Milestone ~ Morning and Evening ~ Evening

Greetings Dear Reader,

I lived the day as if it were the kind of day I long for my routine life to echo.  I arose at my normal time, even though some friends thought I would sleep in today.  I did my Bible reading, prepared first breakfast, wrote my BLOG and went out for my prayer time. 

This is the usual start to my Monday through Friday.  Today, however, after that I lived what I long for daily.  I spent the morning writing, editing, and marketing.  I spent the afternoon visiting friends, talking of ways to love the Father more deeply, and being kind to people who needed it.  Dinner was a quiet time with family and kind words spoken to me.  My family offered blessings for my coming year that were beautiful and encouraging.

Other blessings throughout the day included getting to speak with my younger Son.  A friend making time to come pray with me at Morning prayer, another friend arising early to wish me a happy birthday.  All told it was a peaceful and fulfilling birthday.  My friend with whom I share this day and I have compared notes as we fielded the birthday wishes offered personally and on social media.

I long for the day when my income only comes from my writing and I am free to be where I wish, caring for the needs of those who I can; following the Wind where he wishes me to be.  Perhaps the many things in the pipe will make it so.

As I close this day with pipe and bowl, I wish to thank you for your kindness and love along the way.  The journey is rich and beautiful whether the day is bright and fair or cold and raining like today.   Your presence, the one we follow, and the journey itself make it so Dear Reader.  

Tomorrow, we will take up the thoughts and questions that lead us home.  We will return to the path having marked this milestone.  We shall begin by taking a look at something that will help us become lovingly unoffendable.  I warn you that in the midst of all this beauty and grace we share, this effort becomes challenging and dangerous.

I will light my Cavendish and sip my Writer’s Tears whilst I ponder the evening and you Dear Reader.  Sitting by the fire, I will dream of the things that we can find as we journey.  I am thankful for you.  I treasure our time together.  I love you.

I Sit Beside the Fire and Think – J.R.R. Tolkien – Performed by CamillasChoice

I sit beside the fire and think of all that I have seen,

Of meadow-flowers and butterflies in summers that have been

Of yellow leaves and gossamer in autumns that there were,

With morning mist and silver sun and wind upon my hair

I sit beside the fire and think of how the world will be

When winter comes without a spring that I shall ever see

For still there are so many things that I have never seen,

In every wood in every spring, there is a different green

I sit beside the fire and think of people long ago,

Of people who will see a world that I shall never know

But all the while I sit and think of times there were before

I listen for returning feet and voices at the door

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:

#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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Milestone ~ Morning and Evening ~ Morning

Greetings Dear Reader,

My pastor in Madison and I share a birthday.  He has announced his retirement next year.  I also share a birthday with my closest friend, he is eight years my senior.  He turns sixty today.

My friend and I were discussing the many changes we have seen in the last year.  We speak almost daily of the many good things we have in life.  We talk about the adventures yet to come.  Our conversations are almost always hopeful and positive.

He was telling me that he used to be very demanding about his birthday and it was a cause of stress for his family.  Then, he said this to me about ten years ago.  “What if we adopted the attitude that we will see who celebrates us, even in the smallest way, and be thankful for that?”

It has been quite the experiment.  There are still wants and desires associated with this annual mark.  I have learned though that part of faith and following is giving those up and finding gratitude in what is instead of hurt in what is not.  When the day rolls around, I long to live it well.  I long to show gratitude for the last year by living the next one better.  Your company is always welcome when I celebrate, Dear Reader.  I am very thankful for 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 homeowner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

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 

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

A Sign Post Ahead – 100 Years – Closing Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

The batter swings and the summer flies.  The sands slips through the pinch and gives the illusion that it moves faster as the top half grows less.  I have so much in this life for which to be thankful.

I spent a wonderful evening with my Grandsons last night who were excited just to have me stay later.  I had a wonderful conversation with the eldest of my sisters (I would never call her old.  She is just older than the others).  Dad and I spoke earlier in the week.

Today will be interesting.  I know how it begins but little after that.  I can read the mile marker clearly and it is brighter than I hoped.  I only have a couple of real goals left.  The rest will be an adventure.  I have many books left in me and just need the time to get them out. 

I want to reduce possessions even further this year.  I would like to buy a place for my Son and the boys.  There are some places I would like to see.  Some of them easily attainable and some would take real work.  There are beautiful things in the world. 

Tomorrow is promised to no one.  I am thankful for today.  I still have much to learn and say and I hope, Dear Reader to keep your company for what is left of the journey.  Thank you for your time and companionship.  I love you and look forward to the day when the journey is complete and we can share a cup and bowl together.

