Long Overdue...
Recently as of April 2021, our President publicly acknowledged the 1915 Armenian Genocide on its 106th Commemoration Day. He is the first president in history to do so. The Armenian community's trauma has never been officially acknowledged, and as such gives way to a resurgence of protracted conflict which has happened in very recent months.
"Each year on this day, we remember the lives of all those who died in the Ottoman-era Armenian genocide and recommit ourselves to preventing such an atrocity from ever again occurring." Joe Biden
With this acknowledgment, comes renewed hope for an end to this conflict and that healing and the beginning of the reconciliation process can begin.
Reconciliation Song, beautifully highlights the new possibilities. Click title to listen.
Read a personal and touching story by the songwriter, Jon Shabaglian...
My grandparents fled from the Armenian genocide, and my great grandfather was taken up on a death march and shot. The pain was tremendous, but the beautiful paradox as those persecuted so severely, Armenians, we have 1700 years of Christianity in our bloodline, and Jesus was crushed and mocked too. This powerful collusion came together for me when God collided me into my future friend @orhan_celebi a few years prior to the 100 year anniversary of the tragedies.
I would’ve never chosen a Turkish friend of people who should be my enemy, but God pushed me forward into a profound reconciliation story. He was cooking up something that was far bigger than me. I wrote this song in processing this painful, beautiful new friendship, and In 2015 we ended up sharing our story and song we recorded together in Istanbul Turkey on a historic reconciliation gathering. This is this song, With the lyrics in English Armenian and Turkish, just like we shared.
So on this day, the first time an American president acknowledged this genocide formally, I’m inviting my Armenian brothers and sisters, and many others who’ve know extreme pain and injustice, to join me on the scary road of forgiveness towards reconciliation, with Jesus. In the words of Tony Stark, “resentment is corrosive”...
Hope this moves you, and feel free to share...
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ReplyDeleteMy teaching journey led me to teach in an Armenian School in CA. It was a wonderful experience where I learned about the tenacity and strength of a displaced people group. For many, many years the Genocide was not recognized which added to the grief of a people who felt so connected to their homeland and their ancestor's atrocities. In 2021, the recognition of this genocide was a significant event. It will not repair the past, but validates it—a shift in the right direction.
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