Aura of Protection ~ Closing Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader, 

We have lost much of our understanding of nobility.  I am not talking about a pridefully claimed station in society.  That is mostly rubbish.  What I do see is a lack of humans being noble with one another.  

As followers of Christ, we are supposed to protect the weak.  Whether their need is physical, social, or spiritual, it is our obligation to use our strength to care for them.  This is not limited to those who believe as we do.  It is to apply to all humans.  Power and love must radiate from us to draw others to see Jesus for who he really is. 

I must do all that I can to make others feel safe, loved, and blessed.  I must project an aura of kindness and compassion wherever I go and toward anyone I encounter.  The Father has provided me with armor.  He has equipped me with all that I need to love others.  The Spirit will radiate from me to help others see their need for the Son.  All I have to do is love the Father with all that I am and obey the command to love others in all that I choose to do. 

In accomplishing all of this, I must daily embrace humility.  In taking humility as my companion, I can learn to see others as better than me, Dear Reader.  I am not saying I must think poorly of my own self.  I am saying that I must seek to uphold the weak and count on the Father to uphold me.  I must cling to virtue and valor as my standard and depend on the Spirit to give me the power to live it.  I must seek the truth and remember that Jesus is the truth. 

In faith and following, I can build an aura of protection that radiates around me.  You can too, Dear Reader.  The world needs people who will cling to Christ, love the Father, and honor the old code.  I am determined by the Father’s grace to spend my remaining years becoming this.  I hope you will join me.  You are always welcome. 

The Vigil – Kemper Crabb 

Waiting for flame in eye of night, I am the fuel for your fire
Light calls ever unto light. Make me a fleshen pyre.
Touch my lips with the altering coal; leave your shining upon my soul.
Zion shall ever be my goal; Zion the telling of light. 

Scanning the silence with inward ears; life is a listening.
Enfolded in echoes of timeless years; the Word comes whistling.
Build my being from your throat; meld my meaning with every note.
Wrap me round in an aural cloak, so I may truly hear. 

Drawn towards destinies darkling kite, riven by reality
Riding the passion to terrible height, life upon death’s tree
Cause me to drink from the chalice of fire. Forge me anew in the heat of desire
Let me inhabit the holy empire and make war on the armies of night. 

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 ͡°) 

Every human story is part of the great story that leads to the Father getting everything back to Good. 

Contacts for Aramis Thorn:
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“Waiting for flame in eye of night, I am the fuel for your fire.”

Second Thoughts ~ Water at War (the rest of the story)

Greetings Dear Reader, 

If you have not read part one of this story, you should go back and do so HERE. 

We will begin with my deluged devices.  Packing them promptly in rice seems to have preserved them.  They are dried out and fully functioning.  I am thankful that I was reminded to rice them instantly.  I am thankful that I remembered to travel with them powered off. 

The soggy dinner allowed me to stop for a hot meal which energized me for the ensuing night’s adventure.  The real angle is the angel that showed up to help me during the tornado.  Whether literal or figurative, I consider him an angel.  As I pulled under the bridge to seek shelter from the debris flying around me.   I pulled in and shut down the warning to take shelter blaring over my phone.  Then, my CB Radio blared to life.  I always have it on when highway driving.  A voice said, “Hey little Volkswagen buddy; you got your ears on?” 

Shocked, I grabbed the microphone answered in the positive.  The voice instructed me to look to my left.  Where there should have been a motorway lane there was the cab of a large semi-truck.  It was clean and white with rain draining off it under the bridge.  The radio came back, “If you will pull up under the larger second bridge, I will pull up next to you and block the debris from this side.  I am hauling 8 tons of dry concrete and nothing is moving me.” 

I complied and he pulled in close enough to touch if I stuck my hand out my window.  Just as we both got stopped a large tree fell across the road behind us.  We chatted as the tornado raged past us then for a little longer whilst wind and rain buffeted the world outside of our bridge.  I felt very little of the storm in my bridge and truck shelter. 

