Already and the not yet – Closing Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

I am already perfect in the eyes of Christ but he has not yet perfected me.  That is where life is headed.  The march toward the day when I will no longer struggle with sin seems endless but the day will come.

Christ is already working in the world to bring it back to good but we are not yet good.  We already live and move in Christ but we are not yet with Christ.  He is coming quickly but he is not yet here. 

All of the life of following Christ is a journey from the already to the not yet.  It is making today into something that lasts forever.  It is investing time into eternity.  We weave the tapestry of the everlasting with threads of the finite existence.  We can already taste the life that is ahead of us but we are not there yet.

Every day that I choose to follow Christ with all my heart I turn moments into more good.  I am turning the already into the not yet.  I get to participate in turning death into a fighting chance to live.  I am allowed to be a part of the beauty and grace into which Christ wishes to transform the world.

I long for the time to be through the glass all things to be good.  We already on the journey.  It is not yet the hour but the minutes are ticking away.

Maranatha – Michael Card

Maranatha is a cry of the heart

That's hopeful yet weary of waiting

While it may be joyful with the burdens it bears

It's sick with anticipating

To long for the Promised One day after day

And the promise that soon He'd return

It's certain that waiting's the most bitter lesson

A believing heart has to learn

Maranatha,

How many more moments must this waiting last

Maranatha, we long for the time when all time is past

A commotion, a call then that will be all

Though it's not yet the hour

The minutes are ticking away

Maranatha is the shout of the few

Who for so long in history've been hiding

Who truly believe that the sound of that call

Might actually hasten His coming

For no eye has seen and no ear has yet heard

And no mind has ever conceived

The joy of the moment when He will appear

To the wonder of all who believe

Maranatha,

How many more moments must this waiting last

Maranatha, we long for the time when all time is past

A commotion, a call then that will be all

Though it's not yet the hour

The minutes are ticking away

Maranatha, how hungry we are just to see Your face

Parousia, to finally fall in one long embrace

A commotion, a call and that will be all

Though it's not yet the hour

The minutes are ticking away

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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Already and the not yet – Three Months to Christmas

Greetings Dear Reader,

As of yesterday there are only three months until Christmas.  I will not belabor this but the excitement already peaks forth form my heart.  What concerns me is the already and not yets that surround it.

There are already decorations and lights in some stores.  Some places have the leftovers from last year on “clearance.”  I hear Christmas music snippets in my mind as I consider the already hungry merchants.

I already long for cold and snow although I do not yet have a plan for how to appoint my abode for the festivities.  I face for the first time ever waking up alone on Christmas morning and that is frightening.

All of this is a collection of not yet.  I need to focus on the already.   I already know that Christmas will come.  I will get to celebrate Christ which is my focus.  I will have time off for things I love.  I will have a new novel to give as gifts.

It is not yet time to dwell on Christmas but I already am.  It is Christ that I want to celebrate.  I want to find a way to make him evident in all I do relative to Christmas and my life.  I want to make the already a draw to the not yet of Christmas and all it portends.  After all the already of Christmas has promises to keep for the not yet of Christmas.

Promises to Keep – Trans-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.”

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Already and the not yet – Wishes, Dreams, and Visions

Greetings Dear Reader,

I aspire to some grand things.  Apparently I am optimistic and believe in the impossible.  I start with the idea that everyone it worth knowing.  I proceed from the assumption that I can be friends with almost anyone. 

Some of my dreams have already been realized.  Others have died in my arms.  Some were murdered by others who I thought shared them.  Dreams turn our already into a better not yet if we build them.  Visions lead us to better places if we follow them in line with Christ.

In the journey back to God he wishes us to be what we are created to be.  God promises that if we are loyal to him in the already he will give us the desires of our heart in the not yet.  We have to live and move in Christ to find the things that make us who we are created to be. 

The Father has built into me things that are amazing and beautiful.  I must get out of the way and let him build those things in me.  I must pursue Christ and the dreams I have in him.  I must turn my already into a not yet that embraces Christ and my visions.

As I said in the first post on this subject it is part of my preparation for Advent.  I have Christmas dreams that are idealistic and buildable all at once.  I try to celebrate Christ every day. 

