Songs in the Darkness ~ Touching the Untouchable

Greetings Dear Reader,

From this rocky perch, I'll continue to search

For the wind and the snow and the sky

You saw my rocky perch yesterday, shrouded in clouds and rain.  Today I would have you see it in all the sunshine and glory it holds.  You see, beneath that curtain of clouds lies a vast beautiful valley that stretches to mountains in the distance.  In the bloom of Spring, this place is indescribable. 

Whilst in the clouds, during my prayer time, I searched for the wind and the snow and the sky.  I could see some effects of the wind.  But as Jesus pointed out long ago, one can hear the wind but does not know where it comes from or where it goes.  I think the metaphor here is much for vital than tracking the drifts and eddies of a river of air.

The wind, snow, and sky hold the elements of exploration and adventure for me.  They are the edge of the unknown.  Jesus further said when he spoke of the wind, “so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”  I have a deep and growing longing to be like the wind.  I long to appear and do what I am meant to do, then move on to the next place where I am meant to do something different.  I long to be as mysteriously beautiful as that snow, to reflect its reminder that even the winters of life have artistry, and to always seek the sky.  I have always wished to live in space. 

The time alone and in rebuilding my heart has made me hunger for the journey to be always consuming me.  I want to be in the wind, bourn on and born of the Spirit.  I long to see where the journey leads me so that I can in some way benefit others through it.  I wish to sit at fires unexpected, arriving exactly when I am meant to; giving love, joy, and hope where I may.  Then, when the wind is up, travel on to the next place where kindness, grace, and generosity may need a nudge or some reassurance.    

In the midst of all this hunger is also the value of patience.  I must not force or push any of the things I desire even the ones I feel the Father has put in my heart.  I must prepare, work, and wait.   I long for my writing and the road to be the remainder of me but only when the Father feels I am ready.  I do feel strong and alive but I also feel the call to move onward, outward, and ever homeward.  Oh, that we all had the courage to be bourn only by the Spirit along every road we take. 

I realize that the tone and timbre of this is different to you Dear Reader.  The songs in the darkness can become dirges if we do not remember the one who calls us.  No matter the circumstance or situation, it will not last Dear Reader.  It may hurt or be lonely.  We may not be able to see how we will get there.  I must realize that there is always still that beautiful place beyond the clouds even when I cannot even catch a glimpse of it.  My journey will get me there eventually if I just keep walking in faith.  Your company is a treasure in this.

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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Songs in the Darkness ~ Opening Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

I am going to ask you to sit by the fire with me for a bit.  I have a song for you.  It is by one of my favorite artists.  First, I wish to set a tone and the purpose of the fire is to help you not get chilled whilst we sit. 

Picture if you will a stone chapel high on top of a mountain.  The day is cold and rainy.  The rain is not hard but it is steady and persistent.  I am also in the midst of the clouds providing said rain.  The chapel has a roof but no walls.  On most days it is a place where one can see the vast valley that spreads out beneath.  I have been here on a couple of those days and the view is wonderous. 

Today, however, all I can see is the edge of the mountain and clouds.  I am sitting in cold, in the midst of the rain clouds, and a song begins to spin in my head. 

High on this mountain the clouds down below

I'm feeling so strong and alive

You will be offered the entire song below but I do not wish to go too far too fast.  This series will be centered on the song but the introduction will stand with those two lines.  You see, it was one of those days where I had been driven to drive to this place.  I knew it would be rainy and that I would likely not see much.  I did not realize how clearly my vision would be amidst the clouds on that mountain.

After my time of prayer there, it began to grow dark and I knew that I had to begin the journey back down the mountain.  The song spun through my head as I drove and putting on other music would not chase it out.  This is one of the things that my brain does to herald a deep dive into a piece of music.  I rarely share this event with others as it is an oddity.  Still, if we are going to be genuine with each other, some things must be understood.

I put the song on repeat on my car music and let the words do their work in me and through me.  It was true that I feel strong and alive.  It is true that I had finely deeply understood the importance of that first line and how it leads to the import of the piece.  It also allows the darkness through which I floated as I drove take on a bit of mystery. 

It is the darkness that matters.  It is me alone in the dark after the dim lonely gray of the mountain that I wish you to see.  There is no one there to share my epiphany of understanding.  There is no conversation to distract me from the whispered truths of the earworm in the drifting dark.   

So please sit by the fire and we will ponder the songs that rise in the darkness when our hearts are open; when they are more flesh than stone.  Journey with me through a song and perhaps we can more clearly see how it speaks to all of us.  The darkness always has something to say.  Our hearts must be keen to hear.

