_7507.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn2ptL7PYM6AWB2HVgWN0-yn_7MNZajG_VZRtneCkTJyt-C6UiFc73ZMc8S5oGXveIW9tcywrNXCy38B7B0agoGUHYLcSpVsmgOSNzAqzxVETiq7qAhbVBeOOh8WTxLbPvEGNoJJnSEwI0QyBosD5K0xv5cwxNZccm6ybjCVoCebIqrO7InCtfzP0sgQ/s320/2022-11-17%20IMG_7507.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Something for children to play with on the <br />steps, but is anybody listening at the other <br />end? (17 Nov. 2022 - Mar Mikhael, Beirut)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> </span>Leaders clothe their self-interests
in patriotic rhetoric, and followers adopt that rhetoric, based on a limited
knowledge of the dynamics and background. For small and unimportant peoples
(like Armenia), the outcome is always in favor of those who can supply what
large entities want. Mostly that means that those who have oil resources are
treated with some deference, while those that don’t (like Armenia) have to
figure out if they have something to offer to satisfy ravenous appetites. This
is the way of the world, no matter that some consider themselves “exceptional”.
And this is why the church is so important (as long as it doesn’t play political
“world cup”), because it dares to love for God’s sake, not for gain.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3bnMERLYRzit56jSeNapNssZlSBDV6LHMzp_8Gx1Yhh61g58vtbj1EtdpC1UxihcwgdKEcIboUn29PXI_cHP5z5S30oRikmGRmJVaRZZaYbtHIdpt4Mv1AcOmmro2gme-z1c4mCBjb9jHRvYvkvqTQhX5piKi2X2eVoaNRbTBo80B52jkHTsnpYGBXw/s1280/LebCat55%202022-10-8%20IMG_7280.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3bnMERLYRzit56jSeNapNssZlSBDV6LHMzp_8Gx1Yhh61g58vtbj1EtdpC1UxihcwgdKEcIboUn29PXI_cHP5z5S30oRikmGRmJVaRZZaYbtHIdpt4Mv1AcOmmro2gme-z1c4mCBjb9jHRvYvkvqTQhX5piKi2X2eVoaNRbTBo80B52jkHTsnpYGBXw/s320/LebCat55%202022-10-8%20IMG_7280.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">LebCat 55: That's my nickname, and, yes, <br />that's my restaurant. (8 Oct. 2022 - Hamra)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> </span>These past few weeks we have enjoyed visits from people outside Lebanon, people who
have dared to venture into this land of adventure. Our church’s annual meeting
this week, usually held in the summer, hosted a group from Syria and Greece,
and some of them had not been to Lebanon in years, despite being “just next
door”. Earlier in the month there were visitors from Europe and the U.S., including
a few who were here for the first time. We got to see our dear friend (and “boss”,
as we affectionately call him) and share some relaxed time reflecting on life,
work and ministry in this non-standard context. Although people tend to praise
us for continuing to live and work here, as if it were just the outcome of our
personal efforts, what is less visible is the support and encouragement we
receive from many people, near and far, drawing us forward. And the unexplainable
peace of God, helping us to keep our focus not on flag-waving and enthusiastic
cheering for or against us, but on our calling from Christ himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[LNB]</span>
</span><p><style><span style="font-family: georgia;">@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</span></style></p>RevoNishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18196532473979855428noreply@blogger.com0VGVJ+JXF, Beirut, Lebanon33.8940527 35.532412433.893941378864213 35.532278289549254 33.894164021135794 35.532546510450743tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647501877531775932.post-17464623637542239142022-10-31T20:04:00.002+02:002022-11-01T09:28:35.120+02:00How about Them Apples?<p>
</p><div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: medium none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm 0cm 1pt;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: medium none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm; padding: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 18pt;">54.How about Them Apples? </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(31 October 2022)</b></span></p>
</div><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnyzDMPOzIpWZKQyXxyR6Za4aBYlwJ_CwpZgnXCrzrNzLYE9h_QfcSKqoliuxFALFdtKC1_ReZOadVMU8iIth3Jqa0yu2rFX1JTgBPgyWVixlXMAmCieKePB0hQhPy-CRSRdmBx-UDsGTcBtB-WFWN4cuEa4OLjBzw_yAbXx2i11NS6jAsHIoUS5nVoQ/s1280/2022-10-05%20IMG_7255.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnyzDMPOzIpWZKQyXxyR6Za4aBYlwJ_CwpZgnXCrzrNzLYE9h_QfcSKqoliuxFALFdtKC1_ReZOadVMU8iIth3Jqa0yu2rFX1JTgBPgyWVixlXMAmCieKePB0hQhPy-CRSRdmBx-UDsGTcBtB-WFWN4cuEa4OLjBzw_yAbXx2i11NS6jAsHIoUS5nVoQ/s320/2022-10-05%20IMG_7255.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The last few apples from a half-crate <br />bequeathed to us (5 Oct. 2022 - Geitawi)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;">As the people await
the outcome of deliberations to select yet another paragon of mediocrity,
ineffectiveness and corruption to lead the country, and as Lebanese, young and old, meanwhile engage
in their mindless mimicry of that most worthless and idiotic of American holidays,
Halloween, my mind goes to things of slightly greater value in this autumnal season.
That, of course, includes the beauty of the changing colors of deciduous trees,
visible elsewhere in the country, but hard to find in Beirut, where any sort of
tree is happily sacrificed for the sake of building empty concrete-and-steel structures
(if you know the right people). In our previous home in the east coast of the
U.S., we reveled in that yearly shift from greens to warm tones, deep reds and
bright oranges and shimmering yellows that heralded the cooling weather. When
we come across the smallest evidence of those colors in the countryside, we
experience a moment of joy and wonder at God’s handiwork refreshing our eyes
and spirits.</span><p></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggsgfab33cXBdAlNfdcg4Bw37xFi7iSysFtb85RuV-lFuqWGqY515v_vzL7VPkppImvboqvrvwHib4J_EjkSc3b7JoGGf9ifCfE1yMY6X28Qi93gMtW4QuDI84fqtH1Y9poJjsuCYcyRYzu-WuY2pxBIOhQ7QVtlEJcUjxk81EhZwxEBS3zzjGgDpdCw/s1280/2022-10-13%20IMG_7317.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggsgfab33cXBdAlNfdcg4Bw37xFi7iSysFtb85RuV-lFuqWGqY515v_vzL7VPkppImvboqvrvwHib4J_EjkSc3b7JoGGf9ifCfE1yMY6X28Qi93gMtW4QuDI84fqtH1Y9poJjsuCYcyRYzu-WuY2pxBIOhQ7QVtlEJcUjxk81EhZwxEBS3zzjGgDpdCw/s320/2022-10-13%20IMG_7317.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Clouds on the horizon, and the sun <br />illuminating the illegal landfill on the coast<br />(13 Oct. 2022 - towards Bourj Hammoud)<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Another aspect of this season, also connected
to our previous life in the U.S., has to do with one of the quintessential
gifts of the land in the fall, namely apples. They are plentiful in Lebanon, and
are available in several varieties, from sweet to tart. Sadly, apple cider hasn’t
really caught on, but apple vinegar is prepared in great quantities for a
variety of uses. For whatever reason this year (I leave that to your deduction),
the market for apples is glutted, and domestic apple production is a losing
proposition. When visiting Ainjar recently, friends there said that they are
leaving their apples on the trees – and the ground – because they cannot sell
them, and therefore it is meaningless to harvest them. And then they gave us a
huge bag of apples, just gathered that morning, to take back to Beirut to enjoy.
Fresh. No chemicals. Delicious. And unsaleable.</span><p></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidA6ZSoqqPNTgwB4u18HSFyJcxd2Ix9GzJduX9eO5hmU6b6qA0QCG4JNL1YLWn97EpHs20szhPn6In0OATD2I5pXinxBlGTdZoFAjRKbyDcM8w9UPRSpQ0ddPGW_F54xRA9hVXJ__NneD-XFTiNAdUTlsjKMi3fyCAUv8pvPybzY_ZG76rcGmXT9f6yQ/s1280/2022-09-30%20IMG_7201.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidA6ZSoqqPNTgwB4u18HSFyJcxd2Ix9GzJduX9eO5hmU6b6qA0QCG4JNL1YLWn97EpHs20szhPn6In0OATD2I5pXinxBlGTdZoFAjRKbyDcM8w9UPRSpQ0ddPGW_F54xRA9hVXJ__NneD-XFTiNAdUTlsjKMi3fyCAUv8pvPybzY_ZG76rcGmXT9f6yQ/s320/2022-09-30%20IMG_7201.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The neighborhood transformed into a street <br />in Egypt for a movie filming <br />(30 Sept. 2022 - Geitawi)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Last week, on one of my shopping trips
(which I do by foot, since I can get some exercise that way), as I entered a nearby
fruit stand, I noticed that a middle-aged woman was talking with the grocer
about apples, their price, the varieties and so forth. Probably just another
interested shopper, I assumed. Until I was leaving the shop and saw that she
and the shopkeeper had walked over to her car, where the open trunk revealed
crates and crates of apples… And she was continuing to talk about apples and
negotiate a price for them. It bothered me, not just because of the reason for
the glut of apples in Lebanon today, but also about the state of the “middle
class” here, which has taken to driving around to neighborhood fruit stands to
sell a bit of their homegrown produce. And to add to the inscrutability of the
situation, the cost to the consumer is not dropping as it should, but rather continually
increases. It’s not just the poor who are bearing the brunt of the self-serving
“leaders” running this drama, but all strata of society. As my mother used to
say when astonished at something, “How about them apples?”</span><p></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDUeK2LP-apFv-A8o3XznD3WDIfPN7d1Wawx5_3QQF0EUZoV3AzP3q8iurrDBIWrawX8IlxDkJdFPJ4KNHp8kAsxdT6f_6qmv-kk7tR8_UoJS7CXdc_uRPtWnAzJbaSs_9Tpb8nOda05sqWN1ANS2sO9anYgSh1uenqlTGt1khaN5VWv9Mn6E-ntAU1g/s1280/2022-10-15%20IMG_7319.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDUeK2LP-apFv-A8o3XznD3WDIfPN7d1Wawx5_3QQF0EUZoV3AzP3q8iurrDBIWrawX8IlxDkJdFPJ4KNHp8kAsxdT6f_6qmv-kk7tR8_UoJS7CXdc_uRPtWnAzJbaSs_9Tpb8nOda05sqWN1ANS2sO9anYgSh1uenqlTGt1khaN5VWv9Mn6E-ntAU1g/s320/2022-10-15%20IMG_7319.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The odor of burning garbage can't hide the <br />beauty of wedding flowers and the joy of <br />a wedding! (15 Oct. 2022 - Khalil Badawi)<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The irregularities of life here have
become something of a routine. Strangely, the near-complete lack of municipal electricity
– a total of about 10 hours for the entire month of October – has made life
more predictable. We know that whatever the schedule is for our supplemental
power (“ishtirak”), that is when we have power, amounting to a little under 12
hours per day. Since we live in the same building as my office, that adds
another 4 hours on weekdays. So, sitting in the dark, or shaving in the dark, or
doing my online Arabic lesson while I wait for the lights to come on, is just
another feature of life in Lebanon. Add to that the irregularity of the office
internet, which the provider cuts for anywhere from a half-hour to 3-1/2 hours
during work hours, and one becomes inured to things that would cause major
emotional upheaval anywhere in the “developed” world. Except perhaps with
looming energy shortages this winter, the developed world will know how the
other 90% of the world lives (statistic courtesy of me making it up).</span><p></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR_DCDziBozDhAS40L3xe8tYxWbxEe4sw_ertO-eam4OSxnR0opmG_s9yY3KURnvS-ktbG76ntrwoXTJXDhcG5S0TXX0ZJDFtCtUSy8nLsINw9psevSVAhi-6RhvJCHIbYsCFlkjxiBnLaZ6xy3L9wKmeJZHDqa0cePHrqUvzZ8_c9f-AwBHx-sb1YiQ/s1280/2022-10-02%20IMG_7234.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR_DCDziBozDhAS40L3xe8tYxWbxEe4sw_ertO-eam4OSxnR0opmG_s9yY3KURnvS-ktbG76ntrwoXTJXDhcG5S0TXX0ZJDFtCtUSy8nLsINw9psevSVAhi-6RhvJCHIbYsCFlkjxiBnLaZ6xy3L9wKmeJZHDqa0cePHrqUvzZ8_c9f-AwBHx-sb1YiQ/s320/2022-10-02%20IMG_7234.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It's a bit of a drive to get there, but <br />at last I've found some equipment <br />to start my exercise program <br />(2 Oct. 2022 - Sawfar)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I have a human Arabic teacher who
has an amazing command of the language, and an amazing amount of patience with
me and my esoteric interests. Fortunately, as a schoolteacher she is aware of
all of the classroom tricks that someone in his 60s tries to pull off and keeps
me moving forward. It will soon be six years since we began our lives here, and
although I have accumulated a fair amount of exposure to the language, gaining facility
in Arabic for daily interactions remains a hill I need to climb. Doesn’t help
that my job is conducted mostly in Armenian with some English. We’ve begun to
focus exclusively on spoken “Lebanese”, which I expect will propel me up that
hill.</span><p></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I also have a mechanical Arabic teacher.
It’s an “app” on my devices, and it has more than a few quirks. Those quirks help
me maintain my interest (292 days in a row and counting). I particularly like
the mispronunciations that the developers haven’t bothered fixing. Things like “tabibbouleh”
for “tabbouleh”, and “shishai” for “shai”, and the American city “Safanennah”
instead of “Savannah”. I’ve even taken to pronouncing those words the same way!
</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLx1DE7Fema5gAJb5rUMCpVYpolM5hymSfJkbDfMWYKbOmUMV-zyOU2KWGswuTY1VK28081lHhF_GEaiSzf3QSfvqy7RZ0mNqZ-64Nm_L68yKLLZ4mHKvxYJCEHYy6q17Qj0JiHm5GHuiwykBVrH9IO28MWe_2-gcajxj0J6BaADxFcGIL78CFYwa1TQ/s1280/LebCat%2054%202022-10-03%20IMG_7252.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLx1DE7Fema5gAJb5rUMCpVYpolM5hymSfJkbDfMWYKbOmUMV-zyOU2KWGswuTY1VK28081lHhF_GEaiSzf3QSfvqy7RZ0mNqZ-64Nm_L68yKLLZ4mHKvxYJCEHYy6q17Qj0JiHm5GHuiwykBVrH9IO28MWe_2-gcajxj0J6BaADxFcGIL78CFYwa1TQ/s320/LebCat%2054%202022-10-03%20IMG_7252.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">LebCat 54: Keep walking and mind your own <br />business. I'm working for the security <br />company (3 Oct. 2022 - Geitawi)<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table> </span>And
I continue to invoke my mother, especially when I see the insanity around us and
the barbarity inflicted on Armenia and Artsakh while everyone is looking
somewhere else, and the self- and other-inflicted miseries overtaking so many. Things
like this may no longer amaze me, yet I can’t help but say, “How ’bout them
apples...”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[LNB]</span>
</span><p><style><span style="font-family: georgia;">@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</span></style></p>RevoNishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18196532473979855428noreply@blogger.com0VGVJ+JXF, Beirut, Lebanon33.8940527 35.532412433.893830057576395 35.532144179098509 33.894275342423612 35.532680620901488tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647501877531775932.post-49880556624827107982022-09-30T22:59:00.001+03:002022-09-30T22:59:14.159+03:00A Time for Discomfort<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"> <u><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 18pt;">53.A Time for Discomfort </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(30 September 2022)</b></u></span>
</p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg_Y4ufVdwBcVMdau03azX6vFCYcF328a_E-fjro8Fj_sFhk5U-9fc7RxKTKWvyJzeHU5I5ebMx7ijexxD4FdCk4lCb3rL9l0j6XJT6VVD64ybP2sKBQnlj1vlJ1DluYumWzFT_uZ0HolQ8Tenr_xfXR4IZPc8yKTOniofAkICAFPDvX6Q1IfqMnjkdA/s1280/2022-9-24%20IMG_7163.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg_Y4ufVdwBcVMdau03azX6vFCYcF328a_E-fjro8Fj_sFhk5U-9fc7RxKTKWvyJzeHU5I5ebMx7ijexxD4FdCk4lCb3rL9l0j6XJT6VVD64ybP2sKBQnlj1vlJ1DluYumWzFT_uZ0HolQ8Tenr_xfXR4IZPc8yKTOniofAkICAFPDvX6Q1IfqMnjkdA/s320/2022-9-24%20IMG_7163.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A rare day of low humidity, with a crystal-<br />clear view of Beirut from KCHAG. <br />(24 Sept. 2022 - Monteverde)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>How much
more surreal can things get? Yesterday the parliament met to make its first attempt
at electing a president of the Republic. Hearing all the laughter and good-natured
ribbing happening in the chamber, one might easily have concluded that there is
little to worry about in the country, and that Lebanon is back to its glory
days of the 1960s. Yet the upbeat mood in the room served only to highlight the
deep disconnect between the people and their daily suffering and uncertainty on
the one hand, and on the other hand those who are ensconced in the halls of
power. Although this disconnect is arguably true in practically every country
in the world, here it is as if a house is burning down, but the residents
themselves must battle the fire alone, unassisted, running to and fro to find
water to fill their basins and toss a few drops on the ever-heightening flames.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKZdw9dI5KJ6wBtp-NxFU1z67uDrJJyUPU5SYKRZ9A8Ni0XTwJdAIRpHxn7mPH44bZK9DBeyv_sjUnPbiu5-Qtz5FS_FM1WHn2eTu4Q_WOhjPd3MYjhwvtNMq8601GwJXA3ljHCM2mkexyabbsZeIRToTSywQD2RQb1LApq9XhldXVYzLN22Z-v8mMHg/s1280/2022-9-17%20IMG_1933.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKZdw9dI5KJ6wBtp-NxFU1z67uDrJJyUPU5SYKRZ9A8Ni0XTwJdAIRpHxn7mPH44bZK9DBeyv_sjUnPbiu5-Qtz5FS_FM1WHn2eTu4Q_WOhjPd3MYjhwvtNMq8601GwJXA3ljHCM2mkexyabbsZeIRToTSywQD2RQb1LApq9XhldXVYzLN22Z-v8mMHg/s320/2022-9-17%20IMG_1933.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The building (at rear) where Armenian <br />orphan girls wove carpets after the Genocide <br />(17 Sept. 2022 - Ghazir)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> </span>When people take up arms, even toy
guns, and desperately enter the banks that hold their savings hostage,
demanding their own money to be able to pay their own medical or business debts,
it shows a deeply troubled society. They are depicted by news outlets as
committing “bank heists”, as if readers were only capable of understanding Hollywood
terminology. These are people struggling against the injustice and humiliation they
have been fed continually for these past few years. The obliviousness of those
who comfortably led Lebanon to this state, in local or international halls of
power, only serves to increase our discomfort.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMo6sco01LCMjropcdqjLFMJfjfOwu2uRsFMAYnznF6JT6E36SwTQhgMii_t1jh-F_Pe5k6TwFHiJsPqPQMdkbQvfg99EHp-E3hEW6AC4WBAGQEIBVfT38Syc-na4qN7Bi-bpdYeEdTAPfqILsWa5fPwcfvO_K6vBeIyTZndqnQmud9Hual9jwM73dyw/s1280/2022-9-17%20IMG_7129.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMo6sco01LCMjropcdqjLFMJfjfOwu2uRsFMAYnznF6JT6E36SwTQhgMii_t1jh-F_Pe5k6TwFHiJsPqPQMdkbQvfg99EHp-E3hEW6AC4WBAGQEIBVfT38Syc-na4qN7Bi-bpdYeEdTAPfqILsWa5fPwcfvO_K6vBeIyTZndqnQmud9Hual9jwM73dyw/s320/2022-9-17%20IMG_7129.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Reflecting on a day off, with the <br />help of a sculpture by local artists <br />(17 Sept. 2022 - Jbeil/Byblos)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As we view the continued terror
inflicted on Armenia by its un-neighborly “neighbors”, our discomfort multiplies
all the more. The world today is witness to Azerbaijan’s push to impose
military solutions on a weak and defeated country while the peacekeepers’ country
is otherwise preoccupied. Yet once again, Armenians are demonstrating their
political naïveté by rejoicing every time some Western government issues a
condemnation of Azerbaijan, or a statement in support of the territorial
integrity of Armenia. This same reasoning justified the international community’s
lack of support for Artsakh’s Armenians during the war that began two years ago
this week. Yet many Armenians the world over, in their self-imposed amnesia, continue
to imagine that those statements will actually affect the reality on the ground.
The reality is that this aggressor will take as much land as it can from
Armenia, disrupting and destroying as many lives as it can, while big sister
Turkey watches admiringly.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span><p class="MsoNormal"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSkR89uTzMItzWfRys4Dv6V35QN0YHEFisipE7yQWCrHR5XU9M25T9VG7LtrYWXW1c--84OzoJCWcfcM3dLMpeXESUdW1JBWRx_Y-9qmn8gaoMGhtMSNAIccsrGZFC0k8NMKsCBZXuUxnwfcaR27BdeN_ZaRIxNA09ji8l-zgdzs8-nlDPcfsCG7Cdpw/s1280/2022-9-30%20IMG_7201.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSkR89uTzMItzWfRys4Dv6V35QN0YHEFisipE7yQWCrHR5XU9M25T9VG7LtrYWXW1c--84OzoJCWcfcM3dLMpeXESUdW1JBWRx_Y-9qmn8gaoMGhtMSNAIccsrGZFC0k8NMKsCBZXuUxnwfcaR27BdeN_ZaRIxNA09ji8l-zgdzs8-nlDPcfsCG7Cdpw/s320/2022-9-30%20IMG_7201.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The streets around the Ashrafieh church & <br />school transformed into an Egyptian street <br />for a movie (30 Sept. 2022 - Geitawi)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Meanwhile, despite the discomfort caused
by events near and far, we are comforted in some measure by the beginning of a
new school year. Armenian schools in both Lebanon and Syria welcomed their
students back this month, providing much more than an Armenian education, as
crucial as that is for the health and strength of Armenians everywhere. They are
also providing a point of stability in the unstable world these children and
adolescents inhabit. The daily conversations of adults around them, centering
most often on continual worries about finances and the crashing currency, is
being offset to a degree by the rhythm of the school day and the school week. Yes,
the schools face deep financial challenges, especially if they have not yet
installed a solar electric system on their grounds, and have to pour large
amounts of currency into fueling their generators. Yes, this is aside from the
inevitable school closures resulting from unexpected events, likely to increase
as the current President’s term comes to an end. But it is an act of love and
hope, based not on circumstances, but on vision and convictions.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6vq5-GEWW2CaF_v9EuREJMDdAqFNU4jp59vT4qCgmWTUVUzR8kGFAWHcqQvKTI3uKi-8d8uIrQrH1r9Gk87jlNpMwHF6i8saeHhDbnjLibd6RibIJmlUyjAB4eXMvVrKvvvTLUoNGe1rYKiMxN6fW7KylOVOOzXE-SkjaTRZs4XEnRIsglQ_11J-skg/s1280/2022-9-27%20IMG_7194.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6vq5-GEWW2CaF_v9EuREJMDdAqFNU4jp59vT4qCgmWTUVUzR8kGFAWHcqQvKTI3uKi-8d8uIrQrH1r9Gk87jlNpMwHF6i8saeHhDbnjLibd6RibIJmlUyjAB4eXMvVrKvvvTLUoNGe1rYKiMxN6fW7KylOVOOzXE-SkjaTRZs4XEnRIsglQ_11J-skg/s320/2022-9-27%20IMG_7194.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Guitarist Ayman Jarjour transfixes the <br />audience with classical, Spanish and <br />"Oriental"-flavored pieces<br />(27 Sept. 2022 - Minet el Hosn)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> </span>A moment of beauty I recently
enjoyed was a guitar recital by the brother of a former student from my
Haigazian teaching days. Aside from being a fundraiser for a rehabilitation
center in Lebanon, the event provided a feast of musical delights, filling the
church’s sanctuary for one hour with the sound of that one guitar (and the regular
dings of someone unable to detach from Whatsapp). It was a gift that the
guitarist gave to an audience hungry for something that would lift them up, if
only for a brief time. As Fred Rogers’ mother told him when he was young and
afraid, “Always look for the helpers. There’s always someone who is trying to
help.”</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDVWqL4Ts12NnHy_6aEC8kcyfN5fLYllitptQFeBlVtwEqQlJYaieXGW65IfgerFm7J7ZdrVgXxfG8X5B9gZsQhbPVOW5GSu0F8wakCbyp-1X46W30oGoXviujYna1SzyDQzX_V5mHCsVAPytvkab9MnkFGRLP9_cU3CXWjK74M163JnRPneCj6NnN6Q/s1280/LebCat%2053%202022-9-11%20IMG_1883.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDVWqL4Ts12NnHy_6aEC8kcyfN5fLYllitptQFeBlVtwEqQlJYaieXGW65IfgerFm7J7ZdrVgXxfG8X5B9gZsQhbPVOW5GSu0F8wakCbyp-1X46W30oGoXviujYna1SzyDQzX_V5mHCsVAPytvkab9MnkFGRLP9_cU3CXWjK74M163JnRPneCj6NnN6Q/s320/LebCat%2053%202022-9-11%20IMG_1883.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">LebCat 53: An exquisitely striped "McCat", <br />frequenting the location where it's most <br />likely to be fed - just not by me <br />(11 Sept. 2022 - Ain el Mreisseh)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This is the way of the world. There
are those in challenging places doing their best to help others, even at the
cost of their own comfort. And there are others who seek only their own comfort,
no matter how many others must suffer as a result. This is a “scalable” truth,
applicable to societies as well as world powers. Though countries only occasionally
enjoy peace, they are often oblivious to the role they themselves play in the natural,
political or human disorder around them. More likely, though, they lack the
moral grounding needed to admit their role in the hardship they cultivate. </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Yet
this is the very same world into which Christ Jesus entered, into which today
he leads his disciples to share words and works of comfort and hope to those truly
in need of it, and to engage in the struggle for what is right, true and
beautiful. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[LNB]</span>
</span><p><style><span style="font-family: georgia;">@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</span></style></p>RevoNishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18196532473979855428noreply@blogger.com0VGVJ+JXF, Beirut, Lebanon33.8940527 35.532412433.893941378820813 35.532278289549254 33.894164021179193 35.532546510450743tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647501877531775932.post-74485244007807750622022-08-31T22:16:00.000+03:002022-08-31T22:16:11.736+03:00Powerless Living<p>
</p><div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm; padding: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">52.Powerless Living </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(31 August 2022)</span></b></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicdLQdGy-8OFproZB2ZHDRLioT35qeeTP3RX8XPiEtZrpq1uy5RGIbBhzIFuDWFX1DPmMYBYDvVstLfE-RqyhDzft-oFpDm7tde88pFzxb5U1vK2AbdMLeahU9ussP_TlMWz4lccAd_PQg3TY49EUTeYy9T1Rdl3pdekLpzG35M6HjoXZP6Qplg7c6Hw/s1280/2022-8-24%20IMG_6830.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicdLQdGy-8OFproZB2ZHDRLioT35qeeTP3RX8XPiEtZrpq1uy5RGIbBhzIFuDWFX1DPmMYBYDvVstLfE-RqyhDzft-oFpDm7tde88pFzxb5U1vK2AbdMLeahU9ussP_TlMWz4lccAd_PQg3TY49EUTeYy9T1Rdl3pdekLpzG35M6HjoXZP6Qplg7c6Hw/s320/2022-8-24%20IMG_6830.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Demonstrations that closed the coastal road <br />on the second anniversary of the still-<br />uninvestigated and still-unpunished Beirut <br />Port blast (4 Aug. 2022 - Marfa' - Beirut)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>From time to
time, it almost seems as if it might be possible to get used to being without
electricity every single night. I can entertain this fantasy thanks to the
local generator subscription we have, which supplies us with enough power to
cool our bedroom from evening until midnight, and then we can manage to sleep with
just a battery-powered fan until around 4 a.m. As well, one can almost endure the
powerless hours during the day, in between the times of generator supply. Almost.
Because it’s not just the lights that are off for 12 of each 24-hour period,
but everything gets interrupted, whether in your work life or your home life. A
recent expat, living in some far-away, amazing land where there is electricity
all the time (are there such places?), wrote to me yesterday: “We’re in an age
where you can maybe live without lights, but not without internet.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV_Oujs9IpW5eOj-SXovVPSwGxxDIqGjzVnknm7SS5MBrVzL27YmBe5R_U8rzCQ_D58qrUTpdL2JPAg5JK-nvKLEjB4sie2z3Rk6oQMmhGwAs9RQPd7yw2ZEaA5BIKvJGeVF4P8cc9VjHaDlLIz0fbMs4AzLyLEbeYePVWFJi5Q-zqeEyLYHw1OlGUMQ/s3543/Trash%20on%202022-8-30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2925" data-original-width="3543" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV_Oujs9IpW5eOj-SXovVPSwGxxDIqGjzVnknm7SS5MBrVzL27YmBe5R_U8rzCQ_D58qrUTpdL2JPAg5JK-nvKLEjB4sie2z3Rk6oQMmhGwAs9RQPd7yw2ZEaA5BIKvJGeVF4P8cc9VjHaDlLIz0fbMs4AzLyLEbeYePVWFJi5Q-zqeEyLYHw1OlGUMQ/s320/Trash%20on%202022-8-30.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">After two days of overflowing trash, it <br />seemed like a dream that collection had <br />resumed! And just a couple hours later: <br />magic! (30 Aug. 2022 - Geitawi)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> </span>And so, today our internet access stopped.
