That’s All I Gonna Say Right Now ~ I Thought and Prayed and Worked it Through

Greetings Dear Reader,

“And I'm lookin out my car window sittin' in the pouring rain
Although your house is fifteen miles away, I can still feel your pain

I've thought and prayed and worked it through about a hundred times or more
How your soul just cries to everyone to help you get up off the floor”

I hear you Dear Reader.  I do not often have the answer in a practical applicable form but I do hear you.  Your pain is real and I understand it.  Even if you think I do not understand it, I do not have to in order to love you and care about your pain.

We all end up on the floor at some time.  We all need help to get up and try again.  Too often we fail to help each other rise.  We look down, condemn, and step over or on those who need a hand. 

We also alienate those who want to genuinely help.  We let our pride or our romance with our pain keep us from accepting help when we need it.  We sometimes let our hurt become our identity.  We claim we are not victims whilst playing the role in every moment. 

My failure is often to tell everyone I am OK when I am not.  I do draw a line between making my troubles my banner and denying them.  I must be more forthcoming when I speak to my friends.  I must be more open here as well. 

We all need help to get up off the floor.  We should do better at doing that for each other.  That’s all I’m gonna say right now.  I don’t wanna say too much.

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 ͡°)

Contacts for Aramis Thorn:

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Fellow Travelers ~ Walking not Standing

Greetings Dear Reader,

Traveling implies movement.  We are on a journey and we travel together for a day, a moment, or a lifetime.  What matters is not what we carry or the speed at which we travel.  What matters is how we treat each other along the journey.

Instead of treating each other with love and respect, we lie, harm, and avoid each other.  We stand where our hurts and offenses have stopped us instead of walking together.  We become cemented into ways of thinking and acting that reject those who would travel with us.  This is what destroys friendships and families.

My Grandfather used to often say, “You do what you believe.  Everything else is just talk.”  He would also remind me when I would boast about what I was going to do, “Well you have the talking part done.”  

When we fail to do right by those around us we stop traveling with them.  We put them in doubt of our value of them as fellow travelers.  I fail to travel “with” someone when I do not show him or her the love, loyalty, and kindness I am obligated to show.  I stand in my own opinions when I should be walking with someone; listening and caring. 

When we fail to care for each other we collect baggage that slows us down or even stops us altogether.  If we truly believe that we are meant to travel together and care for each other, then we must do so.  We must be walking and not just standing.  We are fettered to the future and, therefore, cannot afford to stand in the prison of the past.

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 ͡°)

Contacts for Aramis Thorn:

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

Facebook      Google +   

Twitter            Medium    

Kids BLOG

Novels on Amazon             

Bookings at aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com

Between the Living and The Dead – Closing Thoughts – Something has Changed

Greetings Dear Reader,

I do not engage in prognostication over prophecy or end times.  I find it is a waste of time and causes too much division.  As I was talking with the friend that sparked this discussion we did, however, agree that something has changed. 

We do not know when the Father will choose to make things right.  We do not know and I do not want to know.  I do feel that something has changed.  There is a different feeling in the world.  I realize that sounds a little too cryptic and mystic but I have been trying all week to find a better way to say it. 

There is a shift from unbelief to mocking those who do believe.  The increase in intolerance of those who follow Christ is noticeable.  People who know me opening mock what I believe without consideration of how it impacts me.  It would be seen, however, as a great crime were I to mock anyone else’s faith.

The open flight from the church troubles me too.  I do not think that the church is faultless in this. In fact, I know we bear much of the fault.  It still troubles me.  Whether I like it or not the church has a mission and it needs all the help it can get.

I hope I am never arrogant enough to think that I have alone in my faith.  That would be a prideful lie.  The friend who germinated this conversation is a hiker.  She is concerned about the path ahead.  I support her in her concern.  She is a fellow traveler whose company I treasure and share all too seldom.

In the journey back to the Father we are both determined to be through hikers.  Even when faith is more questions than answers we both keep walking.  Sometimes I crawl and sometimes I need to be carried.  I help carry others when necessary. 

As I make the turn toward Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week I feel like Bilbo about to enter Mirkwood.  I see the darkness and feel the change in the air.  I know the only way out is through.  I know that the only way through is to stay on the path even when it is narrow and overshadowed.  I hope you stay with me Dear Reader.  I need the company.

Keep On Walking – The Imperials

Are you weary in well-doing, walking on the road to New Jerusalem?

Are you hoping and a-praying, looking any minute for the Lord to come?

And do you see a lot of pleasant-looking places where you might lay down to take a rest?

