What is a Christian? ~ Fools

Greetings Dear Reader,

There are times when those who claim to follow Christ are fools.  They deny honest science.  They make up things to prove their faith that are unnecessary.  They pack more into what is required of Christ followers than is real.  What is real is hard enough.

These things that others represent that are false are foolish as they detract from the Gospel.  When we do things that detract it hurts us all.  It destroys any credit we might get for the good we do.

There are also things that appear to be foolish that are not if we are following Christ.  We forgive wrongs over and over again without belittling the guilty.  We give grace when it is undeserved.  We show mercy when we do not have to show it.  We put our faith in the future.  We have hope when things seem hopeless. 

When Christ followers act in these ways they are choosing cognitively to appear foolish for the sake of the Gospel.  We have weighed our options and chosen love and compassion over almost everything else.  We appear to be fools because when we are lied to, betrayed, and wronged we choose not to give retribution. 

We are not super human or above anyone else.  We bleed when we are pricked.  We laugh and we cry.  It is just that when we are wronged, we do not revenge.  When we have power, we do not abuse.  When we have abundance we share.  We think of others first. 

If you look for the good kind of fool you may find a real Christ follower.   They will not be perfect but they are worth knowing.  Watching them even in their failures can teach us how to be such a fool.

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:

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

Facebook      Google +   

Twitter            Medium    

Kids BLOG

Novels on Amazon             

Bookings at aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com

I’d Rather be a Fool ~ Closing – The Fool on the Hill

Greetings Dear Reader,

As I turn my attention fully to Holy Week I do so having gained greatly from this series of thoughts.  In a world where my faith is being thought less relevant and more obsolete I will be thought foolish for it. 

I am OK with that.  I think that over the centuries the failure of the church to truly consistently live the Gospel has contributed to this.  I think that the Gospel appears foolish from the outside.  It is one of those situations where believing is seeing.  I realize that even that sounds foolish. 

I choose to follow the Fool on the Hill.  He went there for me so that I could follow him.  One of his followers, Peter said that we become fools for his sake.  Jesus holds out a cross and a crown but we have to take them in that order.  It is in Christ that we find that foolishness is wise.  It is in him that we see that being a fool for the sake of love is a price worth paying.  I invite you Dear Reader to come be a fool as well.

God’s Own Fool – Michael Card

Seems I've imagined Him all of my life

As the wisest of all of mankind

But if God's Holy wisdom is foolish to men

He must have seemed out of His mind

For even His family said He was mad

And the priests said a demon's to blame

But God in the form of this angry young man

Could not have seemed perfectly sane

When we in our foolishness thought we were wise

He played the fool and He opened our eyes

When we in our weakness believed we were strong

He became helpless to show we were wrong

And so we follow God's own fool

For only the foolish can tell-

Believe the unbelievable

And come be a fool as well

So come lose your life for a carpenter's son

For a madman who died for a dream

And you'll have the faith His first followers had

And you'll feel the weight of the beam

So surrender the hunger to say you must know

Have the courage to say I believe

For the power of paradox opens your eyes

And blinds those who say they can see

When we in our foolishness thought we were wise

He played the fool and He opened our eyes

When we in our weakness believed we were strong

He became helpless to show we were wrong

And so we follow God's own fool

For only the foolish can tell-

Believe the unbelievable

And come be a fool as well

So we follow God's own Fool

For only the foolish can tell

Believe the unbelievable,

And come be a fool as well

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 ͡°)

I’d Rather be a Fool ~ The No Win Scenario

Greetings Dear Reader,

“I don’t believe in the no win scenario.”   This line, uttered by Captain Kirk in Star Trek II is one that I echo almost daily.  In fact, most of my efforts have traversed from wanting to win, always, to wanting to create win-win whenever possible.

We too often think of the Father and a jealous judge.  We forget that the greatest commandment is love.  We forget that the Lord is unwilling for anyone to perish.  We forget that Jesus promised to draw all men unto himself.  We do not put this into the equation.

When Jesus said that he would “draw all” to himself he literally was saying that he would “invite, pull, and draw everyone individually and collectively to his side”.   The Lord is unwilling that any should perish.  Should the God of the Universe not get his will? 

