31 March 2019

Perelandra

Greetings Dear Reader,

“As long as what you are afraid of is something evil, you may still hope that the good may come to your rescue. But suppose you struggle through to the good and find that it is also dreadful? How if food itself turns out to be the very thing you can’t eat and home the very place you can’t live, and your very comforter the person who makes you uncomfortable. Then, indeed, there is no rescue possible: the last card has been played.”
― C.S. Lewis, Perelandra

This is so central to understanding why we must work at loving each other and being reconciled to each other.  We fear things and allow the good to become evil to us.  Accountability is viewed as control.  Responsibility becomes a demand.  We turn that which is good for us into obligations and burdens. 

Standards are viewed as judgment and narrow-mindedness.  Failure to acknowledge the thought of the day as valid and true is called prejudice, racist, and hatred.  When we express love, we have to accept all of the agenda for it to be validated.  The imperfect demand that we measure up to their standards whilst reviling and demeaning ours.

Too often our pattern is to reject what is good or turn it into bad because it requires us to be better.  It demands that we too rise above the bad and embrace the good.  It requires that we forgive, love, and be kind at any cost.  When we refuse, we turn even the best we are given into ashes.

When we turn good into bad, we quickly run out of places to stand.  Everything becomes tainted and hope runs low.  We cannot fail to love and hope to have hope.  We cannot make that which is good evil and hope to have any remaining refuge.  We will be tempted and tried continuously until we reach home.  If we care for each other we can make it.  If we do not, we may as well sit in the ashes together Dear Reader.

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 homeowner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

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30 March 2019

Out of the Silent Planet

Greetings Dear Reader,

“And how could we endure to live and let time pass if we were always crying for one day or one year to come back--if we did not know that every day in a life fills the whole life with expectation and memory and that these are that day?”
― C.S. Lewis, Out of the Silent Planet

As I travel this morning, my mind is on the stars.  I am headed to them in a way and will also be back again.  I have been rereading the Space Trilogy by CS Lewis.  It strikes me how deeply its lessons echo in our current culture.

We remain prisoners of our past in far too many ways.   We hold on to past anger, pain, loss, and wrongs as if they serve us in some way.  We make them our present when they belong to that which is gone beyond reclamation.  They, therefore, devour our present and fill it with longing and regret.  Instead, we could be filling the moment, the day, and the life we have with things that are good and whole.

I have always wanted to be on the journey outward and onward.  I have too long put maintaining a semblance of something past ahead of the journey into the moment that is next, into the life that is intended for us all.  The cost of living in the past is stagnation and death.  We leave this silent planet for an undiscovered country whether we wish it or not.

I have chosen that it is better to use each moment to prepare for being there instead of trying to recreate moments that belong to the past and only their memory and lessons belong to me.  Attempting to cling to the past cause tension as I am dragged further into the future via the present.  As I journey, I pray to become better at living in this moment.

It is in this that I can find the freedom I need to be a better man, a better friend, and a better faithful follower.   I must give account for some of the failures of my past, but there is little else that I can do.   I can ask forgiveness, seek to understand how others feel and make amends where I am allowed.  I cannot stay and debate or defend.  The Captain is calling and it is time to get back on the road Dear Reader.  I hope you continue to journey with me.

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 homeowner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

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29 March 2019

64” Screen

Greetings Dear Reader,

I want to say first that this is not a TV review or an attempt to make the case for giant televisions.  The idea of a TV that costs as much as a cheap used car is not something, I find appealing.  I did, however, find a bit of adventure and learning with one.

I visited a friend this week who had a brand new 64”, state the art television.  This is one of those with 360-degree vision, a billion shades of color, and the ability to turn into a chameleon on your wall when it is off.  I admit I was impressed with the blending of the screen into their sea-foam colored wall.  It somehow mimicked the color.  The addition of an image of the moon made it look like a framed painting or photograph.

It also uses a thin, almost invisible cable to attach all fourteen-million of his game consoles, video players, computers, and his cable to the screen.  He has theatre style seats that recline and are heated.  The chairs are perfectly situated so that the screen just touches the edge of one’s peripheral vision.

We were set to watch a movie and he and his spouse had laid out some very amazing appetizers from their equally technological kitchen.  Paul switch on the system from his chair mounted console that reminded me more of a starship than an easy chair.  Lights came on in the technology nook that sat just behind our line of sight.  He used his console to also extinguish the lights in the room.

Instantly the screen darkened for a moment and the logo of the video playback software filled the center.  The backlight to the screen adjusted to fit the presets of the function.  The comic book logo of the production company flickered across the screen and then it when dark for a few seconds before the movie began.