Dead. Completely. Landline phones, internet, whatever you would need to get
through your workday. Striking workers? Lack of fuel? Something else? The
reasons are myriad. The cellular system is (still) working, but who can afford
to pay cell phone rates just to do a bit of online work or to communicate with
colleagues locally or overseas? The key word here is “communication”, a common factor
in all that doesn’t work in Lebanon, whether institutional or personal. Communication
is what the powerful in any relationship and in any land attempt to keep within
their control, and when possible, they communicate the particular version of events
that they want people to think. Yet as the “powerless” in every land are increasingly
able to take greater control of the story of their lives, they can communicate their
stories to each other and to the outside world in a more complex, and truer,
way. Except when there is no electricity. And no reliable internet. And no steady
water supply. And no waste management And no government.. And hyperinflation. And
no access to bank accounts. And…</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVr5Zg7Bz2kjsKNjY2QZGsulrJWrr5sjDrWe9eO2jO00Wlc96fv7lsB0px9icrJxBOobGjzEFPHaCsdAjfHt1b6Js670OwjQ3joZAbugiN1wXiNZ32d0McCPcugwlFj3IleJ5WVXhkaAptbqya5OhbQ0sq6ahXjZ0hhYUWCJtz-mAdb3zEmCntI_IaYA/s1280/2022-8-28%20IMG_6945.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVr5Zg7Bz2kjsKNjY2QZGsulrJWrr5sjDrWe9eO2jO00Wlc96fv7lsB0px9icrJxBOobGjzEFPHaCsdAjfHt1b6Js670OwjQ3joZAbugiN1wXiNZ32d0McCPcugwlFj3IleJ5WVXhkaAptbqya5OhbQ0sq6ahXjZ0hhYUWCJtz-mAdb3zEmCntI_IaYA/s320/2022-8-28%20IMG_6945.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">After most of the grain silos collapsed this <br />month, a sign appeared: "No justice without <br />accountability" (28 Aug. 2022 - Marfa')<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table> </span>One of the narratives the powerless
in Lebanon are continually subjected to is how the government made this or that
deal with this or that country to supply fuel to their environmentally-deadly
power plants in order to add 3 or 4 more hours per day of electricity (up from
0 to 1 hours per day). And then they hear how there is this or that banking
obstacle that came up. And then they hear that there is this or that infrastructure
issue that came up. And then they hear that there is this or that political
party that is preventing it from happening. And then they hear that the
government doesn’t want to fall under American sanctions* by getting the wrong
fuel from the wrong source that might pass through the wrong country. Meanwhile,
threats of the country plunging into “complete darkness” continue to echo, though,
as a news website recently noted, “those who have private generator
subscriptions are unlikely to feel the effect of a state-wide blackout.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7PSkYPXR4u3SgfkCH5KBvpigGYYA91oQ2xSeDNSHCE3mZSgJ5tyCx_j1d29bmvM3ZNAZ79r48qMI0UChM_sg45aaN49xYQab-jBkPH5qxUbRzPwALjGmajqDV5P_FG3WfQxd1P9CholAUQbQv4UdQo8MUC4ZakG2D2qJxbX9Xn55VJdj8WHHjSGRgEw/s1280/2022-7-26%20IMG_6709.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7PSkYPXR4u3SgfkCH5KBvpigGYYA91oQ2xSeDNSHCE3mZSgJ5tyCx_j1d29bmvM3ZNAZ79r48qMI0UChM_sg45aaN49xYQab-jBkPH5qxUbRzPwALjGmajqDV5P_FG3WfQxd1P9CholAUQbQv4UdQo8MUC4ZakG2D2qJxbX9Xn55VJdj8WHHjSGRgEw/s320/2022-7-26%20IMG_6709.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">At what is possibly the best Arabic ice cream <br />spot in Lebanon. Says Sevag: "Excuse me, <br />photo is taken, please hand that over right <br />now." (26 July 2022 - Saghbine)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </span>There are many, many people here who
are powerless to do anything but subsist without power. They cannot afford (as
we can) to buy generator subscriptions to fill in the huge gaps in the municipal
power supply. Their homes remain in the dark, and their refrigerators are useless,
and their nutritional intake suffers, and their health declines, and their
ability to obtain health care when they inevitably need it… vanishes. Meanwhile
the young and resourceful continue leaching from the country, leaving their
families and their heritage far behind…</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Yet amid all of this, today I was
witness to an example of benevolent involvement in the struggles of Lebanon, as
well as an intelligent grasp of the country’s needs. The Japanese Ambassador to
Lebanon, H.E. Okubo Takeshi joined Lebanon’s Minister of Public Health, Firass
Abiad, M.D., to dedicate equipment that the Japanese have donated to the
Karagheusian Assn.’s Primary Healthcare Center in Bourj Hammoud. The Ambassador
spoke of the commitment of his country to support the Lebanese people (making this
important distinction in his words). Then Dr. Abiad, showing an unusual grasp (for
someone in government) of the health care crisis in Lebanon, told the audience
how the country for too long has invested large amounts in tertiary health care
and ignored developing primary health care, thereby rendering basic health care
unaffordable to people of modest means. He also described his plan to
restructure the allotment of health care funds to the primary type. It was
refreshing to hear someone with a vision, someone in a position of authority
who is interested in improving what has been handed him, rather than blaming
others for his lack of action.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPo0Luh3mNzJ0ts0OTxB6ZLwHpycV1MNf5yYupoPwgcJzR_C2Py4tTJ3jHZkIX1VJyb8SgjXzRc2kgleuPQk3EF0HLG-7rm-S6KHS2lsyh1og0JaSiw57azMnnlt-rY0oRyoaGeZyOZIRTNF3iq02uBfHbZqIvXVl9HYxkJhP36HMYauNYbDoMJThMKw/s1280/2022-8-31%20IMG_6974.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="721" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPo0Luh3mNzJ0ts0OTxB6ZLwHpycV1MNf5yYupoPwgcJzR_C2Py4tTJ3jHZkIX1VJyb8SgjXzRc2kgleuPQk3EF0HLG-7rm-S6KHS2lsyh1og0JaSiw57azMnnlt-rY0oRyoaGeZyOZIRTNF3iq02uBfHbZqIvXVl9HYxkJhP36HMYauNYbDoMJThMKw/s320/2022-8-31%20IMG_6974.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Dr. Abiad addressing the audience, following <br />Amb. Okubo's speech (31 Aug. 2022 - <br />Nor Marash - Bourj Hammoud)<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table> </span>Before the program, when the Ambassador
arrived and was being introduced to the clergy, I got to greet him with the phrase
I had been coached on and had been practicing for a whole day, including in my
sleep the previous night. “Kakka, oai dekite kouei desu.” It is a most
unfortunate coincidence that this phrase begins with a word that in Japanese
means “Your Excellency”, but in most of the languages I know means something quite
different. The important thing is that the Ambassador understood my stumbling
Japanese, “Your Excellency, it is an honor to meet you,” and responded in
English with, “Very pleased to meet you, also.” The other important thing is
that no one else who heard my greeting reprimanded me for saying an indelicate
word to the Ambassador.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiivp-EWUk3QXjKhdbf4tEzKklkJxiZT2ssW2ebKjxn41era6Xjk992vDlN0OhiKPZxC-EOLnileAl8Sa9KwgFJKcO8n3DL2sbMAzXYkF7i32xc4Zb27J5QT0FA_hM4D3AEA2CCzcW-gVjOmQXe6ltUivXEVzkTpgXZuRlkxKie3QlCXi4Q_XZUF-KgtQ/s1280/LebCat%2052%202022-8-31%20IMG_6977.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiivp-EWUk3QXjKhdbf4tEzKklkJxiZT2ssW2ebKjxn41era6Xjk992vDlN0OhiKPZxC-EOLnileAl8Sa9KwgFJKcO8n3DL2sbMAzXYkF7i32xc4Zb27J5QT0FA_hM4D3AEA2CCzcW-gVjOmQXe6ltUivXEVzkTpgXZuRlkxKie3QlCXi4Q_XZUF-KgtQ/s320/LebCat%2052%202022-8-31%20IMG_6977.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">LebCat 52: "Wait, is that... a pig flying? Oh, <br />yes, this is Lebanon!" (31 Aug. 2022 - <br />Nor Marash - Bourj Hammoud)<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table> </span>One of the famous Japanese sayings
invoked today was “Fall down seven times, get up eight.” What more appropriate
way is there than this, to think about how the powerless in this world can persevere
and continue their struggle. My mind especially goes to the One who was beaten
down, but rose again, he who is ever on the side of the downtrodden, Christ
Jesus. He was considered powerless in the eyes of the world, but his purported “weakness”
was wrongly estimated by those in power. His victory over death, and his promised
Coming, are the basis for hope of all those under the weight of personal or
societal failure. He is the One keeping us going, especially when the lack of
power – or vision – looms large around us, whether here, in Armenia, or anywhere.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And yes, we still cheer like Santa Claus just showed up whenever the power comes back on! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[LNB]</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(*The country
that does its utmost to prevent foreign meddling… by doing what they don’t want
other countries doing.)</span></i></p>
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{page:WordSection1;</style><br /></p>RevoNishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18196532473979855428noreply@blogger.com0VGVJ+JXF, Beirut, Lebanon33.8940527 35.532412433.893830057513853 35.532144179098509 33.894275342486154 35.532680620901488tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647501877531775932.post-36673544795201508232022-07-31T23:38:00.004+03:002022-08-01T07:46:13.996+03:00The Land That Honor Forgot <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">51.The Land That Honor Forgot </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(31 July 2022)</span></b>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioFabTgDuQc0x5b5SLTS3lVc2fd87xIFv1MHYvtzdneQnnznhZGKlOlQbSicjca25IF801RyfdhtJ80u0NClejYrOgCkuLnaw_xSywe-yAgysd__60lBYxCkP1dtltnzu9LhQwbeLV_6n4aRPRjRpWhRPJZtJDsFhlJPJ7jZiRAFC0qExyMj9WqPKl_A/s1280/2022-6-17%20IMG_6196.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioFabTgDuQc0x5b5SLTS3lVc2fd87xIFv1MHYvtzdneQnnznhZGKlOlQbSicjca25IF801RyfdhtJ80u0NClejYrOgCkuLnaw_xSywe-yAgysd__60lBYxCkP1dtltnzu9LhQwbeLV_6n4aRPRjRpWhRPJZtJDsFhlJPJ7jZiRAFC0qExyMj9WqPKl_A/s320/2022-6-17%20IMG_6196.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Kindergarten graduation is a big deal here! <br />(17 June 2022 - Nor Marash)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br />A couple of
weeks ago, as I was leading the washing-machine repairman up the steps in
complete darkness, the tiny lights of our cell phones revealing the steps before
us, I apologized that, after a long day of work, I had to make him walk the steps
and not take the elevator. Deflecting my apology, in Arabic (and some broken Armenian, as he used to
work in Bourj Hammoud) he said, “<i>Haram</i>, Beirut, <i>haram</i> that such a
beautiful city as you is like this, <i>haram</i>!” </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Haram” means “shame”. And
supposedly the Middle East is one of the many regions throughout the world that operates around an “honor/shame” culture, something the West has great trouble grasping. Not
that the West doesn’t use the term “shame”; it does, but only when attempting
to shame others, and no longer as a means of self-examination or personal
reform. Here, shame is part and parcel of each day, and especially in today's Lebanon,
with the abundance of shameful situations. Yet although so much is shameful,
those responsible for engineering this state of affairs over the years have no
sense of shame… and therefore no honor.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx2YCC7XA4_juZJiWpZ-1EzNoP4xCGYH2AufBlEYtdRk1J4UjE7ePMruMAhNvieGo1QsQg5zp1L8KqqgWb_8o8pQnOzvRePyJHlM11LSTqBU_BYG95LVrXR-n970fVtnVqL4-oH3TlFAFOpqI0q7n0zaWP9OdPJP_eVk5QMgJvzIBGjCYuSDVLv5ruRw/s1280/2022-6-24%20IMG_6280.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx2YCC7XA4_juZJiWpZ-1EzNoP4xCGYH2AufBlEYtdRk1J4UjE7ePMruMAhNvieGo1QsQg5zp1L8KqqgWb_8o8pQnOzvRePyJHlM11LSTqBU_BYG95LVrXR-n970fVtnVqL4-oH3TlFAFOpqI0q7n0zaWP9OdPJP_eVk5QMgJvzIBGjCYuSDVLv5ruRw/s320/2022-6-24%20IMG_6280.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The "Cine Vendome" steps have been <br />upgraded to include a playground! <br />(24 June 2022 - Mar Mikhael)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As Maria, Sevag and I were driving on
a “highway” through an agricultural region last week, we happened upon a two-vehicle accident, possibly a head-on collision or a side-swipe. Scattered across the
road were bits of produce and wooden crates, and sprawled on the shoulder were
women and men in their colorful garb, being attended to by paramedics next to a
Red Cross ambulance. Men standing around were not helping traffic to get
past the scene, as car after car slowed down to see what was going on, and even
to chat with those on both sides of the road. What a shame to see these
agricultural workers – not Lebanese, of course – who had a short while earlier
been crammed into these vehicles to take them back to their camp after a day’s
work. Who feels compassion for these injured women and men, even though there
would be no produce in the markets if they weren’t out in the sun each day
tending the fields?</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl6COKdRqHwpLT-_FK4U5WvA7YsQsqw4G2HQuD2ETvNjeRk0iqkgI_WDhgq0PftxulGp5nM1io8Q_6q14PzVfZ_vEarfTSuZX0knr99WpBbKkApiGK-vN_TSM39riV7181lP_HUWE1qwcJCDlYlHh5ttNKbkXZRziqWnvRBIiKFhNvYYIvZP2VFyaeNQ/s1280/2022-7-8%20IMG_6616.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl6COKdRqHwpLT-_FK4U5WvA7YsQsqw4G2HQuD2ETvNjeRk0iqkgI_WDhgq0PftxulGp5nM1io8Q_6q14PzVfZ_vEarfTSuZX0knr99WpBbKkApiGK-vN_TSM39riV7181lP_HUWE1qwcJCDlYlHh5ttNKbkXZRziqWnvRBIiKFhNvYYIvZP2VFyaeNQ/s320/2022-7-8%20IMG_6616.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Traffic jam on the Stepanavan-Vanatzor <br />roadway. (8 July 2022 - Armenia)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Earlier, when driving in the other
direction on this same road, we happened upon another traffic jam. There seemed to
be no reason for it in such a small town, until we saw a bakery outlet with a
couple hundred people in front and across the road from it, anxiously waiting
for a delivery of Arabic bread. Why was there a “bread crisis”? Because the
legislature was discussing the terms of international funding to enable Lebanon
to buy wheat, and how much it should cost, and whether wheat subsidies should
be lifted. While these men (only a handful of hardy women dare to serve in the parliament)
were debating, the people were panicking, experiencing the shame of having to
wait in line for bread, when their leaders have absolutely no food worries.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv91mt4UCkmwDUKw8Z9-BoQr3doW5ygqTM0Ut201_c1eG4YdQHubbyTnglS9xFeHAfTxmaiq_7kRJ71A9aer_Q-RZarF57dr4Hs_PpSZPuPfpdkhSkwpi5ubPWW6ZFKCHMgV4KWLxSCV9ZthMp5Za3DD_lnL0rjHupN8PQ9IJdJ0ZsnOXoJdM7IkQ5tw/s1280/2022-7-10%20IMG_6631.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv91mt4UCkmwDUKw8Z9-BoQr3doW5ygqTM0Ut201_c1eG4YdQHubbyTnglS9xFeHAfTxmaiq_7kRJ71A9aer_Q-RZarF57dr4Hs_PpSZPuPfpdkhSkwpi5ubPWW6ZFKCHMgV4KWLxSCV9ZthMp5Za3DD_lnL0rjHupN8PQ9IJdJ0ZsnOXoJdM7IkQ5tw/s320/2022-7-10%20IMG_6631.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">"Mer Shougan" (Our Market) on Arax Street, <br />to promote the home-based products of <br />Lebanese-Armenians <br />(10 July 2022 - Bourj Hammoud)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And to add more shame to this scene,
the army and police had to intervene to keep the order at this and so many
other bakeries. Men on this side, women on that. Lebanese in this line, Syrians
stand over there. Accusations intensify about who is buying up the stocks of subsidized
bread to sell at twice the legal price to people who have no choice but to pay
that amount, about who is smuggling bread out of the country to sell elsewhere,
just as subsidized medicines are hoarded and sold in countries far from
Lebanon. </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>These God-given sensitivities –
shame and honor – have often been misused when they are detached from personal conscience
and used as weapons for controlling others. But in our current situation they are
merely a veneer of words used by the powerful, devoid of meaning or effect, papering
over the corruption within. John the Baptist (Matt. 3.7-12) and later Jesus Christ
(Matt. 12.34-37), when confronting the corruption of their day, challenged the
powerful to change direction or else face relentless justice from the God they
no longer feared. Honor needs to be seen in honorable actions, not just in long-winded
speeches or televised soundbites.</span><span lang="HY" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ansi-language: HY; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="HY" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ansi-language: HY; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi00IJGgc0NsALoVzfKE13InvEWa3yoVF48Sv7NUz41B6IQmleq8PhA73SK-sfl_SkLg0zK2_aocDgbu_QIEF8rhMB0-h7yL_-GRy4AqS47vyospCHKGuKhwv0oA7RCBVFfeUNHFkliFQp-l7-zOcqrrKtA2ZmRj903_APporrhRRQNJSewLT-ztDMJMw/s2016/2022-07-30_090120.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi00IJGgc0NsALoVzfKE13InvEWa3yoVF48Sv7NUz41B6IQmleq8PhA73SK-sfl_SkLg0zK2_aocDgbu_QIEF8rhMB0-h7yL_-GRy4AqS47vyospCHKGuKhwv0oA7RCBVFfeUNHFkliFQp-l7-zOcqrrKtA2ZmRj903_APporrhRRQNJSewLT-ztDMJMw/s320/2022-07-30_090120.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Facing the explosion site, memorials to <br />those killed in the Beirut Port blast <br />of 2020 (photo by SAB - 30 July 2022) </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="HY" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ansi-language: HY; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">As if fatigued from the hypocrisy and mendacity swirling around the abortive
investigation of the Beirut Port Explosion of August 4, 2020, today part of the
damaged grain silos collapsed in a plume of dust, debris and fungus from the fermenting
grain within. These fifty-year-old silos, which held nearly the entire grain
reserves of the country, are among the heroes of that unforgettable day. Their
structural integrity shielded half of the city from destruction. Though
inanimate, they hold a place of honor alongside the heroic first responders who
were cut down on that summer evening; a level of honor that those who were
sworn to protect and lead the country will never achieve – save for their
total, systemic and true repentance.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We’re finding ourselves approaching our
refrigerator with trepidation, since the power (from all three sources) is off more
than it is on in these hot and humid days. It used to be that stocking up the
freezer and putting leftovers in the fridge put our minds at ease for coming busy days.
Now we play the game “What’s That Smell?” when we open the fridge. Good smell?
Thumbs up. Bad smell? To quote my college roommate’s slogan, “When in doubt,
throw it out.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Maria and I had our first bout of CoVID-19
last month, as we were preparing to receive our son Sevag and then travel to
Armenia together. See plans, apply wrench. After the readjusted Armenia trip concluded and we returned to Lebanon,
Sevag had <i>his</i> first bout of the disease. We were grateful that we didn’t have
any loss of smell or taste (refer to preceding paragraph). And grateful that we were able to provide him with at-home care.<br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcOLmO5GQ3xABq0i2wVVE1XqeDfjQqeuBpjGLTYfhArwAvd75hF5dLOspdLPXOPbD894nmHFFMqVIRVlwnsuybD6Mriz5-kixfUKABv_w97O6MC5j4-3laKhLp_p2nADeW8yZ1j1Pi6NTdTNTx9UHHtWbaBnAZQFCqYX4P2YcePnIdKgDDom-I_g_C2g/s1280/LebCat%2051%202022-6-24%20IMG_6278.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcOLmO5GQ3xABq0i2wVVE1XqeDfjQqeuBpjGLTYfhArwAvd75hF5dLOspdLPXOPbD894nmHFFMqVIRVlwnsuybD6Mriz5-kixfUKABv_w97O6MC5j4-3laKhLp_p2nADeW8yZ1j1Pi6NTdTNTx9UHHtWbaBnAZQFCqYX4P2YcePnIdKgDDom-I_g_C2g/s320/LebCat%2051%202022-6-24%20IMG_6278.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">LebCat 51: "It's simple: you climb up this <br />grapevine, push one of those switches down, <br />and then someone comes out to his balcony <br />and starts yelling. You meow and he throws <br />you a treat when he comes down to switch it <br />back on." (24 June 2022 - Geitawi)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Sadly, I am getting less exercise,
after realizing that the circuit breaker for our supplemental electricity could
be relocated right outside our apartment door (refer to my Jan. 2022 blog) and
not down a bunch of stairs and out at the end of the street. Now they easiest thing
in the world is to make a mistake by turning on the hot water tank or flushing
the toilet, and then saying, with a smile, “Oh well, no problem!” and just open
the front door and flip the switch back on. Talk about living in the lap of
luxury!</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>What concerns me the most is that
those among whom I work – Armenians and Lebanese – will lose their sensitivity
to the tools God gives to keep their consciences alive. The poisonous examples
are so very prevalent, and only with divine help and concerted mutual support will
we avoid this plague, this collective degradation – whether in Armenia, in the Diaspora, or
here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[LNB]</span></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>RevoNishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18196532473979855428noreply@blogger.com0VGVJ+JXF, Beirut, Lebanon33.8940527 35.532412433.893162129540123 35.531339516394041 33.894943270459883 35.533485283605955tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647501877531775932.post-46350352449876766762022-05-28T22:53:00.004+03:002022-05-28T23:03:27.120+03:00Living in DIY-land<div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: medium none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm 0cm 1pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 18pt;">50.Living in DIY-land </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(28 May 2022)</b></span>
</div><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNfz3W1Ge15BPoC7HoQc4ePp9nLcrJDrB6iogotGQvng4bxAp3buJxTFjHsmOO1JFrqysqYvjsP8CGG399Iu6XGeOWyLcCtXTRl4z_Bo2MIsqTt_2dWG7tPOT2nCofB6VYeTD7DCjSTWxqAfai3Usb7uSntluBjOlZ1ljQqte99qFcywr7J5Q58lK8hA/s1280/2022-5-26%20IMG_5956.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNfz3W1Ge15BPoC7HoQc4ePp9nLcrJDrB6iogotGQvng4bxAp3buJxTFjHsmOO1JFrqysqYvjsP8CGG399Iu6XGeOWyLcCtXTRl4z_Bo2MIsqTt_2dWG7tPOT2nCofB6VYeTD7DCjSTWxqAfai3Usb7uSntluBjOlZ1ljQqte99qFcywr7J5Q58lK8hA/s320/2022-5-26%20IMG_5956.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A panel here, a panel there, and Nejmeh <br />Square is proclaimed "open"... <br />(26 May 2022 - Beirut)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In most places in the world, people
pride themselves on their DIY (do-it-yourself) skills and experience. Why have
other people build or fix things, when you can do it yourself? And you get a
greater appreciation for how things work, and the confidence that comes from
knowing that the quality of the work is up to your personal standards. Of
course, this is a “first-world” issue, because in much – if not most – of the
world there is no alternative to doing it yourself. It’s like those who go to
the gym to stay in good physical shape because they no longer move, bend, lift,
pull, push or sweat as part of their day</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">’</span>s work… contrasted with the rest of the world whose
survival depends on their physical engagement with every aspect of their lives.</span><p></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLJYiQuryiVlGF_naFg7Uo--poL_O-kIP9Z7oV5e-6TaoXRq3WSr6aALKAlWTktgXh6jiJkhet8IEaHbmFmnF8UaLJqn3oXYPja8AxCvRc9fjfObHG_CpI6lXM1aQw8milXqPh4QBgQVgX_LldpE1cX6WJmWrqqSWNZTqApwwHeVuTI3LKHpvwR3L31Q/s1280/2022-5-14%20IMG_5857.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLJYiQuryiVlGF_naFg7Uo--poL_O-kIP9Z7oV5e-6TaoXRq3WSr6aALKAlWTktgXh6jiJkhet8IEaHbmFmnF8UaLJqn3oXYPja8AxCvRc9fjfObHG_CpI6lXM1aQw8milXqPh4QBgQVgX_LldpE1cX6WJmWrqqSWNZTqApwwHeVuTI3LKHpvwR3L31Q/s320/2022-5-14%20IMG_5857.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The elections came, and the elections went, <br />and now everyone waits to see what's next. <br />(14 May 2022 - Geitawi, Beirut)<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And then there’s Lebanon. I need to
be circumspect about this because I signed a paper promising that I would
only say nice things about Lebanon. This is a DIY society for very different
reasons than the two categories mentioned above. People do a myriad of things
themselves because either the function in question was never done by the
authorities, or because the functions have stopped functioning, and now it’s up
to you to do things like store your own money, or generate your own electricity,
or import your own medicines, or provide security for your family, and so on. And
if you examine the extensive network of services for the refugee population
(probably a quarter of the total population), you will find networks of aid
agencies, each with its particular emphasis. Essentially, today’s population is
living in DIY-land.</span><p></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj36wTThjQOFGGhKGjwcaUXHW-ykrpD_OfgdI7DUwFC0OufKecSeaBER5R6YRZ4o7PdsAGpwfqdQN8vs1kaR6tW13N7qpyy4FXyiI5JFAmRZP7Bm3WZz24jHs1fT2I82layAKqU-WWwL22fIMiv5dm3pC9H9IUpBUNnzmXusxBqUsrLXXwdCiPCAaCxIg/s1280/2022-5-16%20IMG_5865.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj36wTThjQOFGGhKGjwcaUXHW-ykrpD_OfgdI7DUwFC0OufKecSeaBER5R6YRZ4o7PdsAGpwfqdQN8vs1kaR6tW13N7qpyy4FXyiI5JFAmRZP7Bm3WZz24jHs1fT2I82layAKqU-WWwL22fIMiv5dm3pC9H9IUpBUNnzmXusxBqUsrLXXwdCiPCAaCxIg/s320/2022-5-16%20IMG_5865.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It's amazing; every day it fills up, and every <br />night it gets emptied! What manner of sorcery <br />is this? (16 May 2022 - Geitawi, Beirut)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There are also many functions that
were never done by the state, which explains why there are so many organizations
identifiable by a particular socio-religious coloring. Let’s keep in mind that
this was a “gift” left by France as it ended its mandate over Lebanon in 1943;
namely to create a government consisting not of capable citizens, but of mandated
religious representatives, in order to make it as difficult as possible for any
one group to have authority over another. Or that was the plan, anyway. It
ended up being a wide gate to nepotism and cronyism, and public service jobs are
bloated by people getting paid to fill quotas, not to provide services. It also
made each religious grouping look out for its own, reinforcing people’s view that
only one’s own group will look out for them.</span><p></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIBttx_-87HAvAiXyFMLAeG_wJ5IJhjLMPJod93XTGsE4R4a0MoNN8T38uhoKGQWk1c4gB2woPgAb7xJWujrDge_ZW_w-yCE_nmMIV9SFpXKVt3svW-aVyeICqdbn-zwJFbB9GXBo-gip9fGr1PppD8BGb-SP6TLOhLakQX8VUI5Ej6mdpXdnBmy_vOQ/s1280/2022-5-26%20IMG_5952.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIBttx_-87HAvAiXyFMLAeG_wJ5IJhjLMPJod93XTGsE4R4a0MoNN8T38uhoKGQWk1c4gB2woPgAb7xJWujrDge_ZW_w-yCE_nmMIV9SFpXKVt3svW-aVyeICqdbn-zwJFbB9GXBo-gip9fGr1PppD8BGb-SP6TLOhLakQX8VUI5Ej6mdpXdnBmy_vOQ/s320/2022-5-26%20IMG_5952.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Anyone want to take some for DIY crowd <br />control? (26 May 2022 - Beirut)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And so each socio-religious
community has its own old age home (Armenians have CAHL) and other hospital
services (Armenians have the Armenian Sanatorium, and Armenian Evangelicals used
to have the Christian Medical Center – housed in the building where we now
live). Armenians as well as others have an assortment of relief and socio-medical
centers catering mostly to their own groups. They each have their network of
parochial schools and institutions of higher education. They have their own
press, and their own television and radio stations. They also have their own demographic
regions, though in the pre-civil war days there was more admixture between
groups, blurring those lines a bit. There is not much one can point to and say,
“This is for all.”</span><p></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii8oVOxv0ft9QJrrXildZtYMpkZOW1CaTy923mzVCH3WllbgaCZmrt9C_adN48MolOj2NgNhcDkn6y4NDoeTICCr8mZTgkZ8DZgFxhkpEzOxQRski26nmdNeWxblu9xghlwCeT4xdeFGp0IawHPI1_La3sjPtlBwfNW27wS1ptMWJFdHAJ1VNAz24rTQ/s1280/2022-5-26%20IMG_5938.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii8oVOxv0ft9QJrrXildZtYMpkZOW1CaTy923mzVCH3WllbgaCZmrt9C_adN48MolOj2NgNhcDkn6y4NDoeTICCr8mZTgkZ8DZgFxhkpEzOxQRski26nmdNeWxblu9xghlwCeT4xdeFGp0IawHPI1_La3sjPtlBwfNW27wS1ptMWJFdHAJ1VNAz24rTQ/s320/2022-5-26%20IMG_5938.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">DIY noise control by the unfortunate residents <br />of the boisterous (until 4 a.m.) pub street, "rue <br />Armenie". (26 May 2022 - Mar Mikhael, Beirut)<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So, the parliamentary elections came
and went. And there were small shifts in power bases, including some
disorganized “revolution” people. But few are expecting significant changes. In
an act of low drama, the outgoing (who is also the incoming) speaker “approved”
the removal of metal and concrete barriers that have surrounded the parliament since
the uprising began 2-1/2 years ago, as if to herald a new day of openness and
prosperity for Lebanon and its capital city – supervised by the old guard. This,
as the simple majority of hungry and unemployed citizens (and others) turns into
an overwhelming majority. And as the currency continues its death-dive,
something that economic experts consider to have no economic basis for
occurring, only political. And as those who impoverished Lebanon continue to
