Showing posts with label WHY. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WHY. Show all posts

06 May 2020

You Do Not Get to Know Why ~ Angels Will Follow ~ Closing Thoughts


Greetings Dear Reader,

If I am honest, there are many things about which I wish to know why.  Most of them are between humans and do not matter in the grand course of the universe.  Some are directed at the Father and matter greatly.

Why have I lost people that I love through both death and distance?  Why did the path of my life include so much pain?  I have questions for the Father.  I refuse, however, to ask them in a demanding or disrespectful way.  I have not always done this well.

The idea that there are things about which I do not get to know why is burdensome.  I have come to the place where I understand that I do not need the answers to have faith.  I do not need to know why to follow out of love.  It is love that is the great command.

I suppose that my failures have caused others to lose faith in me.  That may be part of the reason why I have lost others along the way.  What I must do is take up that attitude of Job.  I must believe that the Father has given me all that I have.  He is allowed to take anything he wishes; my health, my wealth, and my companions.  What I must do is love him dearly and see things as they are. 

The Father only has my best in his plans for me.  I may never know why the deep darkness that I have carried lived in me for so long.  I do know that whatever comes into my life will serve the Father and my love for him should be enough for me.  It is hard to hear and hard to live.  It is, however, the truth and, therefore, vital.  I do not get to know why but I get to know that I am loved and valued by the one who knows best.  I hope you can find some comfort in this, Dear Reader.

Everywhere I Go – Sleeping At Last

And I'll fall on my knees
Tell me how's the way to be
Tell me how's the way to go
Tell me all that I should know

And I'll fall on my knees
Tell me how's the way to go
Tell me how's the way to be
To evoke some empathy

Danger will follow me now
Everywhere I go
Angels will call on me
And take me to my home
Well, this tired mind just wants to be led home

And I'll fall on my knees
Tell me how's the way to go
Tell me how's the way to see
Show me all that I could be

And I'll fall on my knees
Tell me how's the way to be
Tell me how's the way to go
Tell me why I feel so low

Danger will follow me now
Everywhere I go
Angels will call on me
And take me to my home
Well, these tired eyes just want to remain closed

I don't see clearly
Can't feel nothing, no
Can you hear me
And I'll fall on my knees
Danger will follow me now everywhere I go
Angels will call on me and take me to my home
And danger will follow me now everywhere I go
Angels will call on me and take me to my home
And angels will follow me now, lead me to my home
Angels will follow me now, lead me to my home

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 ͡°)

Every human story is part of the great story that leads to the Father getting everything back to Good.

Contacts for Aramis Thorn:
#aramisthorn
Support Page on Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn
Novels: From My Publisher or on Amazon          
Web Page:  www.aramisthorn.com
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05 May 2020

You Do Not Get to Know Why ~ It Ain’t Easy


Greetings Dear Reader,

I have a reminder that I keep in front of my eyes when I am working.  It is a reminder that faith is easier for me than it is for some others.  Faith is my first choice instead of being wrestled into it.

Faith is not easy for everyone.  I do understand this and I do not forget it when I say that you and I do not always get to know why.  I never see faith as a platitude when I suggest its use.  I actually believe that faith works.  I do not resign myself to faith or suggest its use with torpor, ease, or dismissal. 

Rather, I see faith as the fuel that drives the engine of love and grace.  The flow goes like this:  The Father loves me and asks that I love him and his creation, including all other humans in return.  He asks that I trust him to work out a life for me.  He gives us his Son and the Holy Spirit as aides to this.  He askes us to follow his Son in faith.  He asks us to listen to the guidance and accept the gifts of the Spirit in faith.  He asks that we do everything in love through faith.

Everything else that gets built into following Christ is either subtext or unnecessary baggage.   These things are attempts to water down the necessity of faith and fail at explaining the whys that are unexplainable.   We do not get to know why about some things because it would negate the need for faith.  Those who would be just must live by faith.  It is not wrong to ask why.  It is vital that we do so in faith.

We will all face times when we want to know why.  We already know in our honest hearts that there is no answer that will satisfy.  There will be sickness and death we do not understand.  We will face unfairness and abuse.  We all will have questions that are demands for understanding.

I must recognize that my desire to know is not wrong as long as my will is given to faith and following whether I know or not.  It is not easy but it is necessary and vital to our journey.  We cannot travel without faith.  I cannot love you properly without faith, Dear Reader.  I do not get to know why about that either but it is true.