When the storm cleared enough for us to proceed, the trucker suggested that I follow him for a bit in the event of road hazards.  I agreed and did.  I stayed with him for about ten miles before he pulled off at a rest stop.  Now comes the odd bit.  As I reach for my radio to thank him, I recalled that it had not been working for two weeks.  It did not work when I tried to thank him either. 

I continued on my way south, skidding safely across that aforementioned ten-foot puddle.  Then when I pulled over in Georgia to avoid the next heavy rain, I realized that it was time for the first service at church.  I spent the time watching the sermon and enjoying a needed rest.  Just as the pastor began his closing prayer, the rain stopped and the remainder of my journey included only clouds and drizzle. 

Water may have gone to war with me on this adventure, but it did not win, Dear Reader.  Not even storms can stand against the Water of Life and his care for us.  There is more to this but that is enough for now. 

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 ͡°) 

Every human story is part of the great story that leads to the Father getting everything back to Good. 

Contacts for Aramis Thorn:"
#aramisthorn
Support Page on Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn
Novels: From My Publisher or on Amazon            
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There is no storm in which the Father has not prepared what we need ahead of time.

Second Thoughts ~ Fourth Sunday of Advent

Happy Christmas Dear Reader,

I am not going to make this very lengthy.  I am more interested in you taking the time to listen to the song.  Give yourself a break from all that is demanding your attention and spend some time pondering the idea that the Father really does wish peace on earth. 

We will talk a great deal this week.  Before it is upon us, let us take a breath, see an angel dancing in the air, find a silent night, and share the wish that Christ has for us to be at peace no matter what else is going on.  I love you, Dear Reader.

The Prince Of Peace – Trans-Siberian Orchestra

In the middle of a forest
There's a clearing by a stream
Where a mother holds her newborn
And the Child begins to dream

And He dreams of hopes unspoken
When the tears of man will cease
And His mother holds Him closer
For He is the Prince of Peace

And the moon is looking downward
Casting shadows through the trees
And the stars are shining brighter
As they whisper what they see

Let the bells ring out these tidings
Let it echo across the land
That a King is born in Bethlehem
And his Kingdom is at hand

Let the world rejoice together
As it looks upon the stars
Knowing every man's our brother
And that every child is ours

Hark! the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King
Peace on Earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled
Joyful all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With the heavenly host proclaim
Christ is born in Bethlehem
Hark! the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King

In the middle of a forest
There's a clearing by a stream
Where a mother holds her newborn
And the Child begins to dream 

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 ͡°)

Every human story is part of the great story that leads to the Father getting everything back to Good.

Contacts for Aramis Thorn:

#aramisthorn
Support Page on Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn
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We light the fourth candle for peace.

Second Thoughts ~ My Dead Pixel

Greetings Dear Reader,

On my one-year-old laptop, I have a dead pixel.  It is at the bottom center of the screen and really bothers me.  It sits right above the Windows Toolbar so every time I click something on that space, I see it.  There is nothing wrong with the laptop.  It runs great and has all the power I need. As I write this, I am running a movie on one screen, have the computer hooked to my external storage array and the video card is supporting three external monitors effortlessly.  Oh, and there is a dead pixel on the laptop screen. 

I contacted the manufacturer about the dead pixel.  The computer is still under warranty.  They let me know that the dead pixel is outside of the single dead pixel replacement zone.  I never knew there was a zone.  I do not want there to be a zone but someone decided there is a zone.  The dead pixel taunts me from outside the zone.

I asked the person on the phone if I could purchase just a replacement LCD for the laptop.  She giggled and asked if the dead pixel really bothered me that much.  I asked her if she had ever been taunted by a pixel.  She giggled again and said no.  After explaining that this particular pixel is both rude and intrusive, she full-on laughed at me.  She said I could get a replacement LCD for $100.   I reassured her that I could replace the LCD with ease as I have done so often.  She expressed that I would void the remaining two years of my warranty if I did.  There is a dead pixel on my laptop that laughed at me.

She was very polite and thanked me for being kind and for being funny.  I was trying to be kind and did not mean to be funny.  She verified my contact information and asked if I wanted to buy the LCD screen.  My wiser brain politely said no.  In case you forgot, Dear Reader, there is a dead pixel on my laptop who snickered as he realized that he would live.