We both saw it at the same time.  I said nothing.  Paul paused the movie in its darkness and swore blue thunder.  About two inches from the center of the screen was a single, bright-white dead pixel.  This tiny failed node in the vast sea of working ones called to Paul as if taunting him.

I suggested that we would not notice it once the movie got rolling.  He grudgingly agreed and started the movie again.   I was correct that it was unnoticeable amidst the bright colors of costumed heroes and extensive explosions.  It was, however, the first thing that came up after the movie ended. 

Paul set the screen to black and went up to the wall to examine the petulant pixel.  He ranted a bit about the cost of the screen (closer to $3000 than $2000).  This Dear Reader is my point.   That single tiny dead pixel became the focus of my friend’s world.  The vast opulence of his life, the many blessings in his world, and the joy he has in all his success were forgotten over a single dead node.

I am not judging Paul.  I know that I can forget all that is good in my life over things that ultimately do not matter.   It is my obligation to hold all things in perspective.   When I fail to do so, I hurt others and miss opportunities to be gracious and kind.  Paul will be inconvenienced having to replace his amazing TV.  He still has more than most of us will ever have. 

Still, I must be vigilant that my pixel problems do not overtake the landscape of my life that is filled with grace and blessings.  I must ensure that I am not so narrowly focused that I neglect gratitude and humility in every moment.  I have so many things that will transcend the life of my technology and gadgets.

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 homeowner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

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28 March 2019

Where Turns the Heart ~ Closing Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

We train our muscles to work for us.  We allow them to atrophy and work against us.  Muscle memory develops with time and application. Our hearts are little different.

The idea is that we as we turn our hearts toward the things that we wish and then it begins to turn there on it own as it has been trained.  I drove a stick shift car for nearly thirty years.  I have had an automatic for almost ten years now.  Whenever I stop suddenly, I still try to depress an absent clutch pedal.

We fail to see that we are training our hearts to turn in a certain direction with every choice.  We apply our hearts to anger, rage, envy, and bitterness.  Then we are surprised when we are unhappy.   Anger too easily becomes our automatic response.  We even say things like, “that always makes me angry,” or “this is my pet peeve.”   We are saying that we are predisposed to anger over things that need not make us angry.  Consider that last thing.  We are keeping as a pet something that makes us unhappy. 

When we train our hearts to love we can easily train our hearts to forgive, be kind, and respond with grace.  It is not always easy and does not always become simple.  It is, however, the path to peace.  It is the way of wisdom.  We are able to apply our hearts to wisdom when we choose to love first then see what needs to be built on that foundation.

I have not mastered this.  I have far to go.  Still, I find myself in circumstances that allow me to exercise my determination to love over everything else. When I choose to love first it becomes easier to set aside what I want over what is needed.  It seems rational to show grace and kindness.  It is simple to see the needs of others in the moment and defer to that.  

It does not take away the pain when others do not practice love first.  It is not my place, however, to judge them or place that expectation on them.   It is my obligation to love them in that moment, own my failings, and trust that all things will be back to good eventually.  When you choose to walk with me in this Dear Reader, I find great joy in the journey.     

As I move on to the next part of the path, I hope that you and I can walk together and learn to apply our hearts to love, grace, and kindness.   I hope we can agree to forgive, show mercy, and grow in humility toward everyone.  We agree that others need love.  I think that in training it is the ideal place to begin.

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 homeowner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

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27 March 2019

Where Turns the Heart ~ Hope

Greetings Dear Reader,

Today is one of those painful days.  It is one where the reverberance of sorrow and loss tear at the heart and where all the other pains of life seem amplified.  I cannot sequester myself away and indulge in a day of quiet as I would like.  My other obligations are still there and demand their due.

Where then does my heart turn today?  How do I walk through loss remembered that left so much damage and so much pain in its wake?  I return to the hard deck.  I return to the bottom ground of my pain and look for Christ in the moment.  I look for his love and consider why it matters in this remembrance. 

The love of Christ and the journey back to good must be understood in the overall and not just in the event.  I want to carry constant sorrow and develop my pain and loss as a banner.  I also want to see the love of Christ in the loss and turn my heart toward hope.  I will choose each year.  I will succeed or fail. 

In the turning of the heart here is the choice of hope.  Do I choose to hope in Christ or do I choose to despair in my loss?  What is the choice that focuses on love?  What is the choice that affirms my faith and following?