And if you do, take a look at all the faces there, the sadness will tell you that it's best

To keep on walkin', you don't know how far you've come.

Keep on walkin' for all you know it may be done.

And the Father might be standing up right now to give the call and end it all,

So, keep on walkin'

Now if you need a feelin' to keep you on the road you started travelin' on,

You're gonna have some trouble learning that it's faith that keeps you movin' on.

And in the Lord you start your walk from sitting, but sometimes you have to take a step

And standin's not another word for quitting, it's jut takin' a tighter hold of His hand.

So keep on walkin', you don't know how far you've come.

Keep on walkin' for all you know it may be done.

And the Father might be standing up right now to give the call and end it all,

So, keep on walkin'.

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 ͡°)

Between the Living and The Dead – The Death of Death

Greetings Dear Reader,

In the book Chronicles of Thanatos the Reaper I give Death a persona.  We know that death rules our ecology.  Death will end.  I do not engage in speculation as to when but the time will come when death is over.

The Father has promised a new world that is filled with good.  The entire process of the world is to get us back to good.  I cannot accomplish this but I can participate in the process.  I can do what is right by loving the Father and loving my fellow travelers.

Death is not just that end of life we all encounter.  We must also die to follow Christ.  We must die to our greed and selfishness.  We must die to our insensitivity and anger.  We must die to the things this dead world wants us to embrace and live for the things that matter eternally.

We must take up death and carry it with us in this form.  We must take up our cross and follow Christ.  When you saw a man carrying a cross you saw a dead man.  Since we are already marked for death we may as well be marked in the right way and in good company.  We may as well carry our cross as asked.

The act of following with the cross is what we see as our part in Holy Week.  It costs us something to do this.  We lose things we think we want.  We also gain things we do not yet understand.  We get to turn death into a fighting chance to live.  Death will end but what we do when we die to self never will. 

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 ͡°)

Between the Living and The Dead – The Living Walking Dead

Greetings Dear Reader,

My friend who influenced this piece of writing and I both enjoy The Walking Dead television show.  Then again the writing is quite good.  Oh and the zombies are pretty awesome too. 

I have friends who believe there will actually be a zombie apocalypse some day.  I do not think that it will

come to that.  I do think that one of the undercurrents of the TV show is something that we miss entirely in reality.  Whatever causes the dead to reanimate is already in everyone.   Any death results in reanimation not just a bite from one already infected.

We are already infected with death.  We are condemned by our sin.  We are already the walking dead but do not see the dire nature of it.  Because the nature of our death does not reveal itself in the harsh and brutal way it does in comics and on the screen we do not see how virulent and hazardous it is.

We live in a death based ecology.  Things die to produce life.  From birth we march toward the grave.  All life must be tended or it dies.  Even in this shrouded existence life fights to emerge.  It wants to find a way.  Life will out even if it causes destruction to do so.  It cannot win on its own but it keeps pushing, piercing, and producing. 

It is in Christ that we find the answer.  We turn toward Holy Week with death shrouding us all and demanding its due.  We all have a date with Death.  He will call for us when he is ready.  The body will die but we can still live.  We can live in Christ.  This will not solve all our problems or cure our ills.  It will give us the chance we desire to go on.  It will keep death from a final win.

The problem is that it requires faith and that too is dying in our midst.  So many are setting faith aside and pursuing life in other ways.  I value all life.  We have adopted a culture where the value of life is based on what we want not life for its own sake. 

If I choose to follow Christ, and I do, he insists that I do so in faith.  He demands that I show others how to have life.  He compels me to help him turn death into the fighting chance to live.  Death looms heavy in the air but spring is coming in both reality and metaphor.    

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 ͡°)

Between the Living and The Dead – Opening Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

Many years ago and by many I mean decades I was homeless for a short time.  During that time I lived in my car until it was stolen while I was working a day pay job to get off the streets.  The car was not much but in it were books that were precious to me, my first Bible, and my clothes. 

One of the books I lost was a book titled Please Pardon My Poetry by Jack Hyles.   Whilst I did not agree with most of his Theology I did admire his passion for the souls of others.  It was his banner.  In that book was a poem about Moses and Aaron standing between the living and the dead.

I bought my copy of the book in 1976; two years after I decide to follow Christ.  This past October, as I was settling in the solitude of this place I cannot call home I did a search for the book wanting to find a copy.  I did find it online and ordered a used copy for less than five dollars. 

I forgot about it until it arrived.  Then I tore it open longing to read that poem again.  I flipped to the table of contents and then to the poem.  Only after reading through a couple did I flip back to the front to recall others titles I had enjoyed.  I went too far and landed on the fly leaf. 