This Christmas Day – Trans-Siberian Orchestra

So tell me Christmas are we wise

To believe in things we never see

Are Prayers just wishes in disguise

And are these wishes being granted me

For now I see the answering

To every prayer I've prayed

She's coming home this Christmas Day

So tell me Christmas are we kind

More this day than any other day

Or is it only in our mind

And must it leave when you have gone away

It's different now, It's changed somehow

And now you're here to stay

She's coming home this Christmas Day

And all at once the world

It doesn't seem the same

In a single night

You know it all has changed

Everything is now how it should be

I have the ornament

I have the perfect tree

I have a string of lights

I have a chance to see

Everything that my heart thought could be

For of all the dreams

You were the first I knew

And every other one

Was a charade of you

You stayed close when I was far away

And in the darkest night

You always were the star

Who always took us in

No matter who we are

So she's coming home this Christmas Day

Merry Christmas, Merry Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas, Merry Merry Christmas

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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Already and the not yet – Bad Habits

Greetings Dear Reader,

I already have bad habits.  We all have them.  It is one of the already states that we share across the globe.  We did not develop them immediately and we will not break them immediately either. 

This is an aspect of already to not yet that requires discipline and patience.  It requires time and yieldedness.  I already procrastinate over unpleasant tasks.  I need to get them out the way.  I am making headway but have not yet conquered this.

Much of what we do that is unhealthy is stoppable.  We will always sin.  We will always fail but we can be better every day.  We can be more than we are.  The problem is that we try to do it all at once.  We try to be perfect when we are not yet. 

We already have bad habits.  We can be better.  Someday Christ will perfect me.  He will strip away the imperfections that keep me from being all his but not yet.  Whilst I wait I can chip away at the imperfections by doing a little better each day.  I can eliminate the things the keep me from following as closely as possible.

I already know what I need to do differently.  The changes need to be addressed daily.  I must follow Christ more closely by eliminating bad habits.  He must increase and I must decrease.

Less of Me – Glenn Campbell

Let me be a little kinder. Let me be a little blinder.

To the faults of those about me, let me praise a little more.

Let me be, when I am weary, just a little bit more cheery.

Think a little more of others and a little less of me.

Let me be a little braver when temptation bids me waver.

Let me strive a little harder to be all that I should be.

Let me be a little meeker with the brother that is weaker.

Let me think more of my neighbor and a little less of me.

Let me be, when I am weary, just a little bit more cheery.

Let me serve a little better those that I am striving for.

Let me be a little meeker with the brother that is weaker

Think a little more of others and a little less of me.

Think a little more of others and a little less of 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.”

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Already and the not yet – Digital Dissatisfaction

Greetings Dear Reader,

Next month I am due for a new phone at a low price.  In trying to decide which phone I want to acquire it occurred to me how skilled the phone industry is at creating digital dissatisfaction.  My current phone is excellent.  Most of the new ones I have to choose from lack features that I value.

As I ponder this I realize that computers generate this same discontent.  When I transition to my home hardware to the hardware I use at work there is instant desire for more, better, and faster.  The constant spiral of new software and hardware push both in the direction of constant need.

This is a great example of how we fail to embrace the already and abandon it for the not yet.  We live in the constant state of dissatisfaction over what we do not have.  We miss the potential and value of contentment with what we do have.  If I compare the speed and power of this PC to my first one there are light years of advancement to appreciate. 

Whilst most of my life needs to be moving from the already to the not yet, when it comes to contentment it is the opposite.  I must learn to be content with what I have already and not overthink what I do not have.  It is in the moment that I must value and appreciate what I have.  I must avoid the greed inherent in material not yet. 

There will be constant enticement to dissatisfaction with my already have.  In the case of possessions I must not allow dissatisfaction to push me to greed and obsession with passion.  It only causes me to gather things that weigh me down and hinder my following.

Loose Ends – Dan Fogelberg

Climbing a mountain in darkness

Stranded alone on the ledge

Every attempt that I make to hold on

Pushes me nearer the edge

Sensing the changes impending

My thoughts are diffused by despair

I feel like I'm swimming straight up underwater

Desperately racing for air

I'm racing for air

And the chords struck at birth grow more distant

Yet, we strike them again and again

And we plead and we pray for a glimmer of day

As the night folds its wings and descends

Exposing the loose ends

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

A matter of greed

And the chords struck at birth grow more distant

Yet, we strike them again and again

And we plead and we pray for a glimmer of day

As the night folds its wings and descends

Exposing the loose ends)

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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Already and the not yet – Maybe Next Year

Greetings Dear Reader,

I realize we are several months away from resolutions and weight loss plans.  We are also on the back side of summer where we ponder the things we wanted to do but did not.  We vow we will do them next summer.  None of them happen if we do not do them.