If I do not choose hope then I am not following in love and faith.  It does not mean that my pain and loss are not real.  It does not mean that my heart is less tender over the loss.  It means that I understand that getting back to good sometimes requires that which is not good right now.  My hope in the restoration of good must see this.  My faith in the love of Christ must guide me Dear Reader.

My heart feels the pain but it turns to hope.   It beats with sorrow but knows there is love and a fellow-traveler in my sorrow.  “The man of all sorrows, he never forgot, the burden that is carried by heats that he bought.”  I will walk more quietly today but I will be here if you need me. 

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 homeowner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

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26 March 2019

Where Turns the Heart ~ Joy

Greetings Dear Reader,

I often wonder if we know what joy is.  It is not happiness.  It transcends that feeling.  I wish the framers of the Declaration of Independence had thought of the pursuit of joy as more important than happiness.  Then again, perhaps they are correct.

Happiness is elusive.  It has to be maintained via external sources and is subject to circumstance.  It has to be pursued.  Joy, however, is there.  It is a choice that is ever present for us.  It is possible to find joy even in dire circumstances where happiness has long left us wondering if it was ever there.

As a society, we fail to consider that joy is always available to us.  It is always possible to find joy in our journey even when the path may be filled with pain and sorrow.  This may sound counter-intuitive but it is not.  Happiness is circumstantial and joy is constantly there.

Our joy is supposed to be rooted in love.  If we turn our hearts toward love in every circumstance, in every moment, then we can have joy even in the direst situations.  The most painful circumstances in my life right now are unhappy but because I am determined to love and see the love of Christ in those circumstances, there is still joy available to me.

If I pursue happiness with a heart centered on the joy of love then it is easier to find and far less fleeting.  The joy in our journey is based on the love we carry in our hearts, not in the precipitating events around us.  I feel no happiness when someone I love dies.  I feel great joy at their reaching the clearing at the end of the path, at their arrival in that Undiscovered Country. 

Tomorrow marks a day where some of my deepest sorrow is rooted.  It is also a source of joy for me as it gives me something to anticipate as I journey toward an understanding of how the Father works out sorrow so that it becomes love and joy.  I do not need the answers to understand that joy is possible now and can abide in the heart always.

This attitude yields peace and stability.  It is not a platitude when I say that the Father knows what he is doing.  It is not puerile when I express that the love of God sustains me so that I can work at being more loving, kinder, and finding joy in the journey no matter my circumstance.  My heart had forgotten this and turned toward other things to try and find happiness. 

Through great loss and pain came the reminder that the joy I need is found in Christ alone.  It is in seeing you, Dear Reader, through the love he wishes me to have for everyone.  It is given life through choosing to obey the command to love in every circumstance.  It is in obedience to love that joy is always present no matter where happiness has fled.

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 homeowner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

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25 March 2019

Where Turns the Heart ~ Love

Greetings Dear Reader,

It has been a necessary difficulty to pursue these negative aspects of the heart.  I know that they have been challenging for you as well Dear Reader.  Thank you for your comments and questions.  Let me say clearly that I realize that the idea of interacting with everyone in love and kindness carries diverse challenges for each of us.

I think this is why love is supposed to be the foundation of all we do.  It is only love that can truly cast out fear.  If my focus is on love for God and others then fear has no foothold.  It may be there but it is harder for it to control me. Please do not think that I find this easy.  Rather, it takes the constant focus of my thoughts, will, and action.  It is easier with some people than others.

The long and short of it is that love is the hard deck.  It is the place where our hearts must turn when all else seems untenable.  It is choosing that I will love others beyond my pain and fear.  I will love others no matter what the cost to me.  I will put love first in my interactions and reactions.

Deeper still, when I think of others, I will look at their needs through the lens of love.  I will view their faults and foibles through the focus of Christ loving them just as much as he loves me.  I will experience their anger, judgment, and rejection and realize that it is worth it to learn to love deeper and with more purity.

None of this is easy but if I am going to forgive to the extent that I need forgiveness then I must love to the extent that I am loved by Christ.  I cannot achieve this yet but it is a worthy constant goal.  It is the path of peace and joy.  It is the way home Dear Reader.  I hope you can continue with me.  As we walk together we can train our heart muscle to love more deeply, more strongly. 

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 homeowner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

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24 March 2019

Where Turns the Heart ~ Rejection

Greetings Dear Reader,

We reject people.  We all do it at some point in some way.  When we decide that people do not meet the standards we have set, then we reject them.

It may not be obvious or overt.  It may be that we stop inviting someone over.  It could be that we exclude an individual from the group casually.  We may stop being available or interacting with someone.  We might decide we need more “me” time and a break from someone.

