Reaching to the Sky

Written by Mikhail Morgulis

Monday, 03 September 2007

I met Alina Aivazova in Miami. My acquaintance with her continued in Kyiv. As I led the service at a city church one day, she came in and, after a call for penance, went down on her knees and said a passionate prayer. She stood in a white dress that enveloped her body with her hands raised up. I later remembered the famous American poet Emily Dickenson, who was known as the woman in white. She had a poem that began I lost a world the other day. Some children came up to me once and asked: “How is it that you’ve got so many friends in this very short life?” “Some people collect stamps, other people collect coins, others still collect t-shirt,” I replied. “As for me, I collect good people.” The youngsters, as true contemporaries of today’s computer games, persisted on questioning me further. “Are all of your friends good? It is impossible.” “Sometimes it is possible. To me, all of them are good. Even angry, envious, and indifferent people become good when I’m around. Good people become even better. And you know why? For me, all of them are God’s Creation.” I did not want to disappoint the little ones and reveal that a loving man always remains lonely, a truth I had come to learn long ago. Even amongst a thousand friends you can feel all alone. I did not want to tell them about the music I often hear – the sky’s jazz improvisations of the Lonely Soul motif. I did not want to tell them that it is by no means an easy road that we must walk on through the desert to those sad rhythms of our hearts. I explained to them, however, that, according to strict Christian doctrines, I do not have to love everyone. Nobody is obligated to love everyone on those bases. I must love everyone before God at the behest of Christ. It is hard and almost impossible to do. Only Christ was able to do it. From time to time, however, even ordinary individuals are capable of it. It is easy to love those that love you. It is more difficult to love those that are indifferent to you. It is, for the most part, impossible to love those that hate you. Before Christ, however, I must love everybody. Those who understand that try to fulfill the new commandment of Jesus despite the hurt and the tears. Alina, my sister Alina I met Alina Aivazova in Miami. My acquaintance with her continued in Kyiv. As I led the service at a city church one day, she came in and, after a call for penance, went down on her knees and said a passionate prayer. She stood in a white dress that enveloped her body with her hands raised up. I later remembered the famous American poet Emily Dickenson, who was known as the woman in white. She had a poem that began I lost a world the other day.         Alina grew up in an Armenian family with a very long and rich history. She came from the Caucuses to Kharkov, graduated from law school, and worked as an attorney. When the Soviet empire crumbled, she created large commercial enterprises. She married a poor man Leonid Chernovetskiy, who went on to become Ukraine’s largest banker and the Mayor of Kyiv. His university professor once told me: “At the time, Leonid was studying during the day and working at night, unloading railroad cars… He had a very strong will. Even though he would fall down from exhaustion, he’d pick himself up and carry on. I liked him for that. I had a tremendous respect for that man.” Leonid Chernovetsky also at one time repented and accepted God into his life. For now, however, let us leave it at that. Talking about the Mayor of Kiyv would require starting an altogether new discussion. - Alina, every year you donate around three million dollars to the poor people in Ukraine who do not have enough to eat. Why do you give to charity? - When I was growing up, my father did not wish just to get all the money he earned for himself. He wanted to be fair to everybody. He often taught me to do the same. I remember that when an ice-cream car with children’s music would come to our street and all the neighborhood kids would gather around, my dad would first buy ice-cream cones for other children. No one had any money. Once, my father was giving out the ice-cream to other kids, I asked him why he was not offering me any. After he finished doling out the cones to everybody, he gave me the last one and said: “When you help someone, you need to forget about yourself for some time.”              - How do you react when the press makes any kind of accusations against you or your husband? - I try to be a Christian. I continue to love those that accuse me, just like I love those closest to me. You’ve told me yourself that it is difficult to love the people that don’t like you. But when you give your life to Christ completely, you need to love those that hate you and belittle you. Mother Theresa is Alina’s example. She told me once: “Michael, I envy you that Mother Theresa once blessed you. I wish to live like she did, but things don’t always go the way I want them to.” In reality, Alina succeeds in many of her undertakings, and things do work out the way she intended. Her achievements include giving out millions of dollars to feed the hungry, offering support to gifted children, helping cancer patients, starting up soup kitchens, and supporting talented artists. I tell her: “You have a very emotional personality…” - I am fighting, I am fighting, but it is not easy. There is so much flattery, deceit, and hatred around me, but I keep on fighting. - Alina, my sister, God will test you spiritually. Alina came to God for the first time when the devil was pushing her children into the trap of drug addiction. God heard her cries towards the heavens and saved her children through a famous pastor Sunday.       Her road is not easy. As I said at the start, it seems that she is also walking through this desert of an Earth and hearing the lonely music of her heart.            Alina feels that God helped her so that she can help others. One morning she called me almost crying: “Please save Ivan Fedorovich. He is in Moscow with cancer. I know that your friend in Minnesota is a very famous cancer physician. Maybe he can help. Please help Vanya!” She spoke with such passion, with such affliction in her voice that it seemed she shared the pain of her sick friend. This happens on daily basis. She gets calls from Georgia, Siberia, Armenia, and California. Everyone has something to ask for. She does not refuse to help. “While I can do that, I need to help people without insulting anyone.”              I had Alina on one of my television shows. She had a marvelous dress, reminiscent of what Georgian countesses wore centuries ago – wide sleeves and a small Bible in her hands. She truly exuded the gracefulness of a countess. A spiritual compassion towards all people was reflecting in her eyes.      - How do you interpret the words from the Bible: For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? - I take them literally. I do not need the power and the riches of this world if having them means giving up my soul. - What is most important to you in your life? - It is faithfulness! It is faithfulness to God and to people. I tell her: “Let everything around us be for sale. Let them make Gods out of men, let them commit sacrilege. Let them trust men who have betrayed them countless times and not trust God, who has been faithful to them… We must not go astray and continue to follow Christ.” - What would be your wish to our readers? - Without the belief in our Heavenly Maker, life becomes ugly and colorless. Nothing will make us happy forever. No person can do that, only God. I wish for the readers to open their hearts to the Savior, Jesus Christ. He knows what pain, suffering, and loneliness is and can understand each one of us. - What is your wish to yourself? - I want to see more happy people around me. I want for the people I love to be around me. I want to feel the hand of my Heavenly Father resting on my head.

 

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