Second Thoughts – Back Where it Began

Greetings Dear Reader,

Sometimes I will end the day with thoughts that are important to get out.  Usually I just write them and put them in my journal folder.  I have chosen that on occasion I will share them with you Dear Reader.

A friend posted an old picture from a significant time in my life.  There I was, young, fit, and newly minted in my faith.  Forty-two years have traveled through the pinch in the glass since that picture was taken.  So much of what I believe is the same and so much has changed.  There is not a single person in that picture with whom I still spend any time.  I lost one of them today.  He has gone on to the clearing at the end of the path.  His faith is realized.  Mine is still functional.

I can remember almost everyone in the photo.  Some I know through social media still.  Some I have no idea how to find.  Each of them is someone with whom I shared a bond in Christ and with whom I hope to be reunited at the end of the journey.  We were young and ambitious.  We all wanted to make a difference in the world. 

I know that some of them have made a difference.  I do not know if this lonely soul has.  I look at each of them and wonder about their success and failures.  I wonder what they have become.  Then I realize that the answers are not as important as the realization that as their names float through my mind one thing has not changed. 

I love each of them as if we were still in that moment just before we got back on the bust to go home.  I pray for each one by name hoping that their journey is ever closer on the heels of Christ.  I hope they are finding joy in the journey home. 

Another thought comes to me.  If I could whisper something to that younger self it would be simple.  Cherish these people and stay in contact with them.  They saw me emerge from despair and death to life.  They were there for me as I learned to love instead of hate.  They were my first family of faith.  I would tell that young man to cherish every moment of the journey.

So Dear Reader if you see yourself in the photo I would love to hear from you.  Be assured that I remember you.  Be assured that I miss you.  I would love to catch up with you no matter what the journey has been for you.

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.”

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