When It Don’t Come Easy – Sleeping At Last

Red lights are flashing on the highway
I wonder if we're gonna ever get home
I wonder if we're gonna ever get home tonight

Everywhere the waters getting rough
Your best intentions may not be enough
I wonder if we're gonna ever get home tonight

But if you break down
I'll drive out and find you
If you forget my love
I'll try to remind you
And stay by you when it don't come easy

I don't know nothing except change will come
Year after year what we do is undone
Time keeps moving from a crawl to a run
I wonder if we're gonna ever get home

You're out there walking down a highway
And all of the signs got blown away
Sometimes you wonder if you're walking in the wrong direction

But if you break down
I'll drive out and find you
If you forget my love
I'll try to remind you
And stay by you when it don't come easy

So many things that I had before
That don't matter to me now
Tonight, I cry for the love that I've lost
And the love I've never found
When the last bird falls
And the last siren sounds
Someone will say what's been said before
Its only love we were looking for

But if you break down
I'll drive out and find you
If you forget my love
I'll try to remind you
And stay by you when it don't come easy

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 ͡°)

Every human story is part of the great story that leads to the Father getting everything back to Good.

Contacts for Aramis Thorn:
#aramisthorn
Support Page on Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn
Novels: From My Publisher or on Amazon          
Web Page:  www.aramisthorn.com
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04 May 2020

You Do Not Get to Know Why ~ No New Thing


Greetings Dear Reader,

I often find that when we address the problems of the world, we act surprised at the problems that have arisen.  It is never that the problems are new.  They may be complex but the problems are not new ones.

This is important in understanding why we do not always get to know why.  I think that it is important to recognize that there are reasons given that are not good enough for us.  We forget that there are no new problems to the Father.  We reject that his choice to allow is our command to accept.  That last sentence is important truth relative to faith and following.  Here is how Kipling explained the concept of accepting the Father’s sovereignty. 

The Answer – Rudyard Kipling

A Rose, in tatters on the garden path,
Cried out to God and murmured 'gainst His Wrath,
Because a sudden wind at twilight's hush
Had snapped her stem alone of all the bush.
And God, Who hears both sun-dried dust and sun,
Had pity, whispering to that luckless one,
"Sister, in that thou sayest We did not well --
What voices heardst thou when thy petals fell?"
And the Rose answered, "In that evil hour
A voice said, `Father, wherefore falls the flower?
For lo, the very gossamers are still.'
And a voice answered, `Son, by Allah's will!'"

Then softly as a rain-mist on the sward,
Came to the Rose the Answer of the Lord:
"Sister, before We smote the Dark in twain,
Ere yet the stars saw one another plain,
Time, Tide, and Space, We bound unto the task
That thou shouldst fall, and such a one should ask."
Whereat the withered flower, all content,
Died as they die whose days are innocent;
While he who questioned why the flower fell
Caught hold of God and saved his soul from Hell.

We think that our circumstance or situation is the exception to the idea that God can do as he pleases. He does not owe us an explanation or justification.  There is no problem or difficulty to which he has not already planned his response.  Nothing surprises the Father and in his full knowledge of how he has planned things, he asks us to follow his Son in faith. 

When we reject the idea that we do not get to know why we are rejecting the requirement to do all things in faith.  As I said when we began this conversation, it is not wrong to ask but we must ask from the right heart.  We must inquire in faith, willing to accept that the Father is not surprised by anything.  We must make our faith work in following well.

It is important for me to see this in the things that hurt or haunt me.  Nothing is new to the Father.  Nothing we experience is outside of the path that the Father has either lain or allowed for me.  I must not expect the Father to do as I will.  It is my duty to seek to accept his will and belay my desire to suggest exceptions.  In following this path, I give away my demand to know why and take up deeper, stronger faith.  In this, we can make it through the days when things seem unfair.  We must remind each other of this along the way, Dear Reader.

Who Am I? – Andrew Galucki

Every day is like the last
Future looks like the past
It's time to break beyond this haze
Turn my eyes to brighter days

A better way comes into view
A chance to make something new
There must be more that I can chase
A way to find myself in brighter days

And I know I'll find where I stand
And I know I'll find who I am
Just who I am

Somewhere just beyond myself
A bigger story I can tell
It's more than just a change of pace
I'll find myself inside of brighter days

And I know I'll find where I stand
And I know I'll find who I am
Just who I am
I won't stop, I won't stop
I won't stop, I won't stop now
I won't stop, I won't stop
I won't stop, I won't stop now
I won't stop, I won't stop
I won't stop, I won't stop now
I won't stop, I won't stop
I won't stop, I won't stop now

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 ͡°)

Every human story is part of the great story that leads to the Father getting everything back to Good.