I am convinced that God has a very mischievous sense of humor.  There in the corner of the fly page in my 1976 writing was my name and date.  A book I bought in 1976 and lost in 1983 had made its way back to me in 2015.  It reminds me daily of my place between the living and the dead.  It reminds me of my place by the door.   It reminds me what I am supposed to be doing.

As I turn my heart and mind toward Holy Week I am thinking of the ONE who stands between the living and the dead.  The bulk of Holy Week is about death.  So on death will dwell for a few days.  I am not going to be morose but Death is there to keep us honest.  We must, therefore, be honest with death.

I have a reason for what I do.  I will take a short detour through the shadow of the valley of death so that when we get to life it will be all the brighter.  We are not strangers here.  Please walk with me Dear Reader.  I need the company.  Feel free to comment on the scenery.

I Stand by the Door - An Apologia for my Life - Samuel Moore Shoemaker

I stand by the door.

I neither go too far in, nor stay too far out.

The door is the most important door in the world -

It is the door through which men walk when they find God.

There is no use my going way inside and staying there,

When so many are still outside and they, as much as I,

Crave to know where the door is.

And all that so many ever find

Is only the wall where the door ought to be.

They creep along the wall like blind men,

With outstretched, groping hands,

Feeling for a door, knowing there must be a door,

Yet they never find it.

So I stand by the door.

The most tremendous thing in the world

Is for men to find that door - the door to God.

The most important thing that any man can do

Is to take hold of one of those blind, groping hands

And put it on the latch - the latch that only clicks

And opens to the man's own touch.

Men die outside the door, as starving beggars die

On cold nights in cruel cities in the dead of winter.

Die for want of what is within their grasp.

They live on the other side of it - live because they have not found it.

Nothing else matters compared to helping them find it,

And open it, and walk in, and find Him.

So I stand by the door.

Go in great saints; go all the way in -

Go way down into the cavernous cellars,

And way up into the spacious attics.

It is a vast, roomy house, this house where God is.

Go into the deepest of hidden casements,

Of withdrawal, of silence, of sainthood.

Some must inhabit those inner rooms

And know the depths and heights of God,

And call outside to the rest of us how wonderful it is.

Sometimes I take a deeper look in.

Sometimes venture in a little farther,

But my place seems closer to the opening.

So I stand by the door.

There is another reason why I stand there.

Some people get part way in and become afraid

Lest God and the zeal of His house devour them;

For God is so very great and asks all of us.

And these people feel a cosmic claustrophobia

And want to get out. 'Let me out!' they cry.

And the people way inside only terrify them more.

Somebody must be by the door to tell them that they are spoiled.

For the old life, they have seen too much:

One taste of God and nothing but God will do any more.

Somebody must be watching for the frightened

Who seek to sneak out just where they came in,

To tell them how much better it is inside.

The people too far in do not see how near these are

To leaving - preoccupied with the wonder of it all.

Somebody must watch for those who have entered the door

But would like to run away. So for them too,

I stand by the door.

I admire the people who go way in.

But I wish they would not forget how it was

Before they got in. Then they would be able to help

The people who have not yet even found the door.

Or the people who want to run away again from God.

You can go in too deeply and stay in too long

And forget the people outside the door.

As for me, I shall take my old accustomed place,

Near enough to God to hear Him and know He is there,

But not so far from men as not to hear them,

And remember they are there too.

Where? Outside the door -

Thousands of them. Millions of them.

But - more important for me -

One of them, two of them, ten of them.

Whose hands I am intended to put on the latch.

So I shall stand by the door and wait

For those who seek it.

'I had rather be a door-keeper

So I stand by 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 home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

In Christ Alone – Closing Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

This is simple.  If I am to stand it must be in Christ.  If I am to live and move it must be in Christ.  “From life’s first cry to final breath Jesus commands my destiny.”  It is not up to me to decide if this is true.  It is up to me to live that it is.

I can choose to do what is right and live within this.   I can choose to resist it.  There is no path that runs true outside of following Christ.  If I accept that my best destiny is to follow in faith then I live in harmony in Christ. 

Getting everything right is impossible.  Dismissing my weaknesses and leaving them behind is not an easy affair.  It is only in Christ that I can find the will and power to be a better man.  It does not quell the pain of solitude or eliminate the fear that I feel.  It does give me ground on which to stand.

As I move into this place I find that I want to escape it.  I cannot.  I will not.  I will find a way to follow Christ with my whole heart.  I will find a way to be in Christ alone whilst I am alone.  He does not promise that it will be easy.  He does promise the way out is through and he will lead me.  In Christ alone I take my stand.