100 Years – Five for Fighting

I'm fifteen for a moment

Caught in between ten and twenty

And I'm just dreaming

Counting the ways to where you are

I'm twenty two for a moment

She feels better than ever

And we're on fire

Making our way back from Mars

Fifteen there's still time for you

Time to buy and time to lose

Fifteen, there's never a wish better than this

When you only got hundred years to live

I'm thirty three for a moment

Still the man, but you see I'm of age

A kid on the way

A family on my mind

I'm forty five for a moment

The sea is high

And I'm heading into a crisis

Chasing the years of my life

Fifteen there's still time for you

Time to buy, time to lose yourself

Within a morning star

Fifteen I'm all right with you

Fifteen, there's never a wish better than this

When you only got hundred years to live

Half time goes by

Suddenly you're wise

Another blink of an eye

Sixty seven is gone

The sun is getting high

We're moving on

I'm ninety nine for a moment

Dying for just another moment

And I'm just dreaming

Counting the ways to where you are

Fifteen there's still time for you

Twenty two I feel her too

Thirty three you're on your way

Every day's a new day

Fifteen there's still time for you

Time to buy and time to choose

Hey fifteen, there's never a wish better than this

When you only got hundred years to live

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 ͡°)

A Sign Post Ahead – Milestone Fifty-Seven

Greetings Dear Reader,

When driving I have always valued and used the mile markers along the interstate.  When my Sons were young I taught how the mile markers and exit numbers worked.  It save quite a few “are we there yet” moments. 

Exit 57 Atlanta

I still anticipate them when I drive.  I like the moment when the green rectangle for which I am searching appears up the road drawing ever closer.  I cannot read it yet but I know it is the one that marks my proximity to a favorite stop or landmark.

I can see the next one now.  It is just a few moments away.  I draw to it with joy and anticipation but I am also tired.  Hard nights of traveling alone for too long have left me weary and worn.  My heart is still strong but other things grow troublesome.   My mind is clear but I hear the song of a distant shore; an undiscovered country.

It feels like I have a foot on the dock and one on gang plank.  I long to be home and rest but I still love the journey.  I am weary of traveling alone but I desire to lighten the load as well.  There absent friends with whom I deeply desire reunion. 

In truth my deepest temporal desire is to reach mile marker 102.  I want to sit on a high mountain and watch Haley’s Comet with my Children and Grandchildren and perhaps even their children.  I want to tell the tale of the first time I saw it.  I long to share some other stories proper for that moment in time.

I want to spend the next milestones crafting tales and journeying with you Dear Reader.  I realize to have these things I will have more absent friends and weary days.  I suppose that is the cost of dreams and visions.  Even worn and weary I have faith and hope.  I have love.  These three things that abide no matter the cost, cause, or casualty carry me. 

I journey on, I pray for my family, and I keep a strong hold on faith and hope.  I share love whenever I am allowed.  I see the green rectangle and focus on the next step…

Worn – Tenth Avenue North

I'm tired

I'm worn

My heart is heavy

From the work it takes to keep on breathing

I've made mistakes

I've let my hope fail

My soul feels crushed

By the weight of this world

And I know that you can give me rest

So I cry out with all that I have left

Let me see redemption win

Let me know the struggle ends

That you can mend a heart that's frail and torn

I want to know a song can rise

From the ashes of a broken life

And all that's dead inside can be reborn

'Cause I'm worn

I know I need

To lift my eyes up

But I'm too weak

Life just won't let up

And I know that You can give me rest

So I cry out with all that I have left

Let me see redemption win

Let me know the struggle ends

That you can mend a heart that's frail and torn

I want to know a song can rise

From the ashes of a broken life

And all that's dead inside can be reborn

Cause I'm worn

And my prayers are wearing thin

I'm worn even before the day begins

I'm worn I've lost my will to fight

I'm worn so heaven so come and flood my eyes

Let me see redemption win

Let me know the struggle ends

That you can mend a heart that's frail and torn

I want to know a song can rise

From the ashes of a broken life

And all that's dead inside can be reborn

Yes all that's dead inside will be reborn

Though I'm worn

Yeah I'm worn

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.”

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A Sign Post Ahead – Milestone Forty-Seven

Greetings Dear Reader,

Once again the milestone approached with me unaware that just over the horizon were dark times.  Within the year Avalon would depart and I would be without a fellow traveler.  I do not think that wound has ever really closed.

The problem was I did not see it coming.  I believed there existed a hard deck based on commitment below which we would not sink.  When one casts off the rules one is capable of anything.  Breaking vows, destroying a family, and betraying an innocent become easy tasks.

Do not think that this is a judgment.  I was guilty of the same things when I failed to honor my first marriage.  Rather I chronicle the milestone so that I remember its lessons.  It may be time for this one to be remembered but never revisited.

I do not think we conceive and believe in the moment the damage we do when we abandon someone else.  We rationalize and justify but that does not prevent the damage.  We choose what we want over what we have vowed and destroy others to get our vision of what is “good”.

