Three Nights I Died ~ Closing Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

I believe that there is much more I could say about this but September beckons.  As mark my first year in this place the Cherokee named “Beautiful”, I think very differently about the days.  I make plans but they are all for the purpose of benefitting others or sharing time with those I love.  I love life but only moment by moment.

I think perhaps that is what we miss in following Christ.  He asks us for our lives and we struggle to give them to him.  What he does when we die to self is request that we follow him through every remaining moment of our lives.  He will give us back each moment to which we die filled with his love and presence.  That sounds a little smarmy even to me until I ponder what it really entails.

The process goes like this:

I am about to step into the next moment

I choose to look for how the love of Christ can be seen and expressed in that moment

I choose that path

I have followed Christ in that moment

Repeat

If I accept the truth that it is Christ that we live, move, and have our being, then nothing else makes sense but to do this.  I have seen this simple practice unravel pain and fear that I have carried since I was nine.  I have seen my thinking shift from what I need to feel good to what I need to follow well.  It has allowed me to be a peace when assailed by anger both just and unjustified.  It provides no need to harbor resentment, ill will, or hurt.  It has helped me be honest about my deep darkness with those who are ready to hear it.

I do not have all the answers.  I have not arrived Dear Reader.  I still have to yield every moment intentionally to remain yielded.  Even in that, I depend on the Father’s grace to accomplish it.  I must keep vigil over my thoughts and use them to lead me to actions that are created of faith and following.  We are meant to keep each other company as we journey in this way.  I am going to keep moving in this direction.  You are always welcome at my side and your thoughts and questions always make the day richer.

The Vigil – Kemper Crabb

Waiting for flame in eye of night, I am the fuel for your fire

Light calls ever unto light. Make me a fleshen pyre.

Touch my lips with the altering coal; leave your shining upon my soul.

Zion shall ever be my goal; Zion the telling of light.

Scanning the silence with inward ears; life is a listening.

Enfolded in echoes of timeless years; the Word comes whistling.

Build my being from your throat; meld my meaning with every note.

Wrap me round in an aural cloak, so I may truly hear.

Drawn towards destinies darkling kite, riven by reality

Riding the passion to terrible height, life upon death’s tree

Cause me to drink from the chalice of fire. Forge me anew in the heat of desire

Let me inhabit the holy empire and make war on the armies of night.

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 ͡°)

Contacts for Aramis Thorn:

Support Page on Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn

Novels on Amazon           

Web Page:  www.aramisthorn.com

Bookings: aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com

Facebook        Twitter            

Medium   Instagram 

This BLOG:  http://aramisthorn.blogspot.com/  

Three Nights I Died ~ Walking Dead

Greetings Dear Reader,

Often during his sermons, my Grandfather would say, “Whenever you saw someone carrying a cross you said to yourself, ‘There goes a dead man.’”  The man was walking through town with a cross.  He was obviously not dead but that was just a matter of time not having gotten there yet.  You knew the man was going to die very painfully, very soon.

When Jesus addressed people wishing to follow him, it was before he was crucified.  Matthew records this: “Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.’”

The idea is that Jesus wishes for us to do three things.  We are to deny ourselves.  This means that we do not matter to anyone but Christ.  Our pride, wants, and interests must all come after the cross.  It is not about me or you Dear Reader.  It is about loving the Father and loving our neighbor.  This is so hard for some people that they have abandoned Christ because what they want, for good or ill, is more important to them than faithfully dying to self.  There are also those like me who thought they knew but in their knowing failed to put love ahead of everything else.  What it comes down to is what we wish to hold onto rather than loving and following.

Take up your cross is not an unclear metaphor.  It is the second part of the instruction.  Most people carrying a cross were required to by the Romans.  We are being asked to take it up voluntarily if we wish to follow Christ.  We are asked to become the walking dead in this world.  We are required to deny this life and carry the symbol of death through every moment of life. 