I have so many good things in my life.  The things I lack right now are painful and deep.  As I set out on this journey I must see the fairness and beauty that is Jesus.  I must live in the belief that even the lonely parts of the journey are with Christ.  Jesus, however, makes the woeful heart sing. 

Fairest Lord Jesus (The Crusader’s Hymn) – Kemper Crab

Fairest Lord Jesus, ruler of all nature,

O thou of God and man the Son,

Thee will I cherish, Thee will I honor,

thou, my soul's glory, joy, and crown.

Fair are the meadows, fairer still the woodlands,

robed in the blooming garb of spring:

Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer

who makes the woeful heart to sing.

Fair is the sunshine, fairer still the moonlight,

and all the twinkling starry host:

Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer

than all the angels heaven can boast.

Beautiful Savior! Lord of all the nations!

Son of God and Son of Man!

Glory and honor, praise, adoration,

now and forevermore be thine.

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 ͡°)

In Christ Alone – My Comforter

Greetings Dear Reader,

We all know that smile that parents get when they see their children about to learn an important lesson.   I think sometimes God gives me that knowing look.  As parents we also have those moments where we ask our children just to trust us. 

God promises to be my comforter if I will let him.  He assures me that even in my solitude I am not alone.  Most of my mind screams that he does not understand when I know he does.  Most of friends insist that I will get used to being alone.  I do not believe that for a moment. 

  

We do so many things to comfort our lives.  There is something about other humans that comforts me.  When I am alone for too long it is almost physical pain.  When I dine alone it impedes my spirit in a way I have never been able to overcome.  When I am alone for too long it hinders my sleep and my stability.   Still I must choose to do what is right.  Still I must allow Christ to teach me what he wishes to teach me.

I do believe that God will see me through this.  I know he has me sequestered for a reason.  Not knowing the reason makes it more difficult.  Being willing to learn makes it less so.  So I open my devotional at work to steel myself for the day.  Immediately I feel that parental smile from God as he sees me beginning to see. 

Once again Streams in the Desert seems to be tracking with my life…

Hide thyself by the brook Cherith (1 Kings 17:3).

God's servants must be taught the value of the hidden life. The man who is to take a high place before his fellows must take a low place before his God. We must not be surprised if sometimes our Father says: "There, child, thou hast had enough of this hurry, and publicity, and excitement; get thee hence, and hide thyself b the brook--hide thyself in the Cherith of the sick chamber, or in the Cherith of bereavement, or in some solitude from which the crowds have ebbed away."

Happy is he who can reply, "This Thy will is also mine; I flee unto Thee to hide me. Hide me in the secret of Thy tabernacle, and beneath the covert of Thy wings!"

Every saintly soul that would wield great power with men must win it in some hidden Cherith. The acquisition of spiritual power is impossible, unless we can hide ourselves from men and from ourselves in some deep gorge where we may absorb the power of the eternal God; as vegetation through long ages absorbed these qualities of sunshine, which it now gives back through burning coal…Our Lord found His Cherith at Nazareth, and in the wilderness of Judea; amid the olives of Bethany, and the solitude of Gadara. None of us, therefore, can dispense with some Cherith where the sounds of human voices are exchanged for the waters of quietness which are fed from the throne; and where we may taste the sweets and imbibe the power of a life hidden with Christ.   --Elijah, by Meyer

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 ͡°)

In Christ Alone – When Strivings Cease

Greetings Dear Reader,

Most of the time the statement “Let go and let God” seems trite and oversimplified to me.  When we strive against what God wishes for us, however, we always fail.  As I prepared to write this morning I completed my Bible reading and checked to see if any of my friends needed prayer.  One of the avenues I check is Face Book. 

To my delight my Daughter, Christmas had put up a new painting.  I would include it in the post but she is asleep and I do not have permission.  It moved me to deeper understanding of how we can grow when we cease striving against what God has to teach us. 

Everything about following involves yieldedness.  We turn ourselves over to the one leading us.  We yield to the mastery of Christ over everything in our lives.  We submit to his calling, direction, and will.  We walk on our knees.  We learn on our knees.  We stand and advance on our knees.

As I seek to live, move, and be in Christ alone this painting and this understanding energizes me.  Thank you Christmas.  Thank you dear Daughter.  It is in ceasing to strive against the call of Christ to whatever he has for us that we find who we are and how we should live. 