Then there is the extreme where we ghost an individual without a word.  We stop responding and justify our behavior based on their faults.  We also just tell people we no longer wish to speak to him or her.  We find many ways to reject others and all of them are unhealthy for our heart.  All of the times we reject someone else we have handed our heart in some way.

I am not saying that not wanting to date someone or not becoming best friends with someone is rejection.  It is the failure to still love and respect that individual that is rejection.  It is saying you will remain friends and not following through that is rejection.  None of us can sustain relationships with everyone.  We are, however, required to love everyone.

When our hearts turn to reject humans, we are also rejecting the Father because we are dismissing his command for us to love everyone.  There are people who impact us negatively but we still must love them.  Persons who we dislike, however, must be considered in light of why we dislike them.  If the reason is selfish, then we must ponder it carefully.  We must be aware of our actions toward others in relation to our acceptance of them.

Everyone is worthy of my kindness and love.  Every life has something to inform mine and I must show that I value every life.  I must not hold anything against someone.  I must not make it easy on myself by thinking I can be neutral or not care.  I must actively love everyone.  I must love others at any cost.  I will love you Dear Reader and I hope to together we can learn to show that love to others.

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 homeowner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

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23 March 2019

Where Turns the Heart ~ Drama

Greetings Dear Reader,

The word drama is not a bad word.  We watch drama-based television shows.  Some of us love dramatic movies and plays.  The world is fillies with good drama.  There is, however, the drama to which we turn when we have a heart of anger, hate, and bitterness. 

As a story-teller, I know drama when I see it and recognized the launching of negative emotions into a situation simply to wrest attention and control in the moment.   We use drama to call attention to our wants and needs.  It is employed to avoid real-life conversation and matters that can change the heart to good.

Someone I love just pointed out how little drama is in his life due to the removal of those who caused it.  We do have to distance ourselves from the drama at times to recapture our bearings.   Someone else I love uses drama to try and control those around her.  Ironically it drives them away.

It is not the infliction of negative drama that guides us.  When we employ drama over love, kindness, and compassion we create chaos instead of direction.  We derail attempts to reason through difficulties by infusing emotion and negativity into the situation. 

We need to consider if drama is necessary to walk the path we have to traverse.  If it is not then I know I must leave it behind.  I can deal with my feelings without creating drama.  I can travel well without putting others into the dramatic blender that never yields good results.

You and I must travel well together Dear Reader.  My obligation is to love you where you are without creating or taking part in a maelstrom.  We can leave the drama to the writers.

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 homeowner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

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22 March 2019

Where Turns the Heart ~ Bitterness

Greetings Dear Reader,

I thought about this much as I was traveling today.  Here I am miles away from where I began and still fighting the same internal things.  It is not that we become bittern over a moment. Bitterness is the things that clog our hearts over time through the use and abuse of anger and judgment.  It is the slow turning of our hearts into things seemingly incapable of love. 

Our sudden expression of bitterness is the heart attack from our failure to forgive and love.  It is the natural outcome of our refusal to let go of the past in favor of loving in the moment.  We do not need to long dwell on this.  

I must allow people to be as they are in the moment and be determined to love them as they are.  Anything else is to till the soil for bitterness to grow.  I may as well eat lard sandwiches and expect clear arteries.  It is the same impact.  Dining on anger and the past will kill love and kill us.  Bitterness precludes love before love is allowed to state its case.

Bitterness can also be subtle.  I realized as I was traveling that bitter plaque had built up in my feelings for someone.  I had to rehearse the good things I know about him and remember that the only way to love is in the moment.  His past does not matter. Loving him in this moment is vital.  It keeps coming back to that vital truth Dear Reader.  Let us keep exploring it together.

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 homeowner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

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21 March 2019

Where Turns the Heart ~ Judgement

Greetings Dear Reader,

When thinking about training the heart muscle, we have to admit that it is long in muscle memory when it comes to judging others.  It is almost an autonomic response for us.   We pass judgment on almost everything. 

The difference is to know the difference.  We must judge between what is proper discernment of what is good and evil.  We have to assess what is the right thing to do and what is wrong for us.  Beyond that, there is the idea of passing judgment on other humans.  This is where our heart must be rigorously trained or harder still, retrained.


At the core of it is the entire idea of comparison and contrast over what we have judged to be good, evil, right, or wrong.  To put a light-hearted moment on this thinking we can consider the raging debate on social media on something over which I feel very strongly.  Please, Dear Reader, relax your judgment muscles as we discuss putting pineapple on pizza.