I realize that to some of you I am sounding a bit heretical.  I am actually just looking for the win-win.  We take so many things that Jesus said literally but not the ones that we use to condemn and control.  Why is this statement not the answer?  I do not believe in the no win scenario when it comes to God. 

It is in this that I may be the most foolish.  Instead of judging the Father as unjust or cruel I see him as the ultimate finder of ways.  He found a way to redeem us.  He found a way to love us even when we hate him.  The entire process has been to make things good again.  I would rather be a fool than think he cannot eventually find a way for 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 home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

I’d Rather be a Fool ~ That Which Endures

Greetings Dear Reader,

Faith and hope are required for the journey.  They are the fuel that allows us to love. It is love that is required of us.  It is love that we are to give and accept.  It is love that moves all that is good.

It may be that we have become so jaded that we do not allow ourselves to be loved.  We put on a hardened shell.  We arm and armor ourselves against the pain of love lost and betrayed.  We carry the scars from trying to love and being hurt by it.  We put so much at risk when we try to love others.

It is also true that loving is the only way to survive.  It may sound oxymoronic but it is true.  We need to love even those who hate us.  We need to love everyone.  We cannot do this though unless we first secure our love in the Father.  This is why it is the first commandment.  Our love for others must be fueled by our love for the Father.

I realize that some of you only tolerate this from me.  I realize Dear Reader that some of you think my faith is foolish.  I am not offended by that.  I would challenge you to ignore theology and the practices of most Christian sects.  Instead I would ask that you really investigate the message of the Gospel.   It is love that fuels the story.  It is love that is the quest. 

The Farther loves us and wants to woo us back to himself.  He wants to be chosen.  Do not think for a moment that there is any other motive in all that is built upon the command to love.  It is foolish to think there is anything more vital to the Father.

As for me, I renew each day my commitment to love others.  I have to do it daily. Sometimes I have to do it every moment.  I draw from the depth of God’s love for me to love others.  If that is foolish then I would rather be a fool.

Could it Be – Michael Card

In the ebb and flow of living

As we wander through the years

We're told to listen to a voice

We can't here with our ears

They say to live by something

That you can't see with your eyes

Is there really any purpose

To this foolish exercise?

Could it be, You make Your presence known So often by Your absence?

Could it be that questions tell us more Than answers ever do?

Could it be that You would really rather die Than live without us?

Could it be the only answer that means anything Is You?

In our words and in our silence

In our pride and in our shame

To the genius and the scholar

To the foolish and insane

To the ones who care to seek You

To the ones who never will

You are the only answer even still

Could it be, You make Your presence known so often by Your absence?

Could it be that questions tell us more than answers ever do?

Could it be that You would really rather die than live without us?

Could it be the only answer that means anything is You?

It's a question you can't answer

An answer you cannot express

That the gentle Man of Sorrows

Is the source of happiness

You'll never solve the mystery of this magnetic man

For you must believe to understand

Could it be, You make Your presence known so often by Your absence?

Could it be that questions tell us more than answers ever do?

Could it be that You would really rather die than live without us?

Could it be the only answer that means anything is You?

Could it be the only answer that means anything is 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 home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

I’d Rather be a Fool ~ Faith and Hope

Greetings Dear Reader,

I have often walked through my reasoning for having faith and hope.  I will not review that here.  The reasons for the faith and hope in me are reasons that I hold fast.  It is true, however, that others see my faith and hope as foolish. 

The beginning of this part of the journey centers on someone telling me the following Christ is an obsolete way to live.  The person actually laughed at me and communicated that he was surprised that I still believed.  He cited my intelligence as the reason that I should not hold such a foolish position.

I felt no anger at this person.  I felt great sadness.  This person used to have faith.  They used to have hope.  The hardness of life gave him cause to walk away from the very thing that sustains us through the hardness of life.  It is my faith and hope that sustains me through loss, loneliness, and longing. 

It in following Christ that I find the hard ground on which to stand.  I will not always need these things.  I will not always have to believe.  I will not always have to hope.  These are substance for the journey not the substance of the destination.  These are what uphold us when life is hard, harsh, and horrible.  It is in faith that I find the will to keep moving.  It is in hope that I find the will to see the horizon and move toward it.