Contacts for Aramis Thorn:
#aramisthorn
Support Page on Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn
Novels: From My Publisher or on Amazon          
Web Page:  www.aramisthorn.com
Facebook       Twitter        
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03 May 2020

You Do Not Get to Know Why ~ Neo-Narcissism


Greetings Dear Reader,

I am amazed at how easily we use the label of Narcissism on others.  I know a true narcissist and she does not fit the pattern of the common label we see in our social feeds.  It is easier I think to affix this label than to see that at some level we all avoid the more common truth that we are all selfish and self-absorbed at times.

Except through discipline of the mind and heart, we all forget that the world is not about us.  We are not our own.  We are created to enjoy the Father who loves us but we consistently make the world about our needs, wants, and pleasure.  We do not consider that we are developing a neo-narcissism wherein we blame everyone else, including God for our woes.  We do not take responsibility for our failures and foibles. 

We are all crooked sticks.  We lock people into blame and shame for their past not realizing that there is nothing they can say that will transcend our choice to refuse forgiveness and real reconciliation.  We have even created a middle ground where we think we have forgiven but do not have to reconcile or restore.  We are so steeped in our own past that we refuse to unashamedly, unabashedly, and unconditionally love everyone. 

The things that have hurt us and the sins of others become the substance with which we create barriers.  They become our excuses for not working to actively intentionally show love to others.  We post cryptic messages about the faults of others and say we have forgiven in the same breath.  We explain all the reasons for not actively loving someone based on the past or what might happen in the future.  We use that which is gone and that which we imagine to withhold love in the present.

This is the ultimate in making things about us.  We refuse to trust the Father by obeying his most basic commands.  We make it about us without thought that the Father will be with us, that the Spirit will guide us, that the Son is working it all out for our benefit.  Our neo-narcissism is that we put our fears of what might happen above our hope in what can happen if we put love first in all things.

We do not get to know why the Father wants it this way.  I must do it no matter what I feel, fear, or fanaticize.  I must lead with love and not demand to know why it is that way.  I do not need to understand love for it to work.  I do need to realize that every natural thing will clamor for me to blame others and neglect my own failure to love.  My nature will scream that it is the other person and not me.  The journey is easiest when we follow Christ in love and refuse to be offended even when we do not understand the why of things.  You and I, Dear Reader, can build a better journey if we do that together.

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 ͡°)

Every human story is part of the great story that leads to the Father getting everything back to Good.

Contacts for Aramis Thorn:
#aramisthorn
Support Page on Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn
Novels: From My Publisher or on Amazon          
Web Page:  www.aramisthorn.com
Facebook       Twitter        
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02 May 2020

You Do Not Get to Know Why ~ Lost Along the Way


Greetings Dear Reader,

From the end of March to the end of April I pass through some dark anniversaries.  The two most significant are the death of my sister and the death of my Daughter.   One is at the end of March and the other is at the end of April.  I do not speak of them often but they are ever-present companions in my journey.

We suffer loss and often wish to know why or even demand from God that he tell us why.  Death evokes deep painful questioning that rarely gives us the answers we want.  It is also there to remind us that we are not free.  We have a measure of freedom but do not have control over the measure of our lives. 

In seeking to know why we are seeking justification for loss outside of our control.  We rarely make good decisions in the grasp of pain and grief.  We cast blame and judgment as a way of emoting our pain.  The losses of people I love have hurt me deeply.  When I lost my Grandfather, I became angry at the Father for some time.  I became dangerously angry and a part of my young heart never recovered.

In truth, I have never understood why I lost these people when I did.  I do know that other humans have hurt me over these losses.  They have used the absence of those I love to judge me and cause me harm.  I was cut off from my Grandfather as a boy and informed of his death as a passing remark.  Recently, someone I love deeply who never knew my Grandfather, angrily told me that he would be ashamed of who I am. 

When my sister died, I was scolded for not being sad enough and punished for not feeling the “way I should” about it.  As I stood in a hospital hallway when my daughter died, I was damaged again.  Someone who should have been there to comfort me said, “It is just too bad that you did not have enough faith for your child to live.”  They were judging me and saying it was my lack of faith that killed my child.    
My current response to all of this is that I do not get to know why.  I do not get to know why I lost these ones I loved so suddenly and unexpectedly.  Further, I do not get to know why those who should have been loving fellow travelers were instead, unkind and hurtful.  I do, however, know that I refuse to falsely blame the Father for my losses.  I refuse to forget that God knows how things will unfold and allows what he does in the light of that purpose.