claim to be her saviors. </span><p></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOBLit2PgEEoUWQS_CXDa0eMxPRefvK_7xa0luHrEJ9qncRIYyC-aPNfPpb9XHqjw4iBPgZ7MbWr91ZW47uaqfMTVF26r77v520phUeN3JYE4bgLipYvdLKY9XpKLXbDYcqeAXpH7dr4FwOOP2mHcqqmuCirB3H8ZSbUBCc4lCpuv2VKvjQChrutst4Q/s1280/2022-5-22%20IMG_5882.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOBLit2PgEEoUWQS_CXDa0eMxPRefvK_7xa0luHrEJ9qncRIYyC-aPNfPpb9XHqjw4iBPgZ7MbWr91ZW47uaqfMTVF26r77v520phUeN3JYE4bgLipYvdLKY9XpKLXbDYcqeAXpH7dr4FwOOP2mHcqqmuCirB3H8ZSbUBCc4lCpuv2VKvjQChrutst4Q/s320/2022-5-22%20IMG_5882.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Preparing KCHAG for energy independence. <br />(22 May 2022 - Monteverde)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In recent days government officials have
continued to express the DIY-ness of today’s Lebanon. Some obscure decision was
taken by the Central Bank, and the currency magically improved. A new electronic
platform was released for shoppers to report price-gouging at supermarkets. Bank
heads are advising people not to keep their cash under a single mattress, but
to spread it out throughout all their bedrooms. Governmental security heads are
warning people to keep their valuables in various places, and not just in one
old purse in the back of a closet. The population has gradually resigned itself
to the permanent absence of municipal electricity and the ever-increasing cost
of diesel fuel running the DIY generators (called “ishtirak” – see Jan. 2022
blog: “Power-Hungry”) in each neighborhood, so that throughout the country
solar panel installations are sprouting up, raising the hopes of some that they
will be able to live somewhat “normally”.</span><p></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-WZ3dK3pGxd3jh_eRpZVYd7GX8-85bCEJjtL3Qz8gefRnO7FfWMqzCwvtCe6Y6nCvgl6kSb0OdF8yMFAutkj1_Del-JCywNbyuUxMmduTXaqSLvckX13Sns7SoCtzswJo2x9cZGOMguaRpJvraWPSfQzRMhkM-n4b2kiIAOb01R3c68U8h9COsVWX0g/s1280/2022-5-26%20IMG_5969.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-WZ3dK3pGxd3jh_eRpZVYd7GX8-85bCEJjtL3Qz8gefRnO7FfWMqzCwvtCe6Y6nCvgl6kSb0OdF8yMFAutkj1_Del-JCywNbyuUxMmduTXaqSLvckX13Sns7SoCtzswJo2x9cZGOMguaRpJvraWPSfQzRMhkM-n4b2kiIAOb01R3c68U8h9COsVWX0g/s320/2022-5-26%20IMG_5969.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The ultimate in DIY-ing: <br />a flea market! (26 May 2022 - <br />Nor Hadjin, Beirut)<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Surveying such rough terrain, in
which the country’s DIY-ers live either with endless discouragement or
self-delusion, or alternate between the two, the points of light are
challenging to discern. More than any other place, I see them among teachers
and others who express a heartfelt commitment to serve others. In the case of
teachers, there are some so discouraged that they can no longer give what a
teacher must give and a student must have. But there are many others who continue
to challenge their students to think and grow, facing not just the negativity
of students who say, “What’s the use?” but also that of the discouraged parents who
transmit their hopelessness to their children. Once the complaint was about the
”burden” of the Armenian curriculum; now the entire curriculum is often
questioned by those who only want to find a way out of their misery. Teachers
are the front-line workers, who should be given standing ovations at the end of
every school day, for continuing to believe in the future of the children they educate,
and especially for those teachers who continue to believe in the importance of
an <i>Armenian </i>education (a topic for another time).</span><p></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2-uIfkjK75XQBnPfHoWox44_J2R-SEtvk0bS5s2lmXhabpRF9lr5oLPGscj33oNPQ9npzwEPBbTDZ_Jb7fJy9HBbcrhgqqP8sbAgCDMMqtwp_hs0UK5q_i1Nhb_G-hY8rx3MvTR7xeXnqpd584hj78PCfumN35DlUIojUyZ42fBelk5gD-5-K9XQe0g/s1280/LebCat%2050%202022-3-17%20IMG_5240.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2-uIfkjK75XQBnPfHoWox44_J2R-SEtvk0bS5s2lmXhabpRF9lr5oLPGscj33oNPQ9npzwEPBbTDZ_Jb7fJy9HBbcrhgqqP8sbAgCDMMqtwp_hs0UK5q_i1Nhb_G-hY8rx3MvTR7xeXnqpd584hj78PCfumN35DlUIojUyZ42fBelk5gD-5-K9XQe0g/s320/LebCat%2050%202022-3-17%20IMG_5240.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">LebCat 50: "If you want to run a store the <br />right way, you have to do it yourself!" <br />(17 Mar. 2022 - Geitawi, Beirut)<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Along with teachers being front-line,
essential personnel, there are also those committed to serving others, whether
in health care, or social work, or ministry, or even just being a good neighbor,
keeping an eye out for those whom they see silently suffering. They, too, should
be regularly applauded and encouraged. A doctor recently told me, “I should
thank the country for teaching me how to prepare for a retirement without any
money!” But he and so many others continue to use their skills and their hearts
to help those around them. Lebanon is the ideal place to come and learn what it
means to serve others, and to receive your reward from the One who came not to
be served, but to serve. Though it is easy to slip into discouragement
ourselves, Maria and I try our best to be encouragers. This is not a DIY job,
because we don’t have the resources to last. Surrounding us there is the
church, whose members rely on the prayers of many and renewal from above. And there
is Christ, who Did It Himself, going through all of this, and more, to bring
light out of the darkness!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[LNB]</span><p></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p><style><span style="font-family: georgia;">@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</span></style></p>RevoNishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18196532473979855428noreply@blogger.com0VGVJ+JXF, Beirut, Lebanon33.8940527 35.532412433.893162132297931 35.531339516394041 33.894943267702075 35.533485283605955tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647501877531775932.post-45894955594658715582022-04-30T23:06:00.001+03:002022-04-30T23:06:16.595+03:00The Same Playbook
<div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm; padding: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">49.The Same Playbook </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(30 April 2022)</span></b></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirZPG6uCODGtcVKA6j48lySn2VL-Yg77vLwot3ym_D8jBr9gu3gGX3DJq8uy3UrVixjR7PtnZB6zjtnGQGpWYlsmxuZEypR_KDGQRYhWl8fAtPLlruVfrYUedh3ZBwLnxbWntSce1Lh3mcYGtmrMvn7YINQHF-vSdUqYfGoxzbOqJwfNlDdQ4Duj4GPA/s1280/2022-3-28%20IMG_5291.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirZPG6uCODGtcVKA6j48lySn2VL-Yg77vLwot3ym_D8jBr9gu3gGX3DJq8uy3UrVixjR7PtnZB6zjtnGQGpWYlsmxuZEypR_KDGQRYhWl8fAtPLlruVfrYUedh3ZBwLnxbWntSce1Lh3mcYGtmrMvn7YINQHF-vSdUqYfGoxzbOqJwfNlDdQ4Duj4GPA/s320/2022-3-28%20IMG_5291.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Facing the electric company and registering <br />his opinion with no ambiguity <br />(28 March 2022 - Gemmayzeh, Beirut)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />One of the
most distressing feelings one might have is when it seems like someone, near or
far to your heart, has obtained a copy of the script of your life and is
reenacting the worst scenes in it, sometimes with only slight variations. There
is nothing you can do to affect the outcome except to watch helplessly (or avert
your eyes) and hope for the best. You know the story line, because you went
through it once – or perhaps copied from someone else’s playbook before you,
and at that time you didn’t listen to anyone’s advice to take a different
direction. The saying in Armenian (and other languages) is true: a person
learns from his own purse. Rare is the one who learns from another’s hard
lessons.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFX4aArINhbp2ayLAoCiRxQPvQYtZZlSV_FM8VcAdAWz7_R72xyapLhr9pUF49WFZH_Pf0xFm_hEBt1zgeMm_B9AIUIz2S_UdHayUXug2tlIfc2birjpIk1C4IFpla8Rxz9u7dNz6lf2AfvhBK2ZPQQw1RZvSvXMURkJfCv6Cd2_XKuvHcPPYMxAhAMA/s1280/2022-4-10%20IMG_5433.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFX4aArINhbp2ayLAoCiRxQPvQYtZZlSV_FM8VcAdAWz7_R72xyapLhr9pUF49WFZH_Pf0xFm_hEBt1zgeMm_B9AIUIz2S_UdHayUXug2tlIfc2birjpIk1C4IFpla8Rxz9u7dNz6lf2AfvhBK2ZPQQw1RZvSvXMURkJfCv6Cd2_XKuvHcPPYMxAhAMA/s320/2022-4-10%20IMG_5433.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The children showing the people how to <br />worship (10 April 2022 - Geitawi, Beirut) </span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It seems that this is also true on a
larger scale, with entities such as organizations and even entire nations
following a preset script. The Armenian nation presents an interesting example
of this, as it takes up its old playbook and reenacts the worst days of its own
history. In general, its behavior is fueled by a strange bit of amnesia as to the
reasons for it suffering what it did in the past, combined with an inability or
unwillingness to chart a different course for the future. The country of Armenia,
ever at the mercy of greater powers, is struggling to continue its existence,
while it suffers setback after setback following its disastrous defeat in 2020.
The Armenian people, part of the larger entity called “the nation”, are sometimes
filled with concern over what is happening, and sometimes are profoundly
disinterested over what seems (to them) will not really affect them. An
acquaintance from Armenia recently said that these days are probably more dangerous
than the post-Genocide days. I concur, because the post-Genocide generation
knew that they needed to forge an identity and pursue that in all aspects of
their life; we of today’s generation are so fragmented and individualistic that
we cannot be bothered to see where our indifference and disunity will lead us.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjySibc07sW7Ao_mvfEtKHHuO8Bc9MLd3Ta3VkMwabYo71YSpRbfHfdI88MQiY5n1Xm_56ISoGqOXFWytHE1xFG7ijpBKLBKjPXOl_HZ5ScKE7ycelKoOQG3-BYa5dWx4mttQ9QK804_q0mQSBNvv3l0sQwkk1nOrRxhggk_zozyYGJ-NxQdq4_ucj9Zw/s848/2022-04-17%20at%207.22.56%20AM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="636" data-original-width="848" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjySibc07sW7Ao_mvfEtKHHuO8Bc9MLd3Ta3VkMwabYo71YSpRbfHfdI88MQiY5n1Xm_56ISoGqOXFWytHE1xFG7ijpBKLBKjPXOl_HZ5ScKE7ycelKoOQG3-BYa5dWx4mttQ9QK804_q0mQSBNvv3l0sQwkk1nOrRxhggk_zozyYGJ-NxQdq4_ucj9Zw/s320/2022-04-17%20at%207.22.56%20AM.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Easter morning, the pied piper of... KCHAG? <br />(17 April 2022 - Monteverde)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I had the good fortune of never
having been a serious participant in any sports activity. Always one of the
last to be chosen when picking teams in or out of school, I early on put aside
any delusion that I possessed sports-related skills. I focused on the arts and
music (but <i>not</i> on studying). But, whether you use the playbook or the script
image, this is a helpful way to view today’s disastrous world, and to see
important connections between seemingly disparate events. The “who-cares-we’re-a-failed-state”
playbook had been in use by local leaders long before the economy crashed,
though it was never publicized. It is still the primary one driving current
events and directing local actors to perform well for their masters. The population
has picked up the well-worn copy of the “vote-for-your-party-not your-country”
as it nears parliamentary elections in May, following which those elected will
be using the “it’s-their-fault” playbook when daily life fails to improve.
Those outside Lebanon use the “benevolent-state” playbook, announcing their full
support for local reforms while maintaining policies that undermine any possibility
of improvement in any area. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKUh6Ha86e2DUJ_YLI_LTEFrAdCAjsI6-G5EGkpSYt7todiHCWBQMh0WJ5dPhE-fffaUhdjy6E-WsT559ngTepKntm_UcLJS_0kXhjaRiuJrcTH8_yLsxqMeNe4erWLLZHT3w1v2DsnoyCpe7OOwpYf-OXSMFkBLp6k7uN1S604mvxH4y3FZJZaWOHhg/s1280/2022-4-28%20IMG_5738.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKUh6Ha86e2DUJ_YLI_LTEFrAdCAjsI6-G5EGkpSYt7todiHCWBQMh0WJ5dPhE-fffaUhdjy6E-WsT559ngTepKntm_UcLJS_0kXhjaRiuJrcTH8_yLsxqMeNe4erWLLZHT3w1v2DsnoyCpe7OOwpYf-OXSMFkBLp6k7uN1S604mvxH4y3FZJZaWOHhg/s320/2022-4-28%20IMG_5738.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">An "illegal" green space developing on the <br />grounds of the former Laziza brewery. <br />Greenery appears to be illegal in Beirut <br />(28 April 2022 - Geitawi, Beirut) </span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> </span>During the current European war the “bomb-into-submission”
and “everyone-is-our-enemy” playbook is the one in use, connecting today’s aggressors
to the aggressors in the Artsakh war of 2020, and so many other wars, including
the Ottomans’ war against its Armenian citizens a century ago. The “territorial-integrity”
playbook is in heavy use in Ukraine, just as it was by Azerbaijan (and by the sympathetic
but impotent friends of Armenia) when Artsakh was being attacked. The “black-and-white”
playbook is opened frequently in the West (and for the West), in order to
explain the intricacies of wars and security actions to those with limited interest
or ability to discern grayscale shades. And the “your-oil-is-more-important-than-you”
playbook is probably the only one shared by every single major power, no matter
in which direction their guns are pointed or shipped. The “ideological-high-ground”
playbook is also frequently read from, though the actors never take the stage.
It is a grand drama and a high-stakes game that we are witnessing, based on a
series of playbooks that will make the world the same as it has ever been, or
ever will be.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoymulgwDz0gSHiCxAdx_lE1jBPEeD-fsfIW85P9HqGU0ol3WSvWvdq6QeK4mOXcGrcOFKHqvXs5-x05xz2hVsr4bga0JG_EIyyTFuePvTSUbzox5qvKND0rXIbWdcVqrls37hRHDiiQHHjIs4YQlBQykw2erOr9F0YSKdXEgbN5c3uKK_vjPLvdbpiw/s1280/2022-4-30%20IMG_5744.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoymulgwDz0gSHiCxAdx_lE1jBPEeD-fsfIW85P9HqGU0ol3WSvWvdq6QeK4mOXcGrcOFKHqvXs5-x05xz2hVsr4bga0JG_EIyyTFuePvTSUbzox5qvKND0rXIbWdcVqrls37hRHDiiQHHjIs4YQlBQykw2erOr9F0YSKdXEgbN5c3uKK_vjPLvdbpiw/s320/2022-4-30%20IMG_5744.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Naming the evil that allows <br />disasters, destroying people and <br />their heritage (30 April 2022 - <br />Mar Nicola, Beirut)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> </span>Fortunately – and I say this
sincerely – there are weak and unimportant people in the world. These are the
ones who I consider to be able to make real and lasting change. They are the
ones who interface with their neighbors each day and look into their eyes with perception
and compassion. This is not to praise interpersonal relations in general. The
other day a small shopkeeper spoke of how some homemade food distributors in Lebanese
villages easily take advantage of people like her by following the fluctuations
in local currency against the dollar, then collecting payment well above the day’s
street value, saying, “If you don’t want to pay, then I’ll find someone else to
sell to.” Despite my insistence that I pay the current value of my purchase,
she refused to take more from me than the outdated prices listed on her shelves.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUr046EmHyMhzN-h0ziKyPN8i29cRQD8NLaivhY-C5D3S3AeBtX0JjQgY-BnqrBAKH3tue_lPt97zKAViohX7GcetGozOQcYh1XthfMaP5z9_qftcZNS522vNrUmzQhj4FO4GO9nhbc6QGWFDeHqHBWRWh4bdfueTv_YHeYZ7UsT6Z6gYmJIAVzm2L4A/s1280/2022-4-8%20IMG_5350.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUr046EmHyMhzN-h0ziKyPN8i29cRQD8NLaivhY-C5D3S3AeBtX0JjQgY-BnqrBAKH3tue_lPt97zKAViohX7GcetGozOQcYh1XthfMaP5z9_qftcZNS522vNrUmzQhj4FO4GO9nhbc6QGWFDeHqHBWRWh4bdfueTv_YHeYZ7UsT6Z6gYmJIAVzm2L4A/s320/2022-4-8%20IMG_5350.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">God hears, but do we? <br />(8 April 2022 - Mar Mikhael, Beirut)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>My guess is that the difference lies
in whether people have an actual, human relationship with each other, and not a
transactional one. It’s the same with the church. Do I share a gospel message with
someone because it’s expected of me, because it’s a requirement, because I
consider my religion superior and his inferior or completely wrong? Or do I
truly care for the other person as someone created in God’s image, whom God
loves as much as he loves me? That person-to-person playbook is the one that
brings true hope and opens hearts to receive the actual good news. It may be
crass to characterize Jesus’ ministry in this way, but the gospel is so full of
these kinds of interpersonal “detours” that Jesus took as he shared the gospel
of God’s kingdom and the promised new life in that kingdom, that it must be an
integral part of the message. My conclusion is that God has put his playbook into
our hands and sent us from the church to the world. One who plays according to
this script stands little chance of preventing the “rulers of this age” to
seize the day; but in God’s timing, living this way will undermine every earthly
power.</span></p>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyd3JIJ-QQIKXoKppuH_kOxPPBsEDtQQsFaErO1lqe3oC-rUdbaAuF21hGR8DClryOv5y0JqAh9gqnRIX8yOaXn4cSmp20t9dwZpO4XV-IAK4r9wWDJBw_2YI77npmFIeuI_72KhqaksCmnB77gGF_A5zkXWSG0xptz_wl8rw8nvuXFbNnD4lV6kapYA/s1280/LebCat%2049%202022-3-24%20IMG_5277.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyd3JIJ-QQIKXoKppuH_kOxPPBsEDtQQsFaErO1lqe3oC-rUdbaAuF21hGR8DClryOv5y0JqAh9gqnRIX8yOaXn4cSmp20t9dwZpO4XV-IAK4r9wWDJBw_2YI77npmFIeuI_72KhqaksCmnB77gGF_A5zkXWSG0xptz_wl8rw8nvuXFbNnD4lV6kapYA/s320/LebCat%2049%202022-3-24%20IMG_5277.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">LebCat 49: Go find your own ledge! <br />(24 March 2022 - Geitawi, Beirut)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We have been encouraged in recent
weeks by young people in the Armenian community who, despite the discouragement
and fear so prevalent in the country, have chosen life. Some have made engagement
pledges to one another, others have brought newborns into the world and
surrounded them with love, and all of them have taken these risky steps relying
on God’s provision. God’s hand is certainly guiding them, and as they grow as
families, the joy of the Lord is giving them – and us – strength. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Once upon a time in Lebanon, when
paying for groceries, if there were a few piastres (or liras) left to round up
the total, the cashier would toss a pack of 2 pieces of chewing gum into your
order. In recent years it became the whole box of gum, and then progressed to a
sachet of instant coffee. Today as I was buying fruit from my friendly
fruit-cart pusher, “Abou Mawz”, he announced 8,000 lira for a half-kilo of bananas.
Then he winked and said he would make it 10,000, as I nodded and he tossed
another banana on the scale. Imagine… fruit as small change. But that’s the
playbook regular Lebanese people have long used. And it’s the playbook that
even those most desperate to leave the country will be searching for, and not
finding, in their newly-adopted homelands. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[LNB]</span></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style>RevoNishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18196532473979855428noreply@blogger.com0VGVJ+JXF, Beirut, Lebanon33.8940527 35.532412433.893607416806091 35.53187595819702 33.894497983193915 35.532948841802977tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647501877531775932.post-80741840951780478292022-02-28T17:59:00.003+02:002022-02-28T17:59:51.912+02:00Relatively Speaking<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span>
</p><div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm; padding: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 18pt;">48.Relatively Speaking </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(28 February 2022)</b></span></p>
</div><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEio6soB1jvQd4596IZdcs8gyoAWcZU5Dwogu8KPd4gf09u1HtQpff2THICG0-MMJeQnvawn7-LP834LGQn_4zcB5ahmLaNmGFwQROa5I_1E-OvDVJFdyVkh0xEJjEhtqOHhFE_M03E2Qnyhwj0qV0ASk00AfqvW-Mws1c2ppgo_bQKeKBJXiQGizdg93g=s1280" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEio6soB1jvQd4596IZdcs8gyoAWcZU5Dwogu8KPd4gf09u1HtQpff2THICG0-MMJeQnvawn7-LP834LGQn_4zcB5ahmLaNmGFwQROa5I_1E-OvDVJFdyVkh0xEJjEhtqOHhFE_M03E2Qnyhwj0qV0ASk00AfqvW-Mws1c2ppgo_bQKeKBJXiQGizdg93g=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Covering up the damage to buildings, while in the <br />distance Mt. Sannine shines with winter snow.<br />(13 Feb. 2022 - Marfa'-Beirut)</span></span><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>The world is
quite busy with the current war in Ukraine, with pundits making statements and analyses and
so forth. Aside from all the tragedy, a war can be very helpful to bring focus to people’s lives, and it helps
news outlets to know how to fill their pages. Officialdom is also busy with
making an assortment of punishments, which will then turn into reality. The
story told in the “West” is that they are making the world safe for democracy.
Why do I feel like I’m reading a superhero comic book? The story in the “East”
is probably being told in a similar way, with the protagonists and the
antagonists being swapped. Although details may seem crystal clear to partisans
on one side or the other (especially to those touting the significance of cell
phones to record and disseminate “information” about the war in “real time”), the
only clear and indisputable facts are that armies are fighting and people are
dying and being displaced.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhS0XHZv_PgAfqsrNcqpJXc547srLjKlNMNuObXWf7Z4bAOGZ7ovfcsyFaSMj5q66KLJgDytXKlhz1mgCkAoMtB8-Xsj_jCt_PfRkAknD70jta-vaYVVfCRpLi0vL3S3Xxw7JeXYfnJu47b5P2FT7pW4Tti1i1_v0tBi7EU1xnacZZAXt7qYc-8S5AsKQ=s1280" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhS0XHZv_PgAfqsrNcqpJXc547srLjKlNMNuObXWf7Z4bAOGZ7ovfcsyFaSMj5q66KLJgDytXKlhz1mgCkAoMtB8-Xsj_jCt_PfRkAknD70jta-vaYVVfCRpLi0vL3S3Xxw7JeXYfnJu47b5P2FT7pW4Tti1i1_v0tBi7EU1xnacZZAXt7qYc-8S5AsKQ=s320" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">One of the ever-present, never-<br />resolved crises.<br />(11 Feb. 2022 - Geitawi-Beirut)</span></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </span>And this arouses a raft of thoughts
and questions and “what-if”s in me. Especially, as an Armenian, I can’t help
but make comparisons and contrasts between what is happening today and the
punishing war on Artsakh by Turkey & Azerbaijan 16 months ago. The war on
Artsakh is not a thing of the past, but is continuing in various forms to this
day. Now that a similar (but only relatively) operation has broken out nearby, these
musings have asserted themselves more forcefully. Musings about the role that
Ukraine played in assisting Azerbaijan’s and Turkey’s armies in their onslaught
against Artsakh. Or the call to foreigners to fight alongside Ukraine, only
slightly similar to Diasporan Armenians wishing to travel to Armenia fight Artsakh’s
aggressors. Or the complicated web of business, military and energy connections
between ostensible adversaries, such as what we see between Russia and Turkey, relative
to their actual mutual dependencies and co-dependencies. And not least of all,
the diffidence exhibited by Russia and the West towards Armenia’s desperate
struggle to not be overwhelmed by overwhelming force, contrasted with the
intense engagement by those same players in the current crisis to prevent
overwhelming force to be used.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhdpw99zxWFRgZcpviwXIZyp5TqrWzv6DTALB1Qs7mSGkLYcyml0uyTwLiCiZSkx6CgA7539E2Pwbf-oGMBE0TKL0wtQLUIqrulnTvR1ks4_jEQdCgl6UmpE4uyPvMMtt_fdmeRQ541k9OjFkORuFxvjr4qvsITDTOldVuCLPJ4FCj7OYNkByXYL8O6gg=s1280" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhdpw99zxWFRgZcpviwXIZyp5TqrWzv6DTALB1Qs7mSGkLYcyml0uyTwLiCiZSkx6CgA7539E2Pwbf-oGMBE0TKL0wtQLUIqrulnTvR1ks4_jEQdCgl6UmpE4uyPvMMtt_fdmeRQ541k9OjFkORuFxvjr4qvsITDTOldVuCLPJ4FCj7OYNkByXYL8O6gg=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">When asked what makes the Lebanese keep on going, <br />refer them to this picture. <br />(12 Feb. 2022 - Mar Mikhael-Beirut)</span></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </span>It is telling how Europeans express
their shock at such barbarity and brutality in “their” Europe, while accepting
that same barbarity as an unfortunate given in “uncivilized” places like the Caucasus
and the Middle East. It is also telling to see the speed with which Europeans
opened their doors and borders, contrasting sharply with the begrudging and
reluctant acceptance policies for those knocking on the door who are black,
brown or other than “European-looking”. Welcoming the stranger is easy when the
stranger looks, speaks and worships like you, but not so much when the only
thing you have in common is the stranger’s humanity. Imposing an economic and
military barrage on your opponent may seem noble, until you take into account
the financial dependencies that exist between Ukraine (that are almost totally
absent in Armenia’s case) and its defenders and offenders; then the nobility of
the actions begins to appear tarnished. Additionally, the two countries
(Armenia and Ukraine) are probably on relatively equal footing in the “who is
more corrupt” game; but that corruption is overlooked when those leaders lean
in the direction you want and have the goods you want. The next thing you know,
the posse comes riding over the hill to save the day.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjsyof9J2W_81C0odD2F0nD5wTG0IfWUoASIm1AN47d0LD1Nab4Xq4ihmLy4NUBiGfDJS5Tc5kpyEV-YLAvEcEcUEdOtHcXFMZIpV_hbUFhxDOAJlT2DZwTrdSl0_wf5PUuTyZGW4-ToH7ueUiMnfSSjS2lGirNo0YjEZIsSYu09So9InOsP7OB9l3mYA=s1280" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjsyof9J2W_81C0odD2F0nD5wTG0IfWUoASIm1AN47d0LD1Nab4Xq4ihmLy4NUBiGfDJS5Tc5kpyEV-YLAvEcEcUEdOtHcXFMZIpV_hbUFhxDOAJlT2DZwTrdSl0_wf5PUuTyZGW4-ToH7ueUiMnfSSjS2lGirNo0YjEZIsSYu09So9InOsP7OB9l3mYA=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Out of barren soil, spring somehow emerges! <br />(28 Feb. 2022 - Geitawi, Beirut)</span></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </span>One of the things that saddens me
the most is to hear the same vainglory from Ukraine as what we heard from
Armenia and Artsakh in 2020: “We will win because we are committed. We will win
because we are Ukrainians/Armenians. We will win because we are fighting for
self-determination,” and other such foolish expressions. Armenians were
defeated because they enjoyed living in the past far more than they loved preparing
for the future. This will always be the fatal flaw Armenians must realize they
have if they want to continue existing above ground, and not six feet under. Ukraine’s
fatal flaws and its future trajectory have yet to be seen – as of this writing,
anyway.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj-I2GSO0q9LSCZkzg65APNdow1VP1oB7Hu1UBbwni33VhgUFTqEEn0Oh5GhrxMgXH_o7LOGiEPx-ctPWqHfHWSZthmKV4NfIA-WdvLlZn04aqoazlZKBb9KNRmPpaT1FMbaanJRFpoIgh1jfEEXlyo7HIFZSvEZbpH68WmP69G4kcRyXwaZaFyKo2epQ=s1280" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj-I2GSO0q9LSCZkzg65APNdow1VP1oB7Hu1UBbwni33VhgUFTqEEn0Oh5GhrxMgXH_o7LOGiEPx-ctPWqHfHWSZthmKV4NfIA-WdvLlZn04aqoazlZKBb9KNRmPpaT1FMbaanJRFpoIgh1jfEEXlyo7HIFZSvEZbpH68WmP69G4kcRyXwaZaFyKo2epQ=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Hearts appear here and there in the neighborhood. Also <br />kindness, here and there. <br />(25 Jan. 2022 - Mar Mikhael-Beirut)</span></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </span>For comic relief (although it is
tragicomedy), Turkey’s boss has been quite bellicose about NATO needing to act
more decisively against Russia, its best frenemy. “The West needs to do more
than give advice,” he said, though that advice-and-no-action approach of the West
served him quite well in his war against Armenia, and in the current “normalization”
talks happening between the two countries. He speaks these tough-guy words against
Russia while also keeping his country’s military drone business with Ukraine
humming along. Not to forget Ukraine’s white phosphorus sales to Azerbaijan, used
against Artsakh in 2020. There’s enough hypocrisy to go around, so that every
single country in the world can have a nice, big slice of the pie!</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiJ3RJTqABXD8xlVLJYzYMglksBCE5zqiQhys9SHpP46FRvLN1vEokY_i0xJMAcT91tPR2AP5LMVApuKd9DEg7C2yZjHnfbIgnznu-NblDNeu2KxmSg7iR4O56V6cX8TrIenW2CPTUmV6EKaG1FMVxDA4DLtx-UYG0x_V_1e-a4wUTWoWaKXaT2jxP_CA=s1280" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiJ3RJTqABXD8xlVLJYzYMglksBCE5zqiQhys9SHpP46FRvLN1vEokY_i0xJMAcT91tPR2AP5LMVApuKd9DEg7C2yZjHnfbIgnznu-NblDNeu2KxmSg7iR4O56V6cX8TrIenW2CPTUmV6EKaG1FMVxDA4DLtx-UYG0x_V_1e-a4wUTWoWaKXaT2jxP_CA=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A local Armenian shopkeeper, keeping more than just <br />his own shop clean. (22 Feb. 2022 - Qobayiat-Beirut)</span></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </span>Relatively speaking, what appears to
be very similar in these two acts of aggression can be both relatively similar
and completely dissimilar, all at the same time. Maybe when books are written about this in 20 or 30
years we’ll be able to figure it out better – that is, if people can still
think or read (or write) in 20 or 30 years…</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Spring is trying mightily to make a
difference in the cold, rainy days we’ve been living through. Meanwhile, I’m
getting a lot less exercise than I did last month. That’s because we’re getting
a lot better at assessing our power use and not overloading the supplementary
power line, resulting in throwing the circuit breaker down a ways away (cf. Blog
48: “Power-Hungry”). We had a meter installed that shows our consumption, so now
we know when we are near the 10A borderline and when we have enough room to turn
on a second heater. It’s quite a luxurious feeling not having to run up and
down all those steps; so now I’m at a loss as to what to do to stay in shape.
