The Least of These ~ Unity

Greetings Dear Reader,

When we consider the poor in our lives, how do we think?  Do we see the homeless and needy as part of our community?  Do we love them as neighbors?  If we follow Christ do we see them as part of our church?

Forgive me if this makes you uncomfortable.  I am not trying to create guilt or pressure.  I am trying to recall my own obligation relative to those who are poor and in need.  The least of these in every community are not the sole responsibility of the local government.  We are not allowed to relegate them to the fringe or marginalize them as people we can ignore. 

Those in need are our business as much as any other good endeavor.  The danger is that if we neglect those in need we damage our own unity in Christ.  We become unable to function in the manner we are intended to just as if our physical body had a traumatic injury or loss.  Instead of being able to follow Christ we limp along believing that we are following. 

We fail to follow when we create the disunity of neglecting the poor in our community. I cannot claim to be seeking unity and to love all humans if I do not seek to help the poor where I can.  Even now, when I am down to near nothing I need to be aware of ways in which I can give to the needs of others.  My prayer needs to be that I have enough to give to those in need.  I cannot create unity and peace if I neglect those in need.  There are so many with greater needs than mine.  The call is to community and I am supposed to include everyone.  Do you agree 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 ͡°)

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

Facebook      Google +   

Twitter            Medium    

Kids BLOG

Second Thoughts – Pokémon is Going

Greetings Dear Reader,

Sometimes I will end the day with thoughts that are important to get out.  Usually I just write them and put them in my journal folder.  I have chosen that on occasion I will share them with you Dear Reader.

Last month I dipped my toe into the river of movement that is the new game Pokémon Go.  I find it very entertaining but there is more.  I have walked more in the last month than I the last six combined.  I have found something far more valuable.

I found a place where there are three PokeStops that are in close proximity to each other.  It is in a small park with easy access to parking by a beautiful lake.  I went there first by myself and then took my Daughter there on another occasion.

One of the residents of the street made it clear that I was not welcome.  He really has no say as it is a public park and public street.  He just happens to be blessed or cursed depending on one’s perspective to live across the street. 

The thing that impresses me most is that this small park has evolved a small community out of complete strangers.  People, most of them younger than me drift in and out of the park chasing Squirtels and   Pidgies.   They greet each other.  They chat and share information.  There is the occasional geeky braggart who has the lowdown on everything Pokémon Go. 

The diversity of this group is outstanding.  What is more outstanding is their care for the park.  After six visits, one for an entire afternoon (don’t judge me) there is not litter in the park.  The people there to catch invisible creatures on their phones pick up the real trash.  They are polite to each other.  They are even considerate toward the guy who thinks he owns the park.

I wish those who follow Christ could learn the lessons available in this little Pokémon Park.  We can do so much better at loving and accepting each other.  We can do so much better at treating each other and the environment with kindness and respect.  If we don’t how will we ever catch ‘em all?

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 ͡°)

Love Your Enemies – Who is my Neighbor?

Greetings Dear Reader,

Before I can venture into what I am to do about enemies I must understand who my neighbor is.  Jesus commanded me to love my neighbor as well as my enemies.  This is the second commandment and he equates it to the first.  He says it is one of the two foundations on which everything else is built.

The word we translate as “neighbor” actually means “friend”.  The contrast then is quite significant.  Further the flavor of the word is that of anyone of our “tribe”.  It is our community that we are to love.

This means that I do not have to know someone to love him or her.  Just because they are a part of my community is reason enough to love.  So even people in my community that may be in opposition to my faith and practices are still my “neighbors”.  If I wish to believe that I am following Christ I must love them all.

This means that in contrast my enemies are not part of my community.  If I am to love everyone in my community I need to look further to find who my enemy is.  Before I spend too much time identifying enemies, however, I should assure that I am loving my neighbor.

According to this the man across the street is my neighbor.  So is the guy at the gas station who takes my money.  The server at the diner is my neighbor.  The stranger sitting next to me at the movies is too. 