The Basin and the Towel – Michael Card 

And the call is to community

In an upstairs room, a parable

Is just about to come alive

And while they bicker about who's best

With a painful glance, He'll silently rise

Their Savior Servant must show them how

Through the will of the water

And the tenderness of the towel

And the call is to community

The impoverished power that sets the soul free

In humility, to take the vow

That day after day we must take up the basin and the towel

In any ordinary place

On any ordinary day

The parable can live again

When one will kneel and one will yield

Our Saviour Servant must show us how

Through the will of the water

And the tenderness of the towel

The space between ourselves sometimes

Is more than the distance between the stars

By the fragile bridge of the Servant's bow

We take up the basin and the towel

And the call is to community

The impoverished power that sets the soul free

In humility, to take the vow

That day after day we must take up the basin

And the call is to community

The impoverished power that sets the soul free

In humility, to take the vow

That day after day we must take up the basin

That day after day we must take up the basin

That day after day we must take up the basin and the towel

Take up the basin and the towel, basin and towel

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 ͡°)

In Christ Alone – Fear is Stilled

Greetings Dear Reader,

I have written extensively about fear.  Recently I had a conversation with someone whose fear has frozen her for years.  She has great potential but has stayed in a job she hates due to her fear of change.

The love and peace of Christ can still fear.  Fear is what keeps us from taking up whatever cross Christ has for us to carry.  I was pondering this very thing when I read yesterday’s entry for Streams in the Desert.  I will add it below.

I think too often we fear that when God leads us into a wilderness that he will not be there with us.  The point is that is where we can discover just how close he really is.  If we do not carry the burdens he asks of us then we will not learn the lessons he has for us. 

It is fear that drives us away from God, toward despair, and into failure.  It is fear that takes away our peace and keeps us from being loving.  Fear kills our thinking and cripples our faith whenever we let it have reign.  We must use the love and peace of Christ to still our fear. 

I can only follow if I do so without fear.  I my feel afraid but I must not give fear movement or momentum.  It is at the heart of my selfishness and anger.  It is the soul of my fallen nature.  Only without fear can I face the journey before me.

From Streams in the Desert – September 14 – Lettie B. Cowman

The cross which my Lord bids me take up and carry may assume different shapes. I may have to content myself with a lowly and narrow sphere, when I feel that I have capacities for much higher work. I may have to go on cultivating year after year, a field which seems to yield me no harvests whatsoever. I may be bidden to cherish kind and loving thoughts about someone who has wronged me--be bidden speak to him tenderly, and take his part against all who oppose him, and crown him with sympathy and succor. I may have to confess my Master amongst those who do not wish to be reminded of Him and His claims. I may be called to "move among my race, and show a glorious morning face," when my heart is breaking.

There are many crosses, and every one of them is sore and heavy. None of them is likely to be sought out by me of my own accord. But never is Jesus so near me as when I lift my cross, and lay it submissively on my shoulder, and give it the welcome of a patient and unmurmuring spirit.

He draws close, to ripen my wisdom, to deepen my peace, to increase my courage, to augment my power to be of use to others, through the very experience which is so grievous and distressing, and then--as I read on the seal of one of those Scottish Covenanters whom Claverhouse imprisoned on the lonely Bass, with the sea surging and sobbing round--I grow under the load.

--Alexander Smellie

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 ͡°)

In Christ Alone – Depths of Peace

Greetings Dear Reader,

I am surly not there yet but I am closer.  I am at peace that God has me in a place where he wants me to learn something.  There is still no peace in the exile and isolation.  There is still no peace in my pain.

The former peace, however, needs to be enough for now.  If God wishes me to learn then the student I must be.  I love learning and it is a life-long pursuit for me.  I have had to learn in the midst of pain before now. 

So as find peace in the requirements of my situation I must focus my faith on the things with which I am not at peace.  I can endure anything if Christ wills me to walk through it.   What will be on the other end of the trial I do not know.  Submitting myself to the tutelage is the only way I will find peace in it.   

God does not promise that there will never be loneliness, isolation, and pain.  He does promise that if I hold onto my faith I can get through it.  So I focus on the learning and stop asking why.  I resolve to be honest about where I am and follow in faith.  I must find a way to use the time to grow and find new ways to be a better man. 

I hate the pain.  I love God.  We will see how it unfolds as I seek peace in Christ alone.  I dare not tell others to do this if I am not willing to do the same.

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 ͡°)

In Christ Alone – Heights of Love

Greetings Dear Reader,

“This is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the payment for our sins.”  Sometimes I think that this is all that needs to be said.  It should be but it is not.  We find vast and interesting ways to make our hearts hard toward this love.

