The Three Furies of Heaven – Closing Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

Paul tells the Corinthians that three things last.  They are faith, hope, and love..  These are the things that pursue us insisting that we see the Father as he is.  They run us down as we run from him.  The necessity of all three is clear.

Faith will not always be necessary.  Some day it will be realized.  At some point faith will become reality.  That in which we believe will present itself to us.  We will be with Christ.  Sin will be done.  Death will not win.  The power and presence of evil will have no sway in our lives.

Hope will be realized.  All that we have hoped for in Christ will come true.  He will get us back to good.  He will return all creation back to a state that is as he intended.  Hope is for the future and our futures will be clearly set for us.  The end is better than the now.  We will no longer need hope as we will have the presence of Christ realized.

Love is eternal.  When faith is fulfilled and hope is unnecessary the love of God will be there.  It will be the core of all we do.  It will determine our approach to everything.   I will no longer be selfish or self-centered.  My motivations will be centered on the love of Jesus not my own wants. 

The furies pursue me for the purpose of helping the transition be less demanding.  I can live by faith, follow in hope, and love unconditionally now if I choose to do so.  I can be better at each of these things today than I was yesterday.  I can follow more closely each day if I choose.

As we walk together Dear Reader my hope is that I show you the love that is the foundation of my faith.  I hope that when the furies of heaven catch up to you we can share the journey for a space.  This is where the joy in the journey finds its source.  As we live and move and have our being in Christ it is faith, hope, and love that I want to share.

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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The Three Furies of Heaven – Love

Greetings Dear Reader,

Our third fury is the most powerful.  It crushes barriers and wears down resistance.  It pursues us relentlessly.  The universe is designed to reveal a loving God to us.  He wants us to see how important love is to the process of life.

His greatest command is that we love him.  His second is that we love each other.  It is not that difficult.  We are the ones who complicate it.  We resist it.  We add things to the Father’s unconditional love.  We over think it. 

It is the love of God that demands we see our need and bask in its care.  It is love that defines us.  If we make it so nothing else can redefine us.  The force of love is what people are to see in us.  It is what is to point to Christ in our lives.

Love pursues us.  We can accept it or reject it.  My question is why do I do that sometimes.  Love diminishes our needs.  It calms our fears.  It moves us to do good things for others.

Love will endure.  I love you Dear Reader.

Love - Petra

Love is patient, love is kind

No eyes of envy, true love is blind

Love is humble, it knows no pride

No selfish motive hidden inside

Love is gentle, makes no demands

Despite all wrong, true love still stands

Love is holy, love is pure

It lasts forever, it will endure

Love knows when to let go

Love knows when to say no

Love grows in the light of the Son

And love shows the world that the Son of Love has come

Love is loyal, believes the best

It loves the truth, love stands the test

Love is God sent in His Son

Love forgives all we have done

Love knows when to let go

Love knows when to say no

Love grows in the light of the Son

And love shows the world that the Son of Love has come

In this world where hatred seems to grow

True love goes against the flow

And becomes so hard to show

In this world where push turns to shove

We have strength to rise above

Through the power of His love

Lord, we need to know the power of Your love

Love knows when to let go

Love knows when to say no

Love grows in the light of the Son

And love shows the world that the Son of Love has come

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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The Three Furies of Heaven – Hope

Greetings Dear Reader,

I have a friend who hates the word hope.  She says it is a four letter word.  It is such a difficult thing when we reach the point where we lose hope.  It is one of the things that cause people to take their own lives. 

I have been to the edge of things when I lost hope.  I have reached the edge where I wanted to end my life.   Hope, however, is a relentless fury.   It pursued me to that edge and would not let go.  It dragged me kicking and screaming from that edge.

There have been many times since where I have heard the siren call of the edge of hope.  In those moments I am reminded that hope is eternal.  Nothing that comes against me can defeat hope if I do not let it. 

Following Christ yields hope.   He beacons us home with the promise that our hope will be fulfilled in him.  He leads out of the darkness that encroaches with the promise of light and life. 

The Edge – Michael Card 

Most of us will never know

How dark this world can seem

When life becomes more nightmare than a dream.

So to all of you who have survived

A visit to the edge,

I trust that you will understand this pledge.

I promise I will always leave

The darkness for the light.

I swear by all that's holy

I will not give up the fight.

