Not Cut Out for This

Greetings Dear Reader,

I have a friend who owns a lifting and fitness gym.   His balanced approach to what is often seen as a vain practice offers a perspective that I find encouraging and good.  He and his spouse approach the craft with an emphasis of faith, family, and fitness.  Even their approach to posing is a discipline and not an exercise in vanity.

In thinking about and praying for their business and their lives, it occurred to me that they make accessible a practice that not everyone is cut out to enjoy.  Then again, their discipline is one that requires time, effort, and patience to master.  It is not being cut out that matters.  It is being willing to work to have the definition cut into you.

Whether it is lifting or training in some other area, we must allow the discipline to cut into who we are if we hope to succeed.  The practice and time whittle away at what we are to carve into us what we are meant to become.  It is the daily effort that makes the difference over time.

Following Christ is the same journey.  We must shed the habits that hinder us and take on the disciplines that make us closer followers.  I must shed anything that does not lead to strength and consistency in faith and following.  This does not mean that I do not enjoy life or deny my enjoyments.  It does mean that I align them with what is going to cut into me the image and likeness of Jesus.  I must lift and carry that which identifies me with him.

I am thankful for my friends and the way in which they provide this service to our community.  I am also thankful that though none of us are cut out for following Christ, they use their work to teach others how to gain the discipline to do so.  I may not lift weights with you Dear Reader, but together we can carry the burden of disciplining our hearts and minds to follow Christ more closely through this example.

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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Closing the Year: I DARE YOU TO MOVE ~ Things to do at the Gym

Greetings Dear Reader,

Were I still working with my friend Dwight, he would observe how much he would hate going to the gym next week.  He is faithful in his exercise and activity.  His disdain is for the influx of newbies coming and mostly soon leaving.

We all know how irritating it is in January when the gym resolution-aires show up and get in the way of our routine.  We have been faithful all year and here come the short timers thinking they own the place.  Here are some ideas to thin the herd and get a laugh or two.  Dwight let me know if you try any of these.

• Clean out a Hershey’s chocolate syrup bottle and use it for a water bottle.  Enjoy the staring eyes, gaping jaws, and unfettered judgment.
• Wear a fat suit on Monday through Thursday – Return without it on Friday.  Offer to sell your secret for $1000.
• When no one is looking, place a large bowl of left-over Christmas candy on the check in counter.
• Slip empty candy wrappers into the gym bags of strangers who come as a couple ~ don’t get caught.
• Have the most unhealthy food you can find delivered to the gym in the name of someone else there.
• Arrange for a food truck to show up at breakfast time.
• Place coupons from competing gyms on the wind screens of cars in the parking lot.
• Greet newcomers warmly and be their BEST FRIEND EVER.  As they leave tell them that next time you will introduce them to the Brotherhood of Suffering for Shape.
• Put Pringles cans in the water bottle holders on the tread mills.

In the event that some of you do not see my Cheshire smile or the tongue firmly implanted in my cheek, I am not suggesting that anyone sabotage another’s efforts at health.  We do need to find humor in the changes that people vow to make and for some reason cannot manage.  We also need to change our feeling of discomfort over others using “our” space.  The problem is not the crowd. It is how we view that crowd.  It is almost always our heart and attitude that creates inconvenience.

So Dear Reader, if you need to exercise then go do it.  If you feel put out by the influx of newbies in your circle perhaps you should find a way to welcome them and help them succeed.  I know that I need to be more fluid concerning changes when they come.  I need to understand that the time to change for the better is the moment I realize that I need to and not on an arbitrary day on the calendar.  It is vital to my progress that I dare to move closer to Christ and allow others to move as well, even if it is to MY elliptical.  

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

This BLOG:  http://aramisthorn.blogspot.com/ 

Novels on Amazon             

Web Page:  www.aramisthorn.com

Bookings at aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com

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