I will share with you my thoughts on this and hopefully, the song in the darkness can aid in lighting our way home.  As always, I treasure your thoughts and questions, Dear Reader.  The song calls us all and it is the Piper who askes us to join him.

Netherlands – Dan Fogelberg

High on this mountain the clouds down below

I'm feeling so strong and alive

From this rocky perch, I'll continue to search

For the wind and the snow and the sky

Oh, I want a lover and I want some friends

And I want to live in the sun

And I want to do all the things

That I never have done

Sunny bright mornings and pale moonlit nights

Keep me from feeling alone

Now, I'm learning to fly and this freedom is like

Nothing that I've ever known

Oh, I've seen the bottom and I've been on top

But mostly I've lived in between

And where do you go

When you get to the end of your dreams?

Off in the Nether lands, I heard a sound

Like the beating of heavenly wings

And deep in my brain, I can hear a refrain

Of my soul as she rises and sings

Anthems to glory and anthems to love and

Hymns filled with earthly delight

Like the songs that the darkness

Composes to worship the light

Once in a vision, I came on some woods

And stood at a fork in the road

My choices were clear yet I froze with the fear

Of not knowing which way to go

One road was simple acceptance of life

The other road offered sweet peace

When I made my decision

My vision became my release

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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The Hunger We Feed ~ Closing Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

I began this line of thought with a story of two dogs.  It was a reflection of our two natures and the truth is that the nature we feed is the one that wins.  We could stop there and go on our way enlightened and better followers.  You know me better than that.

Here then is another story of two dogs from the ancient sage Aesop:

A man had two dogs: a Hound, trained to assist him in his sports, and a Housedog, taught to watch the house. When he returned home after a good day's sport, he always gave the Housedog a large share of his spoil. The Hound, feeling much aggrieved at this, reproached his companion, saying, "It is very hard to have all this labor, while you, who do not assist in the chase, luxuriate on the fruits of my exertions." The Housedog replied, "Do not blame me, my friend, but find fault with the master, who has not taught me to labor, but to depend for subsistence on the labor of others."

First, I want to say something about the Hound in the story.  He misses the value of the Housedog.  The Housedog has a very important role in the household structure.  Aesop states clearly that his job is to watch the house.  This job is no less important than that of the Hound.  The Hound has taken up an offense without truly seeing the value of his companion; without understanding the work by which he is offended. 

I would also like to consider the Housedog and his understanding of his role.  He too does not see that is work carries great responsibility in caring for the household’s safety.  He does not understand the wisdom of the master in teaching him to guard the home.  He does not see the value of his assigned role.

Further, the Hound has questioned the wisdom of the master in doing with his dogs as he will.  He hungers for something that is not his and for which he is not intended.  There are a couple of key applications here that follow with the refining of our hunger.  One is to understand that we do not always understand what we judge.  We increasingly speak empty words without knowledge.  We judge others without learning who they really are.  In this, we feed hatred instead of love.  We dine on offenses instead of peace.

We also do not see the value of what we do in many areas.  We assign worth to things based on the opinions of others instead of measuring how things further the love and peace in the world.  Our understanding of fair and equal is skewed by our opinions instead of our love for the Father and each other.  We constantly feed the hunger to capitalize or socialize the world instead of seeing that true peace and freedom are only found in dealing with every human lovingly. 

When we feed anger and offense over injustices real or manufactured, we abandon the only fuel that can resolve true injustice.  We must use love and humility to battle the things in the world that are not good.  Hatred and anger never yield peace.  They are the path to violence and darkness.  They are the food of eventual evil. 

If I am going to nurture my love for every human, I must not feed my offenses.  In truth, I must see everyone through the eyes of Christ and his love for them.  The social issues that confront us all require that we love as Christ does.  That means that I need to take up very few offenses.  I must become lovingly unoffendable without being blind to the need of others.  This is and always will be a hard place to stand.  It is, however, the path to peace and the way home.  I hope you will walk it with me, 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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The Hunger We Feed ~ Haters going to Starve

Greetings Dear Reader,

Some years ago, my friend Meghan challenged me on my use of the word evil.  She proposed that I used it too liberally.  Her thought made me question my use of this word and it impacted me to the point that I greatly reduced what I call evil. 