Third, we must follow.  We must not make our own path or live our own dreams.  We must listen, heed, and follow.  It is not our life any longer.  We are not allowed to give up, get derailed, or fail to follow.  When we choose to follow Christ, we are giving up other paths.  Keep in mind that Jesus is not talking to only his disciples.  It says he is addressing everyone there.  He says that we must be disciplined to the idea and practice of death to self.  Only in this Dear Reader can we hope to follow Christ well.

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 ͡°)

Contacts for Aramis Thorn:

Support Page on Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn

Novels on Amazon           

Web Page:  www.aramisthorn.com

Bookings: aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com

Facebook        Twitter            

Medium   Instagram 

This BLOG:  http://aramisthorn.blogspot.com/ 

Three Nights I Died ~ Night Three

Greetings Dear Reader,

Last Memorial Day weekend I had an event that forced me to face that part of me that I had avoided, closeted, and denied since I was nine.  All those years I made poor choices to keep his voice at bay.  Most of my poor choices in life are because I allowed his potential to be stronger than my faith in Christ.

I make no excuses here.  The choices were mine.  There is room for understanding, however, that I was fighting a war that no one knew.   I sought out counselors.  Some helped me be stronger.  One told me that my situation was hopeless and that I would eventually give in to the darkness. 

When I arrived home from an unexpected journey to the beach this past Memorial Day weekend, I noticed an odd difference.  That voice that had vied for my heart and attitude for so long was silent.  I still knew that I had an inclination to things that were selfish and unloving at times.  That deeper darker passenger, however, seemed to have stayed at the beach.  The waters of the ocean seem to have washed him away.

Three months on, he is still silent.  He is not in residence constantly asking me to follow his lead and not Christ’s.  This is far too mystical for my focus in following Christ.  My faith is practical.  My desire is to use faith and not seek signs is hardened in me.  That night as I drifted off to sleep, I began to understand death to self at a level previously unexplored.

I have told a few people I trust about this part of my journey.  Mostly for the sake of accountability I have discussed the darker details with people who I think would understand or who I think deserve to know the whole truth.  The evidence to me that I have changed is that no matter their response or reaction, my heart has been to love them.  Fear of what may be the reaction is there but has no power. 

Your company on this part of the journey helps more than you know Dear Reader.  I want to be a better man for you whether you ever see it or not.  Someday I may write about the details of that facet of my journey.  For today, we will continue to focus on life after death to self.

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 ͡°)

Contacts for Aramis Thorn:

Support Page on Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn

Novels on Amazon           

Web Page:  www.aramisthorn.com

Bookings: aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com

Facebook        Twitter            

Medium   Instagram 

This BLOG:  http://aramisthorn.blogspot.com/ 

Three Nights I Died ~ Night Two

Greetings Dear Reader,

The second night was much more recent.  A year ago, today was the third night in a row I sat determined to take my life.  It was the third night that I was interrupted and my plans derailed.  No one knew the depth of my struggle or pain but if I was going to live, I had to die.  I chose that my lifestyle, practices, and habits needed a complete reset.

I realized that there were old sins that still lurked in my spirit.  There were people to whom I owed a conversation at the very least.  Some were owed much more.  I made a huge transition with the only thing to follow being Christ.  My dark passenger still gnawed away at me wishing for me to do something to feed its hunger.  It tried to employ guilt and hopelessness to derail me. 

There are those who do not understand the drastic nature of my transition.  They too do not understand what I was battling.  In trying to explain it to them they have withdrawn further from me.  The changes, however, have given me a peace that I have never known. 

The dark pocket is much smaller.  Healing is occurring.  I have come to understand that if the Father meets my needs, then some relationships that I want to be restored do not need restoration yet.  If they were needed then they would be there.  I continue to desire them but in peace and without need to force anything.

I can tell that I have far to go but that brings us to the third night.  Confronting the darkness became the path out of it.  The third death is key Dear Reader.  I am sure that in some ways this sounds too cryptic or mystical.  It does to me too.  It is the way it is and I must walk the path in front of me if I have any hope of following well.  You are welcome to share your thoughts or ask questions.

