A Stone Too Heavy to Hold ~ Closing Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

If we were to unpack our baggage, we would discover that we carry stones that are far too heavy for us to hold.  They tether us to things of the past that are no longer ours to possess.  That which we have taken on that is too burdensome hinders our journey. 

Anger, bitterness, greed, power, and control all create a weight that is too much for us to bear.  We are meant to travel light.  We have no lasting place here and we have someplace to go.  We own nothing here except our faith and following.  The things that burden us are hindrances to both.

I have to lay the stones that I should have never picked up.  I must refuse to pick up other stones that will hinder my journey.  I must leave them lying or when necessary only hold them for a moment.  I will become angry at times.  I must not hold onto it.  I will have exercise control and power but I must never seek them or try to retain them.

The world we travel through has some beautiful things to enjoy along the way.  It is all filled with danger.  It will devour us if it can.  It is satisfied to keep us from making progress by weighing us down with burdens that are never ours.  The stones are too heavy, too poisonous, and too hindering.  They will destroy us.

We must help unburden each other Dear Reader.  We must forgive, seek peace, and love each other in ways that cause the stones to fall from our hands.  No matter how long or hard things seem, it is always easier when we leave behind the things that harm us.  It is far easier when we leave behind the things we are not meant to carry.  Shall we agree to travel lighter?

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 ͡°)

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A Stone Too Heavy to Hold ~ Portable Plutonium

Greetings Dear Reader,

I am one of those writers who, when a word is wrong, I have to go back and retype the entire sentence from the point of the wrong word on almost every time.  I could simply correct the word but it just does not work for me.  It makes me wish I had this same power when I say the wrong thing.  I think the world would be entertaining if we could rewind conversations.  Once spoken, however, words cannot be called back.  They have become part of history.

Unfortunately, we all have times where there are words that we wish we had not said.  There are things we wish we had not done.  We regret having done a certain thing.  The thing is past.  The consequences will unfold.  Regret is a stone we are not meant to carry.  We are, instead, to seek forgiveness and move on toward restoration and reconciliation.  We do not do this enough. 

We dwell on the past.  We wasted creativity and time imagining what we would have done instead of what we should have said.  Regret weighs us down and often immobilizes.  It leads to depression, anger, and bitterness.  This stone, as dangerous as plutonium, is hazardous to hold for even a moment.  It radiates poison that denies the truth that we cannot live in the past.  We cannot move forward with this stone that anchors us to failures irrevocable whilst devouring the life we can have now. 

I have been working diligently on dropping the stony pattern of regret that I carried for far too long.  I made choices that were wrong.  I suffer consequences of those choices.  If I waste time on regret, I am not working on building a today that is empty of these stones.  Lay down poison regret Dear Reader. 

The method is forgiveness and faith.  We must forgive ourselves.  We must believe that the Father has all things in his hands.  We have to seek forgiveness where it is needed.  We must own our errors, realize that we cannot retype those lines, and make each moment one where we neither carry the stone of regret or do things that create new ones.  I am working at this.  It is not easy but it is good.  Stay with me and we will try to unburden each other. 

Crash-Barrier Waltzer – Jethro Tull

And here slip I --- dragging one foot in the gutter
in the midnight echo of the shop that sells cheap
radios.
And there sits she --- no bed, no bread, no butter ---
on a double yellow line --- where she can park anytime.
Old Lady Grey; crash-barrier waltzer ---
some only son's mother. Baker Street casualty.
Oh, Mr. Policeman --- blue shirt ballet master.
Feet in sticking plaster --- move the old lady on.
Strange pas-de-deux --- his Romeo to her Juliet.
Her sleeping-draught, his poisoned regret.
No drunken bums allowed to sleep here in the
crowded emptiness.
Oh officer, let me send her to a cheap hotel ---
I'll pay the bill and make her well - like hell you
bloody will!
No do-good overkill. We must teach them
to be still more independent.

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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A Stone Too Heavy to Hold ~ Avarice

Greetings Dear Reader,

I am not wealthy.  I am also quite rich compared to most of the world.  I try to be generous and giving.  I long to do more than I can.  I still feel like I do not do enough to help others. 

Avarice is greed for wealth or material gain.  Chaucer said that “avarice is to withhold and keep such things as thou hast, without rightful need.”  It is a word that we do not consider enough when we ponder our way in the world.  It is a stone far too heavy to carry and yet we throw it easily without thought or even realization at times.  Avarice is at the heart of the possessions we hold onto that we do not need.

I am not talking about having good things or even being wealthy.  I am talking about the desire to possess.  The stone is the longing to have things we do not need so that we feel good.  We have dedicated closets, attics, and rental storage facilities to our avarice.  We surround ourselves with possessions.  We surely have more than we need.  We do this for many reasons and none of them are centered on following Christ.

