When I first came to the United States in 2015, my initial assignment was in St. Louis, Missouri. Before that, I had spent more than ten years serving Armenian communities in France, Switzerland, and Belgium. My daily life was in French. I knew the language, understood the culture, and felt comfortable in my ministry. Then God opened a completely new door. Usually, clergy arriving from overseas spend some time at St. Nersess Seminary. They improve their English, learn about A

In Armenia, people often use the expression «ցավդ տանեմ» — Tsavt tanem, which literally means, “Let me take your pain.” I heard it often growing up, especially when I was sick or hurting. My mother and father, and my grandparents, would say to me, «Tsavt tanem.» As a child, I simply received those words as love and comfort. I did not think much about their meaning. But the older I get, the more I understand how profound they are. Tsavt tanem is more than an expression of symp

We live in a world that celebrates multitasking. We answer emails while eating lunch, check messages during meetings, listen to someone while thinking about the next thing we need to do, and move from one responsibility to another without ever really stopping. Sometimes we even feel proud of it. The more we can juggle, the more productive we think we are. But eventually, something gets dropped. The other day I was watching a waiter in a restaurant carrying several plates at o