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 ͡°)

Contacts for Aramis Thorn:

Support Page on Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn

Novels on Amazon           

Web Page:  www.aramisthorn.com

Bookings: aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com

Facebook        Twitter            

Medium   Instagram 

This BLOG:  http://aramisthorn.blogspot.com/ 

Three Nights I Died ~ Night One

Greetings Dear Reader,

This seems so far back to me that it almost seems like another life.  Then again, death is the gateway to the next life.  It was April and spring was bright and green.  The flowers were filling the world with beauty and pollen.  The year was 1974.

The pain and difficulty of my life had reached the place where I was terrified of who I was and so angry at the world that I was losing perspective on everything.  There are reasons.  If I shared them you would understand Dear Reader.  I had decided to end my life in a way that to me seemed peaceful and assured.

It was the Saturday before Easter and my plan was to end things early in the morning.  A man intervened without knowing my plan.  He spent time with me Saturday evening and walked me gently to the door where I let Christ in and began this journey.  Even though he derailed my plans; I died that night. I was forever changed. 

Beginning to follow Christ does not fix everything.  It does change the perspective on all our difficulties.  It does give us a way out that will eventually heal us.  It will not take away ongoing pain and abuse.  It will not kill our predilections and addictions.  It will not take care of all our problems instantly. 

What the transition does do is give us someone to follow and a foundation on which to build.  Fifty years on I can honestly say that any successes thus far rest on the foundation of following Christ.  Every failure is when I failed to follow.  The beauty of it is that when we fail to follow, we can get back on the path instantly.  It is always an available choice.

Pain, fear, and my choices derailed me at times.  The second death put me closer to the right form of following and perhaps was the one that set me up for the third.  For now, Dear Reader what matters is choosing to journey with Christ.  It can only be done in faith.  It is a decision that demands everything from us but is always worth it. 

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 ͡°)

Contacts for Aramis Thorn:

Support Page on Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn

Novels on Amazon           

Web Page:  www.aramisthorn.com

Bookings: aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com

Facebook        Twitter            

Medium   Instagram 

This BLOG:  http://aramisthorn.blogspot.com/ 

Three Nights I Died ~ No Way Around

Greetings Dear Reader,

Before I delve into the actual deaths, it should be noted that there is no way around death.  We may think we delay it or that we can cheat it.  In truth, our days are appointed and we cannot add one moment to the sand that runs through our individual hourglasses.  The sand flows on incessantly with every moment being one in which we live or die.

As each grain passes through the pinch, we make a choice.  It is binary and simple.  In each grain of time, of life, we choose if we are going to die to ourselves in honor of the life we owe Christ, or if we are going to try and live out the things we want.  The latter is always a choice for the death of that moment with no value in it. 

We are all under the sword.  This is not bad.  It is, however, a truth we avoid whilst chasing things that we think are life.  We run from the love that calls us home because part of the journey is death.  The simple solution is to get used to dying.  If we die to self in each moment, that final moment that translates us out of time will not be as difficult.  The journey will also have much less difficulty internally if we become efficient at little deaths in every moment.  Like any good habit, we build it by practicing it daily, as each grain falls through the pinch.

This begs the question of how one does that.  It is wrong to demand death without providing a way to accomplish it well.  Fortunately, the process for spiritual and mind euthanasia is very positive.  As we step into each moment, as we pass each grain through the pinch, we need to do a few simple things.  We need to look for Jesus in that moment because he is there waiting to meet with us.  Then we need to listen to what he is saying that expresses his love for us.  The final thing is to act in harmony with that love. There is no better way Dear Reader to die to self.

If we practice this as our prime mover in each moment we walk with Christ; we follow well.  We owe a death and It is much easier to pay it out in small installments where our creditor promises to exchange moments of love and grace for our grains of dead sand.  That is a bargain we cannot afford to pass.  As we dive into the battle of turning death into a fighting chance to live, we can hedge our bets by breaking down the process.  We can work on it 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 ͡°)

Contacts for Aramis Thorn:

Support Page on Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn

Novels on Amazon           

Web Page:  www.aramisthorn.com

Bookings: aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com

Facebook        Twitter            

Medium   Instagram 

This BLOG:  http://aramisthorn.blogspot.com/ 

Three Nights I Died ~ Opening Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

During last November I wrote about Three Nights on the Edge ,  I had reached the place where things had become so unsustainable that I was ready to give up.  I was refusing to hang on to hope.  I was seeing only the circumstances of my pain and loss.  For three nights I planned and was ready to execute taking my own life.  That was a year ago this week.