I cannot salve everyone’s pain even though I wish I could.  Learning to follow Christ means to see that knowing why is not essential to having faith.  It is important that I keep in mind that demanding reasons is not what makes my faith reasonable.  I remember that angrily wanting to know the why of loss does not heal my pain.  No answer is good enough when death is what I am experiencing. 

Following Christ is seeing that every death diminishes me and requires that I strengthen my faith.  When others use death to cause me harm, I need to respond to them in love and lead with forgiveness.  Whatever pain drives them to do or say what they do, it is my obligation to work at being unoffendable and showing genuine love at every encounter.  We may not get to know why Dear Reader.  We can, however, walk better through pain and loss if we refuse to demand and insist on the why of it.  I will walk with you and ask that you travel with me as well.  We can discuss the why as long as we agree that we may not discover it; as long as we understand that it is not why that we need, but rather who.

Heaven (All Around You) – Apollo LTD

Close your eyes, tell me what you see
Standing on the edge, earth beneath our feet
I loved you like a lamb
And I fought just like a soldier
Made love like we were young
But honey we're only getting older
When we turn to dust
You know I'm right behind you
Cause when we both die
I'll never be more alive than when I'm right beside you

You know what I meant when I said I couldn't live without you
You know what I meant when I said heavens all around you

Seen the devil at the altar
And God inside a bar
Heard the whiskey-soaked confession
Of a broken man and his guitar
I have been made whole
Yet the world has torn me apart
Walked a million miles
But honey I don't know where to start

You know what I meant when I said I couldn't live without you
You know what I meant when I said heavens all around you

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 ͡°)

Every human story is part of the great story that leads to the Father getting everything back to Good.

Contacts for Aramis Thorn:
#aramisthorn
Support Page on Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn
Novels: From My Publisher or on Amazon          
Web Page:  www.aramisthorn.com
Facebook       Twitter        
Medium         Instagram 

01 May 2020

You Do Not Get to Know Why ~ Why Did You Do That?


Greetings Dear Reader,

Some thunder is soft and distant.  It does not mean that there is no storm.  It does mean that the storm has not yet reached us at an impactful level.  One of the great subtle harms we can do to those we love is sound that thunder.

We do this to each other in the guise of seeking understanding.  Someone does something that is out of bounds in some way.  We enter a discussion about it and insist on knowing why he or she did it.  If one is genuinely seeking understanding there is no harm in the question.  If, however, this is a method of bringing guilt, judgment, or condemnation to the other person, it is wrong.

I am a recovering why asker.  It was a method I employed to exercise control and power over others.  The truth of it is that if I am dealing in love, I do not need to know why except for the purpose of compassionate understanding.   I do not get to know why when it is motivated by my unhealthy desires. 

The thing that I must do is lay aside my desire to know why and deal with others in compassion and kindness.  Part of becoming unoffendable is that I do not seek power over others when they have done wrong.  I do not need it.   Rather, I need to harness the power of Christ to forgive and go beyond forgiveness to loving restoration.  I need to understand if it helps me do this.  I do not need to understand in order to treat others with understanding.

It is in refusing to use why as a weapon that we learn to seek the person rather than the explanation.  We can gain greater peace with others if we leave behind asking why and instead seek how we can love and restore, what we can do to build peace, and remember who it is we serve and follow.  If we can do this, we can yield more peace and follow Christ more clearly, Dear Reader.

It is in abandoning the judgmental why that I find the freedom to love and be gracious.  It is the emptying of self that leads to being filled with love that transcends our need for justification by others.  It is on that path that we can find a way to restore each other in love.  That is an understanding we all need.  This is the thunder we want to bring; the thunder that destroys judgment and rains down love on everyone.

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 ͡°)

Every human story is part of the great story that leads to the Father getting everything back to Good.

Contacts for Aramis Thorn:
#aramisthorn
Support Page on Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn
Novels: From My Publisher or on Amazon          
Web Page:  www.aramisthorn.com
Facebook       Twitter        
Medium         Instagram 

30 April 2020

You Do Not Get to Know Why ~ It is All Mine


Greetings Dear Reader,

I love giving gifts to others.  I know that part of that extends from my desire to do this in the right way.  An understanding that is vital to gift-giving is that once the gift is given, you no longer own it.  Once the gift is received it carries with it a responsibility to stewardship and gratitude.  

A gift received requires that for the sake of honor, we say thank you, we use what we are given wisely, and that we understand that some gifts carry with them great responsibility.  I realize that this may be an odd thing with which to begin, but it will bear the point for us quite well. 

Life is a gift.  It is ours to live as we wish but the gift comes with great responsibility to the one who gave it to us.  When I gave my eldest Son his first car, he knew that he had to care for it, drive responsibly, and be accountable for his use of the car.  On a grander scale, the life we are given by the Father is like this.

