The Stigma of Strangers ~ Weary Travelers

Greetings Dear Reader,

Since we have covered that the journey requires that we keep moving we must ponder that we live in a world filled with wanderers.  We must further consider that many of them may be very weary.

My faith has its roots in a culture that had very clear understandings around the idea of hospitality and how to treat strangers.  One did not turn away the person with no place to stay.  One did not neglect the needs of the foreigner in the land.

We are told to be careful how we treat strangers.  We are told that the needs of others matter always to us.  The weary traveler had needs.  The weary traveler deserves kindness and companionship.  The wanderer may only fall in step with us for a bit but we are obligated to be good company to him or her whilst we are in step.

We entangle the simple requirement to be kind to strangers in what if and where to fore until the needs of the human are lost in the fabricated rules and roles.  We hide behind programs and processes that leave starving beggars in the cold.  We deny children their needs in the name of what might happen. 

I am obligated to love and show kindness to whomever I encounter on the journey.  I am required to be present with them in the moment.  I must do these things if I think I have any hope of loving my neighbor.

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 Road – The Road Returning

Greetings Dear Reader,

The latter part of my journey has been much more pleasant.  News from home disquiets me and urges me down the way.  I will have ample travel time to pray for those in peril.  I part from my Brother and his family with joy in my heart over their new home and its potential.

I have not found the answer I sought nor did I get to counsel with the wizards I sought.  Perhaps that opportunity will avail itself over the holy days of autumn.  As I return to the place I live that is not home I long for a lighted inn where I and my pipe would be welcome.

Many tales I have to tell and I must get to them before the shadows grow too deep.  I caught a glimpse of my mortality on this journey.  I found bit more of my self and lost some of my hesitation.  I will have to see in I can secure the courage to follow the small side path that may lead to great adventure.

As the miles slip by the remaining burden is that of uncertainty.  I know not yet how I will fare in the solitude.  I know not how I will craft the life I need within the life I have.  God loves me and this is not some form of abstract vengeance.  It is instead a place wherein to find what I must be next.

So I follow in faith.  Returning to the haunts and hills that I call home but knowing that Bag End is sacked forces me to trust.  We shall see what the light on the marshes holds.  We shall see if this winter becomes one of discontent.  I shall follow wherever I am led.  I have learned that the road is just as lonely alone as that which must pass for “home”.  After all it is not good for man to be alone.

The Road – J.R.R. Tolkien

The Road goes ever on and on

Out from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

Let others follow it who can!

Let them a journey new begin,

But I at last with weary feet

Will turn towards the lighted inn,

My evening-rest and sleep to meet.

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 ͡°)