When I consider who my neighbor really is I come to a very serious conclusion.  I am required to love everyone around me.  I am required to treat them well.  It is my responsibility to love, unconditionally, everyone who fits this definition of neighbor.  If I am not working towards this in every encounter then I carry the name of Christ in error.

This means that at the community level I have not political, social, or religious enemies.  They are all my neighbor even if their beliefs are contrary to what I consider the truth.  I wonder if we see how huge this is. 

Things that I think are morally wrong are never an excuse to be unloving and unkind.  At the social level I must love to follow Christ.  The meanest vilest person in the community is worthy of love.  That is what is to set me apart.  Everyone around me should feel loved when they interact with me. 

That alone is a tough chore for a fallen man who struggles with his own selfishness and greed.  It is only by constant practice of this that I can hope to attain it.   The exercise here for me is to try and list a valid reason not to love someone that Christ has commanded me to love.  I come up empty if I try.

The Basin and the Towel – Michael Card

And the call is to community…

In an upstairs room, a parable

Is just about to come alive.

And while they bicker about who's best,

With a painful glance, He'll silently rise.

Their Savior Servant must show them how

Through the will of the water

And the tenderness of the towel.

And the call is to community,

The impoverished power that sets the soul free.

In humility, to take the vow,

That day after day we must take up the basin and the towel.

In any ordinary place,

On any ordinary day,

The parable can live again

When one will kneel and one will yield.

Our Savior Servant must show us how

Through the will of the water

And the tenderness of the towel.

And the space between ourselves sometimes

Is more than the distance between the stars.

By the fragile bridge of the Servant's bow

We take up the basin and the towel.

And the call is to community,

The impoverished power that sets the soul free.

In humility, to take the vow,

That day after day we must take up the basin and the towel.

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 ͡°)

Every Diner – Losses and Gains

Greetings Dear Reader,

In every diner there are good days and bad days.  Sometimes the cook is on his game sometimes he is not.  There are good meals and bad ones at even my favorite diner.  Very little of what happens is under my control or authority.  It is how I respond to the good and the bad that matters.  How do I treat my server?  How do I interact with the owner or manager when he asks if everything is satisfactory?

Photo by Echo Michelle 02/2015

Whilst I write this it is -10 degrees outside my Wisconsin window with a wind chill of -35.  In my home state of Georgia ice has sheathed the world in crystalline beauty that is both amazing and dangerous.  We endure the weather.  We do not control it.

My friend Will has reached the clearing at the end of the path.  I am not sad for him but I am for his family and friends.  He is a good man who from our limited perspective is gone too soon.  He no longer needs his strong and vibrant faith.  I wish I could pass it on to those who so desperately do need it.

There will be gains and losses.  The journey will have good moments and bad ones.  The days will be long and short.  It is up to us to find the beauty in all of it.  It is up to me to look for Christ in the moment.  It is my responsibility to follow no matter where the path leads.  It is not a blind following but a following of faith. 

In that following I must treat others well no matter the pain or disappointment of the moment.  My pain does not give me leave to be unkind to others.  My frustration does not allow me to treat others with impatience or harshness.  If I do this I will be able to find the beauty in all of it.  It is how we actualize the community that is the diner, the church, and all of life.

The Basin and The Towel – Michael Card

Photo by Echo Michelle 02/2015

In an upstairs room, a parable

Is just about to come alive.

And while they bicker about who's best,

With a painful glance, He'll silently rise.

Their Savior Servant must show them how

Through the will of the water

And the tenderness of the towel.

And the call is to community,

The impoverished power that sets the soul free.

In humility, to take the vow,

That day after day we must take up the basin and the towel.

In any ordinary place,

On any ordinary day,

The parable can live again

When one will kneel and one will yield.

Our Saviour Servant must show us how

Through the will of the water

And the tenderness of the towel.

And the space between ourselves sometimes

Is more than the distance between the stars.

By the fragile bridge of the Servant's bow

We take up the basin and the towel.

And the call is to community,

The impoverished power that sets the soul free.

In humility, to take the vow,

That day after day we must take up the basin and the towel.

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 ͡°)