Flight Requires Balance

Greetings Dear Reader,

Climbing a mountain in darkness,
Standing alone on a ledge,
Every attempt that I make to hold on,
Pushes me nearer the edge,
Nearer the edge. – Dan Fogelberg

I feel I am on a precipice. Stretching out before me is a vast dark valley that is fraught with danger and turmoil. On the other side is a better understanding of Christ and following him. I know that over the past couple of years I have been slowly climbing toward the ledge that overstretches this moment.

The thing is that I know that I can sail over this valley if I choose to do so. I can choose to change and not fight the winds that carry me toward that change. I have written often about the some of the facets of this change. I have minimized possessions, worked toward seeing things more clearly through the eyes of grace, mercy, love, and selflessness. I have been attempting to be the voice of kindness and justice in the same breath.

Some people around me have been very involved in wrestling with the ideas of social justice and how it fits into the gospels. I take great pride that both my Sons work in jobs that support the vulnerable in our society instead of chasing the dollar and discontentment. Those young men do the work of Christ every day in the jobs they do.

The substance of this moment is in realizing that there is more of my “self” that I can abandon to the darkness and more that I can give to Christ. I wish I could have arrived at this moment thirty years ago but I was far too willful and in my own way. Perhaps many things would have been better.

In short, it does not matter who much good I do if I am not doing for the purpose of following Christ and his example. This means that no matter what I have thought in the past, that thinking must change and the subsequent actions must change too.

I cannot ignore that much of the church has left behind what God intended in terms of justice and righteousness centuries ago. I cannot ignore that the leadership at my church is calling for Christ followers to embrace these teachings without abandoning sound theology. We cannot do one without the other.

I think that some who are so disillusioned with the church do so rightly but they reject the foundations of faith instead of seeing where the balance is. I have been out of balance in not seeing the social justice aspect of righteousness and compassion. I am determined to follow Christ and so my movement toward a clearer view of righteousness and justice toward the vulnerable in our community must become focused.

In the same moment it is time for those who think they can work out social justice without Christ as the focus to realize that this leads to an empty socialism that is just as harmful as any heartless theology. The winds of change blow and tentatively I spread my wings.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a home owner. He brings new and old things out of his treasure store."