But living in a building without an elevator (most of the time) will at the
least help my fitness plan a bit.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhzchAQO9-RSJ0GQfP080zHyURI4ADpQDVD2ZXHVy2yLswWyau4Ajj3GNSU6wRAxYK0NSqx3wsiyjJcy3gZ9sdf8YhhZGlP60dkXsa6YVVtMPK9qDkeH7i-lEqOeGGIOrtnNqNRXzu2t2lDv1B4VEzMEhndloBzPlQDsAeTM36CPIOBLElWZ4ZwTtpLWA=s1280" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhzchAQO9-RSJ0GQfP080zHyURI4ADpQDVD2ZXHVy2yLswWyau4Ajj3GNSU6wRAxYK0NSqx3wsiyjJcy3gZ9sdf8YhhZGlP60dkXsa6YVVtMPK9qDkeH7i-lEqOeGGIOrtnNqNRXzu2t2lDv1B4VEzMEhndloBzPlQDsAeTM36CPIOBLElWZ4ZwTtpLWA=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">LebCat 48: </span><span style="font-family: arial;">You may kiss my paw if you wish. <br />But just once. (5 Feb. 2022 - Geitawi-Beirut)</span></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </span>At
the joint Vartanants commemoration here in Beirut last week the irony of it occurred to many
of us: the same day we were commemorating a war Armenians fought (and lost) in
A.D. 451, a new war had broken out. Well, to be fair, the war in Ukraine did
not just break out in a single day – it had plenty of time to fester. And the
Vartanants battle did not last just one day, nor did it end in defeat, as those
with only a partial knowledge of history like to say. It was the opening battle
in a 33-year war that ended in Persia granting Armenia the freedom to worship Christ.
As we continue to ride the bumpy road to who-knows-where in Lebanon, I think the
key idea is to trust God and persevere. There’s relatively little else that we
can do than that, and that may actually be the best thing that we can do. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[LNB]</span>
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{page:WordSection1;}</span></style></p>RevoNishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18196532473979855428noreply@blogger.com0VGVM+C2X, Beirut, Lebanon33.8935771 35.532628933.891795950653758 35.530483132788085 33.895358249346245 35.534774667211913tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647501877531775932.post-60378974353783767312022-01-22T22:42:00.000+02:002022-01-22T22:42:40.679+02:00Power-Hungry<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm; padding: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 18pt;"> 47.Power-Hungry </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(22 January 2022)</b></span></p><div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;">
</div><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj3ZtJui1LFDPF--N01dae_5nkW-FLTPRStZOoNusI-PrcUnhWUjYaV4x7Gbb9iGCDxC7TNQ3TsYE1_AT5snhresEEgZofbAJFMSxHVwIInHUC8AL2W-HUadQywnztkRXDuZDvOY5MHm9hhAh13ZLQm2k2VhWY_T9irPvGeSL5CXaoUWJCublB_0AD0og=s1280" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj3ZtJui1LFDPF--N01dae_5nkW-FLTPRStZOoNusI-PrcUnhWUjYaV4x7Gbb9iGCDxC7TNQ3TsYE1_AT5snhresEEgZofbAJFMSxHVwIInHUC8AL2W-HUadQywnztkRXDuZDvOY5MHm9hhAh13ZLQm2k2VhWY_T9irPvGeSL5CXaoUWJCublB_0AD0og=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The supplemental power breaker box, with our thrown <br />circuit-breaker, identified as "Père Nichan". <br />(15 Jan. 2022 - Khalil Badawi)</span></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Recently a
friend from Armenia visited us at our home. We explained to him our happiness
at finally arranging for “ishtirak”, which is a membership one gets from the
neighborhood electrical generator owners, in order to fill in the
20+ hour gap in government electricity each day. “So now we have three sources
of electricity: EDL (“official” power), the building generator (four hours a
day most days), and “ishtirak” (except for 6 hours a night and two one-hour
breaks during the day). He looked at me a bit incredulously and said, “So you’re
saying that you have three different sources of power, but it still doesn’t add
up to 24-hours of electricity!”</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I guess I never thought of it <i>that</i>
way…</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhK9fxBgWTuymTrVZKJit76_Em_ZvTEtFAxmZFhEdNh3dxfKtiiP_YeYwzEAoKqVECFsdrZXSutWzHqQHTHrV67JAugKO14mcZIZC0Lsh70oYUsHJZ9zgkB5lNE49aAUfbflJMxx3xinQFDWUlOtsth2UGDPILX-zlX7HoNNqoOGLlB3zsmr9euS8XYkw=s1280" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhK9fxBgWTuymTrVZKJit76_Em_ZvTEtFAxmZFhEdNh3dxfKtiiP_YeYwzEAoKqVECFsdrZXSutWzHqQHTHrV67JAugKO14mcZIZC0Lsh70oYUsHJZ9zgkB5lNE49aAUfbflJMxx3xinQFDWUlOtsth2UGDPILX-zlX7HoNNqoOGLlB3zsmr9euS8XYkw=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The long, long line, and the long, long trip <br />down to the breaker box, just beyond <br />that car... (18 Jan. 2022 - Geitawi-Beirut)</span></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>While refugees are freezing under
tents in the coldest parts of the country or asphyxiating from burning coal (or
even plastic) indoors, the average Lebanese citizens themselves are not much
better off than slabs of beef hanging in a meat locker – and who can afford
meat these days? Meanwhile, the “leaders”, having given themselves an
open-ended break from governing, beginning last October, are still dreamily wondering
whether to resume meeting in order to rescue their ruined country. They are in
no rush to do so, since the body being vivisected still has saleable parts. And
each one of them lives under the illusion or delusion of being comfortably on
the moral high ground. So many textbook examples of the term “power-hungry” in
these parts, ranging from those internationally famous and respected on the
world stage, all the way down to the mafia-esque generator operators one or two
streets over. <br /></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgMIAeDl4SuMlOHvjkGJpRfGkBYdVvInePWjUv54gblWAvPY9ufkltz-BNIO_YTIcEyzZfhaki7MAXvydMrz-hLrIUGPhDaDuicO54EjAS1Bo3DS4cPFKW9_xsRWV2vFGRyUkCqo8MAS5CPQ6LGQk9uUmSfSK_QqSQ4HNfNAFpVadm5MB-sZPbZsHjoBQ=s1280" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgMIAeDl4SuMlOHvjkGJpRfGkBYdVvInePWjUv54gblWAvPY9ufkltz-BNIO_YTIcEyzZfhaki7MAXvydMrz-hLrIUGPhDaDuicO54EjAS1Bo3DS4cPFKW9_xsRWV2vFGRyUkCqo8MAS5CPQ6LGQk9uUmSfSK_QqSQ4HNfNAFpVadm5MB-sZPbZsHjoBQ=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">My current office - anywhere I can be near a heater. <br />(22 Jan. 2021 - Geitawi-Beirut)</span></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Yet you can find many unsung people
who behave in an opposite manner, and act humanly, sharing things they could be
selling to generate some income. A man who over the summer had stockpiled firewood
for his village home, though currently seeking a job, decided he had enough wood
to warm his house this winter, and so he started giving the excess firewood to
needy families so they could stay warm. These are the people, the meek, who are
the true inheritors of the land (cf. Matt. 5.5).</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The people of Lebanon have been left
power hungry, in a different sense than what we usually mean. That which they
need to live, to work, to learn, to take trips, to refresh, all of that which
is dependent on adequate, consistent and affordable electric power is being
denied them. They do not desire to control others, to bleed them dry. They just
wish to live some semblance of a normal life. So what can they do? Shiver in
silence, or pay a neighborhood supplier for a bit of supplementary power.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjiw4gWFJLksSGoEfke-3xXCVgVruxV6kD8KRektkefpjZCWA3urCjbal7qZbEIXsiK6Yu_6w38lPWkbOxBKIimHgSlbz03_1rnnr3Np9v8W2RTDZL4jIhnTxEVt3KCSyAAY20dPBE99xD4Lj8DjMnSkyQT3qahJiJLv6Kn_PUw2MGBYlJnCz6y_87Rdg=s1280" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjiw4gWFJLksSGoEfke-3xXCVgVruxV6kD8KRektkefpjZCWA3urCjbal7qZbEIXsiK6Yu_6w38lPWkbOxBKIimHgSlbz03_1rnnr3Np9v8W2RTDZL4jIhnTxEVt3KCSyAAY20dPBE99xD4Lj8DjMnSkyQT3qahJiJLv6Kn_PUw2MGBYlJnCz6y_87Rdg=s320" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A beautiful winter sky, and a break <br />from the cold, stormy days. <br />(18 Jan. 2022 - Geitawi-Beirut)</span></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Now that we are in that group, we
have a completely new set of electricity-usage protocols to adopt, something I
call the “Ishtirak Follies”. When the supplementary electric line gets
connected to your home, you can’t just go on with “business as usual”. You have
to learn what you can use, and when. You have to prioritize what is required
and what is optional. Heater? A primary need. Lights? Don’t overdo it, one or
two is enough. Refrigerator? If it’s a newer model that draws less current, OK.
TV? Possibly, but it also needs to be an energy-saving model. Water pump? Turns
on automatically when the spigot is opened, and without it the water flows
trickle by trickle, so yes. WiFi router? Can’t get any work done without it, so
make sure there’s battery power connected to it for when the power type
switches from one to the other. Computers? Keep the laptops charged when there’s
“real” current, and keep an ear out for the desktop’s UPS doing excessive
click-clicking like a Geiger counter – that’s your early-warning system telling you to switch off
some appliances. Hot water tank? That’s a borderline need, so turn it on when
there’s EDL or building generator power. Microwave? Forget about it. Electric
kettle? If it has “electric” in the name, cross it off your list. HVAC units? Decide
which room you want to heat and don’t turn it on; use the hot oil radiator
instead (on low power), and don’t even think about how you’re going to manage
in the summer heat. Clothes washer? Change into some clean clothes and wait for
a couple hours of regular electricity. Vacuum cleaner? Ironing? HAHA very
funny.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Trial & Error” is the name of
the game you play in Ishtirak Follies before arriving at the esoteric knowledge
of what is approved and what is taboo. If the circuit breaker (“disjoncteur” in
the Lebanese dialect) is right outside your home, consider yourself lucky. Pop
out the front door, walk over to the box, switch it back on, and you’re done. In
our case, when an overload happens, it means you flip off whatever was on, go
down 6 floors, walk to the end of the back street, walk back up 6 floors (since
the building’s electricity – and thus the elevator – is off the majority of the
time), and then you can enjoy your light and heater!</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Here’s a real-life example of how we’re
playing Trial & Error in the Ishtirak Follies: </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span dir="LTR"></span>Forgetting for a moment to ask yourself “What kind of electricity
are we on”, you flip the switch on the electric kettle and everything goes dark.
Go down 6 floors, go to the end of the street, find the switch for your apartment
and turn it back on, go back and up. You say: “Let’s keep the kettle unplugged
so we don’t forget next time.”</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span dir="LTR"></span>Heating up some leftovers in the microwave oven, forgetting to ask
that same question. “Click”, everything’s off. Down 6 floors, take a walk,
click on, walk back, climb 6 floors.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span dir="LTR"></span>“I wonder, can I check our electricity amperage with this meter?” Pop.
Go down, go over, flip it on, come back, climb up.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgRGZbJW25ZSbfupcjBw6PJZe-R-bGRD4us6DeVv2PG_pXgHB5_Q7-gdwl1CLX_OM6Mc9xTnHE8I_7wvqnAgKZ4QYDCY-W_45sDd6UeEGFJu9Wj_-_Uv0lx8pfEsjyMB8vQdNfwTVRIJ0TpU0IfTgOVbrz3hpE7xHxzBQXtJrbZ4rsCsKqNVXUavfB2ZA=s1280" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgRGZbJW25ZSbfupcjBw6PJZe-R-bGRD4us6DeVv2PG_pXgHB5_Q7-gdwl1CLX_OM6Mc9xTnHE8I_7wvqnAgKZ4QYDCY-W_45sDd6UeEGFJu9Wj_-_Uv0lx8pfEsjyMB8vQdNfwTVRIJ0TpU0IfTgOVbrz3hpE7xHxzBQXtJrbZ4rsCsKqNVXUavfB2ZA=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">At last, my favorite liver kebab place is back <br />in operation! (18 Jan. 2022 - Geitawi-Beirut)</span></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span dir="LTR"></span>Electricity switches off at an odd time during daylight, so I can’t
see from the balcony if others’ “ishtirak” is working. Down 6 floors, out to
the box. Hmm, it’s still on. I guess the motor must be on its lunch break.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span dir="LTR"></span>Two space heaters are on low power, the hot water tank is switched
on, the toilet flushes, the water pump engages, and... Click! Down you go.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span dir="LTR"></span>“I’ll leave the space heater on to keep things warm while I run up
the street and get a falafel sandwich.” Entering the apartment with my lunch,
all is dark… Oops, I left the heater on high power, I forgot to switch off the
hot water tank, and the leaky toilet probably started up the water pump,
sending the “ishtirak” over the edge. I decide to eat my falafel in the dark,
then take my exercise trip down to the “disjoncteur”.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span dir="LTR"></span>And in those brief times when the electricity comes on, we play a different game: “Kahraba
(electric company) Follies”, running around and turning on the equipment that
requires full power, like the washing machine, the hot water tank, heating in
more than one room, etc. See above list for details.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhUwMttDTLYc1Lvgbm7VbedwYPamYQV4B_xX5GQFPgqZ9punk-b3cWW6Oyu743n_vWSDBgcOH_Y-u_jm-ko5wrQR48oLu_IpGcuqy7Bl3stbGu7C7LC_dWPunda-_-Sj5tC5UA4uPben-OTA1Jv_ap0D-NamiAI5Iqw_jJrKHFLcBPHCgwbEv2g1O3t4Q=s1280" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhUwMttDTLYc1Lvgbm7VbedwYPamYQV4B_xX5GQFPgqZ9punk-b3cWW6Oyu743n_vWSDBgcOH_Y-u_jm-ko5wrQR48oLu_IpGcuqy7Bl3stbGu7C7LC_dWPunda-_-Sj5tC5UA4uPben-OTA1Jv_ap0D-NamiAI5Iqw_jJrKHFLcBPHCgwbEv2g1O3t4Q=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">LebCat 47: Just enjoying the warmth. It's <br />free, so far. (11 Jan. 2022 - Mar Mikhael)</span></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The reason we are able to play these follies
is because God has given us health and strength, and also because we are not directly
at the mercy of the train wreck of the economy, unlike what most people are.
Supposedly by next month there will be pipelines functioning, bringing gas from
Egypt to Jordan to Syria to Lebanon, and that will reportedly enable EDL to
produce more electricity, bringing the daily total of power supplied to about
10 hours, hopefully, instead of 2 to 4.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And while all of this goes on and on, there
are still individuals and groups, here as well as in other countries, who wish only
well to the Lebanese. Their material support has empowered dedicated teachers,
social workers, religious leaders, shopkeepers, tradespeople and regular people
with beating hearts and warm consciences to reach out and bring an atmosphere of
caring to the peoples’ daily life. Because of them, in these days there are
still smiles, greetings to passersby, caring words and the Lord’s presence all
around. It may not solve the condition of Lebanon’s electrical grid, but it
will certainly renew the power, and a bit of the hope, of many. I’m thankful to
God that we can be a part of that power supply! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[LNB]<br /></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
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{margin-bottom:0cm;}</span></style></p>RevoNishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18196532473979855428noreply@blogger.com0VGVM+C2X, Beirut, Lebanon33.8935771 35.532628933.891795956481509 35.530483132788085 33.895358243518494 35.534774667211913tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647501877531775932.post-81218937365363392942021-12-31T16:16:00.000+02:002021-12-31T16:16:08.000+02:00Motion Sickness<p><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Motion Sickness</span></span></span><br /></p><div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 18pt;">46.Motion Sickness </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">(31 December 2021)</b></span>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjJ1vC5lL_k2ACX6rUAMpY_udsLJoB4GwYEBv42atigjDzhfdWe8vuKPEI_msMOONoKY44B_LPFnsz_1hTZfVD1vG3CDrnMfNG4U92BTkCt_2evywgEdZMGeBIsIyUkHihA5VqLE65WjVduuLhplEjrqsJDC-e3473oBXRov-S5JpyUCuYiyNSoWoZ3MQ=s1280" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjJ1vC5lL_k2ACX6rUAMpY_udsLJoB4GwYEBv42atigjDzhfdWe8vuKPEI_msMOONoKY44B_LPFnsz_1hTZfVD1vG3CDrnMfNG4U92BTkCt_2evywgEdZMGeBIsIyUkHihA5VqLE65WjVduuLhplEjrqsJDC-e3473oBXRov-S5JpyUCuYiyNSoWoZ3MQ=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Awaiting one of our flights out of Philadelphia <br />(15 Oct. 2021 - Phila. Intl. Airport)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;">One of the
constants of air travel, as well as ground travel, is the ubiquitous plastic-lined
bag for the use of those experiencing stomach discomfort while being jostled
back and forth, up and down, and side to side in the plane, boat, train, bus or
car they are in. It also helps those around them to be able to stay clean and
somewhat spared from the odor, though the poor sufferer continues to suffer
what is gently referred to as “motion sickness”.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We have been experiencing a type of “motion
sickness” in recent times as we completed our required home assignment and made
our way back to Lebanon last week. It was an uneventful flight, except that the
airplanes were crowded cheek-to-jowl with travelers, some with masks, including
those going to Lebanon. Maria and I lived through five months in the U.S. and
Canada of constant travel, constant packing and unpacking, constant
calculations of whether the weather would be warm or cold, along with constantly
arranging flight and hotel bookings, constantly working on what kind of
presentation fits a particular audience, constantly trying to wrap up paperwork
and follow up on unfinished tasks in the concluding weeks when we were supposed
to be “resting”. Getting back home to Beirut and its daily stresses and misery afforded
us a bit of respite from the previous period!</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh1zR9vjVZKPdMszR2RjHLh0ATlEDCnGNsN0BCbMvP9iatChNzlGfvdFIV7gJW2RafD90TwPZOaVk8OSZI39AQMByMgCrlQnL9MqvC014kzFqt-7h3YdzOW-1tionrQjsksC4RNhNf5vg0edhXuo_04a1POBztwpcHZf35vkqUyk11cqDEL64Wnr-cvjA=s1280" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh1zR9vjVZKPdMszR2RjHLh0ATlEDCnGNsN0BCbMvP9iatChNzlGfvdFIV7gJW2RafD90TwPZOaVk8OSZI39AQMByMgCrlQnL9MqvC014kzFqt-7h3YdzOW-1tionrQjsksC4RNhNf5vg0edhXuo_04a1POBztwpcHZf35vkqUyk11cqDEL64Wnr-cvjA=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Many ordinary people want to learn, pray and <br />help Lebanon. (31 Oct. 2021 - Pottstown, Pa.)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> </span>Yet it wasn’t all misery, because we
got to meet wonderful, caring people, Armenian and non-Armenian, many of whom
were aware of the trials being endured by the Lebanese and the Lebanese-Armenian
community. Hearing their questions, seeing their concern and willingness to do
something, hearing their words of blessing and being with them in God’s
presence was a gift we gratefully received. Yet it was balanced by the exhaustion
of upwards of 14,000 mi / 22,000 km of traveling (aside from the 16,000 mi /
25,000 km to actually get to the US and back)! Enviable? Perhaps. I suppose it
depends on who is doing the envying.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEilX2wqrriB0Rt1PkBMTJWSMqITSKudeiDwAUK_hA1gIFyBzf6eX9AEGGDv-iXxCSXmyYApOW8T3BtY_b0oJ2nbj4YtdO981LbUlg8mn6_4ZCvYPq8r-01CAipvR777KDAE7B4NLZTCmh7vbm3HZFh2M3ygWo2YgHr4ntOCbOvBkf6CdwThn8aI3OOmwQ=s1280" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEilX2wqrriB0Rt1PkBMTJWSMqITSKudeiDwAUK_hA1gIFyBzf6eX9AEGGDv-iXxCSXmyYApOW8T3BtY_b0oJ2nbj4YtdO981LbUlg8mn6_4ZCvYPq8r-01CAipvR777KDAE7B4NLZTCmh7vbm3HZFh2M3ygWo2YgHr4ntOCbOvBkf6CdwThn8aI3OOmwQ=s320" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Getting the word out about Lebanon <br />(6 Nov 2021 - Belmont, Mass.)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There is a TV ad that has appeared
recently on Lebanese television depicting two young Lebanese boys talking about
their dreams, which include going to school. It concludes with a voice-over stating,
“Rights should not be just dreams.” Yet the dreams of a preponderance of people
around us is not to have Lebanon become a livable country, but to leave
Lebanon for a livable country. This “exit strategy” is based on yet a
different kind of motion sickness: that of being made sick by a society that
never experiences stability, that is continually in motion due to the profit-seeking,
power struggles or whims of those in authority, whether locally, regionally or worldwide.
</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>On Beirut’s streets over the years,
in my limited Arabic, I would often hear passersby including numbers in their
conversations, assumedly regarding the price of this or that. How I wished that
the conversations would revolve around ideas, or culture, or wonder at God’s
creation! Today virtually <i>all</i> of the street conversations, and possibly
also the private ones, are about the exchange rate, the cost of cheese and medicine, and the
impossibility of carrying on in these conditions. One man at the exchange house
said, “We’re living in an insane asylum!” I wish that my Arabic had not
improved to the point where I could understand this much.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgit5oe_gVubU0Rf10uwisG7ypNAtJ3PLVP3rljh4ThlHbXZ0tTJ9vl-dRs0g6SCcBTSPVTLPwLH1UvgSRmsFFfpKGkkLZIs3UVgdfAQKugQ87hDfQPYGiMHMZrcD60tTzQNoHLHB3r3wI8LJduc2-wHO80H_WtMIYBOHj2pzPLnmWr-Y1ZW3xtI5U0xw=s1280" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgit5oe_gVubU0Rf10uwisG7ypNAtJ3PLVP3rljh4ThlHbXZ0tTJ9vl-dRs0g6SCcBTSPVTLPwLH1UvgSRmsFFfpKGkkLZIs3UVgdfAQKugQ87hDfQPYGiMHMZrcD60tTzQNoHLHB3r3wI8LJduc2-wHO80H_WtMIYBOHj2pzPLnmWr-Y1ZW3xtI5U0xw=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Exciting times on Home Assignment <br />(6 Dec. 2021 - Broomall, Pa.)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Economic freefall produces one kind
of motion sickness. Seeing dear friends and family members continually zoom
away from you (and I’m not referring to screen time) can produce a similar spiritual
nausea. When a family, or a community such as the Armenians, conclude that
social disintegration is the best route to take, that their children <i>must </i>leave
the country, then there is not much that can be said about the hopes for that
family’s (or that people’s) future. Even if you are driven by the patriotic
emotions that so often cloud Armenians’ judgment about their viability as a people,
the consequences of cultural and societal disintegration cannot be dismissed.
Many a person will insist on the necessity of laying hold, without delay, of
the “promise of a better (economic, educational, health and secure) future
elsewhere” – something that is only a promise, not a guarantee. It will apply
to some lucky individuals, but what will become of collective identity? What will
become of community? What will bring health and strength to the family, that
place where individual and collective identity is formed and nurtured? We are
in a rush toward “every man for himself”; and the shards of what was a
collective hope, a concerted effort to come together to endure hardships and grow
in character (such as was seen in the post-Genocide era), will become merely
the subject of books and articles that very few read or care to reflect upon.