I have seen this pattern in others and do not know how to protect them from it.  I would agree that it is not good to travel alone.  I realize that Christ is always with me but it was the Father who declared the first thing that was not good.  “It is not good for man to be alone.”

Boulevard of Broken Dreams – Greenday

I walk a lonely road

The only one that I have ever known

Don't know where it goes

But it's only me, and I walk alone

I walk this empty street

On the boulevard of broken dreams

Where the city sleeps

And I'm the only one, and I walk alone

I walk alone, I walk alone

I walk alone and I walk a

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me

My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating

Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me

Till then I walk alone

Ah ah ah ah ah

Ah ah ah ah ah

I'm walking down the line

That divides me somewhere in my mind

On the border line of the edge

And where I walk alone

Read between the lines

What's mucked up and every thing's all right

Check my vital signs to know I'm still alive

And I walk alone

I walk alone, I walk alone

I walk alone and I walk a

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me

My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating

Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me

Till then I walk alone

Ah ah ah ah ah

Ah ah ah ah ah

I walk alone, I walk a

I walk this empty street

On the boulevard of broken dreams

Where the city sleeps

And I'm the only one, and I walk alone

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me

My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating

Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me

Till then I walk alone

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 ͡°)

A Sign Post Ahead – Milestone Thirty-Seven

Greetings Dear Reader,

Most of the times that my life seemed to unravel it was not my doing.  At milestone thirty-seven, however, it was my own doing.  I had so many things that I had wished for and my life had the potential to have a long smooth sail over good waters.

Past memories unattended were seething up and demanding their due.  Improper responses to injustice and unreasonable demands fueled my dissatisfaction.  I chose a path of failed resistance.  I tried to handle everything on my own.  I turned false suspicions from others into failed realities. 

No one is to blame for the extreme life failures as I passed this mile marker but me.  I walked the path of selfish indulgence of my pain instead of drawing closer to Christ.  The echoes of the damage I caused as a result still sound loudly today.

Even though I acted outside of what Christ desires for me he used it to produce some beautiful things.  Had I not emulated Judas and Jonah my Daughter and my Grandsons would not be here.  They are an infinite blessing risen from the ashes of my extreme failure to trust Christ in my darkest time.

That dark shadow would fall across other milestones.  It has, however, taught me to follow more closely than to carve my own path.   Following Christ more closely always works.  Trying to forge a trail without him always leads to destruction for me.

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 ͡°)

A Sign Post Ahead – Milestone Twenty-Seven

Greetings Dear Reader,

At the sighting of this mile marker I had one Son and one about to arrive.  This year would see his birth and our small family grow to four.  It would also be the year that I decided that teaching was my best choice for my life’s work.

I had not written in some time and a story leapt fully told to mind.  I had my first computer and tried my hand at telling the tale.  I return to it from time to time hoping to rescue it.  It was a spring board and will likely never be more.

My anger and arrogance were not yet in the rear view as I sped through the twenty-seventh mile.  I had not yet learned to deal with the pain and memories of my past.  I wanted to follow Christ but had not given him the places in me so damaged and shameful. 

As I held Bezel for the first time I realized that I needed to abandon the past if the future was to work.  It took some time to do so.  More time that I wish it had.  The pain still echoes.  It wants to rule me and I cannot ever let it do that.  That pain still holds nothing but wrong choices for me.

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 ͡°)

A Sign Post Ahead – Milestone Seventeen

Greetings Dear Reader,

This was the year that began my life-long love affair with Volkswagens.  It was a taste of freedom like I had not known since summers with my Grandfather.  My friend Mike and I drifted through that year in our respective yellow and blue Bugs like the world was ours.  Sometimes we drove just to drive. 

I had found Christ a few years earlier and was caught between loving him and wrestling with my all too deep anger.  I wanted to follow Christ with all my heart.  I was still angry and confused about the things that preceded my journey to him.  I was also unknowingly part of a church that put their form of following ahead of love and kindness.  They dealt in judgement and condemnation instead of fogginess and grace.

 

I was loud and large; angry and strong.  I had no idea how arrogant and unpleasant I was.  There was a girl I loved and she would spend time with me but then I would become too much to handle.  I could not see how difficult it would be to stay with me.

As I entered my final year of high school things would unfold to put me in further anger and isolation.  I turned the opportunity to learn and grow into more duality of person and presentation.  The seventeenth milestone was one where I came so very close to losing everything to my anger and pain.  There was still light to guide me but I was closing my eyes to it.  

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 ͡°)

A Sign Post Ahead – Milestone Seven

Greetings Dear Reader,

In truth, these are the milestones of my sub-creator; the boy and man who created me and allows me to tell his stories.  I would not come to life until his eighth year after he read the great tales of Alexander Dumas.  I was created when he began to crate the tale of knight on a World War I Underwood Typewriter that had belonged to his Great Grandfather.