I thank the service agent for her time and concluded the call.  I researched ways to hide the pixel and found a few that seemed foolish.  Resigning myself to the daily mockery of a slack, freeloading pixel, I went on to other things.  A few days later a friendly Fed-Ex driver delivered a large box to me.  In it was a laptop identical to mine with the following note:

"Dear Mr. Thorn, if everyone treated me with lighthearted kindness as you did, my job would be very easy.  I was near the end of my shift when you called and had had a very rough day.  People assume that their computer problems are your fault.  I could not solve your problem and you were still nice to me.  You even made me laugh.  Here is a replacement “LCD” for you.  Thank you for being a (NAME REDACTED) customer."

I set up my new laptop and wrote a thank you note on it.  I retired my older backup laptop, thanked the Father for His provision, and now there is not a dead pixel on my primary laptop.  The other one serves as the entertainment center and backup processor for my data.  Oh, and it has a dead pixel.  I have named it Mort.

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 ͡°)
 

Every human story is part of the great story that leads to the Father getting everything back to Good.

Contacts for Aramis Thorn:
#aramisthorn
Support Page on Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn
Novels: From My Publisher or on Amazon          
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Haunted by dead pixels is the kind of horror that follows your every effort to be content trying to thwart it.

For Weal and For Woe ~ …and Taxes

 Greetings Dear Reader,

If we are honest, we all dislike paying taxes.  That thirty percent or more of our income could be used for much better things.  Still, Jesus makes it clear that we are to pay the taxes. 

We then object to the ways in which they are used.  I agree that homeless veterans and our elderly deserve more than our representatives from the billions of dollars that our government collects from us.  The waste that occurs bothers me greatly.  We have ways to object and to require better representation.  Unfortunately, we mostly leave it alone and complain.

For weal or woe, the use of our taxes is our responsibility but where I am thinking is a bit beyond that.  I must do my part to hold those who serve in government accountable.  I must not worry or complain about the incursion into my pay.  Jesus spent a great deal of time explaining and proving that we do not need to worry about money.  We are supposed to live by faith in the Father’s provision.

Beyond that, we are supposed to be generous and share what we have with others.  The poor are our responsibility, not the government’s.  We need to get this formula in our hearts and minds.  The Father will provide for our needs and we are to share with others out of love and compassion. Since the Father allows us to be taxed, we must lovingly speak our concerns and pray for our leaders.  Then, the smart thing to do is forget about that money and use what remains wisely.

I find that living this way creates great freedom.  I am free to see a need and meet it.  I am privileged to hear the Spirit direct me to help someone and respond without worry about my own situation.  This thought allows me to work and wait for the things I desire.  It even allows me to temper those desires in the right way.  It allows me to align my desires with the Father’s.

Our resources are provided by the Father whether we acknowledge it or not.  If I am to follow in faith, then I must accept that all that I have is a gift and it is all to be used to follow Christ more closely and share with others in their need and in my joy.  All that we have, Dear Reader, is meant to help us along the way whether it is taxing or not.  Whether things are good or ill, we are promised that our needs will be met.  Learning to trust that is part of the joy.

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 ͡°)

Every human story is part of the great story that leads to the Father getting everything back to Good.

Contacts for Aramis Thorn:
#aramisthorn
Support Page on Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn
Novels: From My Publisher or on Amazon          
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“Render unto Caesar what is Creaser’s and to God what is God’s”

For Weal and For Woe ~ Death…

Greetings Dear Reader,

If you have been reading me for some time, you know that I deal with death in a fairly straightforward way.  My first published book, Chronicles of Thanatos the Reaper is an explanation of the necessity of death.  Death is part of life.  It may be the part that we least accept as belonging.

We comfort ourselves with palliative placeboes about the dead and use the loss to our own purposes.  We do suffer genuine loss and we do feel real pain at that loss.  Rarely do we deal with death in a way that acknowledges the God who allows it.  I will not speak to the purpose of death here.  I would, instead, palaver about the way we walk with it.