One of the things we must do is to turn the not yet into already.  Some things take planning, funding, and execution.  Some things require that we begin them.  Summer plans must wait until summer but may need planning in the previous fall.  Some things require the moment.  It is the latter that we must never relegate “maybe next year.”

Part of embracing the already is using each moment to follow Christ more closely.  No matter the cost or pain we must abandon the things that hinder the journey.  No matter the challenge or difficulty we must be better today than yesterday.  I already need to do better but I am not there yet.

I can plan that vacation for next summer.  I can dream of things I want to do and become.  I can imagine and visualize.  None of that matters if I do not make the internal things already.  I must continually build on the progress I have already made to get to the place in following Christ that I have not yet achieved. 

Living in the already, even in changing what needs changing, means the I see and act on the now and never say maybe tomorrow, later, or next  year.  It means I live in the moment.  I live in the already to shape the not yet.

Magic Every Moment – Dan Fogelberg

I awoke this morning to a shattering sound

And I went downstairs and found these shards of glass strewn all around

There upon the floor I found this poor broken dove

And it made me realize how very fragile is this life that we so love

I came back up to bed and I held you so tight

And I prayed up to the Father, oh I prayed with all my might

That He'd always keep you with me, that He'd always keep you safe

And when I went downstairs I found that dove had somehow up and flown away

There's a magic every moment

There's a miracles each day

There's a magic every moment

Oh won't you let the music play

Oh won't you let the music play

On a high and windy island I was gazing out to sea

When a long forgotten feeling came and took control of me

It was then the clouds burst open and the sun came pouring through

When it hit those dancing waters in an instant all eternity I knew

There's so much we take for granted--there's so much we never say

We get caught up in the motion of just a living day to day

We are fettered to the future, we are prisoners of the past

And we never seem to notice 'til our lives have finally

Slipped right through our grasp

There's a magic every moment

There's a miracles each day

There's a magic every moment

Oh won't you let the music play

Oh won't you let the music play

You can see forever in a single drop of dew

You can see that same forever if you look down deep inside of you

There's a spark of the creator in every living thing

He respects me when I work but He so loves me when I sing

There's a magic every moment

There's a miracles each day

There's a magic every moment

Oh won't you let the music play

Oh won't you let the music play

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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Already and the not yet – Working for the Weekend

Greetings Dear Reader,

I am always amazed at the number of social posts complaining about Monday.   My Daughter put up at least two yesterday.  We dread Monday and live for the weekends.  We sacrifice the potential joy of the already trying to get to the not yet.

If Monday were not a day of work we would hate Tuesday.  If we worked four days a week instead of three (I have done this.), we would still not like it.  Our fallen nature is opposed to work. 

I think that part of this comes from working in jobs we hate but feel we have no option.   I know people who love the work they and Monday is just another day to live out their dreams.  It is a day that the Lord has made and we should rejoice and be glad in it.

If I live for the weekend then I am not living in the already.  If I embrace each day as a day to encourage another soul, love the world and the Father, and follow Christ as closely as possible.  I must live a life that reflects Christ in every day.  I must pursue him and not a future time where I think I will be happier.

If I live in each moment; in the already for Christ then I can forge a continually improving not yet.  That is what matters. Focus on living for Christ in the moment yields a not yet that is filled with a multitude of moments that are Christ centered.  That is a Monday or any day worth living.  

A Week of Moments – Ian Anderson

A week of moments a clutch of days

Ten thousand minutes of a Passion Play.

Medley of quavers informs the tune.

Its all too much: over all too soon.

Sweet condensation on chilling wine

Travelers palm, flamboyant tree

Fast photos ripped and lost consign

A week of moments to faint memory.

A week of moments plucked from the page

Found far horizons, a sunset stage.

Suitcases bulge, in silence packed

A chapter closed: no looking back.

The lightest touch upon my arm

No fierce restraint, no call to stay.

Hushed room maids glide like pawns to king

With pool attendants in chess piece array.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

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Already and the Not Yet – First Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

I suppose I wonder first what this phrase calls to mind for you Dear Reader.  I am tempted to leave it at that and see your responses.  That, however is not how we do things is it?  The focus of my thinking is in where we live.  We live in the already but spend a great deal of time on the not yet.

My current distress forces me to live moment by moment at times.  My life is supposed to be lived in the now.  We live so much of our lives wanting the not yet over the already.   We want what we want over what we have. 

If I fail to be thankful for and acknowledge what I already have I may destroy it in pursuit of the not yet.  I may give up what is good for what I think is better.  I know I have done this and still see the ripples of that foolishness. 

