Showing posts with label soldiers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label soldiers. Show all posts

11 November 2016

A Season of Gratitude - Veterans

Greetings Dear Reader,

Whether it is friends like James, Mark, or Emily or it a complete stranger I owe a debt of gratitude that I cannot pay.   So many people have offered to give all so that I could live in a free society.  So many people who came home from service are walking wounded.

It hurts me when fellow citizens neglect this debt.  It saddens me when they choose expressing their feelings by burning the flag or hating our country.  I agree that freedom of expression is vital to any free society.  I also think that one must consider the consequences of how one uses that expression.

We do not do enough for our military veterans.  We do not honor them enough.  We do not care for them enough.  We do not live responsibly enough with the freedom they provide.  These common men and women leave behind family and home to secure family and home for all of us. 

In this season of gratitude I wish to express a deep thank you to all who have put it all at risk so that I am free.  I honor you and I respect you.  It is my intent to live a life worthy of the price so many have paid.  Thank you is not enough.

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 ͡°)

04 July 2016

Second Thoughts – Independence – The Boots

Greetings Dear Reader,

Sometimes I will end the day with thoughts that are important to get out.  Usually I just write them and put them in my journal folder.  I have chosen that on occasion I will share them with you Dear Reader.

As I ponder Independence Day weekend I ponder the many things that it includes.  My freedom is bought on many levels at many prices.  I want to ponder for a moment an image of that price.  I want you to walk with me in someone else’s shoes Dear Reader.

The men of my clan hate war.  W\e also understand that our freedom has been purchased with a price.  Please note that my use of the pronoun “he” is intended to leave out anyone of either gender.  Rather it is used as the OED lists it under a pronoun denoting a human being.  If this offends you I would remind you that I am the author and my intent has precedence over other possible assignations of meaning no matter what the intent.  Please Dear Reader, ponder with me.

 The Boots – July 4, 2016

He is wearing shoes.
They are the kind that go with his long hair and unshaven face.
He sees something that touches him deeply.
He enlists.

Now he is wearing boots.
They are his boots.
There are other boots like his boots but these are his boots.

He trains in these boots.
He runs in these boots.
They take on the character of his feet, his walking habits, and his foot strike.
They are his boots and he wears them all through basic training.

He walks onto the tarmac in these boots.
He takes a step off of the soil of his homeland in these boots.
He steps onto the troop transport in his boots that are like so many others.
They are like the others but they are his.

He arrives in the desert in his boots.
They protect him from the sand.
The boots get hot at times.
They are dry and require care.
He cares for the boots that carry him on patrol.
He cares for the boots that carry him through the fight.

Deep in the crevice between the leather and the sole is a dry piece of the soil from the camp where he trained.
Unknown to him he carries with him the homeland he defends.
He lays his life on the line for the soil from which he comes.
The boots carry him and his homeland through the desert.

It does not matter how it happens.
The desert claims him.
His life is forfeit for the home soil.
He dies with the boots on that were his boots.
His boots looked like so many others but they were his.

He will return to that soil now.
He will not stand on it ever again.
He will not enjoy the freedom it offers.
He will not step on the land he protected ever again.

He will return to the soil,
The soil he left behind,
The soil he carried in his boot unknown,
He will be placed beneath it in the garden of defenders
He stepped off his home soil to defend it,
For those who live on it,
And he lies beneath it,
But his boots will never again walk on it.
Thank you…

Wishing you joy in the journey,

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

(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)