All out of Epithets ~ Closing Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

In independent conversations with some of my friends, I have found that we all see a fundamental change in the world.  Anger and self-absorption have replaced civility and an eye for the common good.  As a species we seem to be losing our ability to treat each other with grace and mercy.

Those who believe as I do understand the need to love each other and live out benevolent kindness but we too get in our own way.  We allow our fears and doubts to mitigate our desire to love each other as Christ loves us.  We put our wants above the needs of others and act surprised when our message is not seen or heard.  We are all in need of more refinement and better belief in the power of love and grace.

We do not forgive each other.  We fail to really support each other on the journey.  We easily see someone else’s sin as worse than our own and use this to feed our ego.  We use it to convince our hearts that we are good and just.  Our time and effort is absorbed in building our little fiefdoms of comfort instead of seeking the face of God.

I am not judging anyone else.  We all need to be more committed to loving the Father and to loving each other.  It really is that simple.  It is in this that the solution to everything else exists.  Instead of embracing this truth we find fault in the past or speculate on the failures of others to set aside the truth.  We refuse to risk loving others at any cost and pursue political and social issues that can all be resolved if our actions and attitudes grew out of love.

The world will not get better.  What we can do is be better to each other.  Since love is the foundation of all law, then we must begin there.  We can disagree over anything and do it right if we keep to that foundation.  I will not hate you.  I will not reject you.  I refuse to use my faith to discount who you are.  I may think you are wrong but I will still love you and be kind to you.  Are you willing to do the same Dear Reader? 

I will fail you as well.  You will fail me.  I will forgive you and I will not call you names or allow resentment to build in me.  Will you do the same?  We cannot make the journey work if we do not.  If we work to love each other we will quickly see how poor we are at it.  We will see that we need something outside of ourselves in order to accomplish this.  That something is someone.  That someone is Jesus.  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 home owner. 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/  

All out of Epithets ~ Selfies

Greetings Dear Reader,

One of the things that I feel defines our era is the selfie.  I confess that I still do not get the concept.  I do not think them wrong, but I know people who post pictures of themselves every day, almost everywhere they go.

I do feel that it is a softer symptom of a deeper problem.  We have become seriously self-absorbed.  We are an increasingly selfish society masquerading as people who care.  We have the resources to combat hunger and homelessness but we spend it on overpriced coffee and artisan meals.  We claim to socially aware but put more energy into our politics and social signaling that in the actual work of combating poverty.

Most of the things we identify as making a difference make us look good but do they make a difference?  We are often more interested in what others think of our social awareness than in being socially aware.  Everything becomes about us and our issues over truly caring for the needs of others.

We have more self-centered “medical” issues as our society becomes steeped in acceptable forms of narcissism.  Advertising, social media, and even the health industry encourage us to “work on us”, to take time for ourselves.  It is increasingly about avoiding the needs of others in favor of focusing on ourselves.  Much more healing occurs when we deny ourselves and follow Christ in caring for others.

I need to take inventory daily of the things I do and why.  Which of my efforts really serve the needs of others and which are selfies?  As we turn in on our selves and make things about us, we neglect the remainder of the world.  I must determine what I am willing to sacrifice in order to make a real difference.  The bottom line becomes the understanding that it is not about me.

If I focus on the command to love God and love others then the things that are about me can fade more easily.  The things that absorb me with me get pushed aside when I focus on the needs of others.  Instead of getting out the selfie stick to focus on my own pride and wants, I need to put my heart and mind in to seeing clearly where I am and how I can make a difference for others.

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 ͡°)

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/  

All out of Epithets - Choice and Consequences

Greetings Dear Reader,

If one hits one’s thumb with a hammer, one swears, or at least one almost does.  We often do not realize that this response is a learned one.  Not everyone does this.  There is pain when the hammer finds the thumb.  That is a natural consequence.  The swearing is optional and learned but what is down in the well is what comes up in the bucket.

If we take that a bit further, then we must acknowledge that most actions have natural consequences and learned responses.  We make choices, we act, and consequences follow.  When we do wrong there are consequences.  Someone I love dearly was trying to avoid the natural results of a wrong choice.  When I mentioned that it was the consequence of that choice, the plaintive response was, “I don’t want there to be consequences.”

If we are honest, none of us want them.  They fly in the face of our desire to control outcomes and escape the unpleasant results of our choices.  If we spend energy avoiding the consequences of our choices, they are worse when they catch up to us.  There are results that flow from our choices and we increasingly as a culture try to avoid and ignore them.

If we do not care for each other, the world fills with hatred and need.  If we are not responsible, we destroy the environment, society, and life.  We kill each other and justify it.  We engage in greed thinking that we can get away with it.  The spring of our failure to love and be responsible grows wound ever tighter. 