We think that we are entitled due to own autonomy.  We think that our life is ours and that we control aspects of the world.  This is a lie we tell ourselves to believe that we can do as we wish without consequence.  This leads to questions concerning the character of God.  As I said yesterday, the questions are not wrong but the way in which we ask them is vital. 

The questions about the Father’s character are not new.  If I ask them in faith that there is a reasonable answer, then I am on the path to truth.  If I question God’s character from a stance of anger or judgment, I am forgetting that he literally owns all of creation including our lives.  We are his to do with as he wishes.  Instead of making us puppets, he has given us a measure of autonomy to choose whether or not to love him. 

We are his because he made us.  Then, when we rejected him, selling our relationship with him for “freedom” to do as we please, he bought us out of the consequences of that transaction.  I am not ignorant of the fact that we use God’s omniscience to question the morality of his allowing us to fail.  He knows, however, that his plan is to redeem us from the failures of our choices to use his gift poorly. 

One of the reasons we do not get to know why is that we may not be able to comprehend the perspective necessary to understand why.  If, however, I begin with the understanding that no matter what I choose to do with the life given me by the Father, that he still loves me, I can also understand a wee bit more of his purpose.  Remember that the command that is greatest is to love the Father.  Then it is to love each other.  The God of all things is primarily interested in love.  This is why the gift of life is precious and why I must ask my questions out of love for him.  It makes the why less of a problem and as we will consider tomorrow, less offensive. 

I will focus on loving the Father and when I do not understand, I will trust him as I should a Father who loves me.  It is all his and is in his hands.  It is all an opportunity to have faith and renew my love for him in every situation.  It is how we follow the Son.  It is how we use this gift of life we are given. 

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 ͡°)

Every human story is part of the great story that leads to the Father getting everything back to Good.

Contacts for Aramis Thorn:
#aramisthorn
Support Page on Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn
Novels: From My Publisher or on Amazon          
Web Page:  www.aramisthorn.com
Facebook       Twitter        
Medium         Instagram 

04 August 2018

Surprised by Pain ~ Why???


Greetings Dear Reader,

We so often want to know why the pain is still there.  We go back and rerun the events that caused the pain and wonder what we could have done differently.  We imagine what we would do differently or say to someone.  Unless these things lead to an insight that changes us for the better they are a waste of effort.

Wondering why the pain returns does not help us heal.  It keeps us tethered to the past.  Our time to move forward and find peace gets absorbed by dwelling on the things we cannot change.  We rehearse the pain of the past instead of looking for the next step of the journey. 

When walking in the present we are caught in a nexus.  The only true movement is forward.  The past can be a motivation or a hindrance.  It cannot be changed.  It cannot be carried as a burden as it is far too cumbersome.  Asking why is a revisiting that which harms us.

I have to accept what has come before and my part in it.  I know that the pain will surface when it chooses to do so.  I must not waste my time on why.  I must move in the nexus realizing that when surprised by pain I can ride it rouge wave to push me further along.  If I stop to ask why then I only miss the opportunity.

The Nexus – Dan Fogelberg

Across the vein of night
There cuts a path of searing light
Burning like a beacon
On the edges of our sight
At the point of total darkness
And the lights divine divide
A soul can let its shadow stretch
And land on either side -- either side

And balanced on the precipice
The moment must reveal
Naked in the face of time
Our race within the wheel
As we hang beneath the heavens
And we hover over hell
Our hearts become the instruments
We learn to play so well

Wealthy the spirit
That knows its own flight
Stealthy the hunter
Who slays his own fright
Blessed the traveler
Who journeys the length of the light

Outside the pull of gravity
Beyond the spectral veil
Within our careful reasoning
We search to no avail
For the constant in the chaos
For the fulcrum in the void
Following a destiny
Our steps cannot avoid

Across the vein of night
There cuts a path of searing light
Burning like a beacon
On the edges of our sight
At the point of total darkness
And the lights divine divide
A soul can let its shadow
Stretch and land on either side

Wealthy the spirit
That knows its own flight
Stealthy the hunter
Who slays his own fright
Blessed the traveler
Who journeys the length of the light

In a spiral never-ending
Are we drawn towards the source
Spinning at the mercy
Of an unrelenting force
So we stare into the emptiness
And fall beneath the weight
Circling the Nexus in a
Fevered dance with fate –

Wealthy the spirit
That knows its own flight
Stealthy the hunter
Who slays his own fright
Blessed the traveler
Who journeys the length of the light

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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