Transforming Trauma Into Triumph
Fr. Vazken Movsesian is a priest of the Armenian Church and for the past four decades he has melded the most ancient traditions and practices of Armenian Orthodoxy with contemporary themes to bring about the promise of peace.
In 2003, Fr. Vazken established the In His Shoes organization as a response to Genocide. He teaches that those who have suffered evil have a unique responsibility to take action against injustice to others.
*Click the timestamps below to jump to a specific point in the episode.
[5:00] – What is your take on transformation as a catalyst in moving from surviving mode, as a victim, to thriving and beyond?
[7:51] – Why do those who have suffered evil have a unique responsibility to take action against injustice towards others?
[11:02] – What major evens in your life have impacted you the most and as a result made you the person you are today?
[17:40] – What is TRANSFORMATION in your own words?
[19:39] – What, in your experience, makes someone desire to transform?
[22:40] – Fr. Vazken Movsesian breaks down and defines what Peace and Love mean, so that a any person can understand and apply them in their own life.
[28:38] – What is your idea of a worldly happiness?
[30:36] – How does one find their purpose in life?
[32:59] – What is your definition of a Thriving Life?
[35:23] – What are you proud of in your life?
[37:11] – What is you view of the family and why is it important to you?
[38:53] – 3 concepts/lessons Fr. Vazken would teach the entire population of the Earth to help them live a Thriving Life.
- Take chances, takes risks. The regrets in life are not things that I did bad, but things that I wish I have done.
- Don't be scared to risk, to give of yourself, to love.
[41:27] – What is the biggest mistake you have ever made?
[43:07] – What is your biggest fear moving forward?
[44:12] – What would you do differently if you had to start all over?
[45:16] – What to your mind would be the greatest misfortune?
[48:20] – What is prayer?
[50:51] – What book, besides the Bible, have you given as a gift the most?
- Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
- Walden by Henry David Thoreau
- The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis
[52:05] – Do you have anything to add to Victor Hugo's words? "Jesus wept; Voltaire smiled. From that divine tear and from that human smile is derived the grace of present civilization."