Only a collective awakening to our spiritual and cultural resources can offer
us a more hopeful outcome.</span><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj1E99N7OWgVyQKuLM9mRrZuvSgOGWlOKvWgi9Ciu5GC62sB_YjEqcdHNyZfhFDn42jzOmYhJa3nLNMuuEAHff82PApKERFJVAEJlGicybqU20SndlfhezX3UEsqv7djktW_U84V2c5a4BVXvNMDxGez-cS58kbyVF1JbMzyrks2VC6DIIbnYgkRuQjYA=s1280" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1083" data-original-width="1280" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj1E99N7OWgVyQKuLM9mRrZuvSgOGWlOKvWgi9Ciu5GC62sB_YjEqcdHNyZfhFDn42jzOmYhJa3nLNMuuEAHff82PApKERFJVAEJlGicybqU20SndlfhezX3UEsqv7djktW_U84V2c5a4BVXvNMDxGez-cS58kbyVF1JbMzyrks2VC6DIIbnYgkRuQjYA=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It's Christmastime in the city... <br />(30 Dec. 2021 - Geitawi–Beirut)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I realize that I enjoy privileges
and resources that few around me have. Yet I also have a perspective that many
around me lack: that of having experienced the long-term consequences of living
in a diaspora situation, in societies that are quite capable of swallowing up and
homogenizing the qualities and distinctives that define a people group,
including their language, creativity, spirituality, world view, and desire to
survive and thrive as a unique entity. The motion sickness that we are all enduring
will make it difficult, but all the more crucial, that we together take the
long-term into account as well as the short- and medium-term… and listen well
to each other.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhA--0BbTJtt1BONhrj7QDdgPrFRCRpYwUeWvF4WjfmlULVYSGIK1kqaQj3n96E1AzigWoOl-EAueCNSsowEtvQbeIZJjXBa3NxGIMtQv3tqQ1Jj6nX460qCSRdfquIYRv4z7XUbIxuZtGHsovR43MqsHoLFa5BzhG_TUfCwjCza-D6EKhUmcL6Qm4zDA=s1280" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhA--0BbTJtt1BONhrj7QDdgPrFRCRpYwUeWvF4WjfmlULVYSGIK1kqaQj3n96E1AzigWoOl-EAueCNSsowEtvQbeIZJjXBa3NxGIMtQv3tqQ1Jj6nX460qCSRdfquIYRv4z7XUbIxuZtGHsovR43MqsHoLFa5BzhG_TUfCwjCza-D6EKhUmcL6Qm4zDA=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">LebCat 46: You look smashing in red... I mean <br />on red. (28 Dec. 2021 - Mar Mikhael–Beirut)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>One of the pleasures I enjoyed during
“home assignment” was getting back to exercising (which is important, considering
how much I enjoyed the pleasures of overeating and gaining weight during that
same period). It was a long time since I was able to go to the gym at 6:30 a.m.
and get a bit of sweat going. I also got back on the mat at the aikido dojo, but
quickly remembered that aspect of warmups that I dread: forward and backward
rolls. I dread them because of the dizziness they cause me. But I have learned
that the way to work through this sensation is, first of all, to properly position
my body to roll; second, to do the rolls more frequently; and third to fix my
eye and my mind on a distant, stable point. That long-distance view enables me to
be steady when the world seems to be slanted this way or that. </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>My prayer for Lebanon, and in particular
for the Armenian people, is that we fix our eye on that unchanging Point who
does not change (James 1.17), who brings calmness, steadfastness and faith in
Christ in the midst of the storm, and who blesses his people in the most
difficult of circumstances with the enduring riches of wisdom, truth and love. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[LNB]</span></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>RevoNishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18196532473979855428noreply@blogger.com0VGVM+G4Q، بيروت، Lebanon33.8938851 35.532906933.893439815257658 35.532370458197022 33.894330384742339 35.533443341802979tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647501877531775932.post-26161381687644852302021-08-31T18:24:00.002+03:002021-08-31T18:24:49.566+03:00<p>
</p><div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm; padding: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">45.Another
World </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(31 August
2021)</span></b></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY2mYFluIdhR3go-An0GBYbWWdMMxBvvjcf89wHBd-5rxsOo4-7lYDAAa7MwNSA-HCySo-ywC1_tkfukBY5JKzrgy1Ho45US7yDBgzBIrwQHQw3qSBA802RPfMrCreYX8N3U5mYUYdtR_e/s1280/2021-7-24+IMG_3301.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY2mYFluIdhR3go-An0GBYbWWdMMxBvvjcf89wHBd-5rxsOo4-7lYDAAa7MwNSA-HCySo-ywC1_tkfukBY5JKzrgy1Ho45US7yDBgzBIrwQHQw3qSBA802RPfMrCreYX8N3U5mYUYdtR_e/s320/2021-7-24+IMG_3301.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Children's Conference restarted with two one-<br />day events (KCHAG, Monteverde - 24 July 2021)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It has been two-and-a-half weeks since we
left Lebanon for our 5-month “Home Assignment”. The question that dogged us
when we told people in Lebanon of our trip (“Are you going to come back?”) is
still dogging us here in the U.S., but inverted: “Are you going to go back?”
Because things are terrible in Lebanon, and even worse than they were when we
flew out, people assume that our (unwise in their estimation) answer must be
based only on conditions on the ground. We tell them, “Yes, Lord willing, that
is our plan,” since our move there four years ago was also based on the Lord’s
guidance above all else. But to those living in this world, we must be unaware
of what the situation is on the ground – or in the news.<br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ0m6Ov0A1q9yHLC_14QrpbRir-j7GO_vAyVWCXE8RcTJ5RNlkMfs5eRSDPYAnwd58bo2yY_kpyyWimHtFBNG4gCkRLNPsCX6ye0EXQ0FR7sV7hhAEQ1fborM_ZFBIu_Q5TEMtWw6EeyVm/s1280/2021-7-20+IMG_3180.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ0m6Ov0A1q9yHLC_14QrpbRir-j7GO_vAyVWCXE8RcTJ5RNlkMfs5eRSDPYAnwd58bo2yY_kpyyWimHtFBNG4gCkRLNPsCX6ye0EXQ0FR7sV7hhAEQ1fborM_ZFBIu_Q5TEMtWw6EeyVm/s320/2021-7-20+IMG_3180.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enjoying a scavenger hunt at the conference <br />(KCHAG, Monteverde - 20 July 2021)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> </span>When
we think of Lebanon, we do not first of all think of the rampant corruption,
the hoarding of resources, those seeking a profit from peoples’ misfortune, the
long hours without electricity, the lack of sleep in the hot summer nights, the
anxiety over finding food and medicine, the terrible banking system, the
destruction of last year’s explosion and much, much more… We think of the
people, the friends and loved ones we have, the children and young people, our
colleagues, the small businesses we frequent, the churches, schools and
institutions where we serve, the Armenian community we are a part of, and so
much more. We also look to the coming years, to “what’s next”, the challenges
ahead, the opportunity to add our strength and experience to the efforts of
others, working with God to sustain life in a place and among a people whose
muffled cry is: “We want to live!” The misery that their leaders are spawning
all over the land must not determine our steps, but rather the One who placed this
on our hearts. It won’t convince everyone questioning our planned return, but
that’s the way it is.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDkGlFh80GeFeG2kndKXXheTNJULvIYZMnoGjV8Z3ur3DqAYLbc3KKwoBzLl2WuuBgHaZucWKnMca_hALWHveq5goXZNMX75cD1vfQhRp0xU9A7aW-dAUiQplfwa96RzM-O13J1GzXLe0c/s1280/2021-7-25+IMG_3313.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="889" data-original-width="1280" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDkGlFh80GeFeG2kndKXXheTNJULvIYZMnoGjV8Z3ur3DqAYLbc3KKwoBzLl2WuuBgHaZucWKnMca_hALWHveq5goXZNMX75cD1vfQhRp0xU9A7aW-dAUiQplfwa96RzM-O13J1GzXLe0c/s320/2021-7-25+IMG_3313.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A prickly-pear (cactus) seller finds a whole <br />row of customers, waiting to fill their gas <br />(25 July 2021 - Beirut)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As
the memory fades of the hardships we faced each day and each moment in Lebanon,
it seems like we are currently living in another world. We remember that people
continue to suffer even more humiliation there, but it has started to disappear
from our consciousness, as we experience the luxuries of life in the U.S.
Luxuries such as 24-hour electricity, uninterrupted water supply, filling a
tank of gas without waiting in a long line, stable prices and currency, banks
that allow you full access to your savings, fully-stocked pharmacies, the
ability to plan a work day or a vacation day, heating and cooling of homes and
businesses as needed, schools and universities happily planning to receive
children and youth for the new school year, continuous internet at fast speeds,
and on and on. We are inhabiting a parallel world from the one we left; a world
where, strangely enough, things function as they were intended. Much like the
world of privilege Lebanon’s leaders inhabit while they perpetuate a world of
misery and humiliation for their people.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaXrWo7840yClE1IcirnSeZ4_uciCQIEKiZwA9ZtTPUhG6N0LsUr6hO9RNzXoCuyMe6uP8jWgLJ4iHpGcjpI_Q3kTpEGxQ7SoV-BavMgefQFBgyPwc9cX9KU1L4vyQnMmMJPcgYPAOgSmT/s1280/2021-7-30+IMG_3336.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaXrWo7840yClE1IcirnSeZ4_uciCQIEKiZwA9ZtTPUhG6N0LsUr6hO9RNzXoCuyMe6uP8jWgLJ4iHpGcjpI_Q3kTpEGxQ7SoV-BavMgefQFBgyPwc9cX9KU1L4vyQnMmMJPcgYPAOgSmT/s320/2021-7-30+IMG_3336.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Socially-relevant graffiti, quoting<br />prophecy from Isaiah 6 <br />(30 July 2021 - Beirut)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> </span>Although
it may seem so to anyone who has to endure daily deprivations, everything is
not perfect in this parallel world we inhabit today. As time passes the dark
side of life in the U.S. gradually reveals itself to us more starkly. One thing
that has begun to creep into my consciousness is the “irrelevance” of being
Armenian in this “far” Diaspora (far from the lands we were dispossessed of).
With so much to do, buy, see, download, play, watch, consume, fix, replace, who
has time to think about existential issues? Questions that keep some of us
awake through the night are so irrelevant; questions such as, “Who am I? To
whom do I belong? Do we Armenians have a collective future? What are the
internal and external threats facing us? Are we our worst enemies, or are the
criminal regimes surrounding Armenia? Can we work toward a coordinated Diaspora
that neither ignores its own needs nor discounts those of Armenia?” One by one
these concerns fade from view as I get wrapped up in the busy-ness of each day,
and the many things that insist I pay attention. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
also consider how “irrelevant” these questions now seem to many enduring great
deprivations in Syria, Lebanon, and elsewhere in the “near” Diaspora, where the
very visceral struggle just to subsist overtakes any considerations of national
identity, of strategic planning for the future, of battling “red” or “white”
genocides, of challenging globalization’s threats to us and other small
nations… Each of these parallel worlds, one shiny and bright, the other dark
and dreary, imposes itself on me, and on us, and makes us push aside any
considerations of what truly matters, what keeps us human, what gives us
meaning and identity, what can help us endure and flourish as a nation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQy6kKbpNfXN_2FyhPe0TsUDmL0VVfqOQvAS5Z0F5DEK1qkBnmO-8gkhQPMbaN5hGkdMUVRfbTep-RGiTAvZytSoXVfh1Lkv_Ac0hBwhH1Dl403zDU4hlLOpIW8INozx4BN5aWLVpTyemG/s1280/2021-8-4+IMG_3368.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQy6kKbpNfXN_2FyhPe0TsUDmL0VVfqOQvAS5Z0F5DEK1qkBnmO-8gkhQPMbaN5hGkdMUVRfbTep-RGiTAvZytSoXVfh1Lkv_Ac0hBwhH1Dl403zDU4hlLOpIW8INozx4BN5aWLVpTyemG/s320/2021-8-4+IMG_3368.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From every walk of life, walking to the city <br />center to remember those lost on August 4,<br />2020, and demand accountability<br />(4 Aug 2021 - Geitawi, Beirut)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> </span>Even
issues of faith are affected by the powers at play in these worlds. When you
have every thing (emphasis on “thing”) available to you, God can become just another
add-on to your life, and faith can be a pleasant – and optional – diversion. One
that you meld and adjust to fit the values and standards of society. On the
other hand, when you have nothing, faith can turn into a mere lifeline that you
use to survive each day. Lifting your head up from the misery of each day in
order to seek and do God’s will where you are right now can appear as an
impossible luxury. How easily the immediate and urgent can supplant the
important and foundational, and how often the temporal overwhelms the eternal.
How hard it is to live in God’s world no matter what “real world” you occupy.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ujuX7HUHiZOcKBLtVQyrLl0eKYDa77ip3xZzcPKM2zSgiY7cj9IPcNTlUP398tsp6PdqXXeJSUUHHlw1elFsEW9HZ9G7NLAdJxzpxOOlPxb3H-IgCuC1O-0tNn4gWmxNf8YfUM517jR2/s1280/2021-8-6+IMG_3376.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ujuX7HUHiZOcKBLtVQyrLl0eKYDa77ip3xZzcPKM2zSgiY7cj9IPcNTlUP398tsp6PdqXXeJSUUHHlw1elFsEW9HZ9G7NLAdJxzpxOOlPxb3H-IgCuC1O-0tNn4gWmxNf8YfUM517jR2/s320/2021-8-6+IMG_3376.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Portraits of the fallen in the 2020 port blast <br />(6 Aug 2021 - Saifi, Beirut)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We
had a full summer before we left Lebanon, including an extended stay (again) by
our son Sevag, and preparation for our absence. Despite the steady decline in
living conditions, we enjoyed being at home together. He had time to serve,
time with friends, and time to eat <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bouza
arabi </i></span><span lang="HY" style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ansi-language: HY; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(natural </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Arabic ice cream, home-made with goat’s milk). When people in his
“usual” world ask him, “How was it in Lebanon? Wasn’t it dangerous? Wasn’t it
difficult for you?” he simply answers them, “It was very good to be with my
parents.” He, too, realizes that it is difficult for people in one world to
grasp the reality of another world.</span><span style="font-family: AraRusa; mso-bidi-font-family: AraRusa;"></span></p>
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDJrU6qVuotivjWsf_TEigo45blZYShZ72NpdmVoqunbg5pGSyjxpOdWi5J4p9tFlu_NB0K5CxQpEWNn6NkZakmNf5CUEyj2UTWc5IN3FxqJ-5xcZ_dSON3-H3eovIITb8O4Fa49Mu7XLo/s1280/LebCat+45+2021-7-28+IMG_3329.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDJrU6qVuotivjWsf_TEigo45blZYShZ72NpdmVoqunbg5pGSyjxpOdWi5J4p9tFlu_NB0K5CxQpEWNn6NkZakmNf5CUEyj2UTWc5IN3FxqJ-5xcZ_dSON3-H3eovIITb8O4Fa49Mu7XLo/s320/LebCat+45+2021-7-28+IMG_3329.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">LebCat 45: Dreaming of donuts and other <br />easy handouts from the AUB crowd <br />(28 July 2021 - Bliss St., Beirut)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Having experienced the Port
Explosion of 2020 together with Sevag, we also experienced its first
anniversary together. Sevag participated in a service of remembrance and prayer
at Ashrafieh’s Armenian Evangelical Church, whose church and school buildings
were hard hit by the blast. It was also a day for us to express our gratitude
to God that we emerged safely from that maelstrom. A Christian artist from the
U.S. honored the over-200 dead from the blast by preparing their portraits and
pasting them around the perimeter of one of the big, empty buildings being
built in downtown Beirut, a few steps away from the Martyrs’ Statue. As we
walked past those portraits, gazing into their eyes brought home the pain and
the reality of the loss – to their families, their communities, and their
country. It’s a temporary exhibit, as those panels will be removed once the
construction is completed. Hopefully their memory will not be temporary, and a
new generation of those who love the truth will emerge and prevail, to pursue
what is right, true and merciful in the world God so loves. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[LNB]<br /></span>
<p><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style> <br /></p>RevoNishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18196532473979855428noreply@blogger.com12200 Graymoor Dr, Broomall, PA 19008, USA39.9694358 -75.364377639.96779130036365 -75.366523367211911 39.971080299636348 -75.362231832788083tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647501877531775932.post-63286915300697977532021-06-21T10:36:00.001+03:002021-06-21T11:01:37.794+03:00Two Hours Is Plenty
<div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: medium none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm 0cm 1pt;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: medium none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm; padding: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 18pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">44.Two
Hours Is Plenty </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(21 June 2021)</span></b></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI9F5dsdBbec97h91tonY8B6EP679BPcTq81NQxaDlYCb4MoBFhP2KXZIQNtnwXwal9nSGdnKmZCu2Jxvg6h956Uoo8bGlPklgVk4wcGH2ComtNtMA-13YJemg03kwJjIeYps59in7KOMi/s1280/2021-5-27+IMG_2688.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="970" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI9F5dsdBbec97h91tonY8B6EP679BPcTq81NQxaDlYCb4MoBFhP2KXZIQNtnwXwal9nSGdnKmZCu2Jxvg6h956Uoo8bGlPklgVk4wcGH2ComtNtMA-13YJemg03kwJjIeYps59in7KOMi/s320/2021-5-27+IMG_2688.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Street art around AUB <br />(Bliss St., Beirut - 27 May 2021)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">When the foxes who have ruled the henhouse
for the past three decades claim that they are going to improve henhouse conditions,
like install air conditioning, or clean up the mess on the floor, it should
take less than three decades to realize that this will never happen. Case in
point: the endless promises up until last year that Lebanon’s decaying power
grid and lengthy power cuts were going to be “fixed” – “very soon” – have
passed their expiry date and are smelling rancid. Two hours a day of
electricity is plenty, right? No massive popular movement emerges against these
foxes – or perhaps they are wolves? “So let’s cut it down to 1-1/2 hours per
day.” And on and on it goes. </span><p></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpcyOrnaOB_IYnhVb8XgPSxL-GK0RKZtLclkFEfGutDG2Dm54h-QV7B8IDXWVCDbaXgLUSeKNwQckUaxhlxyX7MHM8ii-NHBLNjYuW1VXScL62gs5RYUOo9m0SLlnRZ9uW_vgeuYSgP6Wg/s1280/2021-6-4+IMG_2762.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpcyOrnaOB_IYnhVb8XgPSxL-GK0RKZtLclkFEfGutDG2Dm54h-QV7B8IDXWVCDbaXgLUSeKNwQckUaxhlxyX7MHM8ii-NHBLNjYuW1VXScL62gs5RYUOo9m0SLlnRZ9uW_vgeuYSgP6Wg/s320/2021-6-4+IMG_2762.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And more than a few people eat at these sorts <br />of "food outlets" (Mar Mikhael - <br />Beirut - 4 June 2021)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>How
bad is the electricity in Lebanon? Wait… I’ve heard this joke before. It’s so
bad that their offices got blown to smithereens in the port blast last year and
nobody noticed the difference. It’s so bad that even the private generator owners are complaining that their machines
are working too much. </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
primary occupation of Lebanese in these times is watching, in real-time, a
country rich in natural resources, human capital (especially its youth), healthy
growth possibilities, history, heritage, and service industries, fall apart,
bit-by-bit. It’s not a pre-occupation, because that would imply you have a job.
The economy has (up to now) contracted to the point where it will take a decade
or two to recover, so says the World Bank. Therefore, until and if recovery
starts, “wait and watch” will be the primary work engaging Lebanese of all
stripes. Possibly also the pre-occupation of the regional and international
players fielding their teams in “Stadium Lebanon”.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE5SzMrejhBRae4fYsyuB25IT2NYX3FguxXlpVbcf3H-F7aeBUMpySClILl5q7mHanRSsKGgpUPDYMVFCHifbloL2OdeRYT0HzQnkGZVL83I_pcbrMf0fYRMJfbHRc3-pQ7jcK54ogkD2H/s1280/2021-6-7+IMG_2777.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE5SzMrejhBRae4fYsyuB25IT2NYX3FguxXlpVbcf3H-F7aeBUMpySClILl5q7mHanRSsKGgpUPDYMVFCHifbloL2OdeRYT0HzQnkGZVL83I_pcbrMf0fYRMJfbHRc3-pQ7jcK54ogkD2H/s320/2021-6-7+IMG_2777.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wounded voices from the blast zone <br />(Mar Mikhael - Beirut - 7 June 2021)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Meanwhile,
foreign and expatriate Lebanese partygoers looking for a bargain are flowing
into the country, keeping the eating and drinking sector in business. Like
vultures on carrion, nightly they noisily fill the “bar-way” – Armenia Street / rue Nahr / Mar Mikhael – near us until the wee hours of the morning. One could say, “At
least they are putting </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">‘fresh
money’ </span>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style> into the economy.” But that money comes at the price of humiliation and dependency. Yesterday’s militia leaders (i.e., today’s political leaders) have
treated the Lebanese this way for three or more decades, as they reinforce their place
in Lebanon’s confessional-based system, offering their followers jobs, “monetary
incentives”, or even COVID-19 vaccines, in exchange for unquestioning party
loyalty. A similar effect can be had by narcotics.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-pmk17r_nvJUmEdu228-m2FwroPN8yosnLsMix52-tSkTVXGXdoh3KPK-KY_kUr_vYji0ztMTvAu3cJhdu46Bd6gU06elVyNnaiQBLQ1Gp3u3guCUKg07oDS2K37nYTJv0f2LSi9H1izT/s2048/2021-6+Gas+lines.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1152" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-pmk17r_nvJUmEdu228-m2FwroPN8yosnLsMix52-tSkTVXGXdoh3KPK-KY_kUr_vYji0ztMTvAu3cJhdu46Bd6gU06elVyNnaiQBLQ1Gp3u3guCUKg07oDS2K37nYTJv0f2LSi9H1izT/s320/2021-6+Gas+lines.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;">Lines, lines everywhere <br />(Beirut - 14-16 June 2021)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>That
currency devaluation continues by the day, and the banking system, against
which the uprising began late in 2019 (before it derailed), continues to devise
new ways to keep depositors’ money in their hands. This is in open defiance of
international efforts to salvage Lebanon’s shipwrecked economy. Similarly, the
supply of medicines, including medicines for chronic conditions, is being
controlled and rationed, though it seems that there is no shortage in depots. Hospitals,
deeply affected by this situation, will soon inform their chemo and dialysis
patients not to come in for treatment, due to lack of supplies. Kleptomania is
an addiction, and as any drug abuser can relate, you could sell anything or anyone if it got you what you crave. For Reformed theology fans, the term “total
depravity” has here been replaced with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">utter
</i>depravity. </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Why
has there been no public uprising against the perpetrators of this heartless
and endless misery purposely inflicted upon the Lebanese? I refer you to “The
Frog and the Kettle” analogy, which best explains the slow adjustment of the
population to the deadly atmosphere around them. In previous years, as power
cuts occurred, the government would announce they’re “trying to fix” the
electricity (or trash, or any other) problem. Now, they don’t even bother
saying anything to the public. There is no spirit or will left (so far) to hold
anyone accountable. And as we all know, uprisings where mafias rule result in
bloodshed. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGqoBlMYrYVJv_QQAQ6TrmJFH0NPzBGjmElTZQIWoBF4SrzBNuGinW1pIMmh4sdkq4MndcK66ervA1knWBQjmDCxR9VRAbo5oGKsFt-zl4t5lUd7guhnQOtgt-pUuiHt2DECFA-2O28Mst/s1280/2021-6-17+IMG_2886.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGqoBlMYrYVJv_QQAQ6TrmJFH0NPzBGjmElTZQIWoBF4SrzBNuGinW1pIMmh4sdkq4MndcK66ervA1knWBQjmDCxR9VRAbo5oGKsFt-zl4t5lUd7guhnQOtgt-pUuiHt2DECFA-2O28Mst/s320/2021-6-17+IMG_2886.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You know your neighbors love you when they <br />leave onions and garlic in your mail slot! <br />(17 June 2021 - Geitawi - Beirut)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>One
of the bright spots in this morass is one of the only governmental agencies that
is working for, and not against, the people: the Health Ministry. It has an
active cabinet minister who actually has the proper qualifications for the job.
He makes sure the press is present during his surprise visits to hospitals,
clinics, vaccination centers and medicine depots, and maintains updates on the
Ministry’s website and social media, so as to increase public awareness and
accountability. His recommendations for governmental policy are based on
scientific and public health concerns, and not on the dictates of any religious
community head. As a result, Lebanon has been able to see a vast reduction in
COVID-19 cases, including a reduction in deaths from the disease. How we wish
he could step out of his caretaker role and be part of the
yet-to-be-formed-if-ever cabinet.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRhAfhz9Uot4nl4yeWA8fZ4KMpskjq1BtxHNsE4WbfqYcKpQ9kB1LPJTFqsdOFLs6YEmXEtadgfYEX17wXQ5kBztccO9A-cHLgG8WKVxPAnwQTqUHCdwwQ2XeCxsWxnVMtZPS7GlYg-I2c/s1280/2021-6-19+IMG_2904.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="963" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRhAfhz9Uot4nl4yeWA8fZ4KMpskjq1BtxHNsE4WbfqYcKpQ9kB1LPJTFqsdOFLs6YEmXEtadgfYEX17wXQ5kBztccO9A-cHLgG8WKVxPAnwQTqUHCdwwQ2XeCxsWxnVMtZPS7GlYg-I2c/s320/2021-6-19+IMG_2904.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A newly-formed Armenian family exchanging <br />vows before a newly rebuilt stained glass <br />cross! (19 June 2021 - Beirut)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Another
bright spot – or rather a whole lot of bright spots – are those citizens who
demonstrate humanity toward their fellow citizens, despite their own suffering.
Some help to push cars that are out of gas in the waiting lines at gas stations
(which dispense a few litres of fuel to a single customer as slowly as
possible). Some pay a little extra at the food market so that someone else who
is short of cash can buy food. Others write alerts via social media where young
parents can find baby formula or diapers. In one of those online encounters the
donor of some much-needed medicine refused any payment – only asking the
recipient to “pray for her”. Despite the misery (and I’ve highlighted only a
fraction of the spheres of corruption in which the country is drowning), the
ordinary humanity of the authentic Lebanese still shines, albeit dimly.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh39mXFH7yQYTd0AC7hgvNh57sDPQP-qnP1APjNcMGx0j72Z4SA4StjN12pMAn4ak9uI00GKECyMqseMwpu6S64NtJss4IrvWMBjSmTcqmYlSfcXu7ZppgTWB5xxGwQNPJspEZLicGdiAYH/s2016/IMG_3412.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh39mXFH7yQYTd0AC7hgvNh57sDPQP-qnP1APjNcMGx0j72Z4SA4StjN12pMAn4ak9uI00GKECyMqseMwpu6S64NtJss4IrvWMBjSmTcqmYlSfcXu7ZppgTWB5xxGwQNPJspEZLicGdiAYH/s320/IMG_3412.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Praying for God's blessing on the Armenian <br />Evangelical Central HS graduating <br />class (Geitawi - Beirut - 13 June 2021) <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </span>The
Armenian community here is faring as well as everyone else: not better, not
worse. But in pursuing its daily life and continuing its existence, it is
engaging in civil disobedience, defying the rampant corruption in which it is
compelled to exist. Merely the act of rebuilding structures damaged in the port
explosion (a disaster resulting from years of corruption and negligence on a
staggering scale) shows that defiance. The installation of a re-imagined version
of the stained glass cross in the First Armenian Evangelical Church, rededicated
yesterday, is another example. Armenian schools (and Haigazian University)
holding their year-end programs these weeks and prayerfully graduating their
students to the next level of their education shows that same determination. Or
a young Armenian couple taking their marriage vows and pledging to stand by one
another no matter what the circumstances is another act of civil disobedience
against the wolves running the henhouse. And for what is yet to come, faith in God’s
grace will be the only way to endure.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVtZCU0pc-6NG5V3h9XUz2PjgX1LeEA9rIxHHkEuwLyJvhKOMUBaXho_f815Aw1K5qf8PHMtMXiMM3NMuQW2uVMQM-13rT2NM8wqpRG_Tgqt3MYp7LHbh3rBSmHMTPWCFS5TLw0bzn3IoR/s1280/LebCat+44+2021-6-13+IMG_2825.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVtZCU0pc-6NG5V3h9XUz2PjgX1LeEA9rIxHHkEuwLyJvhKOMUBaXho_f815Aw1K5qf8PHMtMXiMM3NMuQW2uVMQM-13rT2NM8wqpRG_Tgqt3MYp7LHbh3rBSmHMTPWCFS5TLw0bzn3IoR/s320/LebCat+44+2021-6-13+IMG_2825.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">LebCat44: What, are you going to start <br />charging me for chilling under this car? <br />(Geitawi - Beirut - 13 June 2021)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So
we are back to spending summer nights without electricity, pretending to sleep,
and then dragging ourselves through the daytime, pretending we are awake. Until
last week we had our neighbors with whom to commiserate, but they returned to
Armenia for the summer… and have their own set of challenges to face, as
Armenia decides its future leaders, and continues to be the object of interest to
neighboring Canis lupus appetites, and the object of continued Western humanitarian
disinterest. </span><span style="font-family: AraRusa; mso-bidi-font-family: AraRusa;"></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Since
there is only One who holds the future, we put our trust in him alone these
days. Probably not a bad idea for everyone, everywhere, to do the same, no matter the level
of comfort you (currently) experience. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[LNB]</span></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>RevoNishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18196532473979855428noreply@blogger.com0Qobayat, Bayrut, Lebanon33.893595 35.53221933.893149714557012 35.531682558197019 33.894040285442983 35.532755441802976tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647501877531775932.post-43410755710911173082021-04-12T19:21:00.008+03:002021-04-16T15:52:44.843+03:00A Soapless Shave<p>
</p><div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: medium none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm 0cm 1pt;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: medium none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm; padding: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 18pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">43.A
Soapless Shave </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(12 April 2021)</span></b></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWwZXxddp4mAfC5SdWdPez8w850G6oCTsCON-L19npvXcYe_0Ck1dLR7UTCGc3bUWF76Bx4mlQIVr_npDtncY8EGfY_v9GIquwmkAHFgJB_SX00hLimAGtWGcmIIPapsn5fkNezNrz3_Tu/s1280/2021-4-7+IMG_2341.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWwZXxddp4mAfC5SdWdPez8w850G6oCTsCON-L19npvXcYe_0Ck1dLR7UTCGc3bUWF76Bx4mlQIVr_npDtncY8EGfY_v9GIquwmkAHFgJB_SX00hLimAGtWGcmIIPapsn5fkNezNrz3_Tu/s320/2021-4-7+IMG_2341.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One more crumbling building in the <br />port area, swathed in scaffolding, <br />awaiting rescue. <br />(7 Apr. 2021 - Karantina-Beirut)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Last month, while the country was still in
the throes of a total lockdown in order to stem the spread of the coronavirus,
I made a sneak visit to the barber. As if conducting an illicit transaction, I
walked towards his shop and happened to see him (or rather, he saw me) in his
parked car. He rolled down his window. “Kiifak! I have to run an errand. I’ll
meet you there in 10 minutes.” Since I know that “10 minutes” is not to be
taken literally in Lebanon, I showed up in 20 minutes. Looking this way and
that, he lifted the rolling shutters (the “daraba”) of his tiny shop, just high
enough for us to fold ourselves in half and scurry in, then pulled it down
behind us. He did his standard men’s haircut (the only one in his repertoire),
and finished with a scissors-trim of my beard, and a scraping off of the
unwanted hairs outside the “beard zone”. And did so with a straight razor, of
course. With water.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But
anyone who has handled a razor knows that one must also use a thing called
“soap”. But not this day. Could it have had something to do with the lockdown?