I would rather have hope and faith and be thought a fool than live a life without it.  The darkness was so much darker before I had faith.  It is in faith and hope that I find life.  If that is foolish then let it be so. 

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 ͡°)

I’d Rather be a Fool ~ Than Hate Anyone

Greetings Dear Reader,

Sometimes the weight of all the hatred in the world seems to land right on top of me.  It is not that I feel hated but rather that it is that there is so much hatred where there could be love and kindness.

I know someone who claims to follow Christ but is constantly spewing venom about others.  There is rarely a positive comment to be made concerning anything.   I often wonder what pain the hatred hides.  Perhaps that is the key.

I would rather foolishly look for what can heal anger and hatred than hate in return.  It is not my place to point fingers and put hatred into the world.  It is my obligation to love at any cost.  This does not mean that I have to allow abuse or hatred.  It is that I cannot hate in return.  It is that I must love beyond the hatred.

One can learn to see past the hatred to the person beyond.  One can choose to love that person no matter how he or she behaves.  This does not mean that you can be friends with the person.  It does not mean that you put yourself in danger with that person.  It means that you love that person.

I would rather be thought a fool for finding a way to love someone than join the crowd calling for hatred and rejection.  I would rather be called a fool for loving others than being the one who gains ground through hatred.  I would rather be a fool than in the crowd calling for blood.

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 ͡°)

I’d Rather be a Fool ~ A Single Path

Greetings Dear Reader,

This is one of those things about my faith that sounds foolish and is hard to accept.  I must accept it even if I do not understand how things will be worked out in the end.  Then again there are many things I do not understand that I have to accept.  I do not understand gravity but am well aware of the consequences of ignoring it. 

Jesus clearly declares that no one gets to the Father except through following him.  No one who rejects Jesus can get to the Father.  I realize how narrow this is.  The fist command is in step with this.  We are to love the Lord God with all our heart, minds, soul, and strength.  The part that makes it hard is the way followers have and do treat this.

We are to use this narrow way to combat evil.  The problem is that we forget to adopt the way in humility.  Instead we follow form a position of pride and superiority.  In fighting evil we become evil in our methods.  In following the way we use the way to limit our love and care of others.

We demand that others accept this truth without living out the completion of our obligation to that truth.  I am to love my neighbor no matter who that neighbor may be or what he may believe.  The arrogance of the one way stance is only mitigated by love and compassion for all of those outside of that way.

I am not sure how the Father has things worked out.  I am sure that he does.  I am positive that following Christ is where we will find the truth.  We do, however, have to live all of that truth.  We must embrace the parts that seem “unfair” or limiting.  I would rather be a fool that ignore the words of Christ out of convivence. 

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 ͡°)

I’d Rather be a Fool ~ Opening Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

I was destroyed a little today.  I went to see the live actor version of the movie Beauty and the Beast.  It was marvelous.  It was beautiful and beastly all at once.  They added a couple of amazing songs.  One of them ravaged my heart.

You see if you have not figured it out I am a romantic.  I have always loved this redemption story; even the original one that is quite different from the Disney version.  I know that I am a beast.  I know that I am hard to love.  I tried when I was very young to shut my heart off from love but failed.

Then I learned how to love.  It has been a beautiful curse every day since.  I love others deeply.  I am also flawed in many ways and apparently not worth the cost of reaming with when it is hard.  This is not self-pity or self-deprecation.  It is an open repetition of what those who love me have told me.

Still when I love I never stop loving.  I deal in hope and grace as often as possible.  Those that I have loved the most have judged me the most harshly.  I have healed from much of it.  I was even thinking I could “move on” from some of it.  Then this song ravaged me in a filled theatre. 

As I work through what a fool I am and the fool I am to be as a Christ follower I wonder how my tattered heart fits into it.  I am preparing for Holy Week.  Part of that is seeing that I am a fool to carry unrequited love but that foolishness is never wasted.  It is a glimmer of what Christ does for us. 