I'll drink down death like water

Before I ever come again

To that dark place where I might make

The choice for life to end.

I've found that as I travelled

Through the inscape of my land

That mountaintops make valleys in between.

And when that nameless sadness

Like a cloud comes over me

I look back on all the brightness I have seen.

I promise I will always leave

The darkness for the light.

I swear by all that's holy

I will not give up the fight.

I'll drink down death like water

Before I ever come again

To that dark place where I might make

The choice for life to end.

I realize that though my world

Might seem so torn apart,

Most often it is joy that breaks the heart.

And that I am the richest man

Though I must beg for bread,

For the very One who might condemn

Has called me friend instead.

I promise I will always leave

The darkness for the light.

I swear by all that's holy

I will not give up the fight.

I'll drink down death like water

Before I ever come again

To that dark place where I might make

The choice for life to end.

I will always leave the darkness for the light.

I will not give up the fight.

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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The Three Furies of Heaven – Faith

Greetings Dear Reader,

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” 

I know that I have written often about the need and value of faith.  Today I am pondering how faith pursues us.  We do not wish to have faith.  We would rather know.  We would rather have all things revealed to us.  

The problem is that to live justly we must live by faith.  We do not know all the answers to anything.  We think we know.  We think we do not need faith but we employ it every day.  We exercise faith in other people and things constantly. 

We sit on chairs, drive over bridges, and accept food processed and made by strangers.  Faith is part of our existence whether we like it or not.  Jesus demands that we follow him in faith.  He insists that engage with him through faith in his promises. 

I continuously hear demands for evidence that God is a reality.  Doubt is not wrong.  It is the other side of faith.  We do, however, come to the point where we must accept Jesus by faith.  He pursues us for this.  He manages the entire world for this purpose: that we will come to the place where we put our faith in his plan for us.

It is by grace that we are redeemed through faith.  Jesus explains that the blessing come from believing without seeing.  Faith pursues us begging us to see who Christ is and to follow him.  It is what the journey is for me.  Faith has never failed me where Christ is concerned.

By Faith – Michael Card

By faith one was commended

For the sacrifice he made

Another out of holy fear

Built an ark the world to save

Another left his homeland

and as a stranger he'd reside

But none received the promise then

And so, in faith, they died.

Others conquered kingdoms

Quenched the fury of the flames

Some made strong in battle

Some were raised to life again

But many more were martyred

Midst the crowds loud clamoring

By faith they would not bow the knee

Nor kiss the emperor's ring

Faith understands and offers

It assures and calms our fears

It can shut the mouths of lions

And make sense of scars and tears

We persevere in hope

And with conscience clean and clear

We walk this fallen wilderness

With Salvation's Pioneer

Being sure of what we hope for

Seeing what is yet unseen

A universe from nothingness

New life where none had been

The known made from unknowable

And hope for the comfortless

Who hear and hold on firmly to

The faith that they possess

So fix your eyes upon the Champion

As you seek to run the race

Understanding that He cheers you on

As you long for His embrace

So hold on and do not grow weary

Of the faith that you profess

Remembering that you are ringed around

By this cloud of witnesses.

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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The Three Furies of Heaven – Opening Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

The Furies of Greek mythology were gods who chased those who had committed crimes against physical and moral order of things.  Alecto embodies rage and mania delivering the punishment of moral crimes. Tisiphone is the visage of revenge to killings.  Megaera personifies hatred and envy. 

The Greeks understood the need for retribution against sin.  They also spent a lot of time telling stories about avoiding those penalties.  In most cultures there are stories that reflect the understating that wrong doing has consequences.  Conscience pursues us in some way no matter what we believe.

We know at a basic level what right and wrong is.  We all accept or reject that understanding based on our beliefs and upbringing.  Society sees a moving standard of what is good and bad based on the current culture.

God takes a different approach.  He sets clear standards for right and wrong based on who he is.  He also pursues us with his own furies.  They are ravenous and inescapable.  In considering the death of Christ in preparation for Holy Week I am pondering the furies of heaven. 

As I ponder them I need to see how they pursue me.  I need to asses why I sometimes run from them when what they wish is to further connect me to Christ.  I cannot follow Jesus and run from the furies.  Walk with me a bit Dear Reader as we ponder that which pursues us for God.  As always I cherish your thoughts.

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 ͡°)