We had just returned to Georgia in December.  We had left everything in California.  It was the first time I learned what it was like to lose everything.  All my toys and most of my clothes remained behind. 

We took a long Greyhound Bus journey from San Francisco to Atlanta.  I recall the painted desert and crossing the Mississippi.   It was where I learned to love road trips.  It was where I gained my obsession with things.  I have kept the former and battle the latter constantly.

Mum, sister, and I settled briefly on Coolidge Avenue before moving one block over to Crest Hill.  We live in the top floor of what had once been a large two story Victorian home.  It was on one of the few remaining cobblestone streets in the city.

When I reached milestone seven I was given Schwinn Spider bike.  I learned to ride it within a week and it became my constant escape in the neighborhood for the next few years.  My Grandfather slowly rebuilt my toy supply.  He also began that April to teach me how to love baseball and the Atlanta Braves.

Little did I know that terrible painful things that were on the horizon.  Little did I suspect the horrors contained in the next few years or the creativity that would rise within me to survive.  I did not yet understand Jesus or what he would mean to me.  That was a few more signposts down the highway.

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 ͡°)

A Sign Post Ahead – Opening Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

I love road trips.  One of the things that I enjoy is the sign posts and mile stones that chronicle the journey.  I get a special excitement out of that moment when the first sign for my destination is seen.  When we drove the Grandsons to Florida last spring we battled the “are we there yet” question with the answer to look for palm trees.  It did not work but it made me excited to see the first palm tree.

Today there is a sign post ahead.  It is more figurative than literal.  It is shared by many but also wholly mine.  As we draw closer to this marker I need to review past markers and ponder them.

Another facet of this is that some markers seem more important to me than others   Some have more portent.  Some require more attention.  Like mile markers some numbers mean more than others.  It is ingrained in us to notices tens and hundreds.  Fives and sevens always seems significant to me.

So as we draw closer to this sign post I would ask for your company.  Share some past events and thoughts with me.  I review them to map the journey further.  As always I treasure your thoughts 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 ͡°)

Say What You Need to Say - Milestones

Greetings Dear Reader,

“You're traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind; a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's the signpost up ahead—your next stop, the Twilight Zone!”

I ponder sometimes the vast number of signs we pass every day.  I contemplate what we take in and what we ignore.  I question some of the things we celebrate as the their value in celebration. 

We enter the new every day.  We breach a new horizon.  Many mark another Monday with disdain whilst yearning for Friday.  Wednesday becomes just the crest of the hill so they can glide into the weekend.  Every day is a gift and we do not treat it that way.

Time slips through the glass and we miss so many things that are intended to bring us awe.  During winter I make time to wonder at the constellations whilst other hurry into the house to escape the cold.  There is time in the day to embrace the wonder of the world if we allow it.

We make our way toward that “undiscovered country” with no hope of ceasing the journey.  We must find joy along the way to sustain us.  We must gather in the beauty of the universe so that we see just how much of it exists to prepare us.  I am honored to have been given another milestone at the advent of this milepost.

It is in the journey toward God that we are to find him.  If I waste a single day of that pursuit then I lose out.  I have less in which to wonder and marvel.  I have less warm winds to life the powdery wings of faith on which I fly.  I have less of Christ to share if I do not pursue him in every moment.

At this milestone I need to say just how much I love the world because I love the Creator of that world.  I love the journey because of the one I follow.  There is always joy in the midst of sorrow because of my fellow traveler.  There is also joy because of you Dear Reader.  Thank you for your company along the way.  This milestone reminds me so much of our destination: The Unknown Country, already discovered by others.  We must keep moving as the sun is at its zenith.

I’ve Got A Name – Jim Croce

Like the pine trees lining the winding road

I've got a name

I've got a name

Like the singing bird and the croaking toad

I've got a name

I've got a name

And I carry it with me like my daddy did

But I'm living the dream that he kept hid

Moving me down the highway

Rolling me down the highway

Moving ahead so life won't pass me by

Like the North wind whistling down the sky

I've got a song

I've got a song

Like the whip-poor-will and the baby's cry

I've got a song

I've got a song

And I carry it with me and I sing it loud

If it gets me nowhere, I'll go there proud

Moving me down the highway

Rolling me down the highway

Moving ahead so life won't pass me by

And I'm gonna go there free

Like the fool I am and I'll always be

I've got a dream

I've got a dream

They can change their minds but they can't change me

I've got a dream

I've got a dream

I know I could share it if you want me to

If you’re going my way I'll go with you

Moving me down the highway

Rolling me down the highway

Moving ahead so life won't pass me by

Moving me down the highway

Rolling me down the highway

Moving ahead so life won't pass me by

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 ͡°)