As I consider the foolishness of loving others please walk with me Dear Reader.  I need to lean on you a bit at moments and I need you to see that I love you even when you find me unworthy.  It is a tale as old as time.  It is all true.  Loving is such a very dangerous thing and the folly of fools.  I would, however, rather be a fool.

Evermore – Beauty and The Beast 2017

I was the one who had it all

I was the master of my fate

I never needed anybody in my life

I learned the truth too late

I'll never shake away the pain

I close my eyes but she's still there

I let her steal into my melancholy heart

It's more than I can bear

Now I know she'll never leave me

Even as she runs away

She will still torment me, calm me, hurt me

Move me, come what may

Wasting in my lonely tower

Waiting by an open door

I'll fool myself she'll walk right in

And be with me for evermore

I rage against the trials of love

I curse the fading of the light

Though she's already flown so far beyond my reach

She's never out of sight

Now I know she'll never leave me

Even as she fades from view

She will still inpire me, be a part of

Everything I do

Wasting in my lonely tower

Waiting by an open door

I'll fool myself she'll walk right in

And as the long, long nights begin

I'll think of all that might have been

Waiting here for evermore!

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 ͡°)

Impossible Dreams – Fools for Christ

Greetings Dear Reader,

Too often to keep it from getting to my heart I am reminded that there are those who think my faith is foolish.  Someone reminded me this week that it is foolish to follow Christ and that we are in a post-Christian era. 

Even if it is madness I will never abandon my faith.   I would rather be wrong and continue to learn to love and be good to others than abandon my foundation for those actions.  I said this to my detractor and he pointed out that his atheism is why he does not need to worry about such things. 

I do struggle at times with the harder parts of living out my faith.  I was, however, warned.  Jesus said that we would be hated, used, and marginalized.  We are to realize that we are blessed by this.  We are to find the joy in these moments because we are in the company of the own we follow.

I do not want to skip that the Church has failed to be what it must be in many ways.  The stereotypes and prejudice that lump together those who call themselves Christians is not deserved.  The problem is that our goodness does not echo so loudly that the stereotypes do not seem foolish.

We follow someone who holds out a cross and a crown.  We live in the paradox of foolishness.  No matter what others do to me I must be willing to remain constant in that foolishness.  After all, if I truly follow Christ and am wrong I have lost nothing.  I have in fact gained.  I may make a life or two better.

Imagine a world where everyone responds to everything lovingly.  This is a worthy goal.  It seems an impossible dream but God promises we will get there.  He also promises that the price of getting there is very high.

God’s Own Fool – Michael Card

Seems I've imagined Him all of my life

As the wisest of all of mankind

But if God's Holy wisdom is foolish to men

He must have seemed out of His mind

For even His family said He was mad

And the priests said a demon's to blame

But God in the form of this angry young man

Could not have seemed perfectly sane

When we in our foolishness thought we were wise

He played the fool and He opened our eyes

When we in our weakness believed we were strong

He became helpless to show we were wrong

And so we follow God's own fool

For only the foolish can tell-

Believe the unbelievable

And come be a fool as well

So come lose your life for a carpenter's son

For a madman who died for a dream

And you'll have the faith His first followers had

And you'll feel the weight of the beam

So surrender the hunger to say you must know

Have the courage to say I believe

For the power of paradox opens your eyes

And blinds those who say they can see

When we in our foolishness thought we were wise

He played the fool and He opened our eyes

When we in our weakness believed we were strong

He became helpless to show we were wrong

And so we follow God's own fool

For only the foolish can tell-

Believe the unbelievable

And come be a fool as well

So we follow God's own Fool

For only the foolish can tell

Believe the unbelievable,

And come be a fool as well

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 ͡°)

Say What You Need to Say – False Premises

Greetings Dear Reader,

Once we assume a lie is true that which proceeds is at best tainted.  I realize that sounds both negative and harsh.  It is not how I mean it.  We must always question out assumptions.  As a man of faith this becomes a precarious balance.

The God I follow is sovereign, omniscient, and good.  His ways are above my ways.  I must assure that my faith is based on my knowledge of God.  I must assure that I have a reason for the hope that I have.  I must also remember what I believe about God when that faith is challenged.