If I have not lost you just by bringing it up, I hope that you still love me after I confess.  One of my favorite pizzas is bacon, pineapple, and red onion.   I hope that your heart is not broken or that I have not created a rift between us.   I know that people feel very strongly about this and that the feelings are visceral. 

Do you see Dear Reader, how easily we judge others based on what we prefer?  The problem with the pineapple pizza debate is that we transfer the preference of toppings to the character of the individual.  We will reject people over their preferences instead of loving them.  There have been real arguments over which way the toilet paper goes on the roll and where to squeeze the toothpaste tube.  We train our hearts to turn toward judgment of those who do not fit our mold.

It is in this moment that we need to judge ourselves.  We need to assess if we believe that someone is worthy of judgment because they do not agree with us.  It is required that we love everyone.  There is little room for rejection in that.  We will look at rejection tomorrow but for today, we must ponder what we have trained our hearts to judge.

When my heart wants to beat out judgment, I must ask if I am showing love in my thinking.  I must decide if I am going to exercise selfish judgment or discern and then love.  There is only one right answer here in my judgment.

The training must be that we assess what we do and do not like honestly.  We must not transfer that assessment to the individual.  We must not become the one who rejects others based on things that ultimately do not matter.  Could you pass me another slice of that pizza Dear Reader?

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 homeowner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

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20 March 2019

Where Turns the Heart ~ Anger

Greetings Dear Reader,

Think for a moment about someone with whom you are angry.  Picture the person.  Recall why you are angry.  Review the things that happened and your justifications for your anger.  Ponder how long you have been angry and how long you intend to hold onto it.

Now, you may get angry at me Dear Reader.  You see, if you have just done what I suggested and the time is older than today, I have trapped you.  Anger is a dangerous consuming poison that leaches away life and peace.  We are required as Christ followers to never end the day angry.

Anger is not wrong but it is also supposed to be short-lived.  When our heart turns to anger it does need to be justified.  We need to be sure that it is not our pride or expectations that have led us there.  We must process what caused the anger and determine if we have forgiven, shown grace and mercy, and have an attitude of love toward the other individual. 

I realize that we all think about why our continued anger is justified because of the patterns, repetition, and habits of the focus of our anger.  The difficulty is that none of that justifies continued anger at someone.  It is not OK to stay angry at someone.  If for no other reason than it damages our hearts. 

When we experience hurt, betrayal, or any offense, we do not have to become angry.  We can choose the way of peace.  I am learning to forgive in the moment even if I instantly feel anger.  I am striving to deal with things that used to turn my heart toward anger in a new way. 

I seek to find the path of peace by hearing what others say and seeing what they do in the light of their need as opposed to my own needs and wants.  I will not pretend it is easy but it also is worth the effort.  There are places where I have trained my heart muscle to turn to anger instantly.  The retraining takes intention and work. 

What I would like you to do Dear Reader is join me on this path.  The anger is unhealthy and will eventually betray you.  If we seek peace through love and forgiveness, we can endure so much more than we realize.  I am not suggesting that you stay in dangerous situations or that your anger is never justified.  I am saying that there are two paths you can walk.  There is always a moment to choose the more noble path.  If we walk together, we can help each other along the way.  Your company brings me peace.

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 homeowner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

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19 March 2019

Where Turns the Heart ~ Opening Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

Later this week I will be traveling for a bit.  I face a long journey with a heart very different than the one with which I arrived here.  I still have far to travel internally and much to learn.  There has been a great reset, however, that has me asking about where my heart turns when confronted with things that are spiritual and interpersonal.

In the quest to have a heart that seeks to love others above my wants and plans, I have had to own some responses that do not fit with that kind of heart.  We train our minds to respond to things.  Whether due to trauma, injustice, or many other real hurts, we develop responses of the heart. 

Some of these responses serve as a shield.  They are a barrier that we call a boundary.  A dear friend talks about our walls being our safe boundaries.  I think there is an error in the reasoning here that I will address later in this part of the journey.  What I do want to point out is that we have become experts at building justifiable barriers that supposedly guard our hearts. 

Where does your heart turn when you face pain, hurt, suffering?   What is the muscle memory you have developed for the times when you feel you need protection?  As I prepare myself for a journey, I must prepare my heart for responses that are focused on who I am to be not what I was.

Please walk with me Dear Reader.  I value your thoughts and questions as I attempt to navigate a long journey fraught with opportunities and challenges.  It will be my first marathon after a long stay from them.  As always, your company will make the journey richer.

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 homeowner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”
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