Every time I do not act out of love toward others I distance myself from the love that redeems me.  Christ does not abandon me. Christ does not leave me alone.  He does not add up my errors, hold grudges, or abandon me.  He asks me to do the same.  He asks anyone who follows him to do the same.

If it is in Christ I live and move I can show this same love.  I can lay aside fear and strife.  I can truly trust and give.  I can let the pain of the past fade and take away its power to intimidate my future.  The love of God never fails.  If I act in that love then I cannot fail.  Even if others do not respond, I have not failed.   Because God loves me he will never fail me.

This is the ultimate hard deck.  This is the thing beyond which there is nothing that needs to be said.  This is the essence of what it means to follow Christ.  It is the core of what it is to be in Christ alone.  When I am alone if I am in Christ I can find a way.

“What will separate us from the love Christ has for us? Can trouble, distress, persecution, hunger, nakedness, danger, or violent death separate us from his love? As Scripture says: ‘We are being killed all day long because of you. We are thought of as sheep to be slaughtered.’ The one who loves us gives us an overwhelming victory in all these difficulties. I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love which Christ Jesus our Lord shows us. We can't be separated by death or life, by angels or rulers, by anything in the present or anything in the future, by forces or powers in the world above or in the world below, or by anything else in creation.”

How Deep the Father’s Love for Us – Stuart Townend

How deep the Father’s love for us,

How vast beyond all measure,

That He should give His only Son

To make a wretch His treasure.

How great the pain of searing loss -

The Father turns His face away,

As wounds which mar the Chosen One

Bring many sons to glory.

Behold the man upon a cross,

My sin upon His shoulders;

Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice

Call out among the scoffers.

It was my sin that held Him there

Until it was accomplished;

His dying breath has brought me life -

I know that it is finished.

I will not boast in anything,

No gifts, no power, no wisdom;

But I will boast in Jesus Christ,

His death and resurrection.

Why should I gain from His reward?

I cannot give an answer;

But this I know with all my heart -

His wounds have paid my ransom.

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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In Christ Alone – Solid Ground

Greetings Dear Reader,

I have slogged through muddy mucky fields where the every step was sodden and leaden.  My feet have carried me through deep dry sand where each movement seemed and eternal effort.  My legs have pushed through snow that was waist deep and survival depended on moving forward.

In each instance where the terrain was its own challenge what I sought was solid ground.  I am fighting to avoid my own slough of despond.  Over the decades since I put my faith in Christ I have learned that the only way to avoid this is by understanding and believing that Christ is my only solid ground.

Another project I am still working on is a sentence by sentence analysis of the Book of Romans.   The two things had an interesting conjunction with a current political/social hurricane.  Whilst it is clear that Paul addresses some specific sin at the end of chapter one, I think we overlook that he equates sexual immorality with breaking promises and being disobedient to parents.

Before we spend too much time thumping on any sin we find objectionable I think we should realize how deeply we are already mired in our own sin.  The sins we embrace are not as heinous to us.  Every sin is heinous to God.  Losing that perspective mires us all so deeply that we do not realize our only solid ground is Christ.

When I think of what I do not have that is a poor focus.  When I try to slog through the swamp of my emotional pain alone I have no hope getting through the slough.  Even in the midst of the deep drifts or burning sands there is solid ground.  It is Christ.  It is Christ alone.  It is Christ alone that can be my solid Ground.   Anything else is a misstep, full stop.

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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In Christ Alone – Cornerstone

Greetings Dear Reader,

To understand how Christ is my cornerstone I must understand the significance of cornerstones to the Biblical authors.  What we now think of as a ceremonial edifice was once the primary joining stone for exterior walls.  It was the guide for the foundation.  This stone was usually larger than the others in the walls and was carved with extreme care.

The cornerstone becomes the reference point for all other stones laid in the building.  It is the guide for what the building becomes.  It is the vital key to development of the entire structure.  We have turned the cornerstone into a ceremonial edifice.  I fear that we have done the same with Christ.

If I am to depend on Christ alone then I must reach the place where he is my reference point for everything I become.   I become adamant in my alignment, dependence, and reference to all that Christ is.  I must allow him to determine all that I am.

Even as I seek to find my path in this space I can only do so if I use Christ as my reference point.  All my hope of the proper lay lines and travel are placed in this cornerstone.  I must not have hope in anything or anyone else.  Jesus is my cornerstone.