Humans have astounding skills at avoidance.  When the topic, like death, clashes with our ability to cope, we can avoid it as if it does not exist.  Then death stops by anyway and we are unprepared for his visit.  If we do not ponder and palaver over the good aspects of death, we are not able to process its unwelcome invasion of our reality.  The difficulty there is that death is the reality and our avoidance is the fantasy.

Many are still grieving the loss of Chadwick Bozeman.  I think that he understood death.  When death did him the courtesy of telling him what he was fighting and how it would end, he lived up to his own words.  Mr. Bozeman had previously said, “When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, ‘I used everything You gave me.’”  His approach to his cancer was not to use it for public attention but to keep working and fighting.  Death is inevitable and I would laud Mr. Bozeman for his faith and integrity. 

Death is the transition that we all face.  It is the debt that we all owe for the life we are given.  We choose whether we accept him for weal or woe.  I try to choose it as the transition that will fulfill all the things of which I dream.  In a time where death is part of the daily conversation, I hope that I am living out my thoughts on it.  I see many around me who have just settled in fearing death but doing nothing with life as they wait for his unwelcome visit.

What I must do is listen to Chadwick Bozeman.  I must use the gifts given to me in each moment of life.  I must love life but also realize that it is only a dress rehearsal for the great adventure waiting for us beyond the horizon.  There are those who will mock me for my belief.  Instead of being offended, I intend to live life more deeply by loving them.  I am not better than them.  I am simply going to honor my Father by letting him worry about it.  We can see death as weal or woe Dear Reader.  The choice is ours.  We are accountable for how we live and for our attitude about death.  When he shows up for me, I hope that I have the faith and courage to welcome him as a friend who is there to guide me home.

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 ͡°)

Every human story is part of the great story that leads to the Father getting everything back to Good.

Contacts for Aramis Thorn:
#aramisthorn
Support Page on Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn
Novels: From My Publisher or on Amazon          
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Bookings: aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com
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Some things are inevitable and we choose whether they are for weal or for woe.

For Weal and For Woe ~ Opening Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

 If you have not heard this phrase, it is an old one.  The word “weal” comes from the tree of language that gives us the word “well” as in you are doing well.  I think we all know the meaning of the word “woe”.  What the phrase means is that for good or for bad we will do whatever it is we have chosen to do.

There are things we choose no matter how the outcome and that is one facet of this phrase's use.  The other is that there are things to which we hold for weal or for woe.  No matter the circumstances, this is where we choose to stand.  No matter how good or bad times are, I hold to these standards.  It is something I value highly even though I have not always lived it.

As summer takes a long slow look at its last twenty-one days, I want to consider that the Autumn of this year will ask us the latter question.  Already people are hating the year as if the good and bad in our lives were ruled by the time through which it passes.  The good ship Earth carries us through time the things that unfold are not ruled by it but, rather, by the Father.

In the interesting times through which we pass, there are things that will try our faith and test our resolve.  I wish to ponder the things that are not subject to the weal and the woe of it for me to be what I should be as a follower of Christ.  I wish to ask the questions that I used to avoid and choose where I stand.  If there are questions you have concerning this, feel free to share them and I will address them.  As I have promised my Grandsons, I will never tell you what to believe but I will always tell you what I believe if you wish to know.

This will be a journey of values and standards.  They are mine even when I fail at them.  Failure on my part, however, does not diminish truth.  Rather, it is the truth that draws me back.  It is the standard of truth that gives me a place to stand when I am uncertain.  If we know where to stand, then whether the world turns for weal or for woe, we will weather it. 

The one we follow never promised it would always be good. He did promise that he would be with us and that when we reached our destination, all things would be made good again.  Until then, for weal or for woe, there are places we must stand.  Please walk with me as I ponder a few of these.  I promise that I cherish your companionship and long to hear your thoughts and questions.

