Greetings Dear Reader,
This greeting, “How are you”, is part of the common liturgy
of our interaction with other humans. We
ask and answer the question as a part of the impersonal right observed when we pass
each other. We sound civil and kind but
we seldom listen and connect.
Several years ago, I adopted a response of total honesty
with my Daughter and did not realize that it had become a burden to her. I had also in the last year stolen a public
response from Dave Ramsey that I thought was honest and elicited some real
conversations. I had begun to answer
folks with the response to “How are you?” with “Better than I deserve.”
This response was true and it reminded me what blessings
there are in my life. It also allowed
for some great conversations about how much of life is a gift. When we were talking last week, my Daughter
asked something of me. She asked that,
for seven days no matter who asked me how I am that I say I am doing “Good.”
I do not believe that she had any idea what she was
asking. I am in the deep South. Everyone, everywhere asks you how you are
doing eleven hundred times in a single conversation. Within an hour of getting off the call with
her I was asked six times by two people.
What was interesting was what it taught me about my inner
thinking. You see her reasoning was that
if we are in Christ, no matter what is going on inside us, we are doing good
because we are in Christ. I am at the
end of my seven days and my attitude has been tweaked to see more clearly that
I am doing good, which is better than I deserve.
My gratitude story is that I am so thankful that my Daughter
loves me enough to challenge me to be a better man. I am thankful that in the vast picture of
things, I am doing good, which is much better than I deserve. So, I ask you today Dear Reader, how are you
doing?
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.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Contacts for Aramis
Thorn:
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Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn
Bookings at aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com
Posts
I had a friend in seminary, I believe he was serving a church in Harlem, who would always ask "How are you feeling?" which would always catch me off guard and require a different relationship to my answer.
ReplyDeleteThat is awesome Jeff. I may add that to my arsenal. Yes, arsenal, where the greatest weapon is all consuming barrier crusting love.
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