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 ͡°)

Contacts for Aramis Thorn:

Support Page on Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn

Novels on Amazon           

Web Page:  www.aramisthorn.com

Bookings: aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com

Facebook        Twitter            

Medium   Instagram 

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

Setting Standards for Feelings – Opening Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

It troubles me often when I see the level of disrespect for others that grows steadily in our world.  Many seem to have forgotten common courtesy and simple polite behavior.   I realize that some just do not care and that will always be the case.  What troubles me most is that feelings seem to become the wellspring of our actions rather than clear thought and reason.

Recently a dear friend shared with me that a coworker berated him for being too nice.  His reactions of kindness and gratitude made the coworker feel that he was insincere in his actions.  It seems that launching a tirade at someone for being nice requires a great deal of impatience and judgment. 

I often encounter situations where feelings become reality and people react to those feelings.  It becomes increasingly common to hear someone react to how they feel without thinking through the response.  The process of reasoning through how those feelings arise seems abandoned. 

This is done in the name of allowing our feelings to be expressed.  “I am just being honest about how I feel” has replaced sound reason about those feelings.  This destroys relationships.  It kills honest thought.  Our feelings are not to be our guide.  Allowing that can destroy a family or a nation. 

As I think through this I ponder the results of simply indulging my feelings.  I have done this in the past and it rarely turns out well.  Following Christ in this requires that I reason through my responses and rarely have reactions.  Walk with me if you wish Dear Reader whilst I try to refine my standards and be a better man.  I value your thoughts and questions.

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 ͡°)

How do you Feel – Training our Feelings

Greetings Dear Reader,

Last night I saw something so painful.  I was at a baseball game with my Son Bezel.   A child about the age of four or five was walking up the metal stairs and slipped.  His eye socket hit directly on the next step.  He was stunned but also obviously in great pain.  One of the stadium personnel was there and immediately helped the child.  The boy will have a shiner but will be OK.

What amazed me was his reaction.  He did not wail, cry out, or in any way let on that he was hurt save to wince and hold hand up to his face.  We could tell he was in pain but he controlled his response.  How many of us would do the same?

Yesterday I thought through controlling when we feel.  Today I am pondering how we manufacture some feelings.  In the case of this boy no one would have been surprised at wailing and tears.  I am more surprised that there were not. 

Some feelings like the response to pain are visceral and come from deep within us.  They are necessary for survival.   Others like offense and anger are a result of how we think about what happens around us.  I used to have anger as my primary response to almost anything I did not like.   I leaned just how destructive this is.

I have spent years training my mind and heart to respond differently.  That happens by capturing our thoughts.  If I think about how I feel before I express how I feel I may be able to feel more honestly. 

If I do wrong and there are consequences I have no right to be angry about that.  If I take offense at something out of pride or arrogance then I have manufactured a feeling that is unhealthy.  It is easy to feel the feeling without examining its source.  When I feel anger or offense welling up I am obligated to ask if the feeling is justified.

Yes you feel how you feel but sometimes that is based on what I am thinking.  We live in a culture where we are training ourselves to be offended.  We set up rules that establish if, then scenarios for offense and anger.  Culture should not dictate how one feels.  Honesty and love must dictate how I feel. 

If I discipline my mind to think well then I can master the manufacture of feeling based on poor thinking.  If I practice love and humility I will not be easily offended.  If I follow the command to love others I will not become angry as easily.  How we feel must be honest but it must also be based on honest thinking.   If I lose that then my feelings will be predisposed to self-centered thinking.  This is harmful and wrong.  “To think well is to serve God in the interior court.” – Thomas Traherne

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 ͡°)

Closing the Year - Resolutions

Greetings Dear Reader,

Resolve is the determination to take a course of action.  It is finding a solution to a problem and applying it.  We have turned resolutions into singing up for a gym membership that we use for month and pay for the entire year. 

Very seldom do we change because of the calendar.   It is instead that we change because we choose to do differently.  We choose to take our lives on a different course.  The fact that we think of things we need to change but delay the change until a calendar date seems counterproductive. 

In light of this I do not make resolutions for the New Year.  I set goals but I do that every month.  I make plans for the year but that is what I do all throughout the year.  When it comes to things I need to change that are good for me I try to just do it. 

I am not saying that making resolutions for the New Year is bad.  I am saying that delaying change that will benefit one may hinder the true resolve behind that change.  Things that are not healthy or right for me should be stopped immediately.  Giving them further lease is not a good idea.

Resolve must live in the moment for me.  It must be that I choose to do what is best in each moment.  I must do what is right in the middle of things.  It is saying no or yes to each moment that shows my resolve to do better for the year.  It is living in each moment with that moment resolved to follow Christ that creates a life that resolves into being a Christ follower.

A Week of Moments – Ian Anderson

A week of moments a clutch of days

Ten thousand minutes of a Passion Play.

Medley of quavers informs the tune.

Its all too much: over all too soon.

Sweet condensation on chilling wine

Travelers palm, flamboyant tree

Fast photos ripped and lost consign

A week of moments to faint memory.

A week of moments plucked from the page

Found far horizons, a sunset stage.

Suitcases bulge, in silence packed

A chapter closed: no looking back.

The lightest touch upon my arm

No fierce restraint, no call to stay.

Hushed room maids glide like pawns to king

With pool attendants in chess piece array.

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 ͡°)