Pilgrims to the City of God – Michael Card

Pilgrims of passion we follow the One
Who holds out a cross and a crown
We travel a dark road that has but one Light
For we have here no lasting town

Sometimes we run by the power of His might
On our own, at the best, we can plod
What we hopefully look for is just beyond sight
We are pilgrims to the city of God

The stigma of strangers lost in a strange land
In a fallen world that's not our home
But we are not homeless prodigals here
Because we have someplace to go

Sometimes we run by the power of His might
On our own, at the best, we can plod
What we hopefully look for is just beyond sight
We are pilgrims to the city of God

Behold you have come to Mount Zion
The City of Great King
To thousands and thousands of angels who've come
Assembled to joyfully sing, they sing

Sometimes we run by the power of His might
On our own, at the best, we can plod
What we hopefully look for is just beyond sight
We are pilgrims to the city of God

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 ͡°)

Every human story is part of the great story that leads to the Father getting everything back to Good.

Contacts for Aramis Thorn:
#aramisthorn
Support Page on Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn
Novels: From My Publisher or on Amazon          
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For weal and for woe, we have somewhere to go.

Forbidden Fruit ~ Closing Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

Whether we like it or not, there are things that are forbidden.  They are all connected to things that are good.  The good things have been corrupted by our selfishness.  They have been diminished by our failure to love.

When we engage in anything, we must do so out of love.  Anything else detracts from our relationships.  Things void of love lead to pain and suffering.  The vast complexity of our universe is all guided by whether or not we love the Father and love each other.  We have taken this simple reality and diminished it to something we ignore or give lip service to when necessary.

When we begin to view everything through the lens of loving the Father and each other, the things we hunger for become things that are good.  When I look outward to the needs of others and do my best to serve out of love for the Father, I diminish the call of my own selfishness, greed, cravings, and anger.  I can use the power of love to crush the voices of things that harm and degrade.

The paradox is that it is never about me and when I embrace that truth, it is all about me.  What we are all intended to be is warriors of love.  “The point is the love story. We live in a love story in the midst of war.”  (John Eldredge) We are able to change the world around us through the power of love.

The key is to learn to dine on love.  The answer for me is to love always as my primary diet.  Then, those fruits that are forbidden will not seem and desirable.  We will struggle at this.  It is in us to desire both and that is part of the journey.  When we seek to love the Father first, we have all we need to love each other as well.  We can see the needs of others and find ways to meet them.  We can, through example, coax others out of the deadly orchard of forbidden fruit and onto the pathway home.

I want to only live this way, Dear Reader.  I know I will fail at times.  I am certain that we will fail each other.  I am also certain that setting it right is as simple as using love and grace to extend mercy to each other.  It is helping each other to stand again.  It is giving space for the wretched fruit to pass and for the love to nourish us.  As we move on to other thoughts, I hope that I can sustain my love through the Father’s love so that you may see it more clearly.

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 ͡°)

Every human story is part of the great story that leads to the Father getting everything back to Good. 

Contacts for Aramis Thorn:
#aramisthorn
Support Page on Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn
Novels: From My Publisher or on Amazon          
Web Page:  www.aramisthorn.com
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“The point is the love story. We live in a love story in the midst of war.”  (John Eldredge) 

Forbidden Fruit ~ Not Even a Taste

Greetings Dear Reader,

 I am going to touch on a subject that is getting quite a bit of attention currently.  I am not, however, going to focus on the root of the problem.  I have written several times about the horror that is human trafficking.  What I wish to consider are the subtle ways in which we all contribute to it.  We must remember that human trafficking is a demand-driven concern.

There are things we accept every day that contribute to human slavery, forced sex trafficking, and the abduction and trafficking of children.  I am not saying that we intentionally approve of these.  I am pointing out that what we allow leads to it.  Please consider with me the logical path that leads to these horrors.

 The first to contemplate is our abandonment of morals and values that demand that we respect humans and do not objectify them.   Whether it is the swimsuit issue or a popular magazine or the visit to strip club in a weekly TV show, we treat women as objects to be seen and coveted.  We represent humans as objects of desire instead of creations of the Father to be loved, honored, and respected.

Whenever we engage in abusing workers through poor wages, overwork, or insufficient quality of life, we are on the trailhead of human slavery.  Forcing anyone to work at the poverty level is ignoring that removal of choice is the primary mechanism of slavery.  I am not saying that everyone should earn the same thing.  I am saying that injustice in how we treat those we employ is a form of human trafficking.  Greed when it comes to the quality of life for others is the path to slavery.