Jesus wants us to walk with him in the moment.  He wants us to be present with him for each stop of the journey.  When we are happy he wants to be acknowledged for his provision.  When we are in pain he wishes to comfort us.  We follow Christ and he wants us to be with him in every step.

As I prepare myself for the impending Advent season I need to ponder what I already have and assure that I cherish each present moment.  Walk with me as I do dear reader.  As always I value you thoughts and questions.   

Know you in the Now – Michael Card

Echo of history

A light so many strain to see

The One we talk so much about

But rarely ever live it out

Could You tell me why

Was it for this You came and died

A once a week observance

When we coldly mouth Your words

Lord I long to see

Your presence in reality

But I don't know how

Let me know You in the now

We should confess

We lose You in our busyness

We've made You in our image

So our faith's idolatry

Lord, deliver me

Break my heart so I can see

All the ways You dwell in us

That You're alive in me

Lord I long to see

Your presence in reality

But I don't know how

Let me know You in the 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 home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

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Opening the Year – That’s Why It’s Called the Present.

Happy New Year Dear Reader,

A week ago today at this time I was waiting for my Daughter to awaken so we could open our presents to each other.  That was last year.  It is in the past.  I still feel the waves of joy rippling through me as I watched each of my children and grandchildren open their gifts. 

Alas, I have already heard the sighs and moans of returning to normal.  I have already heard the joy and mirth being dis

missed by those who see the day in and day out of life as a grind.  I cannot approach the world this way.

My favorite way to articulate this since 2008 has been through the instruction given in Kung Fu Panda.  “Yesterday is history and tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift; that’s why it’s called the present.”  Each morning that I awaken is a gift from God.  It is my privilege to give it back to him one moment at a time.

I plan and God guides so that I do not get lost in my plans.  I try to pull on the tethers to the past and God gently turns my head back toward the path in front of me.  Today I open a year, a month, and a day.  What I forget is that I am also opening hours, minutes, and moments.  Every one of them is a gift from God for me to use as I will.

Living in the moment must be an eternal exercise in not looking for more in the future.  It must be seeing that the tethers to the past are guides and not puppet strings.  I need to give each moment back to God by assuring that I look for him in it.  I cannot stress this enough. 

In the last two weeks some very painful and dangerous places in my heart have been stirred to a fearful contentious wakefulness.  My thoughts try to push me to think more of the past and the future that the moment.  If I do this I will fail so miserably in living in the moments and that is the only place where my hope and faith work.

So as I open the gift from God that is a new year I pray that he keeps pointing me back to the moment.  I hope that he does not lose patience with my constant looking back or ahead in unhealthy ways.  Perhaps he will be merciful and make my looking back in the wrong way cause me to see things in the right way.  Perhaps as I look to the future I will only see what is good for me to see and try to over think what comes next.

Just like Christmas day with my Grandsons, I want to be so caught up in each gift that I open that I forget that there are others waiting for me to open.  I want each moment to be so filled with the presence of Christ that those around me are anxious for me to open the next one but I am content with the moment until it passes naturally.

Magic Every Moment – Dan Fogelberg

I awoke this morning to a shattering sound

And I went downstairs and found these shards of glass strewn all around

There upon the floor I found this poor broken dove

And it made me realize how very fragile is this life that we so love

I came back up to bed and I held you so tight

And I prayed up to the Father, oh I prayed with all my might

That He'd always keep you with me, that He'd always keep you safe

And when I went downstairs I found that dove had somehow up and flown away

There's a magic every moment

There's a miracles each day

There's a magic every moment

Oh won't you let the music play

Oh won't you let the music play

On a high and windy island I was gazing out to sea

When a long forgotten feeling came and took control of me

It was then the clouds burst open and the sun came pouring through

When it hit those dancing waters in an instant all eternity I knew

There's so much we take for granted--there's so much we never say

We get caught up in the motion of just a living day to day

We are fettered to the future; we are prisoners of the past

And we never seem to notice 'til our lives have finally

Slipped right through our grasp

There's a magic every moment

There's a miracles each day

There's a magic every moment

Oh won't you let the music play

Oh won't you let the music play

You can see forever in a single drop of dew

You can see that same forever if you look down deep inside of you

There's a spark of the creator in every living thing

He respects me when I work but He so loves me when I sing

There's a magic every moment

There's a miracles each day

There's a magic every moment

Oh won't you let the music play

Oh won't you let the music play

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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