“Quo vadis, Domine?” The mystery of omens

The examination session imposed on the whole world, accompanied by metamorphic changes, is still continuing. Recording millions of deaths in different corners of the globe during this test period, just like the “arrival” of a “second-generation” Covid-19 strain, still cannot convey the full gravity of the situation into which humanity has been drawn by fate.

The portents of catastrophes threatening humanity’s future cause serious concern only among its thinking segment, while the ever more vicious lifestyle of the vivid representatives of the ‘société de consommation,’ or ‘consumer society,’ always distinguished by their overconfidence and ambitions, takes increasingly wild and ugly forms. The worship of Mammon and the uncontrollable, feverish passion for profit expand their reach daily, conquering new frontiers. People in a constant half-slumber display inappropriate behavior, whose origins only psychologists and psychotherapists can analyze.

Guided by the ancient Eastern wisdom that ‘you do not need to drink the whole sea to discover whether its water is salty,’ let us try, through Armenia—the world’s first country to adopt Christianity—to understand the situation worsening day by day and bring together the problems troubling us. What happened over the last year and a half can be compared only to thunder out of a clear sky. The colorful little beetle bathing in pollen, for whom the violet seemed a swing and the world a crimson flower, was struck by the all-encompassing uncertainty caused by the pandemic.

Consequently, people accustomed to the ‘golden rule’ that ‘the rescue of drowning people is the work of the drowning themselves,’ and to ‘getting ahead’ at any cost, became troubled by their inability to distinguish the essential from the secondary for only a brief moment, just a few months. Their first doubts arose when it became virtually impossible to embrace loved ones, visit a neighbor, or even attend the mourning ceremonies of their own relatives, let alone friends. The second ‘shock’ wave came and engulfed us as war.

It engulfed us, leaving no stone standing; it came, dispersing into the air the myth of the region’s most combat-ready army, skillfully created over thirty post-Soviet years—an extremely illusory legend served to its own people. It came holding a scythe honed sharply over thirty years. It came, shaking an already fragile faith in our own strength; it came and devastated, leaving an entire people without shelter. Even a simple description of the situation is horrifying. On one side, a country defeated in war, more than five thousand victims, tens of thousands of young men confined to wheelchairs, parents who desperately search for their sons’ bodies for months, bury fragments of remains found with great difficulty, and barely leave their children’s graves, and hundreds of soldiers in captivity.

On the other, a defeated prime minister who surrendered vast territories to the enemy yet remains steadfast, intending to give up neither life nor his prestigious office; and former and present puppeteers who, despite loud promises that shook the air, have not been detained, but instead cleansed of the people’s curse and their old sins and now even ‘supplied’ with parliamentary mandates. Truly, Armenia is an open-air museum—a ‘museum’ unlike any other in the world…

Analyzing the snap parliamentary election held a few days ago is by no means a quick matter. Perhaps future analysts will somehow explain the underlying causes of the pan-Armenian mass psychosis. A ‘parade of self-realization.’ Everyone who could—the sensible and less sensible, the capable and less capable, the well-fed and hungry—became active participants in another display, not even concealing their greedy aspirations and unrestrained appetite to get as close as possible to power’s feeding trough.

Pro-Western, pro-Russian, and even more pro-Russian forces became the participants in this ‘lustration.’ According to a common view, even a glance is enough for an experienced doctor to assess the body’s overall condition. This also applies to those know-it-alls who, unlike ordinary ignoramuses, have access to certain omens. That such omens exist is beyond doubt. For example, what can be said of a parent who bought a car with money received for a son’s death instead of erecting a monument to him, or a mother who lost her son and blesses and wishes long life to the monster who threw her child into death’s clutches?

What can be said of people counting, day and night, the income from rented-out ‘properties’ and new, cleverly executed deals in Armenia, which stands on the threshold of losing statehood—people entirely certain that danger lurks somewhere in the Cordilleras, not in little Armenia, located barely a couple of steps from the enemy? And finally, what can be said of people for whom conformism is an indisputable truth and a manifestation of extraordinary wisdom…

P.S. Nevertheless, despite the situation, there are people whose reason has not entirely faded, who try at any cost to find ways out of the dead end. You will never see huge banners with their images in the streets. These are people who silently and with dignity carry their cross, people whose heroic activity and invaluable contribution to the first victorious war began to be discussed only thirty years later, and even then only in whispers so that, God forbid, the enemy would not discover its real opponents.

These like-minded people still think about possible ways out of the gravest situation, preferring to remain in the shadows, away from election showmanship. Vivid evidence is the Armenian-Georgian Federation, known to few, founded by dedicated, sensible people unafraid to assume responsibility. During a recent visit to Georgia, federation members met Ilia II, the spiritual shepherd of the Georgian Orthodox Church, and received his blessing on the start of their activity. The key to the federation’s success is understanding the full importance of spiritual unity.

It is precisely this that will make it possible to combine joint efforts to confront new challenges in the region.

‘This mad, mad, mad world’…

P.S. I admit that this publication was prompted by a conversation about the importance of spiritual unity and the serious dangers threatening our changing world, which took place after the meeting with the spiritual leader at his residence. Moreover, a thought voiced half-jokingly by federation leader Arbak Khachatryan found an enthusiastic response from two meeting participants: Giorgi Margvelashvili, rector of Tbilisi State University of Theatre and Film, and director Armen Ronov. It is quite possible that, in the near future, this idea will become the starting point for a film.

A New Reading of Faust and Mephistopheles’ ‘Repentance’

What is the meaning of this idea? Having clearly grasped the profound meaning of ‘A soldier who does not dream of becoming a general is a poor soldier,’ some individuals have succeeded so well in this endeavor that the devil himself, compared with them, seems a fledgling youth making clumsy attempts to save his native home—fiery hell—from such rogues. Then the Lord Himself takes pity on the fledgling devil, somewhat bewildered by the conduct of people who have entirely lost their conscience, clutching his head in confusion at what is happening. To save the situation somehow and rescue the devil from the hands of the wild, maddened crowd, He expresses His willingness to make room for him on the cross beside His son…

I hasten to assure you that the above has no connection whatsoever with blasphemy. It is a cry for help in a fit of despair caused by people’s mad, horrifying conduct, an attempt to break through the cast-iron armor of human deafness. It is a grotesque intended to emphasize the pitiful essence of petty people immersed in material things from head to toe, who have become their slaves, who judge everything solely from the standpoint of personal benefit, and for whom only money and power matter… A distinctive alarm bell whose anxious ringing, as Arbak Khachatryan aptly observed, must reach the ears of every lost soul worldwide. Otherwise, if we fail to assess the situation soberly, if we do not abandon wholesale plunder and self-devouring, if nature and humanity do not turn to face each other, mutations of the lethal gene and humanity’s destruction are inevitable.

Epilogue

P.P.S. Incidentally, as a small people, Armenians have always boasted of their uniqueness and the honor bestowed on them since ancient times of being first in everything. Remember the story of Noah, or, say, the adoption of Christianity, or the world’s first and oldest shoe, or the first and oldest wine, and so on and so forth… The list could continue for a long time. The list of famous Armenians, including even the Unknown Soldier, is no less impressive… So, beyond any doubt, we have every chance of being pioneers among those deported from hell as well. In fairness, however, it should be noted that the number of people who have found no place either below or above grows daily around the world…

As the poet would say: ‘God Himself is pondering what to do with me, how to proceed. Leave me, or call me? In which world is the good—in this one or the other?’