I do not claim to be free from adding to the tension.  I also hope to become better at working against it.  We are all crooked sticks that fail in some way.  It is my obligation to work at healing the hurts and doing right by loving others.  We cannot avoid the consequences of our failures without grace and mercy from outside of us.

For the grander scheme that is found is Christ.  We also need to find a deeper measure for it in each other.  We must, in love be more patient, forgiving, and kind.  It is in this attitude that our failures can find mitigation.  It is in Christ that we find freedom from the ultimate consequence of our sin.  It is in each other that we can see the working out of forgiveness and grace. This too is a choice with amazing consequences.

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 ͡°)

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/  

All out of Epithets ~ THAT Four-Letter Word

Greetings Dear Reader,

Let us begin with this: what word comes to mind when you think of THAT four-letter word.  I apologize if what came to mind makes you uncomfortable.  You likely did not think of what I had in mind. 

There is a measure of arrogance in what I am going to discuss.  It is also necessary to realize that what I say is a complete one-way street that we both have to travel.  What I mean is that everything I have to say applies to you and I equally.  When I say you I mean me too. 

The word is “Love”.   You see, if you really understand what the Father wants from you, it is love.  He wants you to love him with all that you are.  I have written extensively about this but not quiet as bluntly.  You see it is the second part that is forceful and invasive.

You have to love me.  You must love me even if you dislike me.  You may not just pay lip-service to it.  When you think of me you must bring your thoughts into captivity to the point that every one of them is loving.  As I said, this is something I have to do as well. It is not easy.  It requires forgiveness, sacrifice, and action. 

But wait, there is more.  You have to love everyone with deep, consuming intensity that is selfless and healing.  I may not be passive or half-hearted in my approach.  I may not simply tolerate anyone.  You and I must love each other with everything we are.  Only when we embrace this truth is it possible that we can begin to live it.

If you need a test, here it is.  It is one I use to mitigate my own tendency toward loving others passively.  When was the last time you did something just to show that person you dislike just how much you love him or her?  I meant it. 

But wait, there is more.  You must love me without expecting me to love you back.  I am required to but I may not.  You must love me without any hope or desire that I act in the way you want me to act.  I may remain curmudgeonly, recalcitrant, and irascible.  I may not think or act in the way you deem right or proper.  You still have to love me with all that you are.  I must do so for you as well. 

Until we get this right, we will fail at most other things eventually.  Jesus is clear that all other things are built on this idea.  It is required of us that we be recognized by our love for each other.  It is to be the core of all we think and believe and motivate every action. 

There is no way around this.  If we do not apply it to everyone we fail.  If we do not act it is not real.  That person you claim to love but will not speak to or contact; how do you show your love for him or her?  The guy who irritates you because he is so different from you needs to see an expression of your love for him. 

You may swear at me all you wish concerning this.  You can call me names and hate me if you choose.  I must, no matter how you treat me love you.  I must love you with deep intensity that allows me to walk through your disdain without an unkind thought toward you.  You will be tested if you try this but it is what we must do to follow Christ.

So, here it is.  I love you Dear Reader.  I will do so no matter the cost to me.  You are not required or expected by me to do anything n return.  You must, however, love me without reservation if you have any hope of making the rest of it work.  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 home owner. 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/ 

All out of Epithets ~ Pretty Jewelry

Greetings Dear Reader,

Imagine with me for a moment.  You are invited to someone’s home.  You have been friends for a year and had many good interactions.  This friend invites you over for dinner.  When arriving at the individual’s home, you note that it is a nice clean place with a well-kept yard.  You ring the bell and are greeted by your friend and warmly invited into the home.

As you enter you note that the inside is as well appointed as the outside.  The décor is homey and seems comfortable.  Your host takes your coat and offers you a beverage.  The smell of the meal wafts through the air filling you with anticipation.  You take a seat in the den on a comfortable couch in front of a lovely fireplace.  As you sit, you notice the antique mahogany mantle surrounding the warm blaze.  There above the mantle, hung carefully with pride is a four-foot tall, jewel encrusted, swastika.   

Re-read that if you need to do so.  What is your reaction?  How do you feel about that moment of revelation?  Unless you have a deep vein of hatred running through you, there is nothing that can make that particular symbol beautiful.

Symbols mean something until we water down the meaning and make the symbol more common than its story.  It used to be, when the symbol was new, that whenever you saw someone carrying a cross you knew you were seeing a dead man.  We have turned that symbol of death and then for Christ followers hope into jewelry that is common and complacent.