The way in which we carry this stone is varied but always harmful.  I am not going to make a list.  We know what we have out of need and we know what we have out of greed.   The possessions that are ours out of greed weigh us down and make the journey increasingly difficult.  We have heard often that we cannot take our possessions with us when we reach the clearing at the end of the path.  This does not prevent us from carrying them to the very end.

I still have more than I need and hear the constant siren call to carry more.  There is great freedom in having little.  There is also so much good we can do with our excess if we choose to do so.  Let us dabble in practical application for a moment Dear Reader.  Think about a need that you know someone has.  Then think about what you can do to help that need.  What do you possess that could help?  What holds you back from helping?  What are you holding that you do not need that could help you help if you parted with it?

 I am not telling you what to do.  I am not judging you.  These are questions I ask now when I see others in need.  I consider the things I have and look to see how I can further the Gospel by sharing what I have.  I am not there yet, but I long to drop the stone of avarice and have Jesus as my only true possession.  This also makes it easier for me to depend on the Father for my daily provision.  I want my confidence to be in him and not in my bank account or my store of canned goods.  There must be balance in being prepared and having too much.  Avarice will always hunger for more.  It will devour us if we try to carry it.  We must drop the stones of avarice even if they are rubies.  

The Things We Leave Behind – Michael Card

There sits Simon, so foolishly wise

Proudly he's tending his nets

Then Jesus calls and the boats drift away

And all that he owns he forgets

But more than the nets, he abandoned that day

He found that his pride was soon drifting away

And it's hard to imagine the freedom we find

From the things we leave behind

Matthew was mindful of taking the tax

And pressing the people to pay

Hearing the call, he responded in faith

And followed the light and the way

And leaving the people so puzzled he found

The greed in his heart was no longer around and

And it's hard to imagine the freedom we find

From the things we leave behind

Every heart needs to be set free

From possessions that hold it so tight

'Cause freedom's not found in the things that we own

It's the power to do what is right

With Jesus, our only possession

And giving becomes our delight

And we can't imagine the freedom we find

From the things we leave behind

We show a love for the world in our lives

By worshiping goods we possess

Jesus has laid all our treasures aside

And love God above all the rest

'Cause when we say no, to the things of the world

We open our hearts to the love of the Lord and

It's hard to imagine the freedom we find

From the things we leave behind

And when we say no, to the things of the world

We open our hearts to the love of the Lord and

It's hard to imagine the freedom we find

From the things we leave behind

Oh, and it's hard to imagine the freedom we find

From the things we leave behind

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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A Stone Too Heavy to Hold ~ Control

Greetings Dear Reader,

If we ponder “control” for a moment, we realize that it is a term about which we need a clear definition.  Let us proceed with a simple one.  Control “the power to influence or direct people's behavior or the course of events” (Webster’s Online Dictionary).  There are places where a measure of control is necessary.  There are instances where it is vital.

One needs to have one’s children “under control”.  It is important to control the work of others so that tasks are accomplished, hence the idea of a project manager.  The difficulty that we ignore is that control is elusive and fragile.  We do not see it that way but it is true.

Control is always subject to the will of the controlled.  It is a matter of consent to be guided by someone in leadership or it is the exercise of authority under a law or social structure.   The thing we ignore is that control ceases to exist when the controlled choose to reject it.  Governance is always subject to the consent of the governed. 

The stone of control is heavy and unwieldy.  The moment we believe that we have control we are on the path to losing it.  With the power of control comes the responsibility to never exercise it in the wrong way.  When thrown, the stone of control damages the controlled and the one using it.   It will also be wrested from our hands when those we damage with it have had enough.

For those of us who must at times carry the stone of control, we must do so with humility and grace.  We must love those over whom we have any measure of governance and be responsible to never throw that stone.  We must always be ready to lay it down when the situation calls for it.  We must let other ways of leading, through love and example turn the stone into a pebble we need not throw, ever. 

Control is an illusion that we somehow make things happen.  If we look at it honestly, we really have no control over anything.  The measure of directive ability we possess is subject to the free will of others.  Ultimately, the kindness and love we wield give us much more influence than we can ever grasp through our own power.

In laying down the stone of control, we can motivate others through love and grace.  Instead of trying to control things Dear Reader, perhaps we should give others the freedom to follow through our goodness to them.  There will be moments when we must exercise control.  When this happens, we must do so with full knowledge that this is a stone we pick up with respect and lay down as quickly as possible.  It is a stone we never hurl.  Perhaps it is an axiom that all we truly control is our own thoughts, attitudes, and responses. 

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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A Stone Too Heavy to Hold ~ Anger

Greetings Dear Reader,

This may be one of the most difficult stones to hold and the most harmful to hurl.  When we act in anger, we create things that we cannot easily undo.  We inflict harm and promote damage.  We fuel war at personal levels.

The most dangerous aspect of anger for the person holding the stone is that it constantly needs holding.  It demands focus and energy.  It must be held tightly to stay within our grasp.  Anger fades if not fed.