The third thing that is a track to human trafficking is the way in which we treat children.  We show more concern over what our children will wear than we do over the fact that twenty-five percent of the humans trafficked as labor and sex slaves are children.  We allow children to be objectified in advertising and entertainment.  We devalue children in other parts of the world simply by refusing to think about their needs.  We buy the products made by child slaves because they are cheap and easy to obtain.  We never consider the suffering behind our shopping cart clicks.  We devalue children by slaughtering them in the womb by the millions.

What we all do is take nibbles at the poison fruit of human trafficking.  We do not do enough to make it clear that we will not tolerate treating humans as a commodity.  As long as good healthcare and a good standard of living are not available to everyone, we are allowing human trafficking.  As long as my wants trump the needs of others, we will feed our desires.  We have to become people who value human life and its quality over entertainment.  I cannot follow Christ well unless every human matters to me.  That is just the way it is, 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 homeowner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Every human story is part of the great story that leads to the Father getting everything back to Good.

Contacts for Aramis Thorn:
#aramisthorn
Support Page on Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn
Novels: From My Publisher or on Amazon          
Web Page:  www.aramisthorn.com
Bookings: aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com
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Like those eating blowfish, we dance around the danger of failing to consider the dire poison of this fruit.

Forbidden Fruit ~ How Much for Just the Planet

Greetings Dear Reader,

I mentioned a few weeks ago the story, How Much Land Does a Man Need.  It gives us an excellent few of greed.  Another story worth reading is How Much for Just the Planet by John M. Ford.  The stories where we see the greed of others purchase its own demise is one of my favorite kinds.

The difficulty is that I too often use them to mask my own greed.  I touched on this when I wrote about gluttony. It is wanting more that hurts us.  It is being dissatisfied over things that are temporary that makes us greedy.  Even when I try to minimize what I possess and what I desire, there are times when I want more.  There are times when I convince myself that I need more.

When it comes to things, the Father wishes for us to depend only on him for our needs.  It does not mean that we do not work or that we are not to have good things.  It does require that we not chase after power, possessions, and money.  We chase Christ with all that we are and what we need will be there.  Everything we need is ours if we find our delight in loving the Father and following the Son.

I realize that it is simple and may seem puerile.  This is not just a platitude.  It is the way we are designed to live.  When we want things that are not centered on our love of the Father, we are failing to love the Father.  I realize it seems simple.  It is actually the most complex relationship in the cosmos.

If I test this relationship it always works.  It is when I want more that is other than the Father that I fail and fall.  It is my desire to have it all that destroys my faith and following.  I am striving to learn that letting the Father have all of me keeps me from dining on the forbidden fruit of greed.  I have seen the Father provide for me supernaturally but even that is not the goal.  It is to learn that unexplainable provision form the Father is supposed to be as natural as breathing.  In that, Dear Reader, is the lesson that dissipates all greed.

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 ͡°)

Every human story is part of the great story that leads to the Father getting everything back to Good.

Contacts for Aramis Thorn:
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Support Page on Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn
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“Surrounding myself with possessions.  I surely have more than I need.  I don’t know if this is justice hard-earned or simply a matter of greed.”

Second Thoughts ~ If Silence is Violence…

Greetings Dear Reader,

If silence is violence then hear me speak…

If Silence is Violence…

We need to call out the needs of the homeless wherever they are.
We need to walk toward those in need and not around them.
We need to echo the screams of unborn children being slaughtered by the millions.
We need to recognize that we have more than we need and cry out for forgiveness.
 

If Silence is Violence…
We need to vociferously demand that your income should not determine your healthcare.
We need to shout until we are horse that our veterans deserve better.
We need to scream at the waste that occurs daily in our bloated government.
We need to wail at the lives lost due to the cost of mental healthcare.

If Silence is Violence…
We need to shout loudly that African American lives do matter.
We must denounce any politician that grows fat on the backs of the dispossessed.
We must cry out against human trafficking in all its forms.
We must speak the truth in love to everyone.
 