Ponder something you actually hate.  Note that I said something and not someone.  We will get to that.  For example, I hate lima beans.  You can do anything you wish to try and make them palatable but I hate them.  In truth, however, I should not hold hatred in my heart for a bean.  It is an overuse of the word hate.  I do dislike them more than most foods in the world.  They have value whether I like them or not and many people enjoy them.  They have nutrition and fiber that are valuable.  Were I starving, I would still eat them.  It is not proper for me to hate something that has genuine value.

To move our exercise in thinking along, ponder someone you hate.  It does not matter who it is.  Think about his or her name and ponder your hatred.  Hating a person is not like disliking a thing.  We immediately summon a list of offenses that justify our hatred.  We ponder all the wrong things that a person does, stands for, or is.  We recount the wrongs they do that are worse than the wrongs we do and declare them unworthy of love. 

We even grow to hate someone we once proclaimed to love.  Sometimes it is even someone we vowed to love for life.  You see, hating anyone is intrinsically wrong.  In the eyes of the Father, there are two things that are absolutely true.  The first is that we are commanded to love everyone to the degree that the Father loves us.  This is the essence of the second commandment.  We cannot obey the first command, to love God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength if we do not love other humans in every circumstance. 

Instead, we store up offenses that others commit to feeding the hunger of our hatred and still, that hatred is never satisfied.  Since we are to love everyone and love and hate cannot abide in the same space, we cannot afford to hate anyone.  When we give space to hatred, we must constantly feed it to keep it alive.  We must relive the wrongs done to us and make them superior in our minds to the love that Christ has for the person we hate.  In short, we must declare our judgment of the individual superior to Christ’s judgment of him or her.

The only honest conclusion that I can draw, Dear Reader, is that there is very little room in following Christ for hatred of any kind.  There is room to hate evil.  However, it is vital that we only call evil what God calls evil.  A person may commit evil deeds and we are allowed to hate those deeds.  We are not, however, given permission to hate the person.  When Jesus confronts the issue of people who refuse to own their wrongdoing, he makes it clear how we are to treat them.  After trying to lovingly get them to see and abandon their wrongs, he says if it is unsuccessful, treat them like tax collectors and pagans.  This begs a very important question. How did Jesus treat tax collectors and pagans?  He had dinner with them.  He loved them and invited them to follow him.

You see, Dear Reader, the reason that hatred has to be constantly fed is that we are never supposed to dine on it.  It does not satisfy.  The only thing we are to hate is evil and we are to show that hatred by loving those who do evil things beyond their actions in hope that they can be reclaimed.  It is not avoiding hatred that matters here.  It is loving everyone to the degree that there is no room for hatred.  It may be that all evil is rooted in failing to love others, including the Father, as we should.

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:

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The Hunger We Feed ~ Foraging for a Fight

Greetings Dear Reader,

I have recently been catching up on the series Alone.  For those who do not know it, individuals are dropped in a remote place with no food and a few necessities in order to survive alone for as long as they can.  There is no camera crew, they record themselves, and a satellite phone is provided when they choose to quit.

One of the aspects of this that captures my interest is the ways in which the contestants must forage for food.  They become true hunter/gatherers and often go hungry.  Hunger is one of the things that pushes them to tap out.  When they quit due to hunger, they exchange their chance at half a million dollars for a hot meal.  I cannot say what I would do in that situation.  I can say that it is a good insight into how hunger drives us.

When I ponder the idea of being driven by hunger, I see how often people are driven by the hunger for a cause as well.  I see how the hunger for their offense over a cause leads them to constantly forage for a fight about it.  The truth is that when we go looking for a fight, we usually find one rather easily.  In a world where being offended by things becomes a suture of our culture, this is increasingly true. 

It seems that so many of us are bound together by our offenses instead of by things that will sustain us.  Anger and offense may rally us around a common cause but they never sustain.  They are hungers that must be constantly fed.  Like a fire, fuel is ever demanded and quickly consumed.  Further, we become accustomed to looking for offenses from others instead of seeking commonality with them so that we can fuel our outrage. 

This is not the path of peace or the way of love.  This is not what yields kindness and grace.  When love is the hunger that drives us, we can choose not to be offended.  We can further choose to be lovingly unoffendable.  When we see Jesus become angry it is when righteousness and mercy are abused at the expense of others.  It is due to those entrusted with the way of love and peace abusing it for their own purposes.  When we choose the way of love, we can avoid most offenses.  We can become those who respond to every situation with love and compassion.