Cornerstone – Hillsong

My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus blood and righteousness

I dare not trust the sweetest frame

But wholly trust in Jesus name

My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus blood and righteousness

I dare not trust the sweetest frame

But wholly trust in Jesus name

Christ alone; cornerstone

Weak made strong; in the Saviour's love

Through the storm, He is Lord

Lord of all

When Darkness seems to hide His face

I rest on His unchanging grace

In every high and stormy gale

My anchor holds within the veil

My anchor holds within the veil

Christ alone; cornerstone

Weak made strong; in the Saviour's love

Through the storm, He is Lord

Lord of all

He is Lord

Lord of all

Christ alone

Christ alone; cornerstone

Weak made strong; in the Saviour's love

Through the storm, He is Lord

Lord of all

Christ alone; cornerstone

Weak made strong; in the Saviour's love

Through the storm, He is Lord

Lord of all

When He shall come with trumpet sound,

Oh, may I then in Him be found;

Dressed in His righteousness alone,

Faultless stand before the throne.

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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In Christ Alone – Song

Greetings Dear Reader,

The adjustment makes a song difficult.  Dirges float through me more than the bright stuff I like.   Sleep eludes me.  When I do sleep the cinema of my mind torments me.  I love music and am trying to put Christ in my mind as deeply as possible.

There are songs that help and I am listening to them even though my heart yearns to dwell on minor keys and tragic tones.  If I am not real in this Dear Reader I will not be real in anything else.  This solitude forces me to make Christ my song.

Whether I sing through laughter of tears I do better if I sing.  I must be careful that I push away the songs that diminish my faith and hope.  I must cling to the music that pushes me step by step down the path.  Even when the steps are leaden and hard if Christ is my song I will find my way. 

My story is at painful chapter, but then all good stories are.  My journey seems to be in the dark paths or Mirkwood with little sign of getting through any time soon.  Then again, I carry the light of Christ with me in my heart.  I am carried by the strength of Christ when I am weary.  I will walk on with the song of Christ on my lips.

I do not want to today.  I want to despair.  I want to quit.  I want to abandon my quest.  An untested faith is not worth having so I will not despair, quit, or stop following.  I will keep the company of those who held on to their faith even when every step was marked with tears.  The way out is through.  If this is where he leads me this is where I am to follow.  It truly is that simple. 

My Story – Big Daddy Weave

If I told you my story

You would hear hope that wouldn't let go

If I told you my story

You would hear love that never gave up

If I told you my story

You would hear life but it wasn't mine

If I should speak then let it be

Of the grace that is greater than all my sin

Of when justice was served and where mercy wins

Of the kindness of Jesus that draws me in

To tell you my story is to tell of Him

If I told you my story

You would hear victory over the enemy

If told you my story

You would hear freedom that was won for me

If I told you my story

You would hear life overcome the grave

If I should speak then let it be

This is my story this is my song praising my Savior all the day long

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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In Christ Alone – Strength

Greetings Dear Reader,

I recently had someone tell me that he/she was too tired to love others unconditionally.  We break when we try to love others in our own strength.  We fail when we try to do anything in our own strength. 

I know that I do not have the strength to do the things I must.  I look at the place in which I live and know that I will not “get used” to it as some have suggested.  I see decaying faith around me and it tries to steal my rest.  I hurt for a world that needs to see God’s love so deeply. 

Left to my own devices I am evil, wicked, selfish, and cunning.   The strength to do right even when it hurts comes from Christ.  The strength to do right to others even when they betray my trust come from Christ.  The strength to forgive and continue to love comes from Christ.

I feel weak and alone today.  My response must be to dive deeper into Christ.  I must find my strength in him to do what is right no matter how much it hurts.  Perhaps I am in a valley that hinders me seeing how close I am to a clearer view.  Even today, however, there are fireflies of joy in what feels like suffocating darkness. 

I choose Christ and following him.  Freedom from all of this is only found in obeying Christ.  I merely need the strength to do it.  Christ promises to give me that because he is my strength.

Joy in the Journey – Michael Card

There is a joy in the journey

There's a light we can love on the way

There is a wonder and wildness to life

And freedom for those who obey

And all those who seek it shall find it

A pardon for all who believe

Hope for the hopeless and sight for the blind

To all who've been born of the Spirit

And who share incarnation with Him

Who belong to eternity stranded in time

And weary of struggling with sin

Forget not the hope that's before you

And never stop counting the cost

Remember the hopelessness when you were lost

There is a joy in the journey

There's a light we can love on the way

There is a wonder and wildness to life

And freedom for those who obey

And freedom for those who obey

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 ͡°)

In Christ Alone – Light

Greetings Dear Reader,

Darkness is the absence of light.  It has no qualities of its own.  The first thing we hear from God is that he wishes there to be light.  John, Jesus’ best friend represents Jesus as the light that shines in the darkness beyond the comprehension of the darkness. 