  

It is a stone that is dangerous and deadly.   Simply holding anger radiates constant pain and suffering.  We suffer when we are angry and may not even realize it.  Others see it and sometimes even try to point it out to us.  None of the methods we use to maintain our grip on anger are sustainable. 

We deny it or embrace it.  We hold it and that is the problem.  It is not wrong to feel anger.  It is not wrong to be angry.  It is wrong to be angry and hold on to it making the anger our weapon.  All of our anger is not justified.  When it is, it must have an expiration date.  We must drop the stones of anger every day if we are to live lives of love and grace.

Further, we must not pick those stones up again once we have dropped them.  We may encounter other things along the way that cause anger.  We will feel angry.  We must choose if we will lift the stone or not.  We will then choose if we throw that stone.  I must not deceive myself.  Those are always choices.  No matter how habitual anger becomes to us, it is always a choice.  Every single time we gather these stones and use them as weapons, we choose to do so.

There is a very narrow space where anger is allowed to live.  We must not give it wider space or longer lease.  It must be tempered, tamed, and taught its place.  We must feel the burn of the stone in our hand when we do lift it.  We must not hurl it at others. 

Anger can be briefly healthy and useful to move us to other things that are better and productive.  The stone can build our momentum but must not be part of our arsenal.  The stone cannot be recalled once hurled.  The damage it does may echo for lifetimes.  I think it better, Dear Reader if we leave it lay as often as possible.

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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A Stone Too Heavy to Hold ~ Social Studies

Greetings Dear Reader,

I grew up in the South.  I was surrounded by racial and economic prejudice.  My Grandfather taught me over and over that both were wrong.  We still live in a world where people are judged by race and affluence. 

I submit that the stone of prejudice is far too heavy for anyone to carry.  I recently spoke with someone insisted that the lineage of Jesus possessed no one that was not of Hebrew descent.  She was twisting Scripture and making illogical arguments for the “purity” of Jesus’ lineage.  As we talked, I discovered that her agenda was prejudice against other Middle-Eastern cultures. 

The amount of effort required to justify an unjust position is astounding to me.  Through the centuries we can see how people have been willing to go down paths of “reason” to conclusions that are unreasonable.  The New Testament writers declared that grace and justice were to be equal to all humans.  Even the Law contained rules for treating foreigners with hospitality, justice, and love.   

Another stone that we cannot carry with integrity is the idea that if I disagree with someone on a social issue held by a social group that I am automatically prejudiced.  The difficulty with this is that it pre-judges my attitudes and beliefs based on my position on a single issue.  That is the very definition of prejudice.  

The third stone I would lay aside is the idea that just because I am conservative or liberal in my politics that I should be identified with the worst of that leaning.  That too is pre-judging someone based on making it common that all people are a certain way because they are liberal or conservative. 

Even though I was taught early on that I must not be prejudice about anything or anyone, it tries to creep in through the common practices of my community.  At times I must remind others that certain practices or points of view are prejudice.  I must also tread a very thin line between holding to my beliefs when they are unpopular and ensuring that I do not accept rhetoric that is unloving and unjust. 

Stones of prejudice are too heavy to hold and seem to grow subtly in our hands if we are not vigilant.  Even carrying them in our pack is too much burden for those following a God of love and justice.  If we are committed to grace and kindness, Dear Reader then there is no room for these stones in our lives.  We can drop them without compromising our faith.  In fact, dropping them enhances our faith.  How about we put them in a circle and build a fire to warm our hearts as we rest in the truth that everyone is worthy of our love and respect?  The journey to justice and love can be easier and is worth the trip.

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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A Stone Too Heavy to Hold ~ Opening Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

In the movie The Black Shield of Falworth, Tony Curtis embodies the role of an “orphan” who is the rightful king. There is a scene where he is being trained to fight and is made to hold a stone out at arm’s length to strengthen his sword arm.  I was young and determined to learn swordplay when I saw this movie.  I found a stone and determined to strengthen my arm.  I would stand arm outstretched holding the stone until I could no longer bear it.

It did make my arm stronger to a point.  It also taught me that holding a stone is difficult.  Feel free to try it.  It is a challenge and will teach you much about the weight of a small things over time.  That is exactly where we are headed.  We carry stones with us, always ready to hurl them.  They are stones we have chosen and hold them for the purpose of hurling at others.

For the purpose of this interaction, it does not matter if you follow Christ or not.  It ultimately matters, but for this, it will not change the truth of our discussion.  It is the stones we carry and why we carry them that I must ponder.

The purpose would be to cease carrying them so that we do not have them to hurl.  The weight of them harms us anyway.  The burden they present is unhealthy.  There is a word to ponder for a moment.  We choose to carry things that un-heal us.  We carry things that can put our wounds back.  I would prefer not to.

Since we are on a journey, extra weight must be taken into account.  Stones are heavy and we still choose to carry them.  Please walk with me as I try to lay aside some of my own stones.  Your thoughts are always helpful and valued. 

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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