There is a legal principle called fruit of the poison tree.  If evidence is obtained in the wrong manner it can be excluded even if it is vital.  If I proceed from false assumptions about God then my conclusions about God, faith, and following are tainted and often wrong.

God does not cause pain, suffering, loss, and sin.  He does plan responses to it that will lead to a world free of it in his timing.  God does not hate anyone.  We are all so far from God’s standard for “good” that we do not see that as a great equalizer. 

God does not ignore the rules.  He is constant and consistent.  We cannot deny his place in things and make choices that are sustainable.  We cannot ignore him and proceed without false results.

I cannot follow and be sure of my path unless I acknowledge that it is God who directs our steps.  I must proceed from the assumption that he knows what he is doing even when I do not understand.  The fool has said in his heart that there is no God. 

My King – S.M. Lockridge

The Bible says my King is a seven-way king

     He's the King of the Jews; that's a racial king

     He's the King of Israel; that's a national King

     He's the King of Righteousness

     He's the King of the Ages

     He's the King of Heaven

     He's the King of Glory

     He's the King of kings, and He's the Lord of lords. That's my King.

Well....I wonder, do you know Him?

David said, "The Heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth His handiwork."

     My King is a sovereign King.

     No means of measure can define His limitless love.

     No far seeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of His shoreless supply.

     No barrier can hinder Him from pouring out His blessings.

     He's enduringly strong.

     He's entirely sincere.

     He's eternally steadfast.

     He's immortally graceful.

     He's imperially powerful.

     He's impartially merciful.

Do you know Him?

He's the greatest phenomenon that has ever crossed the horizon of this world.

     He's God's Son.

     He's the sinner's Savior.

     He's the centerpiece of civilization.

     He stands in the solitude of Himself.

     He's august and He's unique.

     He's unparalleled.

     He's unprecedented.

     He is the loftiest idea in literature.

     He's the highest personality in philosophy.

     He is the supreme problem in higher criticism.

     He's the fundamental doctrine of true theology.

     He is the cardinal necessity for spiritual religion.

     He's the miracle of the age.

     He's -- yes He is -- He is the superlative of everything good that you choose to call Him.

He's the only one qualified to be an all sufficient Savior.

I wonder if you know Him today.

     He supplies strength for the weak.

     He's available for the tempted and the tried.

     He sympathizes and He saves.

     He strengthens and sustains.

     He guards and He guides.

     He heals the sick.

     He cleansed the lepers.

     He forgives sinners.

     He discharges debtors.

     He delivers the captives.

     He defends the feeble.

     He blesses the young.

     He serves the unfortunate.

     He regards the aged.

     He rewards the diligent....and He beautifies the meek.

I wonder if you know Him.

Well, my King....He is the King!

     He's the key to knowledge.

     He's the wellspring of wisdom.

     He's the doorway of deliverance.

     He's the pathway of peace.

     He's the roadway of righteousness.

     He's the highway of holiness.

     He's the gateway of glory.

Do you know Him?

Well, His office is manifold.    

His promise is sure....and His light is matchless.

     His goodness is limitless.

     His mercy is everlasting.

     His love never changes.

     His word is enough.

     His grace is sufficient.

     His reign is righteous.

     And His yoke is easy, and his burden is light.

     I wish I could describe Him to you, but He's indescribable -- Yes He is!  He is God!

     He's incomprehensible.

     He's invincible.

     He's irresistible.

Well, you can't get Him out of your mind.

You can't get Him off of your hand.

You can't out live Him, and you can't live without Him.

The Pharisees couldn't stand Him, but they found out they couldn't stop Him.

     Pilate couldn't find any fault in Him.

     The witnesses couldn't get their testimonies to agree.

     Herod couldn't kill Him.

     Death couldn't handle Him, and the grave couldn't hold Him.

     Yea!!!, that's my King, that's my King.

Yes, and Thine is the Kingdom....and the Power....and the Glory....Forever....and ever, and ever, and ever -- How long is that? And ever, and ever.

And when you get through with all of the forevers, then. AMEN!

Good God Almighty!  AMEN!   AMEN!

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 ͡°)