It is a world where we must forage for those of like mind and heart.  When we take up the hunger of anger and offense, we condemn ourselves to always being hungry.  When we follow Christ in love and peace, we dine on the Bread of Life and Living Water.  That is a meal worth seeking every day in every situation 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:

#aramisthorn

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

Novels: From My Publisher or on Amazon          

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The Hunger We Feed ~ Oil and Glue

Greetings Dear Reader,

When working as a professor, I would often struggle with student reviews.  The problem was mine and not theirs.  If I received a hundred reviews in a semester and only one of them was negative, that was all that I seemed to take in.

I was mulling over this darkly at the end of a semester when I had 230 students and all the reviews were glowing save one.  This particular student had turned in zero homework, missed twenty percent of the class, and failed all three major tests in the course.  He failed because he did not put in the effort. 

When he came to me at the end of the term wanting to know how he could pass the course, my first thought was that he invent a time machine.  I did not say this.  Being a merciful man, I suggested that if he were to turn in all his missing work and make an “A” on the final, he might pass with a “D”.  He vowed to do all of this.  He did not.  He failed because he did not do the work.

His review stated that I was “the worst professor ever,” that I “did not care about my students,” and that I “needed to learn how to understand a student’s needs.”  Keep in mind that I had a couple of hundred other reviews that said things like, “the best professor ever,” and “I could not have gotten through this semester with his help.” 

As I sat pondering this, a colleague noticed my discomfort and inquired as to my consternation.  I showed her the review.  She asked to see some of the other ones.  She read a few more, smiling.  She turned to me and said, “Oil and glue”.  My expression made it clear that I had no idea what she meant.  I should have.

She explained that the best teachers are coated with oil and glue.  Good reviews slide off of them like they are water hitting oil.  Bad reviews stick like they are dry feathers hitting glue.  We want every student to succeed so we take in the negative and do not accept the positive.  The next day she gave me a book written specifically for college professors that addressed this.  I learned from it just how deeply I feast on the negative directed at me and pass over the positive.

In considering the things on which we feed this has to be a two-way street.  I have learned to allow the good things said to me to sink in even though I still feel unworthy most of the time.  I am learning to let the negative wash over me without being offended and learning what I can from it.

The more important aspect of this is to consider how I communicate things.  If I am being negative toward others, will I say something that sticks and cause them pain?  If I criticize more than I praise, am I neglecting the needs of those around me?  The easy answer is that I must not feed the hunger to be critical.  My thinking must be critical in the evaluative sense but must not become critical in the damaging, hurtful sense. 

If I am to feed others with grace, love, and kindness, I must look for the positive and the potential in others.  My duty is to tell them the potential I see and not try to force them into it.  I can, rather, love them and give them the space to become what they are designed to become.  I am obligated to be sensitive to my areas of oil and glue and to yours Dear Reader. 

If I look at how Jesus deals with others, he praises their faith and tells them their potential.  He shows them, love, where they are and offers them a better path.  It is Christ that will build in others the beauty they can achieve.  It is my duty to feed their hunger to be shown what can be without being critical of where they are right now.  Feeding the hunger to encourage others instead of feeding the desire to be critical is vital to being healthy in my congress with others.  In this, I can show love to others and work at becoming unoffendable.  I may even be able to switch the oil and glue.

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:

#aramisthorn

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

Novels: From My Publisher or on Amazon          

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The Hunger We Feed ~ Patterns of Taste

Greetings Dear Reader,

There is someone I love who has a problem for every solution.  The conversations with this individual usually go like this:

The person offers a statement of a problem in the form of a complaint.

Someone offers a very reasonable, practical, and applicable solution.

The person lists all the reasons why that solution will not work and goes on to complain about the problems with all the solutions.

This person’s hunger is to complain about things and not to find solutions to the problem.  The feasting on the complaints is the way in which this individual engages with the world.  Spending time with this person is to hear the problem present in every situation whether solicited or not.

There are two distinct challenges with this that I must recognize so that I continue to feed the hunger that is healthy.  The first is that I should understand that I do this at times.  When I am angry or frustrated over something, I can become unreasonable and fail to see the value of solutions offered by others.  I have to be humble to the reality that when I am irritated, I have to guard my mouth and thoughts so that I do not hurt those who wish to help me.

The second thing that I must guard against is feeding my hunger to resent people whose life patterns are to be this way.  If I fail to dine on forgiveness, forbearance, and love, I will instead feast on judgment and dismissal.  There is no satisfaction in the latter and my appetite for this will increase with every indulgence.  In the same way, if I develop my hunger for grace and mercy, I will feel satisfied in the right way when I show it without pride.

