Gratitude Stories ~ Fellow Travelers

Greetings Dear Reader,

One of the things that happens when we travel is that we encounter new fellow travelers.  I encountered such person the first week I was here.  He spoke words that went straight to my heart.  As I have gotten to know him over the last weeks I have learned much and grown to value this man as a part of my journey.

In a season where I am pursuing being more in tune with the Father, I cannot say how much gratitude I feel for fellow travelers.  In learning to be alone I am also learning how to enjoy without expectation the moments I get to connect with others who are on the path with me.  I am learning to enjoy the time with others without making unhealthy connections of expectation and dependence. 

As we approach Thanksgiving, we will encounter fellow travelers in many ways: as we journey to where we celebrate, in the families that are our destination, and in the encounters with fellow travelers we wish to avoid.  It is that last bit that needs our attention. 

If we are going to love as Christ does, we need to have great gratitude for everyone.  There are people who test our human nature and who we see as adversaries.  We need to be willing for the Father to establish restoration and peace in all of our relationships.  In fact, we need to pursue love and peace with those who have something against us. 

I find that I see my part in schisms when I earnestly pray for those who are distant from me.  I find the errors in my viewpoint, the selfishness in my actions, and the ways in which I need to be a better fellow traveler.  I find these things when I recall the beauty and grace that is in others, forgive the things that I see as wrong, and ask the Father to draw them toward him instead of back to me.

It becomes clearer to me daily that the love of Christ is what matters the most.  Working out my own need to love and be loved by the Father allows me to see the depth to which I have not loved others as well as I should even though I wish to do so.  I am grateful for the fellow travelers who are showing me this kind of love and teaching me how to do so in turn.  The road is long and part of it is walking it without expectations.  Your company is always a blessing and joy for 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 home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

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Journey Me ~ Closing Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

It seems odd to close out writing about something so close to what I am intended to always be doing.  I do need to ponder additional things to keep moving.  Moving is what I must keep at to journey home.

I cannot make this journey on my own.  None of us can.  We need to follow someone there.  We do not know the way.  The one we follow “holds out a cross and a crown.”  I think that we do not consider that we have to accept both equally. 

We must take up our cross to follow Christ.  My Grandfather used to say something about this.  “When you saw someone carrying a cross you knew one thing.  There goes a dead man.”  When you take up the cross you resign yourself to death.  For us it is rarely physical death.  It is, however, death to self, to wants, and sometimes to our dreams.  Since this journey is not our destination giving up those things costs less than we think it does. 

There is also that promise of a crown.  It is not what we should seek but there is reward inherent in following Christ.  The idea is to follow for the sake of following; for the sake of our love for Christ.  I see that I have been too long enamored of things that are not part of the journey.  There is too much to attend to for me to be distracted by things that will not last. 

I know that I need fellow travelers but I need to depend on Christ and accept companionship as it occurs along the way.  I do not love any less those who said they would always share the journey with me and have left that promise behind.  I do, however, see that dependence on their words is another form of hanging onto the temporary.  “In Christ alone, my hope is found.”

I do not value your company any less Dear Reader.  I just realize that I cannot burden you with standing in the place of Christ.  You may reflect him and he may use you to provide companionship at times.  I will love you with all my heart.  I must, however, focus on Christ to journey me home.  It is where I long to be and where we are all headed.

In Christ Alone – Stuart Townend

In Christ alone my hope is found,

He is my light, my strength, my song;

This Cornerstone, this solid Ground,

Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love, what depths of peace,

When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!

My Comforter, my All in All,

Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone! - who took on flesh,

Fullness of God in helpless babe.

This gift of love and righteousness,

Scorned by the ones He came to save:

Till on that cross as Jesus died,

The wrath of God was satisfied -

For every sin on Him was laid;

Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,

Light of the world by darkness slain:

Then bursting forth in glorious day

Up from the grave He rose again!

And as He stands in victory

Sin's curse has lost its grip on me,

For I am His and He is mine -

Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,

This is the power of Christ in me;

From life's first cry to final breath,

Jesus commands my destiny.

No power of hell, no scheme of man,

Can ever pluck me from His hand:

Till He returns or calls me home,

Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

  

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 ͡°)

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Journey Me ~ Constant Conversation

Greetings Dear Reader,

It occurs to me that we do not get the idea of constant conversation with God.  I am the first to admit that I have not perfected it.  As with all things involved in following Christ this effort starts in the mind and heart.

When we journey, we desire companions.  We want the company of fellow travelers.  We forget that the one we follow wants our company as well.  I thought about this recently in light of the omnipresence and omniscience of Jesus.  I often use these two attributes to explain that there is not a moment in time where he is not already standing waiting for you to meet him there.

