From Dirges to Anthems – Past Victories

Greetings Dear Reader,

Heroes' tales like nightingales

Wrestle the wind as they run away – Dan Fogelberg

I know that I have done good things in my live.  I just have to look at my children to that.  I know that I have benefited others in my profession and that I do serviceable work in both the teaching and writing arenas.  There are even times when make a real difference in the lives of others.  These are usually times when I have gotten out of the way and let Christ use me for his purposes.

The thing is that those are all in the past. The greatest hero’s tale I know outside of Christ is just that; a tale.  All the stories of past successes and victories can inspire and teach but they are in the past.  We tell them, make movies about them, and sing them.  No matter how good they are they do nothing good if they do not push us on to more things that are heroic. 

I used to see this part of the song as people not seeing the good I did.  I am learning that it does not matter how much good I have done in the past if I am not in this moment seeking to do more good today.  There is a place for one to be always dissatisfied.  It is in the arena of yesterday versus today and tomorrow.  It is wrestling with the temptation to believe our own hero’s tales and be satisfied with them.  The past may make a beautiful song but that song floats on the wind and is gone.  But as I sit here and write; as my fingers caress the keyboard and spin out new stories and observations about my journey, there is a chance to make a difference today.

The journey must always be forward even “with the past at your back and the future unsure.”  I am on a journey toward God.  I must always be a constant in the chaos seeking only to follow that path and make the future better for everyone in any way that I can.  It is the primary reason that I live between the world of men and make-believe.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn                              

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store."