A Leap of Hope

Greetings Dear Readers,

When Wednesday gets here I will have been divorced for two weeks. If you are reading my blog for the first time you should know this was against my will and out of my control. Avalon chose this. That is not where I am headed at this time but rather I am looking up the road.

I am looking up the road about two steps. That is all I can afford to look. That may be more than I am supposed to look. The pastor at church I first spoke with told me something at the beginning of this ordeal. He cautioned me to only seek Christ in my journey through this wilderness. He told me to only be who I should become in Christ and not try to fix anything.

I have been doing this and as I have done so Christ reveals my sin, my failures, my areas of falleness more every day. I see over and over new ways in which to give myself to Christ and the realization of his dream for my life. In perfect serendipitous harmony, my church has been walking through the Sermon on the Mount.

I am seeing some of the things Christ says in a light that leaves no room for me to think of myself as lacking anything. Each of the hurts, grudges, and losses I carry are not mine to keep. Each of the worries and apprehensions I use to plan my future are not part of the future I should be planning.

If I carry the hurts of those who wrong me, then I do not embrace the nature of Christ’s grace and forgiveness. If I think of anyone less than me then I do not see the nature of Christ’s love for us. If I abandon anyone then I do not count them as Christ’s and see him as Christ sees him. If I worry about money or provision for my needs then I am not focusing on the steps Christ is trying to point out to me.

I have a long way to go. I have much to learn and become to be what I would be for Christ. I will probably see few Milestones not until they are upon me. I cannot afford to look up from the footsteps I am to follow. Following Christ is not like driving. In driving you look as far down the road as possible.

Following Christ is like crossing a river on some rocks. I need to look each stone as I step on it for the clear footprint of the one who goes before me. As he lifts his foot from the stone I must put mine there. So in my leaps of faith I also take leaps of hope because my guide knows the way. The big truth, however, is this; they seem like leaps to us but what they really are, are baby steps of following the one who “holds out a cross and a crown.”

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn