East to West – Omniscient Forgetfulness

Greetings Dear Reader,

“Here I am, Lord, and I'm drowning in your sea of forgetfulness.”

I sometimes forget that when I acknowledge my wrongdoing (sin) that the Father not only forgives it but he forgets it.  God who knows all things chooses to forget our sin.  He chooses to remember all his love for us and forget all of our sin.

I recall and regret things that are forgiven and forgotten.   They still hinder me at times.  They still cause me to move more slowly in life than I desire.  I am not sure how to let go of some of it.

When my past failures haunt me I sometimes allow them to keep me from moving forward.  The specters of the past cloy at me constantly to steal my peace of mind.  They want me to drown in a sea of false guilt and regret. 

I must remember in these moments that this is not how the Father sees me.  It is rather that he sees me a forgiven, restored, and sinless.  It is we that get overwhelmed and drown in our past.  We are not supposed to live this way. 

Ghosts – Dan Fogelberg

Sometimes in the night I feel it

Near as my next breath and yet untouchable

Silently the past comes stealing

Like the taste of some forbidden sweet

Along the walls in shadowed rafters

Moving like a thought through haunted atmospheres

Muted cries and echoed laughter

Banished dreams that never sank in sleep

Lost in love and found in reason

Questions that the mind can find no answers for

Ghostly eyes conspire treason

As they gather just outside the door

And every ghost that calls upon us

Brings another measure in the mystery

Death is there to keep us honest

And constantly remind us we are free

Down the ancient corridors

And through the gates of time

Run the ghosts of days that we've left behind

Down the ancient corridors

And through the gates of time

Run the ghosts of dreams that we left behind

Sometimes in the night I feel it

Near as my next breath and yet untouchable

Silently the past comes stealing

Like the taste of some forbidden sweet 

And every ghost that calls upon us

Brings another measure in the mystery

Death is there to keep us honest

And constantly remind us we arn’t free

Down the ancient corridors

And through the gates of time

Run the ghosts of days that we've left behind

Down the ancient corridors

And through the gates of time

Run the ghosts of dreams that we left behind

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 ͡°)

Talismans – A Ghost

Greetings Dear Reader,

When it comes to talismans there are nine around me that call to mind this particular thing.  The most important is not the ghost.  The ghost, however, is the one that is the most linear.  It always points forward in time.  It always draws me forward toward the event horizon.

Each morning from December to December I look at this ghost and ponder for a moment if I am living the promise it demands.  In bleak winger, bursting spring, and verdant summer am I living a life that says Christmas is coming?  Do I live every day as if the Advent of Christ is immanent?  I am supposed to live this way.

My Grandson asked a couple of weeks ago why I loved Christmas so much.  I explained that it was Jesus’ birthday and that I wanted to think of his birthday every day.  That was enough explanation for him.  In that simple answer is an all-encompassing truth.

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is a talisman of my vow to live the promise, hope, love, and joy of Christmas every day.  There is something to remind me of Jesus and his journey to us in almost every room of my house.  I ponder what Christ did for my redemption daily. 

The joy I feel at Christmas should be the resurrected life that I share in the full bloom of spring.  It should be the cool comfort I offer in the dog days.  From the cradle to the cross nothing is more important than the advent, life, death, and resurrection of Christ.  None of it happens without the cradle.

I need to remember that there is another day in the future.  A day yet to come where there will be a new advent.  Christmas means “celebration of Christ.”  There is a celebration yet to come. There is an advent we anticipate.  There is a “Christ Mass” yet to come that will be the realization of all that we hope for as his followers. 

This talisman points toward a boney finger toward the onrushing future.   It reminds me to live today as if it were my last chance to impart the joy of Christmas to those around me.  It also points directly at the small nativity on my desk.  It reminds me of the past that secures my future.

Promises to Keep – Tran-Siberian Orchestra

Christmas time

On a cold December morning

All is calm

And the world is still asleep

Christmas lights

That have been caught without warning

Gently glitter on

Stars to wish upon

All the world is at peace

Christmas time and the year will soon be leaving

Cloaked in time till it's just a memory

Christmas stays if we don't forget its meaning

Days go quickly by

Years they multiply

And we go searching for thee

And the dream is still alive

From that first December morning

And it always will survive

As long as we can see

That the dreams we find in life

Are the dreams we tend to seek

And Christmas has its promises to keep

Christmas time

And the moments just beginning

From last night

When we'd wished upon a star

If our kindness

This day is just pretending

If we pretend long enough

Never giving up

It just might be who we are

AND SO IT'S GOOD THAT WE REMEMBER

JUST AS SOON AS WE'VE DISCOVERED

THAT THE THINGS WE DO IN LIFE

WILL ALWAYS END UP TOUCHING OTHERS

SO FROM A FADING NEON STAR

SOMEWHERE SHINING IN THE NIGHT

WE FIND A FATHER FAR AWAY

NOW REFLECTING IN ITS 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 ͡°)