We all know someone who feasts on complaints, Dear Reader.  What I have to do is develop a habit of feeding them love and kindness, empathizing where I can, and avoiding the anger but not the person.  We are able to have peace in every situation if we refuse to dine on the offenses offered by the inconsolable. 

It is in knowing what is happening and choosing to rise above it that I can find the path to interacting with that person in love.  I will be healthier through refusing to be offended by another person’s choices.  Perhaps, I can even lighten the load for them by listening without losing my perspective and peace.  Shall we try 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:

#aramisthorn

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The Hunger We Feed ~ Dining on Leftovers

Greetings Dear Reader,

If I ponder some of the best meals I have ever enjoyed, I can recall good times with family and friends, good food, and delightful delicacies.  Whether the meal is prepared by others, by me, or at a restaurant, the memories are carried on the recalled conversation, taste, and the experience.  Watching my Grandsons taste and enjoy foods for the first time is a prime example of a meal that I can recall and enjoy over and over again.

Often when I have food similar to that which I shared at a special moment; I recall that moment.  I reminisce over conversations and situations that brought me joy.  We all wish for things to be that way again.  The difficulty is that when I recall something wonderful, I cannot dine on those memories alone. 

We hunger for the feelings those moments gave us but that hunger can only be sustained by feeding it new good things.  Where we fail is that we try to force those situations instead of allowing them, as they did the first time, to arise naturally.  We load the environment with expectations instead of seeing the joy that is there on its own.

The conversations, experiences, and interactions we have all possess the potential to feed our need for fellowship, joy, and love.  It is like dining on those meals of celebration.  One must be sure to be present in that moment, dining on what is there instead of trying to satisfy our expectations.  Engaging in wishing for that which we desire instead of feasting on what the Father has provided is doomed to failure. 

Every moment has something to sustain us for the next one.  Every day has its blessings to fight the curse.  Each interaction and experience has something for us to gain a deeper understanding of who the Father is and how much he loves us.  Instead of seeking that, we focus on what we want the moment to be based on our memories and desires. 

It is good to appreciate the past.  It is satisfying to recall that which is good and let it make us hungry for good things.  We must, however, find those good things in the new experiences and not force leftover memories into them.  There is something in every event and eventuality to draw us closer to Christ if we look for it.  When I encounter you, Dear Reader my obligation is to show love to you and see what that yields.  It is not to demand that you reproduce feelings for me that I desire.

It is in the love that we give that we find our substance.  Demanding that others satisfy us based on our leftover memories only leads to being offended when we go unsatisfied.  That is the danger of trying to dine on memories.  Let us share a meal of reality based on love and kindness.  We will dine in peace and lovingly sustain each other.

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:

#aramisthorn

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

Novels: From My Publisher or on Amazon          

Web Page:  www.aramisthorn.com

Bookings: aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com

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

Second Thoughts ~ Picard – A Review of the Premier

Greetings Dear Reader,

Prepared with a hot mug of Earl Gray and with all distractions set aside, I sat down to watch the first episode of Picard, the new Star Trek series on CBS All Access.  I will do my best to relate my experience with as few spoilers as possible and only ones that are harmless. 

The opening is mild enough, like the first movement of a rollercoaster out of the gate.  The comparison continues as the show rolls into a full-fledged story that carries you along willingly or otherwise.  The story carries you through its forty-five-minute premier so rapidly that it feels over too soon. 

In doing this Picard also succeeds in achieving what all episodic television must do; it leaves you with unanswered questions, burning intrigue, and the desire for more.  The initial storyline is too entwined with the show to even hint at it without robbing those who have not seen it.  I will say that I was amused when Jean Luc ordered decaffeinated Earl Gray. 

After only forty-five minutes of the new series, I have high hopes.  I long for more episodes and to learn what happens with the themes chosen for the series.  Much about it has the promise of taking Star Trek further down the road that Gene Roddenberry began to pave for us so long ago.  It seems we will be allowed to have another view of social issues that matter along with some starry storytelling.

So far, the show is much more kid-friendly than the beginning of Star Trek: Discovery.  There is violence but less darkness.  It touches on some subjects that may need discussion with younger children but the visitation is not overt.  More conservative parents may wish to preview it before gathering the family around the digital device.

I will revisit this after a few more episodes.  For now, however, I encourage you to give Picard a try and enjoy the possibility that is always promised in any show that begins with the words “Star Trek”. 

 

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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