Jesus requires that we take up the cross and follow him.  He insists that if we are to be effective as his followers, we must die to the things we want that are not part of following him.  Instead we make following more comfortable so that it looks like the rest of the world.  We turn the symbol of death for the sake of life into adornments to call attention to our look and style.

I carry a cross every day.  It is hidden to everyone but me.  It is to remind me who I follow, whose I am, and where I am headed.  I do not always live up to the price of that symbol but I want to be worthy of carrying it.  I want TO carry it well and have others see Jesus not me.  I long to be dead to everything that is not what Christ has for us as his followers.

The cross is where the Father chose to make life possible for all of us.  It cannot be turned into something else without detracting from that message and intent.  I cannot become numb to the fact that I must take up the cross daily if I am to follow well.  I want others to see me as dead to my own wants.  I want to be worthy of that image.  If you want to carry your cross next to mine, you are always welcome 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 home owner. 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/  

All out of Epithets ~ Missing the Mark

Greetings Dear Reader,

I have loved archery since long before I loved Jesus.  My love for both has helped me understand something that our culture ignores or waters down to the meaningless.  As an archer when I was young, I spent hours firing arrows, improving my aim and technique in order to do a single thing.  I strove to always hit the mark.

As is the case with all efforts of skill, when I began, I failed often.  With every arrow I hoped to hit the black spot at the center of the bulls eye.  I seldom did.  Sometimes I missed the target entirely.  It became easier with practice to the inner rings of the target.  I still rarely hit the smallest of marks; the black dot at the center of the yellow.

The truth of it is that no matter how often I hit that elusive black dot that never moves I have not always hit it.  No matter how good I become at archery it will always be true that I have missed the mark.  I became skilled enough that at one point I could walk arrows across the target from the outside ring to the bulls eye blindfolded.  Still, at that level of skill, it is true that at one point, at many points, I had missed the mark.

The analogy is a simple one.  The literal definition of the word “sin” is to miss the mark.  No matter how often we do things that are good and noble, there are times when we are selfish, lie, or fail to love others.  This is sin.  This is missing the mark.

We all sin.  If we say that we do not then we lie.  To lie is to sin, therefore, we all sin.  We do not like to admit it.   Sometimes we dismiss our accountability for sin but that is another discussion altogether.  Diminishing our recognition of sin does not mitigate our guilt or the debt we owe because of it. 

It is this simple.  If the greatest commands are to love God and to love each other, then we are all guilty of failing at the second and, therefore, failing at the first. Let me say it clearly again: we all sin.  I am not better than anyone else.  I am as guilty as anyone.  We all need pardon for this sin.  This is at the core of our journey back to God. 

The Father showed his love for us in that even when we were sinners, Jesus died for us.  He died to pay the penalty for my sin.  He died to be the satisfaction for all sin.  When we dance around this truth instead of facing it fully, we are in danger of missing the rest of the mark.  We are in danger of being completely off target. 

 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 ͡°)

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/  

All out of Epithets ~ Opening Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

One of the experiences of dipping my toe back into the waters of corporate America has been remembering that one must say things a certain way.  We are not allowed to put too fine of a point on things.  Further, the truth must be sugar coated.

People are genuinely surprised when you say things in a straightforward way.  Their surprise is greater when you do it with kindness and deference to their needs.   Genuine kindness surprises people.

Sadly, we have done the same thing in our pursuit of Christ.  We have created euphemisms, epithets, and politically correct terms to make the truth less offensive and more palatable for those who are easily offended.  We approach others abut the Gospel on a carpet of eggshells.

Unfortunately, there are things with which we must interact if we are to find the narrow way to following Christ.  I am not advocating hatred or disrespect in any way.  I am saying that there are things we need to say plainly in order to speak the truth clearly.  I must be sure that I speak the truth in love. 

How I say things is as important as what I say.  I have danced around some topics for quite some time and now I need to pay the piper.  It is not that I intend to judge anyone else or declare my own righteousness.  It is that I am accountable for what I say to others.  I have written about these things over the years but in most cases, it has been done so with an eye to not crunching that eggshell carpet.

I can be direct without being mean or harsh.  Put on your heavy shoes and walk with me through a bit of clarity Dear Reader.  The hard deck for this is that I love everyone.  It is also the motivation for this thinking.   The truth of the Gospel is going to be offensive to some.  That does not mean that this truth should be hidden or quelled in the least.  Freedom is found in that truth.

It is also true that some of those who believe as I do may be offended.  Again, I care for your feelings but not as much as I care for the truth.  As is always the case, I value your thoughts and questions.  I am not perfect and constantly learn from your interactions.

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 ͡°)

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/