What I had not considered is this. Since that is true for every human everywhere, how must it feel to have some many of us ignore him in so many moments?  There is a unique pain to be being ignored.  The feeling of being treated as unworthy of consideration wounds deeply.

As I ask the Father to journey me along home, I consider all the times before when Christ has been there waiting for me to follow, to speak with him, to allow him to journey me and I have instead chosen something else.  I desire to find Christ in every moment.  I want to get to the place of constant conversation with him.  I have so far to go but I can only manage each moment as it comes.  I can only meet him where I am and hope to make the most of that encounter. 

I feel overwhelmed at the thought of succeeding to follow for the rest of my life.  It is daunting to give everything to Christ.  I can manage the next moment.  I can give that much and move on to giving the next one.  I can give up moments and count on the cumulative power of this to compound it into something significant.

Psalm 23

Jehovah is my ruler, teacher, shepherd, herdsman, and friend.  I will not lack anything or diminish.  He causes me to lie down in pastures of new grass.  He journeys me beside peaceful restful waters.  He returns my soul to himself.  He guides me in the furrow of righteousness for the sake of his own name.  Also--when I walk in a valley of death-shade, I fear no evil, for You are with me, Your rod and Your staff comfort me.  You prepare a banquet for me while my enemies watch. You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows.  Certainly, goodness and mercy will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will abide in the LORD'S house for days without end.

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 ͡°)

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Journey Me ~ Purpose over Practice

Greetings Dear Reader,

I often wonder why we do some of the things we do in our lives.  As I began this part of the journey I mentioned that I visited three very different churches last weekend.  In every situation I found that I was pondering the “why” of things that were done.

I know some of the answers.  Some traditional practices make sense to me.  Some of them seem ridiculous.  Even the things that seem ridiculous are not mine to ridicule.  I am, however, searching for something specific.  I have only seen it in two churches in my life and neither of those were perfect churches.

My Grandfather used to say, “If you think you have found a perfect church, do not join it. You will ruin it because you are not perfect.”  We are not perfect and yet we demand perfection of others.  We expect a church to meet our wants and needs. We do not often enough seek the purpose of a thing before we criticize or we seek the purpose by being critical.

Since every church is composed of flawed failed humans trying to get home, we need to realize that they are not going to do everything the way we would.  We need to accept that at some point there was a purpose to the adopted practices and learn about them.  The understanding can lead to less judgement and more love.

As a Christ follower I must always understand the purpose behind my adopted practices.  There are very few right ways to do things but I am prone to think of my way as the right way.  As I journey I must abandon the dead weight of this belief.  I must purpose to have love for the Father and my fellow travelers as my primary purpose.  If I build on that then things will be vastly different.  If I can do that perhaps I will fail less often.

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 ͡°)

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Journey Me ~ Is There Any Other God?

Greetings Dear Reader,

I was reminded of day some twenty-five years past.  It was a day I had forgotten but now recall with love and hope.  Here it is in brief.

Our family had journeyed to a church in Athens to see the model that this church used in worship.  It was a house church and corporate worship included the children.  Mine were six and four.  They sat on either side of me as we sang the hymns and listened to the reading of day.

Then there was a bit of responsive reading.  It began with this simple question: “Is there any God besides our God?”  The proper response to the reading is “There is no other God besides our God.”  Instead, from my left side, above all other noise in the room and before anyone else responded game the answer from my eldest Son: “NO!”

Almost every head in the room turned to look at him.  There was laughter and something more.  A few of us knew that he knew.  Throughout the next several years I saw that same confidence strong and bold.  I saw that belief work in the lives of others.

As I journey back to that same God, I find that it is never my faith that waivers but the application of that faith.  Whenever I do not live out my faith it is because I have stopped looking at Christ to follow him but rather have looked at other humans for my portion and support. 

When I look at anything other than Christ to guide me, I am not following Christ.  Instead I am following things of my own choosing that will not lead me home.  I must only follow Christ.  There is no other guide, example, or hope that is given me.  I dare not ask him to guide me if I refuse to follow him.  I cannot follow two paths at once.  I choose to follow this one.

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 ͡°)

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Journey Me ~ The Quality of Mercy

Greetings Dear Reader,

We often speak of the love and grace involved in the journey home.  Too often we neglect that other side of grace which is mercy.  We define grace as the Father committing righteousness to us at the expense of Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf.  We gain something we do not deserve by the actions of another.