I’m not sure. Perhaps if a policeman had come along, banging on the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">daraba, </i>demanding to know if barbering
was happening inside, the barber could have legitimately said, “No, I am not
barbering,” since one does not shave without soap, right? Because if you are
shaving someone without soap, your intent is to inflict as much pain as
possible on the hapless person draped with a sheet and confined to your barber
chair (i.e., me), and not to produce a smiling, satisfied customer. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj83jHN-iJP19-W8I98U-BLDtUDThHziW_ZHkZJOrOdCEXm1vIjZIrtoPYDFMFU3pYIZsmMXXxZJHd347WKhAYvhMF8iLBTbd-BR4Xqdvaz9ma8MgtopYgxLYJciIMvF7fjJrOLZvxFf78B/s1739/2021-4-7+Port+wall.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1739" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj83jHN-iJP19-W8I98U-BLDtUDThHziW_ZHkZJOrOdCEXm1vIjZIrtoPYDFMFU3pYIZsmMXXxZJHd347WKhAYvhMF8iLBTbd-BR4Xqdvaz9ma8MgtopYgxLYJciIMvF7fjJrOLZvxFf78B/s320/2021-4-7+Port+wall.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The frustration, disillusionment and hope <br />expressed in graffiti on the barrier wall <br />at the port. (7 Apr. 2021 - Beirut)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
was, in fact, experiencing on my own skin the oft-used proverb spoken by
Western Armenians (and in Turkish, of course): <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">saboun-souz terash </i></span><span lang="HY" style="mso-ansi-language: HY;">(սապուն-սուզ թրաշ)</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">, </span></i><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">meaning “a soapless shave”. Its
meaning is not self-evident, whether in Turkish or in translation. It is not a
reference to the pain such a shave induces, but rather to one who does not use
all that is required for a task. It conveys a range of meanings that include
“insincerity”, “hypocrisy”, “deceptiveness” and, ironically, “buttering up
someone”. Hey, I would have even settled for butter to compensate for the
missing soap!</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Shaving
without soap is something existing all around us, especially when the subject
is politics. The claims of Lebanese politicians, each the servant of some
wealthy, unseen master locally, or in the region, or in powerful states, fits
this phrase. One of them insists that he is honest and concerned for the suffering
of the Lebanese people, while another says that no, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">he</i>, not the other,<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>is the
one who truly has the people at heart, and on it goes. (And if you don’t like
my use of the generic singular pronoun, I encourage you take a closer look at
Lebanese politics.) Their concern for the poor is touching, except that none of
them know the pain of those families who are reducing their daily meals to two
a day, and then to one. None of them (no, not one) know the misery of those who
sell their household possessions, piece by piece, in order to pay school or
university tuition. Or the shame of having to receive handout after handout
from NGOs, while the heads of the banking association and the Central Bank
governor, in their grotesque charade, waste day after precious day pointing
fingers at one another while the Lebanese Pound continues its downward spiral,
and hyperinflation its upward spiral. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A
shave of the head as well as the beard, without any soap.</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiArbZ0-87mtkHmJbIMD_Kv23cLtj_fyxzm90RuHxcZayM9l6fW2rFmrk_-2vjkS7UsjC0p1a9XS5CAlRQSljwzEWZZCq791WGJxDqcPt7_JRi7JNXyykNSpcyqjKQz7OCVtVTpc_3mrtQE/s1280/2021-2-27+IMG_2025.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiArbZ0-87mtkHmJbIMD_Kv23cLtj_fyxzm90RuHxcZayM9l6fW2rFmrk_-2vjkS7UsjC0p1a9XS5CAlRQSljwzEWZZCq791WGJxDqcPt7_JRi7JNXyykNSpcyqjKQz7OCVtVTpc_3mrtQE/s320/2021-2-27+IMG_2025.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A traditional <i>ibriq </i>made of recycled <br />glass recovered from the Aug. 4 blast. <br />(27 Feb. 2021 - Geitawi-Beirut)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
phrase is also clear in the pronouncements of the leaders of the countries that
organized and conducted the latest episode of their genocidal program to
eliminate Armenia and Armenians from existence. (This is not hyperbole, nor
“Armenian hysteria”, but an old, cold-blooded agenda.) Turkey’s president
recently spoke in support of the Armenian Prime Minister when cries for the
latter’s resignation swelled in the past few months. It was indeed surreal: a
neo-sultan who claims to be the keeper of peace and stability in the region, who
also guaranteed Azerbaijan’s dominance in last fall’s war on Artsakh, also claims
to wish to have “normal” relations with Armenia. Meanwhile, it pursues
territorial advances in the Caucasus and encourages its “little brother” there
to desecrate and destroy Armenian culture, just as it did in historic Armenian
lands in the century since the Armenian Genocide. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A shave that produces bloody wounds, over which world powers express sympathy,
but are unwilling to stop.</i></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSUWC7hNNn6HsmaMEGo_4bM9OZ0k-JzeO5CDiYRcBlYphWtfzMc9XUsXzj6YoNeOsCcr8FzCG64bBbYs4aUinUvBhGnh8YJeuRL5ZuYYWYL74iOT8BkwV0w-gXzIegdKYOrfSulfrQPcmF/s1280/2021-4-8+IMG_2400.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="927" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSUWC7hNNn6HsmaMEGo_4bM9OZ0k-JzeO5CDiYRcBlYphWtfzMc9XUsXzj6YoNeOsCcr8FzCG64bBbYs4aUinUvBhGnh8YJeuRL5ZuYYWYL74iOT8BkwV0w-gXzIegdKYOrfSulfrQPcmF/s320/2021-4-8+IMG_2400.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A biblically-appropriate house built upon the <br />rock, with a beautiful view of Lebanon's <br />true beauty. (8 Apr. 2021 - Hammana)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Not
only all this, but the saying is further evident in the endless venting of rhetoric
of various Armenian leaders, in and outside Armenia, in order to justify
themselves and rally their supporters. No evidence of depth or far-sightedness
shows, no plan or vision for mature state-building emerges; all one sees is the
appearance of love of country, without substance. This posturing is a daily
feature in the country and the Diaspora, while emigration continues unabated. Little
did we know three decades ago that today the Armenian people would be so far from
having a strong homeland; farther in many ways than their condition during the
Soviet era. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A barber who has forgotten
that one needs soap in order to give a shave without injury.</i></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCvh_moRgG0QWa7_vbfOlvqDICTsRccsjvJU7tLVfJXya1e4SXahuCO3x-Neiq60fxpakYQiY1ffsI_pzlrBOqNfepYxPP1zcdnAmvzsSUcFF71awcUobndCkq3medZF-Ef3_KxjJ0wMIE/s1280/2021-4-2+IMG_2227.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCvh_moRgG0QWa7_vbfOlvqDICTsRccsjvJU7tLVfJXya1e4SXahuCO3x-Neiq60fxpakYQiY1ffsI_pzlrBOqNfepYxPP1zcdnAmvzsSUcFF71awcUobndCkq3medZF-Ef3_KxjJ0wMIE/s320/2021-4-2+IMG_2227.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A few of the hundreds of olive trees newly <br />planted on the Armenian Evangelical Church <br />campus, next to the Christian Endeavor Hall. <br />(2 Apr. 2021 - Ainjar)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Maria
and I had forgotten what the world looked like outside of our concrete home in
our concrete neighborhood of our concrete city. The opportunity came thanks to
the COVID-19 vaccine, for which we traveled 40 km (25 mi) to Azounieh last
week. Trees! Wildflowers! Mountains! Snow! Villages! Fresh air! Orchards!
Goats! Narrow, old streets! Speed bumps! It was almost too much to take in at
one time. But we took it in, and enjoyed every moment, despite the presence of
a pair of contrails far above our heads, evidence of daily airspace violations
over Lebanon in order to raid Syria. Both Maria and I received our first shot,
and since then already got notification for the follow-up shot in a few weeks. We'll
take that, hoping for as few side-effects as we experienced this time, and
enjoy a welcome reprise of our “natural” Lebanon tour.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh38vRsAuCknzP2UBqLYtFKKLnKxt7LKUqbzkLznpg0kaULn7Y07qx5qh8_2W0Rdlwr3JFeYv2VMPvY1DS_OxNlMnGakItvuKyQS1WPf4JotTI9wZHk7wfqvfuoP4DQ5IzrJUPFJEmkASYV/s1280/2021-4-2+IMG_2265.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh38vRsAuCknzP2UBqLYtFKKLnKxt7LKUqbzkLznpg0kaULn7Y07qx5qh8_2W0Rdlwr3JFeYv2VMPvY1DS_OxNlMnGakItvuKyQS1WPf4JotTI9wZHk7wfqvfuoP4DQ5IzrJUPFJEmkASYV/s320/2021-4-2+IMG_2265.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A traditional and oft-seen do-it-yourself <br />parade through our neighborhood. Literally, <br />a Good Friday Caravan (get it?). <br />(2 Apr. 2021 - Geitawi, Beirut)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Actually,
for me it was the second time in one week that I was able to escape the city,
having traveled to Ainjar to lead the Armenian Evangelical Church’s Maundy
Thursday communion service. Something about springtime buds appearing on fruit
trees fills you with wonder and even hope. And seeing so many boarding school youth
in attendance, along with walking around to note new developments on the church
& school campus (and being with the pastor and his family) impacted me positively
as well. On the trip back to Beirut on Good Friday I even saw snow falling, for
the first time in four years! Turns out it’s the same as I remember it.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>A
few days ago I took a walk back to the site of the port explosion. Seeing the
quantity of repair and restoration yet to be done is staggering. And the
Lebanese are feeling it all the more as lengthy, daily power cuts pile on top
of the crashing economy, the political intransigence, the pandemic, and the
social despair. It has been difficult for me to think during the past few months,
difficult to know how to express myself, as evidenced by my lack of writing. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqZICC6Cf2ZNoi_AMrGSlwxXMNjo4eqMm7K_QRC3soGOn36AQDLVVgb1xce5koJpYAejpzqPDPhoVXU2-8Hw8qkbF4VDKGgh_q91CB_BMdXzvpB4P-7cDDMOQp6LxQlI7XhBqIx7xI6Kxw/s1280/LebCat43+2021-4-6+IMG_2334.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqZICC6Cf2ZNoi_AMrGSlwxXMNjo4eqMm7K_QRC3soGOn36AQDLVVgb1xce5koJpYAejpzqPDPhoVXU2-8Hw8qkbF4VDKGgh_q91CB_BMdXzvpB4P-7cDDMOQp6LxQlI7XhBqIx7xI6Kxw/s320/LebCat43+2021-4-6+IMG_2334.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">LebCat 43: It's spring, and kittens are in bloom. <br />Mom and her three future LebCats.<br />(6 Apr. 2021 - Qobaiyat, Beirut)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But
we celebrated Easter! Yes, it was an online service for us (we’re being very cautious),
though many others went in-person, ostensibly with official permission. Remembering
Christ’s victory over the enemies of sin and death is a great encouragement in
places and times such as this. A few of our church youth succinctly captured
the “upward call” we have towards the Lord Jesus in a short video they created in
place of the traditional Easter sunrise service at KCHAG conference center. Our
hearts continue to long for the day when we can come together to proclaim the
resurrection; but even that inward longing within us can shine a light outward,
and bring healing in the dark and pain-filled places of this world. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[LNB]</span><p></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>RevoNishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18196532473979855428noreply@blogger.com0Qobayat, Bayrut, Lebanon33.893595 35.53221933.893149714476507 35.531682558197019 33.894040285523488 35.532755441802976tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647501877531775932.post-40739156133303860482021-01-31T19:41:00.001+02:002021-01-31T19:42:16.415+02:00Give Up Your Trash<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 18pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">42.Give
Up Your Trash </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(31 January 2021)</span></b><div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: medium none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm 0cm 1pt;">
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYbl1tCdoLaV2Qfg7QtpR6tJ3THHrv4745OfE-lSKDQmrThkNp-lxWpjRFYVnHzDZlPsEg2u-QcWrbth-D1dSuXL57PP1ijeOEQYbNHAKCQwF_gzsGVBUkjQjMhGBSzjsCqlS1Ga1cbsZt/s1280/2020-12-23+P1010514.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYbl1tCdoLaV2Qfg7QtpR6tJ3THHrv4745OfE-lSKDQmrThkNp-lxWpjRFYVnHzDZlPsEg2u-QcWrbth-D1dSuXL57PP1ijeOEQYbNHAKCQwF_gzsGVBUkjQjMhGBSzjsCqlS1Ga1cbsZt/s320/2020-12-23+P1010514.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Part of the nearly invisible "army" of children <br />subsisting on what they can scavenge from <br />Beirut's trash. (23 Dec. 2020 - Geitawi - Beirut)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">There are large receptacles throughout the
city streets of Beirut, where people take out their trash, and trucks come
several times each day to empty them. It’s not an ideal system, but it is
superior to the way things were done into the post-war period of the 90s, when
any street corner was fair game for piling up household waste. Those whose
windows faced these trash heaps, in order to combat the unappetizing smells and
sights, resorted to constructing small shrines of saints, complete with statues, candles
and greenery; for reasons of piety people would refrain from dumping trash in
front of a shrine, and so would seek out other corners to pile up their refuse.
The proliferation of makeshift shrines throughout the city is a testimony to those
days.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /> </span>Slowly
but surely people got used to the “dumpsters” placed curbside every
few blocks or so, even though it took some time for them to place their trash
inside them, and not on the ground beside them. It also took some time for
people to wait until after 5 pm to take out their garbage, so it would not rot
and exude a stench under the hot Mediterranean sun. Over the three decades
since the end of the war these lessons in urban coexistence have experienced
deterioration whenever a crisis has overtaken Lebanon, especially in the
interim between the ending of landfill contracts and the beginning of new
landfill contracts. </span>
<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN_bCuVpXHvn-ab8TvcNE7nxk0GXAzfqsUeZ9GsiVkT-wduL880155k90r5EVsFMYOx7B1KtD5a3e45LHcKh35s-053-7Gb80Un695KsBYfF87keMgRoAmf2NlrmCSgcfsyuH3D7frQ9w_/s1280/2021-1-21+P1010583.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN_bCuVpXHvn-ab8TvcNE7nxk0GXAzfqsUeZ9GsiVkT-wduL880155k90r5EVsFMYOx7B1KtD5a3e45LHcKh35s-053-7Gb80Un695KsBYfF87keMgRoAmf2NlrmCSgcfsyuH3D7frQ9w_/s320/2021-1-21+P1010583.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A hopeful sign that winter snows will help avert <br />summer drought. (23 Jan. 2021 - Mt. Sannine)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In
the aftermath of the Beirut Port explosion in August, with one-fourth of the
city turned into ruins and then into a construction zone, piles of discarded
rubble accumulated once more, as they did in the early 1990s, when the downtown
area was sacrificed on the altar of the newly-elected Prime Minister’s construction
company. But this time the rubble, twisted metal and broken glass piled up both in as well as
around the trash receptacles. In fact, so much refuse accumulated that the
sanitation company was unable to keep up with the collection, and only until a
month ago has the situation returned to “normal”. Yet to accept the current state
of waste management as “normal”, one must quash any musings on where all this
refuse is dumped after leaving your neighborhood. </span></p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Recently
I was taking our household trash to the receptacles a few steps outside the
front door of our building, expecting to toss it into the bin, perhaps see a
few cats jump out in fright at the airborne garbage bag, and then with a satisfied
smile on my face for a job well done, turn on my heels and head back inside.
Instead I came face-to-face with a young Syrian boy in grimy clothes, who
extended his hand to take the trash bag from me so that he could rip it open
and inspect it for saleable items. Obediently, I handed over the bag, turned and
left uneasily. I wondered if I had better Arabic language skills, would I have engaged
him in a conversation, no matter how brief? What could I have said to this
refugee child, part of an army of unmasked children who scour the city’s trash
bins, alone or in groups, to find recyclable or saleable objects and make a
living?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2CkWx2AAaOxFv2Sc2Ap3TS-iL1fRDeaaCx4lUUQVUqUFruV1fTBuPiDjjxa0KZdwVXfuUkR_AUVFeFOqvDEImQPvWeDjOX7A8qPZWoMA6nNYgFeBi5wE2ltyetVSexdFntlQ4g0agEsru/s1280/2020-12-26+Paul+H.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="998" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2CkWx2AAaOxFv2Sc2Ap3TS-iL1fRDeaaCx4lUUQVUqUFruV1fTBuPiDjjxa0KZdwVXfuUkR_AUVFeFOqvDEImQPvWeDjOX7A8qPZWoMA6nNYgFeBi5wE2ltyetVSexdFntlQ4g0agEsru/s320/2020-12-26+Paul+H.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dusty roads can be swept, but what <br />about the children who live their <br />lives there? (26 Dec. 2020 - Bourj <br />Hammoud - Photo: Paul Haidostian)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /> </span>These
are not the only non-Lebanese children who have taken up permanent residence
here. Some have become fixtures for us, begging at certain intersections –
young mothers sitting on the sidewalk, holding infants or sending toddlers up
to passersby to beg for money; young boys weaving in and out of traffic to sell
a package of paper tissues; or other young girls, tapping on car windows, girls
whose noticeable maturing will make them likely targets for a different kind of
selling… and then young motherhood. </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In
the midst of an economic meltdown, Lebanon has had one of the strictest
lockdown programs in the world, possibly because it has few other ways of
holding the coronavirus at bay. Its hospitals – minus about five that were
ruined in the port blast – are almost at full capacity, mostly with coronavirus
patients. Social services for the general public are notoriously few and far
between. Financial assistance to needy families is non-existent, and agencies,
such as the ones our church Union administers, do their best to reach those
they know about. Donor organizations, such as the World Bank, have begun
assistance programs to the poor, but they themselves will be handling the
distributions of funds, not trusting governmental institutions to do the job
properly. Public trust, essential for any society to avoid implosion (such as events
witnessed in the American capital earlier this month), is on the wane wherever
one turns.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-KdQOmUqc2AOjaazKOSbYdEO-qRUipiTBo_MG5do1WpexYO2y3jUvrATkuyE4npoPgZvytfVfSdzvXT9mmHafkRha4qNpBjbmw6DCTD4aV6BOByKGMLrGj5FJK9gWQzI4R-4kCrOjxNXv/s1280/2021-1-21+P1010582.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-KdQOmUqc2AOjaazKOSbYdEO-qRUipiTBo_MG5do1WpexYO2y3jUvrATkuyE4npoPgZvytfVfSdzvXT9mmHafkRha4qNpBjbmw6DCTD4aV6BOByKGMLrGj5FJK9gWQzI4R-4kCrOjxNXv/s320/2021-1-21+P1010582.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Idle cranes at the port, in a country whose <br />lifeblood is imports. (21 Jan. 2021 - <br />Karantina - Beirut)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /> </span>These
stresses on society have erupted into frequent clashes with the state security
services, most notably seen currently in the northern city of Tripoli. Tripoli
is home to great numbers of poor as well as the hometown of some of the very
wealthiest in the country. One can question the motives of some of the
protestors in attacking state institutions, but they should not be the only
ones to be questioned. There are the regional masters, who each have their
following, both within the political structures as well as among many on the
street. But it cannot be denied that the poverty quietly overtaking Lebanon is
due to the questionable motives and actions of those in seats of power, both
inside and outside “officialdom”. Any possible alleviation of the virus due to
a vaccination program might bring and end to the lockdown and free those
dependent on daily work to again find their daily bread for their families, but it will also bring
the unaddressed social-economic-political crises back to the fore.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWVB2otacvYKXA-kyRVzQGhJNIanq4K7VfITUDrkUlLcIt8Q50hgo7BP8Nr3y2QmRT6mqkgDJev2Y6Qe4pV9ZNd6McmFZtI6icxqjd4p5OBbZp4REc1mhY5J_CCetwCWVeB9zuLDV0y3pD/s1280/2021-1-13+IMG_1848.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWVB2otacvYKXA-kyRVzQGhJNIanq4K7VfITUDrkUlLcIt8Q50hgo7BP8Nr3y2QmRT6mqkgDJev2Y6Qe4pV9ZNd6McmFZtI6icxqjd4p5OBbZp4REc1mhY5J_CCetwCWVeB9zuLDV0y3pD/s320/2021-1-13+IMG_1848.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The new definition of "roadside café". Or <br />perhaps a return to the old. (13 Jan. 2021 - <br />Qobaiyat - Beirut)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /> </span>Being
in a 24-hour-a-day lockdown may sound like paradise to an introverted person
like me, </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">but
there are limits to its appeal</span><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style>. Whereas previously I was able to have long, solitary
walks to do errands, now I am required to apply for approval for any excursion
(usually granted within minutes for things such as doctor’s appointments, trips
to the pharmacy or bakery, etc.), and only within the immediate neighborhood.
For things such as produce or grocery shopping we have to place orders by phone
and have the seller deliver the items to our door. Language differences make
this state of affairs all the more interesting. I send a voice memo to the
grocer: “I’d like 1 kilo of apples.” “Red or yellow?” comes the voice message
back. “Just yellow, please.” And when the delivery boy unloads his scooter and
I lug the produce up to our apartment, and as Maria and I start unpacking them, of
course the apples are red. Mind you, the conversation was in English, not
Arabic.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Ordering
from the big-name supermarkets is another adventure. We get SMSs saying “Next
day delivery!”, and that encourages us to give it a try. Seated at the
computer, we go through page after page of items in no particular order.
Sorting them yields less-than-satisfactory results, because we are not seeing
things that we know the store stocks. As we scroll down the items start showing
buttons such as “out of stock”. This is one of two labels visible on the pages,
the other being “Made in Lebanon”. That’s fine, we are more than happy to “buy
local” when possible.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoxJlQhc8yIqRGljJ5OVBeVDEhOBNvP6w4OKN6Nu-UN3rlGmmgcRF_Efyf9qUuH7Nyp5PHKAUQNg7Egblk-RkBXAcZFU1OvVQuC3DEviaX03MlM9pMxIP8myu6RqlWaqw4x1eY7i8QIWzo/s1280/LebCat42+2021-1-26+IMG_1892.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoxJlQhc8yIqRGljJ5OVBeVDEhOBNvP6w4OKN6Nu-UN3rlGmmgcRF_Efyf9qUuH7Nyp5PHKAUQNg7Egblk-RkBXAcZFU1OvVQuC3DEviaX03MlM9pMxIP8myu6RqlWaqw4x1eY7i8QIWzo/s320/LebCat42+2021-1-26+IMG_1892.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">LebCat 42: Junior, watch carefully how a pro <br />does it. (26 Jan. 2021 - Geitawi - Beirut)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /> </span>But
when we come to the “checkout” page, and enter our name, address and location
pin, we are shown the available delivery times and days. Ten days from now?
Really? Calling the help line is of little help, because it is apparent that
live persons are not the ones in control. But we bite the bullet and go ahead
with the order. But the next page doesn’t open. And there is no indication of
what might be the problem. Back to the help line (an email chat, which may be
answered right away, or if it’s evening, the next day). We are told to do the
very same thing we just did. Meanwhile, the delivery slot gets delayed by a
day. Are you using such-and-such browser? No, there is nothing that shows what
browser we are required to use. These sorts of adventures continue, and we
decide to remove whatever items we need quickly and only order things we can do
without for ten days. Or is that now two weeks? Oh well. So we call our nearby
mini-market, and get the staple items we need brought to our front steps… an
hour after we call.</span><p></p>
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>These days are teaching us to center
on the things – and the people – that truly matter. The situation is compelling
us to give up quite a few things that we became accustomed to, some good and
some not. But we haven’t given up everything. On Christmas Eve (Jan. 5) we were
overjoyed when two church youth groups (3 persons each, but, arriving at almost
the same time, became one 6-person group) stopped by our building for a moment
of caroling, reminding us of the hope we have regardless of the circumstances
in which we find ourselves this day, or this year. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[LNB]</span>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>RevoNishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18196532473979855428noreply@blogger.com0Qobayat, Bayrut, Lebanon33.8936173 35.532240833.8927267298653 35.53116791639404 33.8945078701347 35.533313683605954tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647501877531775932.post-58849899843307412292020-12-31T19:59:00.000+02:002020-12-31T19:59:19.469+02:00What Have We Learned<p> <u><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">41.What
Have We Learned? </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(31 December 2020)</span></b>
</u></p><u>
</u><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgegwCpXyewZfmnYMPImj8ObhUB7cxKcbb4MdkIKIY6tyZgbu4IyLFWTXZxE30KYIMJu5muSQTg1Ypjhf3hoBBtO4qmpP9mHZOf_YFFNmQf1-35O16kN3r52p9y15BIQ3sG0KirBHBhnY7M/s1280/2020-12-19+IMG_1569.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgegwCpXyewZfmnYMPImj8ObhUB7cxKcbb4MdkIKIY6tyZgbu4IyLFWTXZxE30KYIMJu5muSQTg1Ypjhf3hoBBtO4qmpP9mHZOf_YFFNmQf1-35O16kN3r52p9y15BIQ3sG0KirBHBhnY7M/s320/2020-12-19+IMG_1569.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Repurposing last year's steel Christmas tree <br />that they never got around to dismantling <br />(there was an uprising going on for a while). <br />(19 Dec. 2020 - Karantina - Beirut)</span><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>The year has come to a close, but the “course
of study” we embarked upon in this most unfavorable of years has not ended. It’s
an opportunity to check what, if anything, we have learned up to this point.
This is not a complete list, and is not in order of relevance, so feel free to
add what you’ve learned. The learning must continue.<br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>First: that physical boundaries, though not irrelevant, are not as impervious as we
imagined. That terrible plague afflicting far-away China quickly transformed into the
entire planet’s concern. Thanks to the way we moderns live, transporting the
good and the bad is laughably easy. Some of these rapidly spreading things may
be worth celebrating, but others present a grave concern. Here in Beirut,
unlike in past days when we wrote letters and waited weeks for a response, or
requested an overseas telephone line from the operator to make a rare phone
call, now we enjoy the ease of instant and frequent connection with our families,
most of whom live in North America. Of course, with the pandemic still running
wild we are also using the same methods to communicate with friends and
colleagues right around us.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1JLyE4Wib03p_WWw2zTj6zNwD7QYWsXfj3628C0k79YsYyVfyol-vIIfqTaPfpzJxF9hICX2o5H3AtTFUQiydFDCU4YhT0N2LUr4rLcQHrm41oEpUzxuAHFL3Z0Gbtt_fr-_0AMYsUSER/s1280/2020-12-22+IMG_1613.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1JLyE4Wib03p_WWw2zTj6zNwD7QYWsXfj3628C0k79YsYyVfyol-vIIfqTaPfpzJxF9hICX2o5H3AtTFUQiydFDCU4YhT0N2LUr4rLcQHrm41oEpUzxuAHFL3Z0Gbtt_fr-_0AMYsUSER/s320/2020-12-22+IMG_1613.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A crèche in front of a ruined building facing <br />the port explosion site, at a Christmas fair <br />in the hard-hit Mar Mikhael area. <br />(22 Dec. 2020 - Mar Mikhael - Beirut)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> </span>And
yet there is a serious downside to the removal of that which distinguishes one
nation from another, one culture from another, one set of values from another.
