In Memoria ~ Absent Friends

Greetings Dear Reader,

This will be brief.  As the day closes; a day of worship and rest, I find that I feel the loss of so many lives so deeply.  I hate war passionately.

I am going fill my glass with a potent potable.  I am going say a prayer of thankfulness.  I am going to beg the Father to end all war.  Had I the power I would just stop it.  I will raise the glass to absent friends. 

We pay for the party with our dearest blood.  Thank you to the men and women who never set foot on home soil again.  Thank you for giving all to protect 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 home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

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Second Thoughts – Back Where it Began

Greetings Dear Reader,

Sometimes I will end the day with thoughts that are important to get out.  Usually I just write them and put them in my journal folder.  I have chosen that on occasion I will share them with you Dear Reader.

A friend posted an old picture from a significant time in my life.  There I was, young, fit, and newly minted in my faith.  Forty-two years have traveled through the pinch in the glass since that picture was taken.  So much of what I believe is the same and so much has changed.  There is not a single person in that picture with whom I still spend any time.  I lost one of them today.  He has gone on to the clearing at the end of the path.  His faith is realized.  Mine is still functional.

I can remember almost everyone in the photo.  Some I know through social media still.  Some I have no idea how to find.  Each of them is someone with whom I shared a bond in Christ and with whom I hope to be reunited at the end of the journey.  We were young and ambitious.  We all wanted to make a difference in the world. 

I know that some of them have made a difference.  I do not know if this lonely soul has.  I look at each of them and wonder about their success and failures.  I wonder what they have become.  Then I realize that the answers are not as important as the realization that as their names float through my mind one thing has not changed. 

I love each of them as if we were still in that moment just before we got back on the bust to go home.  I pray for each one by name hoping that their journey is ever closer on the heels of Christ.  I hope they are finding joy in the journey home. 

Another thought comes to me.  If I could whisper something to that younger self it would be simple.  Cherish these people and stay in contact with them.  They saw me emerge from despair and death to life.  They were there for me as I learned to love instead of hate.  They were my first family of faith.  I would tell that young man to cherish every moment of the journey.

So Dear Reader if you see yourself in the photo I would love to hear from you.  Be assured that I remember you.  Be assured that I miss you.  I would love to catch up with you no matter what the journey has been for 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 home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

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Second Thoughts – Veterans’ Day 2015

Greetings Dear Reader,

Sometimes I will end the day with thoughts that are important to get out.  Usually I just write them and put them in my journal folder.  I have chosen that on occasion I will share them with you Dear Reader.

I have the privilege of knowing many current and former military personnel.  I have known them as students, colleagues, and family.  I count all of them as friends.  I know those who have severed in the most dangerous ways imaginable.  I know some who cooked the food and pushed the paper.

The common thread for all of them is that they gave up part of their lives voluntarily so that I could sit in my home in peace.  Today is the day we set aside to honor them; both the fallen and the living.  The living seem to accept our gratitude but it makes them uncomfortable.   There is a notable humility that says “I just did my part.”

My brother noted today that these men and women paid a price that they knew civilians could not repay.  He pointed out that our service personnel knew this even when they were sacrificing time, life, and limb for the freedoms we enjoy. 

When I look at people like Kevin, James, Emily, Mark and so many others I see the price they have paid and “Thank You” seems so paltry.  In my thank you, however, is love, respect, compassion, and friendship.  There is gratitude, awe, and kindness.  It is an honor to know those I do.  It is a privilege to love them and pray for them.   

I have burned my green light.  I have worn my poppy.  I have looked at the flag and shed a tear.  I have lifted up the names of all those I know in prayer this morning.  Tonight I will post this message and raise a glass to the living and the dead.  I will echo the words that so many do in so many places and try to live worthy of the freedom I have:

Lest we forget…

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

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Why I love Christmas – Absent Friends

Happy Christmas Dear Reader,

One of the things I ponder during the quiet times of Christmas are the people who are not in my life for one reason or another.  The people I love, I love deeply and permanently.  The human condition gets in the way and some of those people are no longer a part of my life.

Whether it is absence due to strife, life, or death I miss people and they come to mind when I am pondering and praying.  I have ornaments to remind me of those who have left this life and gone on ahead of me.  When I am alone I whisper their names to God and wish them a quiet Merry Christmas.  I suppose I should explain to my Daughter that this is why I get a obsessive about certain ornaments being on the tree. 

There are also those friends who I do not get to see simply due to the way life carries us.  I will make time to reach out to some of them and wish I could give something to all of them.  Some are across town and some are across the world.  Some I hear from often and some not at all. 

I devote an evening every Christmas season to these friends.  I sit when I am at home alone and recount their names to God in gratitude for the good they have infused into my life.  I wish to become better at communicating with all of them and perhaps this year I have cemented a plan to do so.  I will share more on that later.

The last category always fills me with a deep sadness.  It is those absent friends who have moved out of my life because of sin and strife.  Sometimes the fault is mine and I have tried to mend those wounds.  Not all wounds can be mended by me.  Some are people who refuse to communicate with me for one reason or another.  One is an open wound that never seems to close.  I pray for these people often and ask Christ to heal them whether they return to my friendship or not.

One of the reasons I love Christmas is that it is the wellspring of hope that all partings will be one day over.  Christ left complete physical presence with his Father to journey with us so that this could be true.  His departure yields all our eventual reunions.  In the celebration of Christ is all my hope for that day when absent friends will no longer be absent.  Death will have no victory.  Time will no longer hinder.  Strife will no longer separate.  That is truly a good reason to love Christmas.

NOTE: There is no known recording of the song below.  I wish there were.   

Missing You at Christmas – Michel and Sarah Sharp

Snow  is  drifting  on  the  meadow,

Post -man's  ringing  at  the  door,

Bring ng  cards  and  packages  by  the  score.

Ornaments sparkle  from  the  fire  flame,

Lights  are  twinkling  in  the  lane,

But  I  find  myself  missing  you  again.

And  I'm  missing  you  this  Christmas,

If  I  tell  it  true,

I  wish  I  was  Christmasing  with  you.

Memories  both  heal  and  haunt  me,

Joy's  elusive  with  you  gone,

But  I  hold  your  picture  close  and  carry  on.

Nephews  and  Nieces  filled  with  won -der,

Sister  is  busy  with  the  meal,

Just  a  moment  to  call  you  can  I  steal,

The  phone  rings  on  with -out  an  answer.

I return to the frolic feeling blue.

Wishing I was Christmasing with you.

Lovers  dance  a  final  waltz,

Then  for  home  depart,

I  guess  I  must  be  satisfied

To  hold  you  in  my  heart

Alone  in  the  evening  sorting  mail  I,

Wish  I  were  sitting  with  you,

Pond ‘ring  over  sweet  things  that  you  do.

My  eye  recognizes  your  hand  writing,

Anxious  I  open  up  the  card,

Hungering  for  your  words  to  touch  my  heart.

Tears  fall  on  the  card  you  sent  me,

If  what I read is true

Tomorrow I’ll be Christmasing 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 home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store." 

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)