Fire Watch with Me ~ The Friends and Family Flame

Greetings Dear Reader,

The hardest thing about following Christ may be family.  When you combine family and free will you are going to get problems.  We all do things that are selfish and hurtful.  We measure out our distasteful deeds and choose that his wrong is worse than mine and use this as an excuse not to make peace.  We refuse to forgive and we refuse to stop doing that which hurts others. 

My failures are deep enough that two of my children have separated themselves from me.  When I almost took my life in August and chose instead to seek refuge where I could heal, I lost friends.  There are still people from my failures twenty years ago who will not speak to me.  I have reached out for forgiveness and reconciliation but there is silence or even outright rejection at the other end.  I am learning that this is a pattern our society has deepened in order to deal with conflict among friends and family.

I am not saying that my wrongs are not there and that owning them is not essential.  I am saying that when we cut people out of our lives, we hinder our own ability to grow.  We put an anchor to the past in our spirit that will hold fast until we pull it up.  We build its chain, link by ponderous link making harder every day to bridge the gap that we create by failure to learn and failure to forgive. 

We have an obligation to love them all.  That does not mean that we do not set healthy boundaries or that we do not look for genuine change before we take too deep a risk.  It does mean that we speak the truth in love. It does mean that we never stop hoping for the best from both God and that person.  There is no problem that cannot be solved between two people if both are willing to work at showing selfless love to each other.

I told you I was touching on the meddling part of this theme Dear Reader.  You cannot love God and disavow anyone.  We cannot reject humans and embrace Jesus.  We cannot fail to show love to everyone and believe that we are showing love to the Father.  It is just impossible.  We do not have to do it in our own strength.  That is the purpose of our dependence on Christ.

So, it comes to this, I will not give up on any of you.   I have given up on people before and I was dead wrong.  I have abandoned my love for others to pursue my own interests and my own “safety”.  God does not command me to do what he will not give me the power to do in his name.  I will, therefore, keep the flame of our friendship, our love, and our relationships no matter what you say about me or do to me.  I will love you at any cost.  I will still fail you.  I do not wish to but I will still be less than you wish me to be and I will never be able to undo the past.  I will, however, always love you and be willing to work at doing better.  Even if you never speak to me again, I will rejoice when we meet at the clearing at the end of the path.   I love you, Dear Reader.  I am going to be the keeper of the flame of our family and friendship.  If I refuse to love you with deep intensity, or if I give up on you, how can I ever hope to love my enemies?

Keeper of the Flame – Martin Page

And I'll be the train
That keeps on rollin'
Up up around the bend
I'll be the voice that you hear callin'
Howlin' on the wind
I'll be the river deep
Runnin' through your sleep

And I'll be the hand
That keeps on a-knockin'
Up up against your door
I'll be the promise never broken
O forever more

Every vow I make
O I won't forsake

'Cause I'm gonna be
The keeper of the flame
You won't forget my name
Long as our love is in the rain
Wait and see I'm gonna be
The keeper of the flame
Someday you'll know my name
Long as our love is in the rain
Wait and see
O I'm gonna be
The keeper of the flame

Don't give me money, money, money
It'll lead my soul astray
I just want to be inside your temple
Each and every day
When you lay down your head
I will be your bed

And I'll be the heart
That keeps on a-beatin'
Hard up against your skin
I'll be the bulldozer pushin'
'Til you let me in
And when the sun goes down
I will be around

'Cause I'm gonna be
The keeper of the flame
You won't forget my name
Long as our love is in the rain
Wait and see I'm gonna be
The keeper of the flame
Someday you'll know my name
Long as our love is in the rain
Wait and see
O I'm gonna be
The keeper of the flame

To get what I wanna get
I'll be the red, red wine
Going straight to your head

And I'll be the train
That keeps on rollin'
Up, up around the bend
I'll be the horse that keeps on rockin'
This ride will never end
O when the sun goes down
I will be around

'Cause I'm gonna be
The keeper of the flame
You won't forget my name
Long as our love is in the rain
Wait and see I'm gonna be
The keeper of the flame
Someday you'll know my name
Long as our love is in the rain
Come lean on me 'cause I wanna be
The keeper of the flame
I won't ever let it fade
Long as our love is in the rain
I want you to call out my name
And wait and see
O I'm gonna be
The Keeper Of The Flame

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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