The growing expectation that people everywhere (who, of course, will be
technologically interconnected) should hold but one view on major issues, and
only disagree on insignificant matters is the enemy of inquisitive and critical
thinking. Which explains why countries get polarized, when one group is unable
to force other groups to conform to its views. And that polarized world is
known today as Planet Earth.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg53dFhMGI13NqfRaKqD_yXgZDXX3JBZR7vbokC0XdWDLbJh1_mvCt2GeD8H6semdSysksUkd_jtbePjWRwh97FQa0DYAkXThWm8LfWr105z2y-Ko-g3bMYvxKdexOP8qOXLdO3BaBfpRXC/s1280/2020-12-18+IMG_1567.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg53dFhMGI13NqfRaKqD_yXgZDXX3JBZR7vbokC0XdWDLbJh1_mvCt2GeD8H6semdSysksUkd_jtbePjWRwh97FQa0DYAkXThWm8LfWr105z2y-Ko-g3bMYvxKdexOP8qOXLdO3BaBfpRXC/s320/2020-12-18+IMG_1567.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">A do-it-yourself Christmas float sponsored <br />by a local taxi company, complete with an <br />actual, live sheep among the statuary. <br />(18 Dec. 2020 - Mar Mikhael - Beirut)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Second: that small countries like Lebanon and Armenia, after a century of being game
pieces on a great political playing board, continue to look to the larger powers
of the world as if they were benevolent organizations. Not much learning has
happened, despite the crises and misery of this year’s events. Lebanon
continues on its happy way, with yesterday’s warlords acting as today’s party
heads, standing firm upon the rights of their small fiefdoms at the expense of
the suffering population. Armenia, which had almost three decades to build a
strong state and progress in its political awareness based on geopolitical
realities, instead merely took upon itself the trappings of an exemplary state,
complete with a recent bloodless “revolution”. Yet it continued to be
emotion-driven, to the point of conducting a defensive war based on making its
citizens and the Armenian Diaspora feel good about how things were going. It
remains to be seen whether Armenia will chart a different path hereafter, and
acknowledge its failures so as to learn from them.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMQoemSoTuBWued8ahGbemdHFskNhF1Qpqsxu3EJiODdaaaJIqQg_DiSpIC5V2-NOvb8icT7lUUXhoj3SNJR_YGyGf-7RmN4OF7PZtJsgTgyjemKmCeo0bmpPhfxi57BWBRqfU2g3j1DDd/s1280/2020-12-07+IMG_1494.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMQoemSoTuBWued8ahGbemdHFskNhF1Qpqsxu3EJiODdaaaJIqQg_DiSpIC5V2-NOvb8icT7lUUXhoj3SNJR_YGyGf-7RmN4OF7PZtJsgTgyjemKmCeo0bmpPhfxi57BWBRqfU2g3j1DDd/s320/2020-12-07+IMG_1494.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Clementines at two dollars a kilo (at the <br />official exchange rate) or 37 cents a kilo <br />(at the street rate). <br />(7 Dec. 2020 - Mar Mikhael) </span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Third: that Armenia’s traditional adversaries, meaning its immediate neighbors to
the left and right, are still bloodthirsty and have not removed that subhuman
trait from their national consciousness after centuries of being steeped in a sanguinary culture. Yes, there are a few reformist voices from within both
countries, including some who are imprisoned for their views and others who
have fled their native lands, but at the helm of these countries are jaded
realists, supported by other jaded realists, who know all too well how to play
the game of politics in this fallen world. The wise old Armenian saying would
be instructive at this point (concerning human relations; canines are able to
be trustworthy far beyond humans), but only if there are ears to hear:
“Befriend the dog, but don’t drop your stick.” </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu5lOM3US_NHeAOUh580eB01Pjviv7gG4KKYIcAz08YR2-UP6gdJdhyWEc2uuZ7lZ_4_vTX133ouT2HY48XEbIJ76S0EfSJWCDuRU4JQTzy4950JMlsBgIkyRpho9IUp05K2ydwLpT3ohP/s1280/LebCat+40+2020-12-29+IMG_1717.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu5lOM3US_NHeAOUh580eB01Pjviv7gG4KKYIcAz08YR2-UP6gdJdhyWEc2uuZ7lZ_4_vTX133ouT2HY48XEbIJ76S0EfSJWCDuRU4JQTzy4950JMlsBgIkyRpho9IUp05K2ydwLpT3ohP/s320/LebCat+40+2020-12-29+IMG_1717.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">LebCat 41: Ready-boxed for easy gift-giving: <br />just wrap and surprise your loved one! <br />(29 Dec. 2020 - Geitawi - Beirut)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Fourth: that the children, youth and adults of today’s world, including (especially) those in the
contexts in which we live (Middle Eastern and Armenian), will make a strong
positive impact on their world, but they must first trust each other. Or else they
will forever be looking for “a better place”, yet never finding it. We must all
begin as visionaries and idealists, continue as good listeners and learners,
and progress into the future as those who are not afraid to live with “dirt
under their fingernails” and uncertainty over where their efforts will ultimately
lead. And so, the first One to trust is the Lord.<br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This
is my prayer for these times and for this world. This is my hope as well as my
plan for serving in the place God has led us, particularly among Armenians in
Lebanon and Armenia. May we all be more courageous and faith-filled in the New
Year. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[LNB]<br /></span></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>RevoNishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18196532473979855428noreply@blogger.com0Qobayat, Bayrut, Lebanon33.8936523 35.532200433.890089966807651 35.527908865576173 33.897214633192348 35.536491934423829tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647501877531775932.post-16851647403260130702020-11-29T23:58:00.004+02:002020-11-30T00:12:06.686+02:00Know Thyself<p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: medium none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm; padding: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 18pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">40.Know
Thyself </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(29 November 2020)</span></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAtJGjqHOZRdmbxEEOsCjD2sqjQ_NA1iFd0CqMIOzguzaInt3ZYnlU9U2Vkt5ErT-FbLwpXn56847xcDD4Z2igIJrSPwqFo6Cb8zTQ0ct7BMOGtHeMXuWb4fvkbPjHSzM6qnCIeJt62YUI/s1280/2020-11-24+IMG_1416.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAtJGjqHOZRdmbxEEOsCjD2sqjQ_NA1iFd0CqMIOzguzaInt3ZYnlU9U2Vkt5ErT-FbLwpXn56847xcDD4Z2igIJrSPwqFo6Cb8zTQ0ct7BMOGtHeMXuWb4fvkbPjHSzM6qnCIeJt62YUI/s320/2020-11-24+IMG_1416.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No Independence Day celebrations on Nov. 22, <br />but a large, hand-painted flag was hung over <br />the damaged buildings in central Beirut <br />(24 Nov. 2020 - Beirut)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Sunday morning in Beirut… the last day of a
two-week lockdown, with hints of more to come </span></p><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">after the New Year’s holiday,
since the COVID-positive test percentages are not decreasing. A sunny day, and
all is still, as driving is forbidden on Sundays. No sounds but the
loudspeakers broadcasting church services, mostly the Armenian Apostolic
liturgy from churches in Nor Hadjin, Khalil Badawi, even across the Beirut
River from Bourj Hammoud. Church bells and chants… and the sound of Israeli
drones. They’re up there practically every day; yet on quiet days like today
their sound can even be heard inside, behind closed doors and windows.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>My
mind drifts from our balcony in Beirut to those Armenian soldiers in Artsakh
(the correct historical name; but if you are a big fan of Soviet nomenclature,
you can go ahead and call it “Nagorno-Karabakh”), soldiers in their trenches
and posts, some of whom we have a close personal connection to, trying to fight
a conventional war against drones similar to what we hear all the time. Bought
from the same country, not coincidentally, as well as from another nemesis of
Armenians, Turkey. The Turkish ones are made from components imported from all
over the world, Europe, Canada, U.S., and others. All sold to countries that
hold their hand over their heart and <i>swear</i> that the technology will
never, ever, ever be used against unarmed civilians. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdXF-D5AAldIHom09RqVJ3bgkUJDrSG2rmtrIQ4DpyKQ0pXnnrqqIgnv3ic51M4y1aXYVK1cR5U7a0UTj7uEyZGT8Yt3txsix3Knk0ZOxGgu4kTbnj4Gg7_HgkROZ_SRqhh_4gvO5X-Hse/s1280/2020-10-31+IMG_1302.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdXF-D5AAldIHom09RqVJ3bgkUJDrSG2rmtrIQ4DpyKQ0pXnnrqqIgnv3ic51M4y1aXYVK1cR5U7a0UTj7uEyZGT8Yt3txsix3Knk0ZOxGgu4kTbnj4Gg7_HgkROZ_SRqhh_4gvO5X-Hse/s320/2020-10-31+IMG_1302.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Businesses, large and small, closing <br />permanently. So, why bother replacing <br />window glass? (31 Oct. 2020-Accaoui, Beirut) <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /> </span>Oh,
it was a bloody war, and many civilized and uncivilized countries had a part in
it and bear responsibility, if they do any self-examination: those who
indignantly protested against it (but did little else), and those who said,
“Hey, Armenians, don’t take it personally – it’s just business”; that sponsor and
importer of Islamist militias and Turkic settlers into the Caucasus; those who promoted
the anti-Armenian propaganda and lies emanating from Azerbaijan and Turkey; and
not to forget those who had other “strategic” interests to pursue and couldn’t
really be bothered by the dismemberment of an ancient people from their soil. It
was just another news story in a media and online environment that has many
interesting wars and disasters and flashpoints to flit to and from. Everyone in
the news-ish industry was able to leave it behind after the infamous
Armenian-Azeri-Russian cease-fire document of November 10.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXK-p9NCs5RG_VnPrxqY7zrfwvID0m1dONX0r8Z7hzw7QGZn8YNucDQget9B1FoRHrKfld03gBJAC5Sr3d-MW9Fv-nY0Jx-CgEv6Ug18_of2rh5kvQ3_cxgWCKFNVK40kqpnyyzreK9sKa/s1280/2020-11-20+IMG_1371.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXK-p9NCs5RG_VnPrxqY7zrfwvID0m1dONX0r8Z7hzw7QGZn8YNucDQget9B1FoRHrKfld03gBJAC5Sr3d-MW9Fv-nY0Jx-CgEv6Ug18_of2rh5kvQ3_cxgWCKFNVK40kqpnyyzreK9sKa/s320/2020-11-20+IMG_1371.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All 970 of my office books, back in our moving <br />boxes from 2017, waiting for the refurbishing <br />to finish (2020-11-20 - Geitawi, Beirut)<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /> </span>But
Armenians haven’t moved on. They can’t. The sorrow, shame, disgust, self-loathing,
recriminations, protests, calls for resignation, fund-raising, speech-making, mourning,
desperation, search for abducted soldiers and citizens, belated attempts to
have countries recognize the Republic of Artsakh, appeals to human rights
groups, appeals to cultural preservation organizations, more sorrow, more
shame, and on and on… have swallowed up Armenians’ souls worldwide. I have felt
that we Armenians are now living inside a horror movie whose plot continues to
unfold, with no ending and no credits. Like many others, I am wishing to awake
from this nightmare and find that it was not, in fact, a re-creation of the
human devastation of the 1915-1923 Genocide and the subsequent decades of
cultural genocide. It’s quite strange, when you think about it—complaining
about being in a nightmare while unable to sleep properly.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGYcstP7fYduCkvinmy4MbnVPBYdUCIIA1uPMHMA7pvHKBD7KEg-Mg8V3CzdhvAkZgMXCBk21BFQ06D-XltAkPUHmc2hdbfKcPFR_SIaIs4kWjg6uZUgXetIMDXc7C7B8xkTXIWUZg1z1a/s1280/2020-11-15+IMG_1360.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGYcstP7fYduCkvinmy4MbnVPBYdUCIIA1uPMHMA7pvHKBD7KEg-Mg8V3CzdhvAkZgMXCBk21BFQ06D-XltAkPUHmc2hdbfKcPFR_SIaIs4kWjg6uZUgXetIMDXc7C7B8xkTXIWUZg1z1a/s320/2020-11-15+IMG_1360.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maria showing the neighbor girls how to knit, <br />while one of the moms awaits some news <br />from Artsakh (15 Nov. 2020 - Geitawi, Beirut)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /> </span>In
the context of this national disaster I am forced to come to terms with the ancient
saying, “Know thyself”. Before knowing your friend or your enemy, it is
necessary to know yourself deeply – what drives you, what confounds you, what
blinds you. Knowing one’s friend or even one’s enemy can provide an important
window into this crucial self-knowledge. And since Armenians apparently have
more of the latter than the former, it would follow that knowing ourselves
should be a fairly direct matter, one to which we can readily apply ourselves.
However, this 44-day war clearly showed how little we know our friends (such as
they are), or our enemies (who were more than we realized), or even ourselves
(who think that songs and poetry can win wars). Our flawed understanding of how
to live in this sin-filled world expressed itself grotesquely in the
self-confident misinformation shared with Armenians the world over each evening
by the army’s press spokesman. He invariably ended with the words: “Don’t worry
– we are winning.” It also appeared very clearly in the self-justifying
speeches of Armenian leaders after the cease-fire treaty was signed. It was
more subtly expressed in the three decades of public theft and unaccountability
since Armenia’s “independence”, and in their lack of preparation for this
inevitable attack by Azerbaijan and Turkey. It was seen in the
century-and-a-half old, romantic, self-deluded attitude of certainty that the
West will come to the rescue of Armenians “because of our dark eyes”. It is seen
now in the rapid implementation of road construction, cultural destruction and
appropriation, and ongoing propaganda disinformation spread by Azerbaijan. It
is visible in the dazed finger-pointing and calls of “traitor” by one Armenian
to another. We have not known ourselves or our weaknesses; we only see our
accomplishments. And we have blinded ourselves with the pride that we are
somehow valuable to this world’s powers that be.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhhnM9vk9JTMwPIRnkmUDxeD-BO-WDCfOU2Sl8pQjR_ifq5-NgLjGwbELuMsgOMVqpB9u6yFHZxDnoW-6ZJagaWsH3pGk0BvcsnzBGZkP_JDMlEM_IDoCXIRWlHRXYnYT7b7tdFllU7vNQ/s1280/2020-11-24+IMG_1412.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="868" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhhnM9vk9JTMwPIRnkmUDxeD-BO-WDCfOU2Sl8pQjR_ifq5-NgLjGwbELuMsgOMVqpB9u6yFHZxDnoW-6ZJagaWsH3pGk0BvcsnzBGZkP_JDMlEM_IDoCXIRWlHRXYnYT7b7tdFllU7vNQ/s320/2020-11-24+IMG_1412.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christmas trees on each balcony, but no glass <br />(24 Nov. 2020 - Beirut)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /> </span>Not
only this, but our theology has reflected that same misunderstanding. We have a
long list of why we think God will play favorites and give us advantages that
he won’t afford other nations. This is not to say that we do not have a unique,
valuable, irreplaceable cultural and religious heritage, a history that
predates the “winners” of this war, and a multiplicity of things of which we
can rightly be proud. But that cannot be the basis of a hope-filled,
faith-filled, self-giving Christian nation. As well, none of those treasures or
that history can form the basis of an intelligent, balanced, and farsighted
strategy of nation-building. Will we know ourselves more fully as a result of
this catastrophe? Even if it only be “as through a mirror, dimly”, we have no
choice but to make the effort.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimEpTjO3rTaQjmQ5y2fd957IyXx1CtqUcoCsoY8JqKEbwKLmecDQih0Pxidyf3ABZyOEqzgU8RIFWguEiZvPUEnGfNVQYbDa84qo1QAilsrESR1mpjtNFfb-vQffq_WGQ1ZXaNqBN5mB9H/s1280/2020-11-26+IMG_0304.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimEpTjO3rTaQjmQ5y2fd957IyXx1CtqUcoCsoY8JqKEbwKLmecDQih0Pxidyf3ABZyOEqzgU8RIFWguEiZvPUEnGfNVQYbDa84qo1QAilsrESR1mpjtNFfb-vQffq_WGQ1ZXaNqBN5mB9H/s320/2020-11-26+IMG_0304.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bird never stood a chance. <br />(26 Nov. 2020 - Geitawi, Beirut)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /> </span>Watching
the American election from overseas was akin to watching a fan’s amateurish
remake of “Survivor”. Days upon days, weeks upon weeks of bewildering events
and announcements before and following Election Day provided an unwelcome
diversion from the depressing news that was crushing us – and only us, it seems
– each day. Whatever transpires in Washington these next several weeks will do
little to improve the lot of the millions around the world, struggling just to
stay alive, including Lebanon and Armenia. Meanwhile, will America come to know
itself, and see who and what it is clearly from within; and also learn
something from those on the outside, from those upon whom it makes not just an
impression, but an indelible imprint for good or ill?</span><span style="font-family: NorKirk; mso-bidi-font-family: NorKirk;"></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Here
in Lebanon the same ancient question applies: do we know ourselves? Do we
understand what drives us to see some things and ignore other things, both good
and bad? Do we note that we are being made to play by “rules” that have been at
work since the end of the Civil War, rules that keep communities divided and
competing with each other for privileges? A few days ago the caretaker Interior
Minister said, “95% of Lebanon’s judiciary is corrupt”, to which,
tragi-comically the judiciary responded, announcing that it was going to
prosecute him for making such a statement. As Armenians say, “If I say ‘leb’,
you should understand ‘leblebou’ (chick peas).” It was his polite way of saying
that the system is rotten to the core. Will anything be done to remedy this?
Can anything actually be done? To which I say, “Who runs Sicily these days?”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8WB11Sv4F8HMxkfLdvu40EcI9FWX5oOctJXhyjdAhM1o0E3jKFChQ-c7VwUbVdIpBrogRQXsST3k2I5n90gbYZoRlwbJGt6bQiRHc-eqFc-NCGob_sQ4RT8uQbbla9pfem3eQnk26L0co/s1280/LebCat+40+2020-11-29+IMG_1368.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8WB11Sv4F8HMxkfLdvu40EcI9FWX5oOctJXhyjdAhM1o0E3jKFChQ-c7VwUbVdIpBrogRQXsST3k2I5n90gbYZoRlwbJGt6bQiRHc-eqFc-NCGob_sQ4RT8uQbbla9pfem3eQnk26L0co/s320/LebCat+40+2020-11-29+IMG_1368.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">LebCat 40 - "Don't make me get up, I just found a <br />nice, warm spot." (19 Nov. 2020 - Geitawi, Beirut)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /> </span>Following
the disaster here in Lebanon the cabinet had enough integrity to resign. They
knew that they no longer had credibility with its citizens, and could not in
good conscience stay in their positions. The theater that subsequently is
(still) playing out here in the capital is another story, a story in which “everyone,
that means everyone (kullon, ya3ni kullon)” is back on stage. Compare and contrast
this with what happened following the strategic disaster in Armenia… What more
can I say?</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Somehow
it seems appropriate that in this maelstrom we were able to gather with our
neighbors (including our three families in our building – a sort of permanent
“quarantine”) for a Thanksgiving meal, complete with a turkey imported from the
U.S. Tensions and uncertainties were temporarily suspended, even though we all
felt the sorrow over the death of our neighbor’s brother during military
service in Shushi. We enjoyed the blessings God has granted us and knew this
about ourselves: during this season of isolation we have not been abandoned by
God or by one another. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[LNB]</span></p>
<p><style>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>RevoNishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18196532473979855428noreply@blogger.com0Qobayat, Bayrut, Lebanon33.8936523 35.532200433.89276172788702 35.531127516394044 33.894542872112979 35.533273283605958tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647501877531775932.post-2496044468863438982020-10-30T13:09:00.001+02:002020-10-31T15:42:12.365+02:00Where Credit Is Due<div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">39.Where
Credit Is Due </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(29 October 2020)</span></b>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDilsWUvAheWth9OPLnAWZDJHzT2t9Stijjs6Dhyphenhyphenn-zzU5kcZuEfNsRHZU2SgbUNfreVTdgFg2De10sOQpCMP73lZdtIskstmRzNmX6o886u-xjg2usDo8cvI6FKyusotmBoIMLYi207Qg/s1280/2020-10-28+P1010485.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDilsWUvAheWth9OPLnAWZDJHzT2t9Stijjs6Dhyphenhyphenn-zzU5kcZuEfNsRHZU2SgbUNfreVTdgFg2De10sOQpCMP73lZdtIskstmRzNmX6o886u-xjg2usDo8cvI6FKyusotmBoIMLYi207Qg/s320/2020-10-28+P1010485.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: JA;">A hotel clad in metal sheeting, similar to what Beirut’s <br />banks did to guard against protestors. But this has a
<br />message. (28 Oct. 2020 - Downtown Beirut)</span>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></td></tr></tbody></table>Here from
crisis-ridden Beirut, as Maria and I look anxiously toward war-stricken Armenia
and Artsakh (Karabagh), while living in a world reeling from a pandemic, while refugees
flow unabated from their impoverished and unstable homelands like tributaries of
a sorrowful river, and while second-class citizenship in “first-world”
countries hangs like a cloud of fear over people of color, we struggle to
comprehend how quickly we got mired in misery so early in this ill-fated
century.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>They
say that one should avoid speaking ill of the dead. Yet, it is impossible to
avoid recounting the dead people who prepared this dish that this region is
“eating” today. One of those dead people of course is Josef Stalin, who in the
early 1920s tried to win the support of Turkey, as well as cut down the
aspirations of the Armenians struggling to their feet after the Genocide, and perceived
as a risk to the Soviets, capable of asserting themselves at some point in the
future. Well, guess what? Here we are in that future, and the nightmare that </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Father
Stalin and Beria (both Georgians, btw)</span>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style> cooked up for us has come true. Those two demons are peacefully decomposing,
and we are struggling to exist. Their calculated act of “giving” historically Armenian
regions to the rule of Turks or Turkic peoples set up the scenario that is
playing out today. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmnXFYdeg0vieXHnpxSvK1zRg___Yqx0aqoVaTcr-XFoNGwA_yfxDvjVyaI0e6nQ6XFWYwY1Hps-BD62cfRPqqpRQlCubf_8JW73hq7mgvkrBp1bQ8XWi4icfYt12-G36hJeYnedMM5bRq/s1280/2020-10-29+IMG_1281.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmnXFYdeg0vieXHnpxSvK1zRg___Yqx0aqoVaTcr-XFoNGwA_yfxDvjVyaI0e6nQ6XFWYwY1Hps-BD62cfRPqqpRQlCubf_8JW73hq7mgvkrBp1bQ8XWi4icfYt12-G36hJeYnedMM5bRq/s320/2020-10-29+IMG_1281.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Someone with a musical sense of <br />humor created a group that is <br />trying hard to cover up Beirut's <br />wounded heritage buildings before <br />the winter rains wreak their havoc. <br />(29 Oct. 2020 - Gemmayzeh, Beirut)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> </span>To
those who rely on others to think for themselves (including those who play at editorial
roles), I am compelled to remind them that Stalin never gave non-Armenian lands
to Armenians; it was always the other way around. (Please, please, don’t take
my word for it; read some history for yourself to check what I’m saying.) The
Azeris got Artsakh and Nakhichevan. The Georgians got Javakhk. The Turks got
Kars and Ardahan. And Europe and the United States got their oil access.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Oil
access for the West plays such a central role in the sordid history of the
Middle East, but is too often footnoted, ignored or denied. From a safe
distance people (including Diasporan Armenians) shake their heads and say, “Why
is there never peace in the Middle East?” Is it because Middle Easterners are
wild and untamed people, unable to be as wise or developed as Europeans or
Americans (or other regional allies)? Or, as history has shown, is it because
the West has for at least 200 years been in a tug-of-war (emphasis on the
“war”) over who will be able to benefit the most from the reserves of crude oil
that regrettably exist in abundance underneath the surface of these lands?
Figuratively as well as literally, oil lies under the surface of so much of the
Middle East, but it is pumped out and taken away from our view, so that
discussions of current events ever remain on the top layer.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisAE7Wegsm03mVNwHfsteNDky9ivWvqHdvqKu82DiX8BtlP7bxDagRnyXGEa5QKqCMMa8SUxj-B0j71cb7LhdxSDfeK9P7KFDvFIGZyb-TE3ChOXDI-l4EkfPrIYqqlhUePyiqxs9MRtBn/s1280/2020-10-29+IMG_1278.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisAE7Wegsm03mVNwHfsteNDky9ivWvqHdvqKu82DiX8BtlP7bxDagRnyXGEa5QKqCMMa8SUxj-B0j71cb7LhdxSDfeK9P7KFDvFIGZyb-TE3ChOXDI-l4EkfPrIYqqlhUePyiqxs9MRtBn/s320/2020-10-29+IMG_1278.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lots of banners in lots of languages, expressing <br />hope that Lebanon will overcome its <br />overwhelming difficulties (29 Oct. 2020 - <br />Gemmayzeh, Beirut)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> </span>There
was a recent interview with chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov, born in Baku,
Azerbaijan SSR, to an Armenian mother. He likened Stalin’s incomprehensible and
unjustifiable assignments of Armenian territory to a chess game, which Stalin
expected to end in stalemate, since of course the USSR was going to last
forever. Stalin’s aim was also to bring Turkey to the Soviet side, but the West
moved Turkey’s piece on the chess board, granting it concession after
concession, including their promised protectorate of a Cilician Armenian
homeland. If shame existed in western culture, those countries would be hanging
their heads right now.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But
since Armenians have no natural resources for outside countries to exploit, it
remains ever the pawn in these international playing boards. Realizing this
fact is not defeatism but realism, and if fully comprehended can enable Armenia
and Armenians to formulate their strategy – hopefully – in dealing with this “Game
of Thrones”. It has brought about unprecedented unity among Armenians
worldwide, though sometimes tainted by fervent devotion to one or another
political party in their countries of residence. Armenians are hearing the war
being waged against them in the Caucasus portrayed as a “conflict” between
equal forces, a “dispute”, something that they have been going at for “a
looooong time”, an action of “rebels” in a “disputed territory”, and the
deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure (residences, churches,
hospitals, schools, museums, etc.) as either accidental or “Armenian
propaganda”. Anyone with the ability and the will to think and dig deeply will
see how preposterous these statements are.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9zNX5NGOGUCzLlOTx3ypwLOwW8WUiRzVvzMzxpZYfoEMH4k0gAUSb8IrY88Buxjk-BuiOWLe1fvePYzG0FRn_uMogXUhPHdHQREig5rs-KRfLQyl54uKilF2vv22INqOqfrDvLA-6Yegi/s1280/2020-9-24+IMG_1058.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9zNX5NGOGUCzLlOTx3ypwLOwW8WUiRzVvzMzxpZYfoEMH4k0gAUSb8IrY88Buxjk-BuiOWLe1fvePYzG0FRn_uMogXUhPHdHQREig5rs-KRfLQyl54uKilF2vv22INqOqfrDvLA-6Yegi/s320/2020-9-24+IMG_1058.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">For obvious post-blast reasons, Salaam <br />Sweets, our favorite Arabic ice-cream shop, <br />moved from its original location. About the <br />same distance from us, thankfully.<br />(24 Sept. 2020 - Mar Mitr, Beirut)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> </span>Thinking
for oneself is an uphill battle in this world, where people have access to so
much information – true, false, partly true, blatantly but boldly false, or too
nuanced to survive in social media feeds. My highly unscientific view ascribes
this allergy to deep thinking to the lack of a reading public. No longer do (many)
people have the appetite or patience it takes to read a book or an extended
essay. If something can’t be grabbed in a short glance as you scroll down your devices,
then it’s “very complicated”. Our reward for adjusting our human capabilities
to the least common denominator is that we have leaders and followers who are
apparently incapable of thinking of the common good, and pour their efforts
into shouting down or shaming anything or anyone who says differently. For
this, we must give ourselves the credit. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbmRxSguc-YvKWj9D1l_ISRPiTgMCscQc-yiK_mnWVWrhIB1BranLTuF9OP9ERYc5whlG9kH9y90XwDpt7Eza9cZBP3QD4j2UnpdAisbaOVPdS5tULwFqkFCBiTiYdvnxIwuCgVAByviV_/s1280/2020-10-28+IMG_1212.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbmRxSguc-YvKWj9D1l_ISRPiTgMCscQc-yiK_mnWVWrhIB1BranLTuF9OP9ERYc5whlG9kH9y90XwDpt7Eza9cZBP3QD4j2UnpdAisbaOVPdS5tULwFqkFCBiTiYdvnxIwuCgVAByviV_/s320/2020-10-28+IMG_1212.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Refurbishing, refurbishing, refurbishing. One <br />day I will get back into my office. (28 Oct. 2020 <br />- Geitawi, Beirut)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We
are viewing all of this in a Lebanese context. One year has passed on the
“revolution” – a year largely of failures, and a few bright spots of hope. Those
who might have taken a different tack and led the country out of its
sub-sub-divisions into a common goal for the benefit of all were sidelined and
ultimately rejected by the established parties and powers. So, to no one’s
surprise, the prime minister who resigned a year ago at the start of the
“uprising” is back, and working on forming a “new” cabinet. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Taking
a walk through the broken streets of today’s Beirut brings upon me a heaviness
that is difficult to describe. I noticed this early on that I am viscerally
affected by what I see, and I audibly wince as I look about. It puzzled me for
a while, but it made me realize that this amount of destruction displayed
before your eyes draws you into the pain of others. Add this to your own pain,
and you have to express it somehow. My expression is audible. And mental. There
is still no credible explanation as to whom we can give the credit for the
ruination of Beirut, or of Lebanon. </span></p>
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCBQR2S__b1I5QF0WsXPEUiNAw8pMl5tPjpGiaK1KLjCoFFZYBr-5zrV6pKTkwRkUTvk__G9Wr6hhEGP9zLPL-sZXW7DMm65MI9DWzX4BLcEExbD-jVpLJ-E9aMLWxQqIPtdDKpCEda9N_/s1280/LebCat+39+2020-10-22+IMG_1173.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCBQR2S__b1I5QF0WsXPEUiNAw8pMl5tPjpGiaK1KLjCoFFZYBr-5zrV6pKTkwRkUTvk__G9Wr6hhEGP9zLPL-sZXW7DMm65MI9DWzX4BLcEExbD-jVpLJ-E9aMLWxQqIPtdDKpCEda9N_/s320/LebCat+39+2020-10-22+IMG_1173.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">LebCat 39: Pre-freshman enrollment <br />in the AUB "Cat Club" is now open. <br />(22 Oct. 2020 - Bliss St., Beirut)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> </span>Rarely in my life (so far) have my
exhausted days and sleepless nights been so filled with the sorrows of existence. It has
turned my heart with a renewed and urgent focus toward a scripture that was my
favorite from childhood: “God is our refuge and strength; a very present help
in trouble” (Psalm 46.1). If we experience any peace in this world or in our lives,
the credit is due to the Lor</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">d</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[LNB]</span>
<p><style>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>RevoNishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18196532473979855428noreply@blogger.com2Qobayat, Bayrut, Lebanon33.8936523 35.532200433.892761726852818 35.531127516394044 33.894542873147181 35.533273283605958tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647501877531775932.post-71474224095289895562020-09-23T23:59:00.007+03:002020-09-24T14:44:08.728+03:00Walking on Diamonds<div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: medium none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm 0cm 1pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 18pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">38.Walking
on Diamonds </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(23 September 2020)</span></b>
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglC_TF-cZn3WdZ8wo9JGSKzOpGV3Lit2e8Y2arDfjj9ok3MBLIVEIzAHFHFHQbH7t-fkQ8G5FEsuTWIOh-WUHgeCY7USQU3E3lFuEQfhZCzlWcddios2brwyVHf8qGnVen4gssxVyuVbzo/s1280/2020-8-31+IMG_0792.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglC_TF-cZn3WdZ8wo9JGSKzOpGV3Lit2e8Y2arDfjj9ok3MBLIVEIzAHFHFHQbH7t-fkQ8G5FEsuTWIOh-WUHgeCY7USQU3E3lFuEQfhZCzlWcddios2brwyVHf8qGnVen4gssxVyuVbzo/w320-h240/2020-8-31+IMG_0792.jpg" title="A ruined building not far from the destroyed grain silos at the Beirut port (31 Aug. 2020 - Karantina, Beirut)" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A ruined building not far from the destroyed grain silos <br />at the Beirut port (31 Aug. 2020 - Karantina, Beirut)</span></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">When walking
around the nearby streets in our still sunny weather of the past weeks, glints
and glimmers from the ground invariably would catch my eye, and prom</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">pt me to go
over to investigate the reason for the unusual reflection of sunlight. Might it
be somet</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">hing valuable? So</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">me lost treasure? The sensation, especially when the
sun is at a low angle, i</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">s that I am walking on cut diamonds, treading on
treasure. And my reflexes would tell me to stop and pick them up.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> <br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjicWNKhOL92awE83YUfPAXCW8Z-JAJav-0l1GoXJ70lyVPVRhc7dGmuYcqOjYxCd1Y6HVzNUzfaJ62byHd7neTOn_vdwytaf0nJEEut1suv0eYepcqLC5QhO3YfZfBWdM8e9CUkXEawkE8/s1280/2020-8-31+IMG_0807.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjicWNKhOL92awE83YUfPAXCW8Z-JAJav-0l1GoXJ70lyVPVRhc7dGmuYcqOjYxCd1Y6HVzNUzfaJ62byHd7neTOn_vdwytaf0nJEEut1suv0eYepcqLC5QhO3YfZfBWdM8e9CUkXEawkE8/w320-h320/2020-8-31+IMG_0807.jpg" title="Broken glass gathered together to state clearly, "We are still here" (31 Aug. 2020 - Mar Mikhael)" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Broken glass gathered together to state clearly, </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">"We are still here" (31 Aug. 2020 - Mar Mikhael)</span></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Yet
nowadays, in post-post-blast Beirut, the phenomenon of glittering asphalt and
pavement has become so common that I hardly notice it. So much broken glass, so
many tiny shards have been scattered everywhere that I no longer have that same
reaction of walking on jewels, as in the days immediately following August 4.