My, how a year changes things.  I have spent the year in rest and reset.  I have two new books completed and published.  My new publisher is supportive and responsive.  I have income to sustain me until you folks buy enough of my books.  I know where I am headed and the cadence is less stressful than it has been in years.

On a spiritual level, I have spent time letting the Father teach me about the things that really matter.  Control is no longer necessary as the dark fears that drove it no longer have sway over my mind and spirit.  I have begun to speak of those dark fears with a limited circle of people.  All but one have heard me and reassured me of my place in their hearts.

Still, I have realized that some things do need to die and, indeed, began to die during those three nights on the edge.  I am going to spend some time on the inventory of things that must die for me to truly live.  I would welcome your company, thoughts, and questions as we walk a path that is dark but has a Light to guide us through. 

If I am going to follow Christ well, I must be as transparent about things as possible.  I have seen a place where that is just not true and you are worthy of my openness and learning from my failures.  Come along with me for a bit Dear Reader so that I may share what I have learned and we both become 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.”

(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Contacts for Aramis Thorn:

Support Page on Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn

Novels on Amazon           

Web Page:  www.aramisthorn.com

Bookings: aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com

Facebook        Twitter            

Medium   Instagram 

This BLOG:  http://aramisthorn.blogspot.com/  

A Twelve Tales of Christmas Preview - Part II

Greetings Dear Reader,

In part two of the preview of The Twelve Tales of Christmas, I give you the titles of the next three short stories.  The promotion below lasts until midnight October 15, 2019.  Please share this if you can.

• The Missing Gifts - At age six, a boy is given the magical Christmas about which all boys dream.  Then it is taken away. 
• The Underwood - The world used to be written on small, heavy, portable, typewriters.
• The Knight Before Christmas - In a world where good knights have sworn enemies there may be hope for peace on earth. 

My first Christmas book premiers this fall in time for the Christmas season.  I am offering a special promotion for those who PREORDER the book directly from me.  Keep in mind that the orders will be processed in late November or early December.  The promotion will include the following:

A personalized copy of the book The Twelve Tales of Christmas.

A Christmas ornament designed to go with the book (the first in a series that will be issued with each of my Christmas books {Magi, The Christmas Wish, The Man Who Hated Christmas}).

A high-quality pen.

Another surprise Christmas Gift.

Inclusion in my advanced promotions for upcoming books in 2020 (there will be at least 2).

Here is what you need to do to claim your promotional copy of The Twelve Tales of Christmas and all the swag.  Copy this table into an email and send it completed to the following: aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com .

You will receive an invoice acknowledging your order.  Payment forms may be check, money order, or pay-pal.  Once your invoice is paid your book(s) will be personalized and sent out during late November/Early December.  You may submit requests for multiple books in a single email.  All books will be mailed via USPS and in packaging that does not reveal the contents. 

These ornaments will only be available with this first pre-sale of the books.  The total for each package is $19.99 plus shipping (determined based on your zip code.).  Anyone who orders 5 or more books sent to the same address will get free shipping.

This offer is only good through 10/15/2019 to allow for ordering the right quantity of items to meet your requests.  The first 10 paid orders will receive an additional item from my collection of book promotional supplies. I look forward to hearing from you Dear Reader.  These stories are years in the crafting and I long to share them with 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 homeowner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Contacts for Aramis Thorn:

Support Page on Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn

Novels on Amazon           

Web Page:  www.aramisthorn.com

Bookings: aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com

Facebook        Google +    Twitter     

Medium   Instagram  Kids BLOG   

This BLOG:  http://aramisthorn.blogspot.com/ 

On the Willows ~ Closing Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

“On the Willows there we hung up our lives.”