Mercy is the other side of that coin.  When we are shown mercy, we do not get what we deserve.  We are given the chance to learn the lesson without the payment for our error.  We do not understand just how much mercy we are shown or how deeply that mercy goes.  I know that I do not often enough ask for mercy.

When my Sons were young and they would transgress I would sometimes try to teach them about mercy.  We would talk about the wrong done and agree that they deserved to be punished.  I would tell them that I wanted them to understand mercy and that on this occasion there would be no punishment.  It would be so that they could understand the quality of mercy. 

One afternoon my younger Son came into my office whilst I was writing.  “Dad, he began, “I think I need another lesson in mercy.”  I could not help but laugh at his attempt to arrange things in his favor.  He knew he had done wrong.  He knew what the consequences were.  He wished for mercy.

I have begun to pay more attention to the need for mercy in the journey.  I seek mercy for my failures and the consequences that echo through my life and the lives of others.  I beg the Father each day for mercy for my children that they will remember the faith they once embraced and come back to following Christ.  I ask mercy on our nation and our world. 

We have turned into a world that does not remember how deeply and desperately we need the Father’s mercy. The humility required to seek it seems lost to us.  The world grows further from this understanding daily. 

I know that I need mercy and grace in great measure.  I also need to find better ways to seek it and show it to others.  What about you Dear Reader?  From whom do you need mercy?  Upon whom do you need to bestow 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.”

(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

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Journey Me ~ Humble Men Seeking

Greetings Dear Reader,

There was a time some time ago.  It was too brief and beautiful to last.  There was a summer when my oldest Son lived with me where we would go together to an early morning prayer time once a week.

At first, we both found it perfunctory as it focused on a list and guided prayer.  Then the leader went away for the summer.  The person facilitating suggested that we have no agenda.  He suggested that we simply pray as our hearts directed.

Over the next twelve weeks that is what we did.  Men who were there to commune with the Father, prayed.   I heard my Son ask the Father about things that mattered.  I heard men become open with God and each other about their struggles and faith.  As I said it was brief and beautiful.

I think that there is too little time devoted by the people of God to simply praying together.  We are supposed to be praying people.  It is one of the ways in which we are directed to seek the Father.  It helps us to have greater faith and humility.  Both of which I am in dire need of acquiring.

As I seek that the Father journey me along home, I seek more time in prayer alone and with others.  The attempt is to shed the time of anything but honest adoration, confession, gratitude, and supplication.  I try to look deep within myself to unlock everything that hinders my prayer. 

This path reveals so much.  It shows me what errors I must redress and where my heart truly sits on many matters.  The time reminds me just how much I long for real conversation with Christ about all the things that burden me.  Please pray for me Dear Reader.  There was time when real men really prayed and it was beautiful.  It can always be so if we wish 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.”

(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

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Journey Me ~ A New Talisman

Greetings Dear Reader,

During April of 2015 I wrote at length about Talismans.  Most have been packed away for now.  I had to leave a few behind out of necessity.  I have a new one that I carry with me at all times.  It reminds me of what has been lost, the cost of the journey, and the only hope that I have left.

Recently someone commented on how dark my writing is of late.  Even though I journey through a dark place, I am not out of hope.  If I am to be real in this venue there will be times when the darkness is strong, cloying, and oppressive.  There will be days when even the noon day sun cannot chase away the shadows.  That does not mean that there is no hope.  It does mean I need a reminder of where that hope must lie.

This talisman serves several reminders.  On the face it has inscribed “Footprints in the Sand”.  The authorship is disputed and there are even different versions of the text.  Here is one of them:

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.

In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there was one only.

This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints, so I said to the Lord,

“You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there has only been one set of footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?”

The Lord replied, “The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child, is when I carried you.”

Some days I feel I need to be carried through the entire day.  Some days the road beneath my feet feels like I am actually walking with Christ.  This talisman reminds me of both.  It also reminds me that I can count on Christ to carry those who know him but are not following as they should until they find their feet again.

The talisman also provides light and warmth.  It gives me a reminder that there is always a light in time of need.  There is always a way out of the darkness if we choose it.  It is a symbol of hope; a reminder of the LIGHT. 

This talisman is not mine.  It was a gift given to another as a symbol of promise and trust.  It was left behind along with the promises and the trust.  I carry it to remind me that I never give up on people.  I never stop loving and believing.  I cannot force anyone else to follow Christ.  I can love them and beg the Father to have mercy on them.  I can own my failures and forgive theirs. 

As I seek the path out of the wilderness and back to life that matters for Christ, I carry with me this holy talisman that has no power of its own.  Yet is does.  It has the power to remind me.  I hold it when I pray for those who have left the journey for other pursuits.  I remember who carries me when the loneliness grips me in it ravenous jaws.  It becomes my “Light of Earendil” when needed. 