I have learned to work in my place in very dim light.  I like low light in the mornings.  I am often surprised, however, how much more I can see when there is a stronger quality of light.  Things that were in the shadows of my meager light are revealed in the brightness. 

If I try to produce my own light in following Christ I get the same result.  I cannot see clearly what I must think, do, and be as his follower.  In Christ alone can I find the light I need to see my way.  The light is real in Christ.

So as I follow I must look to the light that Christ provides and not try to manufacture my own.  I must reflect that light in my interactions with everyone.  The Light of the World offers to be my torch in the darkness.  How can I be so foolish as to refuse.

Light of the World – Michael Card

You are the Light of the World oh Lord

You make Your servants shine

So how could there be any darkness in me

If You are the Light of the World

You are the Light of the World

You are the Bread of Life oh Lord

Broken to set us free

So how could there be any hunger in me

If You are the Bread of Life

You are the Bread of Life

You've overcome the world oh Lord

And given us victory

So how could I fear when trouble is near

If You've overcome the world

You've overcome the world

Wipe every tear away oh Lord

And teach us the song of the Lamb

The promise is true but it's still up to You

To wipe every tear away

Wipe every tear away

Wipe every tear 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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In Christ Alone – Hope

Greetings Dear Reader,

When we stand with Christ it is an all or nothing bargain.   He does not want partial faith, fealty, of following.  No matter how thin my hope is in my situation my hope in Christ can be firm.  It is the contradiction with which I struggle.

We place hope in others that they will be faithful to their relationships, commitments, and duties.  When they are not we are forced to decide if we will be faithful to our commitment to trust Christ in all things.

Wars have been fought over such a dilemma.  No matter what I think I need, whether genuine or imagined, I must adhere to my hope in Christ for all things.  If I sing, “In Christ alone my hope is found…” then I must live it. 

Hope will be realized in Christ.  This does not answer the practical questions or belay my fears.  It does not quell the pain of betrayal and fear of solitude.  It is the hard deck below which I will not slip.  Christ is at work within me to both will and to do according to his good pleasure. 

When I realized my failures as a father I put my hope in Christ that he would work out my evil for good.  When Avalon chose to go walkabout over her vows to me I put my hope in Christ that he would work all things according to his good pleasure.  When others have promised me that they would follow Christ with me no matter what and then walked away from it I have had to find my hope in the truth that Christ will work things out in his favor. 

In this then I too must find my hope in Christ.  I must stand firm in that.  I must yield to Christ in all things including my hope.  We will see how it unfolds.  I will not abandon hope no matter how thin it feels today.  After all it is one of the three things that abides.

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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In Christ Alone – Opening Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

And so we come to the turn of the tide.  The seasons change and my brief vacation will end.  I have things to still arrange in my new abode to make it completely livable.  I have a toehold on how to do that.  I have projects to complete and begin.

Although I did not lose my footing in the past month of transition there were times where the path was slippery.  Other times the path was elusive.  There are parts of it that still are.  No matter the footing or the clarity of the path moving forward is always the same. 

I am going to spend some time reminding myself where I stand and why I stand there.  No matter which thread I pull on they trace to the same place.  I must only stand by the grace of God I find in Christ.  I realize that sounds simplistic.  It is not.  It is the complexity of doing this that I need to explore.

Stuart Townend has a song that addresses this and I am going to use that as my springboard.  The song is amazing.  The journey through it should be revealing.  I hope to find firmer footing and let go of anything else that I use for my stability.  Walk with me if you wish.  I value your company and counsel.

In Christ Alone – Stuart Townend

In Christ alone my hope is found,

He is my light, my strength, my song;

This Cornerstone, this solid Ground,

Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love, what depths of peace,

When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!

My Comforter, my All in All,

Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone! - who took on flesh,

Fullness of God in helpless babe.

This gift of love and righteousness,

Scorned by the ones He came to save:

Till on that cross as Jesus died,

The wrath of God was satisfied -

For every sin on Him was laid;

Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,

Light of the world by darkness slain:

Then bursting forth in glorious day

Up from the grave He rose again!

And as He stands in victory

Sin's curse has lost its grip on me,

For I am His and He is mine -

Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,

This is the power of Christ in me;

From life's first cry to final breath,

Jesus commands my destiny.

No power of hell, no scheme of man,

Can ever pluck me from His hand:

Till He returns or calls me home,

Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

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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