In my postings on gratitude last November, I wrote about Three Nights on the Edge , where I discuss three nights in August where I considered ending my life.  It has been a year since that time.  In a way, my life did end there in the quiet dark.  I left behind the life I tried to build that was my version of creating a place where I felt safe and still.

The Father had other plans.  When mine fell apart, instead of seeing that he had his hand on me, I sank into deep despair.  This too did not surprise him.  He wanted my life but not in the way that I saw it.  After almost a year of reset and rebuilding, I am being real about the darkest parts of my inner man.  I am trying to hang up my life on the tree.  I sat beside a river and wept for what I had lost but it has been the songs of Zion that have helped me along the way.

We can sing the Lord’s song anywhere if we choose to do so.  We are told to be constantly running hymns, Psalms, and spiritual songs through our mind.  We are meant to make melody in our hearts to the Lord. In this time of reset, I have had to confront the dark passenger I have carried with me since I was a young boy.  He too must be hung on the tree, the cross.

I still have so very far to go but the earworms of these songs help.  I think I begin to get a glimpse of their true power.  I pay attention to the words.  I let them interact with my other thoughts.  I am not guided by the music but where it wants to take me leads me closer in following Christ.  This time by the willows is not over but I am done writing about it for now Dear Reader. 

There are other things that demand my attention in the morning meditation of this BLOG.  I am grateful for your company under the willow and as we journey onward.  Please remember that your thoughts and questions are always welcome here.

Perhaps another song from Godspell will lighten our hearts as we continue the journey home:

All Good Gifts – Steven Schwartz – Godspell

We plow the fields and scatter the good seed on the land.
But it is fed and watered by God's almighty hand.
He sends us snow in winter, the warmth to swell the grain...
The breezes and the sunshine, and soft refreshing rain...

All good gifts around us
Are sent from Heaven above
So thank the Lord, oh thank the Lord for all his love...

We thank thee then, O Father, for all things bright and good,
The seedtime and the harvest, our life our health our food,
No gifts have we to offer for all thy love imparts
But that which thou desirest, our humble thankful hearts!

All good gifts around us
Are sent from Heaven above.
So thank the Lord, oh thank the Lord for all his love.
I really wanna thank you, Lord!

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 ͡°)

Contacts for Aramis Thorn:

Support Page on Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn

Novels on Amazon           

Web Page:  www.aramisthorn.com

Bookings: aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com

Facebook        Google +    Twitter     

Medium   Instagram  Kids BLOG   

This BLOG:  http://aramisthorn.blogspot.com/ 

On the Willows ~ Location is Everything

Greetings Dear Reader,

“But how can we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land”

There is something about being in a country that is not your home.  Even if you are comfortable, you are not in a place where you know the way of life.  The government owes you nothing.  You are surrounded by other humans but the language, customs, food, and lifestyle may all be different.

Then, add to it that you cannot leave.  Add also that you have no rights.  Include persecution and death at the whim of the rulers.  Then, ask how you can sing the Lord’s songs with joy and mirth.  It might be very difficult.  It may even seem impossible.

I have not been in this place.  Any time I have been on foreign soil it has been something good and enjoyable.  There is this, though, Dear Reader: We should be able to sing the Lord’s songs with joy in any circumstance.  There is no place where the Son does not promise to be with us.  We no longer have the mindset of a temple in our homeland that is the seat of our faith and following.

There is no location where I cannot focus on the Father and his love.  There is no context in which I cannot find the grace to enable me to sing to the Father in love.  There is no situation where I am unable to choose to accept the circumstance and see beyond them to where I truly belong. 

I think that we forget that any circumstance, no matter how painful is temporary.  Any trouble seems difficult whilst in it.  The pain of things distracts us from the truth of things.  Nothing about this place is our home.  We are on a journey Dear Reader.  We are all on our way back to God.  There are times when the problems of this world try to overwhelm us.  We are held prisoner by the pain and longing. 

For now, I journey alone most of the time.  My dark passenger has driven away most of my fellow travelers.  The song it that truth, Dear Reader is that when I sit under a willow to rest, there is always room for you as well.  I refuse to see only the circumstance as I did a year ago.  I wish to continue to shed my heart and mind of things that hinder the journey.  I still long for some of the things that are missing and sometimes the song is more like a dirge.  Still, I can find the joy even there when I remember that this is only the pre-show.  What matters eternally comes next. 