I hope deeply to return this talisman to its rightful owner.  For now, however, I will keep it safe and use it to move me closer to home.  There is always room at my side to travel 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 home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

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Journey Me ~ Opening Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

Over this past weekend I visited three very different churches.  The range in differences is extreme.  One service was completely liturgical, another traditional protestant with some peculiarities, and the third very free form.  In the diversity of approaches to worship I also saw a very clear common thread.

Combined in these three services I encountered perhaps two hundred people.  Each of the churches was small and each held that significant factor that it was impossible to be anonymous.  For most of the last two decades I have attended churches that were very large and where anonymity was easily attained. 

Since I am emotionally quite vulnerable these days the lack of a place to hide was fearful.  The unshielded attention that visitors get in small churches was overwhelming.  The questions meant to be welcoming and kind felt invasive and penetrating.  I could feel that I had no place to hide from the people who journey with me.

We are not meant to hide.  As we journey back to the Father, we are meant to find and love our fellow travelers.  We are intended to be loved back by them.  When we are vulnerable or hurting this can be daunting.  When it is, we must embrace it.

Through these three services things rose in my mind that both heal and haunt me.  In looking over the journey so far, I keep finding things that have been good.  I also keep seeing where I have been blind to my failures and weaknesses.  I need to spend some time with these things.  Your company and counsel is 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 ͡°)

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All Those Who Wander ~ The Traveler’s Psalm

Greetings Dear Reader,

Psa 121:1-7 A song of ascent. I look up toward the mountains. Where can I find help?   My help comes from the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth.  He will not let you fall. Your guardian will not fall asleep.  Indeed, the Guardian of Israel never rests or sleeps.  The LORD is your guardian. The LORD is the shade over your right hand.  The sun will not beat down on you during the day, nor will the moon at night.  The LORD guards you from every evil. He guards your life.  The LORD guards you as you come and go, now and forever.

Travel was much harder back then.  One had to take real risk to journey even to the next town or village.  It has only been in the last one hundred or so years where moving from one place to another was quick and easy.  Even so, there have always been wanderers, nomads, and vagabonds. 

The temptation is to fade like a Cheshire Cat.  The lure is to be unknown and a little mysterious.  There are, however, things to which I must attend.  I may be done with roots and permanence but I am not done with people.  I have accounts to settle where I am the debtor.  I have fences to mend and walls to tear down.

I cannot do this without a fellow traveler who is much better than I am.  As I follow Christ I falter.  Then he helps me stand.  He teaches me where the footfalls are and how to avoid them.  I fail and fall but when I remember to look up I find the help I need. 

This part of the journey starts with returning to the source in every way.  I feel pain and fear but I am not traveling alone.  I can seek out those wronged and redress the wrongs.  I can perhaps give them a measure of comfort or peace.  I know that it will create more space in my own heart and mind for what is good and right.

I have felt things that I have not felt since I was very young in my faith.  Perhaps there is more hope than I feel.  Perhaps the Father has more for this weary traveler than I have considered. 

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 ͡°)

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Holy Ground Reprise ~ Fellow Travelers

Greetings Dear Reader,

I have driven the route to and from my residence in the northern Mid-West to various family dwellings around Atlanta for seventeen years now.  The drive takes fourteen hours give or take.  I always observe if there are cars or trucks common to the route I am driving.  On one voyage I leapfrogged with a green GMS Palm Beach the entire journey.  It was from Wisconsin and I can only surmise that it was headed to Florida.

Even though the journey is solitary for each of it requires that we journey together.  It is necessary for us to care for each other.  It is even required.  The analogy of the long drive is so apropos.  We encounter others whether long term or briefly.  Those we encounter see us from their perspective; their journey.

We are told how we should see all fellow travelers.  We must see them as Christ sees them.  We must love them as he loves them.  Some will hurt us.  Some will benefit our lives briefly or in the long term.  Some will promise to journey with us the entire way and then abandon us.  All are worthy or our love. 

These fellow travelers are not so different from me.  They are flawed and in need of all that Christ offers.  They are obligated to love me just as I am obligated.   They are under the requirements from God that I am under.  Not one of them will reach the end of the path without at some point needing that love.

No matter how briefly someone journey’s next to me it is my obligation and honor to be loving and king to him or her.  Just yesterday I encountered a friend I have not seen in a couple of years.  Our encounter was brief but it filled me with genuine joy to travel together for a moment.  I want to become holy ground for those whom I encounter.  I want to be an oasis on the journey.

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 ͡°)