If Silence is Violence…
We must all stop using words of violence; replacing them with kindness.
We must see the beauty in every soul and share our observations with others.
We must remove hatred of any kind from the words we think and speak.
We must speak until every human feels the love and kindness they are due.

If Silence is Violence…
I must speak peace into every conflict.
I must voice my love for every human in every saturation.
I must speak grace and mercy into every relationship.
I must proclaim that in Christ alone can any of this find its footing without condemnation or hatred of any kind.

If Silence is Violence…It is.

Prayer of Saint Francis – Sarah McLachlan

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace;
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is error, the truth;
Where there is doubt, the faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled, as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
 
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 ͡°)

Every human story is part of the great story that leads to the Father getting everything back to Good.
 

Contacts for Aramis Thorn:
#aramisthorn
Support Page on Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn
Novels: From My Publisher or on Amazon          
Web Page:  www.aramisthorn.com
Bookings: aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com
Facebook      
Twitter        
Medium         
Instagram 
BLOG Archive:  http://aramisthorn.blogspot.com/ 

If silence is violence then hear me speak...

Forbidden Fruit ~ Ball, Ball, Ball…

Greetings Dear Reader,

When my younger Son, Bezel was two, trips to the store were a guaranteed adventure.  Often, when we were just inside the door of the store, whatever store it was, he would begin a soulful mournful chant.  He would look sorrowfully at me and cry “ball, ball, ball.”  He would pause for a moment to see if a ball had appeared and then start again.

We tried several things pacify him without actually buying yet another ball.  We would sneak one into the store, let someone know we brought it with us, and give it to him.  Then we would go through the charade of “paying for it” and give it back to him.  This worked twice.  Bezel has always been smart.

I realized after months of this drama that he knew he had a quarter-million balls at home.  He simply wanted one that he did not have.  He wanted one of the ones in the netting that was not already his.  To me, this is still a vitally clear example of envy and coveting.  As someone who is a natural “collector” of things, I battle with envy all the time. 

I can justify in my mind how I will use what I covet for good.  I will easily dismiss my envy as admiration.  If you wonder what the difference is between envy and coveting, it is simple.  The first, envy is desiring to be like others or have things like others have.  Coveting is wanting what is theirs.  Both are wrong and are products of our own dissatisfaction. 

It is not wrong to want something.  Our Father likes to give us good things and wishes for us to be satisfied.  Where we corrupt it is when we put possessions, power, or position over our love for the Father and each other.  If I spend money on a thing that I just want it is not always wrong.  There is even provision in the Law of Moses for us to use some of our earning to purchase “Whatever our heart desires.”   The catch is that I must be accountable for what my heart desires. 

The things I want are far fewer than they used to be.  Possessions have for the most part lost their shine.  When I feast on the fruit of envy, I lack gratitude for what I have and place wanting something over wanting to love the Father.  I lost sight of following the Son because I seek something that is not at the heart of love and grace.

Again, it is not wrong to have things or want something new.  It is always wrong for me to want any single thing over my obedience to loving the Father and his creation.  The oldest possessions I have are not things that were shiny and new.  They are things I acquired whilst adventuring toward my relationship with the Father.  Jesus made it clear, Dear Reader, that if we seek the Father and his kingdom, all that we desire that is good will be given us. 

I have to work daily to train my mind to seek the Father first.  The entire world would rather have me want more things and be dissatisfied with them as I obtain them.  Then when grace gets through, it helps me see that all that stuff hinders my faith and following.  What I must dine on is the fruit of love and grace instead of the forbidden fruit of envy.  I will gladly share the former with you, 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 homeowner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Every human story is part of the great story that leads to the Father getting everything back to Good.

Contacts for Aramis Thorn:
#aramisthorn
Support Page on Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn
Novels: From My Publisher or on Amazon          
Web Page:  www.aramisthorn.com
Bookings: aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com
Facebook      
Twitter        
Medium         
Instagram 
BLOG Archive:  http://aramisthorn.blogspot.com/ 

“I am so often deterred from my actual intent by distractions is a cellophane wrap, and the cruel voice that taunts me when I open them up to find just one more box full of crap.”