The glass has not decreased (because the winter rains have not yet washed them
away); rather, my perception has adjusted to this reality, and I tune it out.</span>
<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHOAcVSF5LWkYfqM-94a3sp-hz3i2WQk7bH3jMH3EHTsDm-M7mbq6zQS-LSoYeAhzmu57PYxGHY1KxXXBxVBAj-OIPTZgD69NxpCUSlNd_1kgZLJi3laAhT6foH3xfbejgeqkLEcKnIbsv/s1280/2020-9-8+IMG_0932.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHOAcVSF5LWkYfqM-94a3sp-hz3i2WQk7bH3jMH3EHTsDm-M7mbq6zQS-LSoYeAhzmu57PYxGHY1KxXXBxVBAj-OIPTZgD69NxpCUSlNd_1kgZLJi3laAhT6foH3xfbejgeqkLEcKnIbsv/w320-h240/2020-9-8+IMG_0932.jpg" title="Flying glass daggers - now there's a gaming challenge (8 Sept. 2020 - Geitawi, Beirut)" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Flying glass daggers - now there's a gaming <br />challenge (8 Sept. 2020 - Geitawi, Beirut)</span></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Much
as the windowpanes of some 300,000 homes in a 2 km radius were shattered that
Tuesday evening, something else very important was shattered and scattered on
the ground: the ability for people to see far, to envision, to dream, and to trust. They have
eyes, but struggle to see; minds, but only partially perceive; hearts, but are afraid to hope. But unlike those glass shards
in every crack and crevice of these streets, those battered thoughts and dreams
are still diamonds, still of immense worth. And unless all of us move
carefully, we will continue to treat those diamonds within peoples’ hearts as
merely collateral damage, and carelessly tread them into the dirt of despair.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWBFrhfK4a-2Q3yz2tONG9KsGsXjrIGdI-ZZLrcSo2o-HihD1b2Tuizw5MVUootqlkISn7sHRWtHPqeLCUeS391a-hIP6YONabWcDZkHmh9B_nsJTSOZls_rawARvYE2hV5WBQqsUMgA7m/s1280/2020-9-10+IMG_0969.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWBFrhfK4a-2Q3yz2tONG9KsGsXjrIGdI-ZZLrcSo2o-HihD1b2Tuizw5MVUootqlkISn7sHRWtHPqeLCUeS391a-hIP6YONabWcDZkHmh9B_nsJTSOZls_rawARvYE2hV5WBQqsUMgA7m/w240-h320/2020-9-10+IMG_0969.jpg" title="The view from our balcony after (another) huge post-blast fire broke out at the port (10 Sept. 2020 - Geitawi, Beirut)" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The view from our balcony after (another) <br />huge post-blast fire broke out at the port <br />(10 Sept. 2020 - Geitawi, Beirut)</span></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>My
outlook may not be a majority view. In fact, as the vehicle called “the
Lebanese State” continues to happily barrel off the roadway toward ditches and
cliffs, my outlook may well have sunk yet farther into the minority.
Nonetheless, I consider the people of Lebanon, as well as the Armenian
population here and across the Middle East, as diamonds. There is little regard
for what has fallen to the ground. We hear energetic defenses of this or that
community, for the ultimate good of their politico-religious or
religio-political followings, and not for the reviving of the country as a
whole. </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
Bible urges believers in God to pray for their leaders regardless of what
country in which they reside (I Timothy 2.1-2). Interestingly, the prayers are
not supposed to be for long life or extended terms for the ruling class, but
for a peaceful, dignified and godly life for the people. With a thick wall
insulating leaders of every land from the people in that land, I am not sure
how easily those in authority can grasp that sacred task of serving their
people. It’s what we prayed for two days ago (Republic of Armenia’s 29<sup>th</sup>
Independence Day), and it most definitely is what we continually pray for
Lebanon. </span></p>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbwEBq6etVSxzhQfm8-BMNyRzUJCMqXjQVbu1UAbbrmO10tdU1RmGgAh3ET_LR9QRCtdh3XAHlOM-7qMZshrlw6xEm7tHzcPVAX9VauLuZjmROJFhYlarnwYEEKNjCGlSGSE6fAsG5aune/s1280/2020-9-4+IMG_0908.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbwEBq6etVSxzhQfm8-BMNyRzUJCMqXjQVbu1UAbbrmO10tdU1RmGgAh3ET_LR9QRCtdh3XAHlOM-7qMZshrlw6xEm7tHzcPVAX9VauLuZjmROJFhYlarnwYEEKNjCGlSGSE6fAsG5aune/w320-h240/2020-9-4+IMG_0908.jpg" title="A sidewalk prayer station outreach from a nearby church (4 Sept. 2020 - Mar Mikhael)" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A sidewalk prayer station outreach from a <br />nearby church (4 Sept. 2020 - Mar Mikhael)</span></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The true diamonds of Lebanon, the
people you love to meet and talk to, in villages and cities, have simple needs,
needs that those in authority find hard to grasp: the simple desire to live in
some semblance of dignity and peace. That sort of environment would reawaken a
drive to create and flourish in this land. It would remove the desire to flee
halfway across the world to find some soil, somewhere, in which to place
undisturbed roots and yield fruits.</span></p>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfnc8db3nxP8wN4t4PVmM0nIWxFUPz-e822EQ5dtA_iydtZAOefWAhGvkGmuRZGAxI7uOaBUgDQdCMJo99mdzZQHSn3x25IhQc1LMpif9SyXrOhRgVvcWLqlbl925RuZ83-i8YbGbrwywh/s1280/2020-8-14+IMG_0643.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfnc8db3nxP8wN4t4PVmM0nIWxFUPz-e822EQ5dtA_iydtZAOefWAhGvkGmuRZGAxI7uOaBUgDQdCMJo99mdzZQHSn3x25IhQc1LMpif9SyXrOhRgVvcWLqlbl925RuZ83-i8YbGbrwywh/w320-h240/2020-8-14+IMG_0643.jpg" title="Homeowners and shopkeepers are determined not to be driven out (14 Aug. 2020 - Mar Mikhael, Beirut)" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Homeowners and shopkeepers are determined not to <br />be driven out (14 Aug. 2020 - Mar Mikhael, Beirut)</span></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span>But
the drive to create and flourish has not vanished, as others (some inside, some
outside Lebanon) have pointed out to me. It has helped me clear some of the
funk enveloping my brain. There are some who are using their media platforms to
share individual stories of hope and despair, showcasing the determination of
some to rebuild and the needs of others for loving hands to support them. The
beautifully-restored Sursock Museum with its delicate stained glass and hand-crafted
interior, which was turned into splinters and glass powder, hosted a
fund-raising concert in its gardens as an act of defiance, declaring, “I’ll be
back!” The innovative Armenian band Garabala, which has been losing its members
to emigration, one by one, prepared a most tender and even rejuvenating music
video for the “For You, Beirut” online event. Friends who left Lebanon early in
the year recently chose to return, knowing full well that they would be facing
formidable challenges in their everyday lives. The middle-aged owner of what is
arguably the best Arabic ice cream in Beirut, leaving his blast-damaged store
of 71 years (it was his father’s before he took over) in an </span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga0_J-n8uMW1TZ1e3EeqBonq9_fRFQyRqwE7On_BHOhJF3cEduSkjju3zRRVxBgf_vfM__cjzuQuPu4ryUxvIOFPMyUgjFKn-qwIxrEFj0WiAQ1n6SMNWGgk4OJ18Up1uEUKh6DIpjaa9Z/s1280/2020-9-23+IMG_1046.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga0_J-n8uMW1TZ1e3EeqBonq9_fRFQyRqwE7On_BHOhJF3cEduSkjju3zRRVxBgf_vfM__cjzuQuPu4ryUxvIOFPMyUgjFKn-qwIxrEFj0WiAQ1n6SMNWGgk4OJ18Up1uEUKh6DIpjaa9Z/w320-h240/2020-9-23+IMG_1046.jpg" title="Our living room/dining room, almost ready to move back into (23 Sept. 2020 - Geitawi, Beirut)" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Our living room/dining room, almost ready to move <br />back into (23 Sept. 2020 - Geitawi, Beirut)</span></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">already crumbling
house, has decided to open at a new location and keep innovating. A young couple
realized that if they wait for the “right time” to have their wedding, set for
2021, it might never happen, so they held a simple and elegant church service
and reception this month. So many diamonds, here and there, and I’m training
myself to see them, hold them up to the light, and rejoice in the hope that
each one represents. This does not minimize the pain of saying goodbyes on a
regular basis to people we treasure. Nor will it necessarily alter the plans of
those who have decided to seek their fortunes elsewhere. But it reminds us of
our calling to care for those right around us.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>For
the past three weeks we’ve been living/eating/working in a single room, the bedroom
Sevag occupies when he’s here with us. We’ve been sleeping in our own bed, or
at least we will until its time to repair the bedrooms. Renovations to our
apartment are ongoing, and with any luck it will be completed in a week or two,
along with the renovation of the Union offices (including mine) and the entire
building. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></p><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxVsYRDFr8XdVTQkvu7hTDun8LX3uanFs5tL2TPIqt_poo9-rTiqiyzPwugC5R2evRN9CWjwizGARnw69QYieojxXIhhRRnV3TsDY_pI0r6PCSVjgeG7ziVZT8KrONtOWcN1esGGg0chEF/s1280/LebCat+38+2020-9-9+IMG_0935.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxVsYRDFr8XdVTQkvu7hTDun8LX3uanFs5tL2TPIqt_poo9-rTiqiyzPwugC5R2evRN9CWjwizGARnw69QYieojxXIhhRRnV3TsDY_pI0r6PCSVjgeG7ziVZT8KrONtOWcN1esGGg0chEF/w320-h240/LebCat+38+2020-9-9+IMG_0935.jpg" title="LebCat 38: Is it safe to come out yet? (9 Sept. 2020 - Geitawi, Beirut)" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">LebCat 38: Is it safe to come out yet? <br />(9 Sept. 2020 - Geitawi, Beirut)</span></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Walking
around the city one notices not only the proliferation of scaffolding and the
constant activity of construction workers, but a fair amount of homes and
businesses that have been left undisturbed since the explosion. We know it will
be years before they are touched, if ever. Yet we have chosen to focus on that
which is changing, and to harken to the voices of those who openly declare,
“Lebanon belongs to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">me</i>, and not to
the criminals who allowed this to happen.” There is still a long road ahead.
Rebuilding will not fix all that needs fixing here. But it’s a start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[LNB]</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><p></p>
<p><style>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>RevoNishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18196532473979855428noreply@blogger.com0Qobayat, Bayrut, Lebanon33.8936523 35.532200433.892761731282022 35.531127516394044 33.894542868717977 35.533273283605958tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647501877531775932.post-25750068757646168582020-08-15T22:49:00.002+03:002020-09-23T23:24:43.751+03:00The Fifth World<div style="border: medium none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm 0cm 1pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 18pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">37.The
Fifth World </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(15 August 2020)</span></b>
</div>
<span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7MJB02ophYDj16HorG1P60j8N1ulKTQTEvB_fXTMNTKaRbFr585SS1X6f2MgOKXMor_bKZoN-Wp5TxuIkZfrjIuEu9QrrnLd7KITS28BWcDCNB0a05i64To6wCH7ADk8NHbe8ERDi-IE2/s1280/20200808+IMG_0577.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7MJB02ophYDj16HorG1P60j8N1ulKTQTEvB_fXTMNTKaRbFr585SS1X6f2MgOKXMor_bKZoN-Wp5TxuIkZfrjIuEu9QrrnLd7KITS28BWcDCNB0a05i64To6wCH7ADk8NHbe8ERDi-IE2/w410-h307/20200808+IMG_0577.jpg" width="410" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ruined windows and doors from the Armenian Evang. Central <br />High School (8 Aug. 2020 - Geitawi - Beirut)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">When I was
an unseasoned theological student many moons ago, Maria and I came to Lebanon
on a fellowship program for study in a “Third World Country”. That term is now
considered uncouth, and is usually replaced by the term “developing country”,
referring to those countries lacking the economic, health and educational status
of those at the top of the list. Back then I was surprised that Lebanon was
even on that list, because I knew it as a prosperous, if war-torn, country. But
I was eager to go there (here), to learn the Armenian language and grow in my
understanding of being an Armenian and experiencing Armenian Evangelical
heritage firsthand. What better place than Beirut, even if it was in the midst
of a civil war?</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj_z37_m9PzW95SRTr86pRZRbjGjkRUAtb-fNhHhA9h0F25BujFUKsi7jeQ0gQPzvIx1u_ttRBVB0noMAORhpGZPeb3Pb6kzw8hTxIyDqIUePqMP4Gs_OqtT2LPgrBpYkC42jjSW-hfMS0/s1280/20200814+IMG_0650.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj_z37_m9PzW95SRTr86pRZRbjGjkRUAtb-fNhHhA9h0F25BujFUKsi7jeQ0gQPzvIx1u_ttRBVB0noMAORhpGZPeb3Pb6kzw8hTxIyDqIUePqMP4Gs_OqtT2LPgrBpYkC42jjSW-hfMS0/w410-h307/20200814+IMG_0650.jpg" width="410" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Karma isn't supposed to miss its target, except when it does <br />(14 Aug. 2020 - Mar Mikhael - Beirut) <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Back in
the days of the Cold War people spoke about countries belonging to the First
World (west of the Iron Curtain), the Second World (the Curtain’s “other” side)
and the Third World (no curtain). Decades later, someone came up with the idea
of the “Fourth World” to describe stateless people. Yet today, almost four
decades later, Lebanon has been violently thrown backwards beyond even the
Fourth World to a new category I am creating on the occasion of explosion that
devastated probably one third of the capital and environs. Since August 4, here
in Beirut we are now living in the Fifth World.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdripZa7ws9ozBZSfWw_Cayx6VmvH2JZluHgdm4FJ8xXvxoqMr2DcMuSK8yB91nL6NeLrQAUqX5npebE4DgqAd3KHQ-nzBRLi5JLHQbeCGCihgvEcB-XQe95vvgyTpgg_xKsWD2kf9E6tr/s1280/20200814+IMG_0644.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdripZa7ws9ozBZSfWw_Cayx6VmvH2JZluHgdm4FJ8xXvxoqMr2DcMuSK8yB91nL6NeLrQAUqX5npebE4DgqAd3KHQ-nzBRLi5JLHQbeCGCihgvEcB-XQe95vvgyTpgg_xKsWD2kf9E6tr/w307-h410/20200814+IMG_0644.jpg" width="307" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The restaurant's name is "This is how the world <br />is" (14 Aug. 2020 - Mar Mikhael - Beirut)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We
spent the entire month of July sweating through sleepless nights because the
government was unable to purchase untainted fuel for their diesel-powered
generating stations, or unable to offload the fuel to the power plants, or was
busy suing the Algerian company that sent the bad fuel, or couldn’t broker a
deal with the Central Bank to release money for paying for new shipments, or
any of a dozen other reasons. The country was receiving 2 to 4 hours a day of
electricity, and the rest of the time the plethora of private generators in
Lebanon, including the one here at the Union headquarters where we live, were
filling in the gap. And also dumping tons of particulates into the air. When 11
p.m. rolled around most generators took a break for the night, leaving us and
many others to pretend to sleep while a film of sweat emerged on us like a second
skin. That “treatment” lasted over 30 days, and preceded the explosion at the
Beirut Port on the evening of August 4<sup>th</sup>. Strangely, since that
fateful date the electric company has been providing full nighttime
electricity, with some spotty coverage during the daytime. What, did somebody
buy us a miracle? Is this in order to pour cold water on the protests?</span>
<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji0cpTXt_duectXCCfEExw4sKykhTTbf4Nt18wae3MNC1ulsKH8rbvvAIIAWETlmFP6MauGpKbe52NGJb9jeyg_cN-DyvK0jNMEMjqBHGpMIIsCO-X_UKOIKsI5_d_rJvBNbyb8W3lVuIe/s720/Beirut+Port+bef-aft.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="480" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji0cpTXt_duectXCCfEExw4sKykhTTbf4Nt18wae3MNC1ulsKH8rbvvAIIAWETlmFP6MauGpKbe52NGJb9jeyg_cN-DyvK0jNMEMjqBHGpMIIsCO-X_UKOIKsI5_d_rJvBNbyb8W3lVuIe/w342-h512/Beirut+Port+bef-aft.jpg" width="342" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beirut's grain silos, built 1968-1970, which <br />shielded part of the city from the blast, but leaving <br />the country with a one-month supply of wheat <br />(30 July & 14 Aug 2020)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Why
talk about any of this? Because it is emblematic of the woes the Fifth World
imposes on its subjects. At least five decades of massive corruption and
ineptitude is now shamefully on display for the world to see. And to take
advantage of. Local groups are either decrying or supporting the current
government or political system, depending on which power they are pandering to.
In this unbelievably bad combination of circumstances (it seems that’s the most
logical explanation at this point), and with the arrival of an unending chain
of visiting diplomats and their entourages, the local political scene continues
to polarize as each group has its turn groveling, and the length of Armenia
Street/Mar Mikhael has turned into one huge NGO bazaar. It’s a day of great
sorrow and humiliation for Lebanon on many, many levels.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
deepest sorrow is reserved for the regular, non-ruling-class Lebanese people,
who for decades have struggled to cope in this abnormal and exceptionally
corrupt environment, and now have the dubious privilege of shedding the greatest amount of
blood, sweat and tears as they witness their carefully managed homes, schools,
businesses and futures explode then crumble, bit by bit, community by
community, neighborhood by neighborhood, family by family. Alongside the sorrow
for all of this loss there is an outpouring of rage. Some of it is
opportunistic rage, but there is also the honest rage against successive
iterations of “leaders” and their “handlers”. Lacking an
awareness of the common good, their aim continues to be the pursuit of large
amounts of wealth by wringing the country dry – or beyond dry. </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
pool of talented, dedicated young people, including Armenian young people, is
evaporating. The country’s lifeblood is draining, leaving a drying swamp.</span>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib5zpMeTTfkgfKiRoXZ8pYNTROuIF_sUiHuPPlY82os1bQfnA-E5E1vAb4aiu4lb9UhwjkhIVavq6Ag5hfvAX0FQPJBXUQuNuipSGvsx2OhxEnkwmKrkl2205zLqYpNPbhU1XSAcRvMQLb/s1280/20200814+IMG_0664.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib5zpMeTTfkgfKiRoXZ8pYNTROuIF_sUiHuPPlY82os1bQfnA-E5E1vAb4aiu4lb9UhwjkhIVavq6Ag5hfvAX0FQPJBXUQuNuipSGvsx2OhxEnkwmKrkl2205zLqYpNPbhU1XSAcRvMQLb/w307-h410/20200814+IMG_0664.jpg" width="307" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Part of the traditional character of the <br />Gemmayzeh area, now in ruins <br />(14 Aug. 2020 - Beirut)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But
opportunism is still at play, even in the midst of this tragedy. The classic
heritage homes in Gemmayzeh and Mar Mikhael, some turned into rubble, others
still standing but sorely damaged, are now the target of vultures: the
“agents” (called “simsar” in Arabic) who are offering despairing homeowners a
little “fresh money” in exchange for these properties. Just as was
conspicuously done in post-war Beirut, turning a bustling city center into a
wasteland consisting of a couple of giant structures and acres of empty parking
lots, today also there is a nascent movement to do the same in these heritage
neighborhoods, likely to eventually to fill them with tall, empty buildings. I
have to wonder, where does all this construction money come from? Considering
today’s moribund Lebanese banking system, they are likely not locally funded.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Despite
our church and youth activities being suspended, and our “gatherings” limited
to the ether of the Internet, our son Sevag made his annual trip to be with us.
He got PCR-ed before leaving the U.S. and PCR-ed again at the airport upon
arrival, but took it all in stride. For him – and </span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIVEe_ipB42fDzjDwRpxuT4rzODWYQEMmBGAC598GGN0qk4Il5fQxRrpTpzjcwkRUKuVBpLaVy5rY7dE-_rbPySuxZrU-NW9lRLKLUoBDV2Z0dHtF3zA0_MnDXmr6JswVeoeKuieY6uzoj/s1280/20200719+IMG_0292.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIVEe_ipB42fDzjDwRpxuT4rzODWYQEMmBGAC598GGN0qk4Il5fQxRrpTpzjcwkRUKuVBpLaVy5rY7dE-_rbPySuxZrU-NW9lRLKLUoBDV2Z0dHtF3zA0_MnDXmr6JswVeoeKuieY6uzoj/w410-h307/20200719+IMG_0292.jpg" width="410" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lego time with Sevag! (19 Jul. 2020 - Geitawi-Beirut)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">for us – the important thing
was to be together. We did a little touring, most significantly to the Roman
ruins at Baalbek, but also spent time at home listening to LPs, reading stories
to each other, looking at old pictures, playing the “Pandemic” board game (some
dark humor never killed anybody, right?), going to bed at 11 p.m. when the
generator got switched off, and enjoying our “extended family” from Armenia here
on the top floor of our building. Their little ones took to him quite rapidly
for the most part, and “Lego with Sevag” became a highly sought-after activity
in our living room. It was our mini Children’s Conference – with one leader and
three children!</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjStRh27l0u1XsF9oJ0_Gkv4tO0Gsizacuov_O_FxrQ3Ee2P4vRvxz65dcY3WBp4dvIp27GbYUxfmdu1tU6KA74U_s7L_tbFnyVtV_y1i81rEE3lP2kktH16EH2f9BZcIuG2UszJW9mlUGb/s1280/20200805+IMG_0505.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjStRh27l0u1XsF9oJ0_Gkv4tO0Gsizacuov_O_FxrQ3Ee2P4vRvxz65dcY3WBp4dvIp27GbYUxfmdu1tU6KA74U_s7L_tbFnyVtV_y1i81rEE3lP2kktH16EH2f9BZcIuG2UszJW9mlUGb/w307-h410/20200805+IMG_0505.jpg" width="307" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Glass, glass and more glass; day 1 of cleaning <br />the apartment (5 Aug. 2020 - Geitawi, Beirut)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As
if the oddness of this visit were not enough, one evening when we went for a
socially-distant visit with the Haidostian family in Haigazian University’s
Mugar colonnade, what we at first thought to be an earthquake made the ground
shift like a carpet being shaken out, and then a huge boom, and instantly smoke
and flying glass filled the air. It was August 4, and we had been spared the
terror of being at home, which is a bit over one kilometer from ground zero. By
comparison, Haigazian is twice that distance, 2.4 km, from the port explosion
site. Whomever we spoke with said the same things: “I thought it was an earthquake.”
“I thought a bomb had gone off in the next street.” “I thought an aerial attack
had started.” And so for his last two days Sevag joined us in the task of
sweeping up shattered glass and assessing the damage. Just as he had shared the
2006 war on Lebanon while visiting us, now also he shared this catastrophe,
making this yet another unforgettable trip as he witnessed firsthand Lebanon
popping way back into the Fifth World. That’s quite a collection of
unforgettables he has.</span><p></p>
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsLYcCdAosPHqM5WHaFjLjdDXEPqf6DgzWnPiSlI2-Dz-2kwD4rtn4XtSZD3ztZyfu1cv35LqapQVWfrzzhhJW23M2LgSlStxMKJEyaAa13q7jd4KR-d4UJssdpnTI_hXAC6iSyU3ZKu4B/s1280/LebCat+37+20200727_132232.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsLYcCdAosPHqM5WHaFjLjdDXEPqf6DgzWnPiSlI2-Dz-2kwD4rtn4XtSZD3ztZyfu1cv35LqapQVWfrzzhhJW23M2LgSlStxMKJEyaAa13q7jd4KR-d4UJssdpnTI_hXAC6iSyU3ZKu4B/w307-h410/LebCat+37+20200727_132232.jpg" width="307" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">LebCat 37, poised to enjoy a crunchy morsel <br />(27 July 2020 - Baalbek)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> </span>Early
in his visit Sevag was trying to solve a puzzling change in our neighborhood
and environs: an absence of cats. I hadn’t noticed it until he pointed it out,
and realized that my walks around the area in recent weeks had, in fact, been
devoid of felines scurrying away as I passed. This made him wonder, could the
rapid increase of poverty and unemployment and the growth of food insecurity in
Lebanon have anything to do with these missing cats? Hmmm, makes me wonder,
too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[LNB]</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>RevoNishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18196532473979855428noreply@blogger.com1Qobayat, Bayrut, Lebanon33.8936523 35.532200433.891871181127911 35.530054632788087 33.895433418872088 35.534346167211915