Feel free to keep traveling with me or sitting with me as needed Dear Reader.  If you cannot sing, I will sing for both of us until you can.  I promise it will not sound too bad.

Pilgrims to the City of God – Michael Card

Pilgrims of passion we follow the One

Who holds out a cross and a crown

We travel a dark road that has but one Light

For we have here no lasting town

Sometimes we run by the power of His might

On our own, at the best, we can plod

What we hopefully look for is just beyond sight

We are pilgrims to the city of God

The stigma of strangers lost in a strange land

In a fallen world that's not our home

But we are not homeless prodigals here

Because we have someplace to go

Sometimes we run by the power of His might

On our own, at the best, we can plod

What we hopefully look for is just beyond sight

We are pilgrims to the city of God

Behold you have come to Mount Zion

The City of Great King

To thousands and thousands of angels who've come

Assembled to joyfully sing, they sing

Sometimes we run by the power of His might

On our own, at the best, we can plod

What we hopefully look for is just beyond sight

We are pilgrims to the city of God

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 ͡°)

Contacts for Aramis Thorn:

Support Page on Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn

Novels on Amazon           

Web Page:  www.aramisthorn.com

Bookings: aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com

Facebook        Google +    Twitter     

Medium   Instagram  Kids BLOG   

This BLOG:  http://aramisthorn.blogspot.com/  

On the Willows ~ Entertain Us

Greetings Dear Reader,

“Saying ‘Sing us one of the Songs of Zion’”

It never seems enough for others to hold us captive or require mirth from us when we are in their power.  Again, I picture those held captive, weeping under the willows of Babylon by the river.  They hung up their lyres because that joyful music was too painful to sing.  Still, it was required of them.

How often do we insist that others entertain us when they are in sorrow?  We are not so low as to demand that the suffering sing.  We do, however, require that those who are depressed act normal.  We insist that those with anxiety be OK in situations where they clearly are not.  We ask them to align with our social mores so that we are more comfortable.

We are not required to be mirthful or happy all the time.  The truth is that when following Christ, we should be able to be truthful about where we are emotionally and spiritually at all times.  Our darkest struggles should be allowed to be brought into the light with confidence that we will receive love and support in combating them. 

After a year of razing the pretenses from my life, I am confronting the darkest parts of my heart Dear Reader.  I have shared this a very small circle of people who I love enough to risk this level of honesty.  One of them has rejected me and added injury to that rejection.  Two have expressed their love for me in it. 

We say we wish for people to be real with us until that reality goes against our grain too roughly.  We insist that people keep it together if they are going to be part of our social gatherings.  We even require, though unspoken, at our worship services.  We sing the worship songs because we are supposed to but our deep darkness best not disrupt the schedule. 

Following Christ must include being able to be real about everything.  Even in this, the law of love must override our comfort and our schedule.  I must allow you to be what you need to be Dear Reader.  I must love you no matter what you do and stand beside you to fight the darkness.  I must not require you to sing if you need to weep.  I can, however, sing for you and if you would like, I will.  I have just the tune even though I am no closer to unraveling my earworm.  Tell me your heart as we make our way a bit closer to home. 

I Will Bring You Home – Michael Card

Though you are homeless

Though you're alone I will be your home

Whatever's the matter, whatever's been done

I will be your home

I will be your home

I will be your home

In this fearful fallen place

I will be your home

When time reaches fullness

When I move my hand I will bring you home

Home to your own place in a beautiful land

I will bring you home

I will bring you home

I will bring you home

From this fearful fallen place

I will bring you home

I will bring you home

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 ͡°)

Contacts for Aramis Thorn:

Support Page on Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn

Novels on Amazon           

Web Page:  www.aramisthorn.com

Bookings: aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com

Facebook        Google +    Twitter     

Medium   Instagram  Kids BLOG   

This BLOG:  http://aramisthorn.blogspot.com/