Unhinged as they are, if you take them apart and place them at different vantage points in your nearest ancient cathedral, thus making it possible to meet these three saints on their own terms, I think you will find them remarkably familiar, and in a personal way that leads you to consider some of your own saintly behavior — the doors you hold open for others; the children whose shoes […]
Today is the birthday of my father’s little sister, Marian. It is also the anniversary of my grandfather’s death in 1990 and the day the ancient orthodox Armenian Church observes Christmas — except in Jerusalem, where the Brotherhood at the Monastery of St. James follows an older calendar and Christmas falls on a later date. In the dimly lit, incense-laden sanctuary of St. James itself, there is a nook where […]
The iris bed is ready for winter. The sleepers are settling in, some with space between them, others in full embrace, with backs and shoulders turned to the soft fall sunlight. None, apparently, are concerned about the presence of the two tiny oak seedlings that sprouted earlier in the year, not even those that are two or three inches away. And anyway, that’s just a human measurement; irises and oaks […]
William Michaelian 