Second Thoughts ~ Everything is Empty

Greetings Dear Reader,

I grew up mostly in Atlanta.  I remember riding on the bus to school the day the “Population Now” sign passed 500,000 and the bus driver pointing it out.  The last time I saw it the number had passed 5,000,000. 

I had to drive from my small hamlet to Atlanta on Monday for an authentic reason.  If you do not know the interstate system in the greater Atlanta area it is a congested mess during rush hour.   I drove through the worst part of that system during morning drive time without touching my brakes once.

It was like the first episode of the Walking Dead when Rick is riding his horse along the interstate with no competition.  There were a few cars moving as I drove but the highway was eerily empty.  The traffic to my destination on surface streets was little different. 

I had to wait for a bit at my destination and waited in my car.  Even the place I had to visit was less busy than it should have been.  Where I parked was not marked against parking and there was no traffic.   Still, a worker came up and informed me and the driver in the car I had parked behind that we had to move.

I watched the driver of the other car berate the worker for his message.  When he came to me, I thanked him for doing his job when it was difficult.  I moved immediately to and empty library parking lot across from a Chic-fil-a.   Whilst I waited the additional hour, I saw the heaviest traffic of the day.  It was dozens of cars lining up to get chicken sandwiches. 

Even in the crowded emptiness, I saw a man do his job when it was difficult.  I witnessed somebody mistreat him for it.  I watched a trained crew serve lunch to hundreds of customers with skill and a bright spirit.  It all revealed that the world is so very empty.  It is the people who fill it.  They bring their hearts to the world and either treat others wrong or right.  In all of that, we either crowd the emptiness with good or ill. 

It is up to me to do good or to do ill.  It is my responsibility to do good.  The world needs all the good we can spare right now.  Even in the empty streets of large cities, we need to treat others great, not just good.  I need to be nice, kind, loving, and attentive.  It is how we make the journey joyous even through the lonely boulevards of cities under siege.  It is how we show Christ to others when it is most difficult.  Help others where you can, Dear Reader.  I will too.  Be kind in every circumstance even when those who lead us forget to do so.  The One we follow never forgets.

Crash-Barrier Waltzer – Jethro Tull

And here slip I --- dragging one foot in the gutter
in the midnight echo of the shop that sells cheap
radios.
And there sits she --- no bed, no bread, no butter ---
on a double yellow line --- where she can park anytime.
Old Lady Grey; crash-barrier waltzer ---
some only son's mother. Baker Street casualty.
Oh, Mr. Policeman --- blue shirt ballet master.
Feet in sticking plaster --- move the old lady on.
Strange pas-de-deux --- his Romeo to her Juliet.
Her sleeping draught, his poisoned regret.
No drunken bums allowed to sleep here in the
crowded emptiness.
Oh officer, let me send her to a cheap hotel ---
I'll pay the bill and make her well - like hell you
bloody will!
No do-good overkill. We must teach them
to be still more independent.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

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

(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

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

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As You are Going ~ Closing Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

I think we agree that it is all a journey.  Perhaps we can concur as well that even though we do not agree as to destination, that the journey is at as important as where we are going.  How we conduct ourselves on the journey is vital to how well we fare as we go.

If I am to do things well, I must see that every encounter as I am going is part of the focus of the journey.  As I am going, I must treat every individual with the love and kindness that is what sustains me along the way.  Whether it is family, friends, strangers, or enemies, I am required to love.  I am obligated to be good and generous. 

The journey has challenges for all of us.  It picks at our weaknesses and assaults our insecurities.  The road is rarely level, soft, and pleasant.  The joy we find along the way can only be in the life and beauty we experience as we are going.  The only thing that lasts is the love we share with each other. 

It is in this that I choose to set my hard deck on interaction with other humans.  As I am going, I must treat everyone with love.  I must make this my habit until it becomes my predisposition.   There will be those who will try my patience and preferences.  Pondering this has left me with this question Dear Reader:  If those I find easy to love see me treat anyone in an unloving way, how can they be sure that I will always love them?

That alone is enough to motivate me to do better daily and be more loving and kinder as I am going.  That alone is reason to work at being good to others as I encounter them.  It is in the choice to do this that peace and grace are found.  It is the key to forgiveness, restoration, and reconciliation.  As we move on to what is next, perhaps we can find a better understanding of each other on this common ground.

Less of Me – Glen 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 bits 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

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:

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As You are Going ~ Never in Doubt

Greetings Dear Reader,

As we are going, we are required to show love in all that we do.  Let us ponder that for a moment.  The question it begs is whether or not our actions evidence the love we claim to have.  Since we cannot take out our love and show it to others, we can only evidence our love through what we do.

There will be those who see the ways in which we show our love and accept it.  There will also be those who insist that we show love in a way that meets their preconception.  The latter is almost impossible to appease.  It requires that we understand what the other person wishes and have the capacity and will to grant it.  Too often, we are not understood or the other’s demands are unreasonable.

We are not able to meet everyone’s expectations and when we do, those unwilling to be loved will find fault with it.  The doubt of truly being loved is what is really at issue.  We rarely default to thinking of others as loving us but not showing it in the way we wish.  Rather, we default to thinking that we are unloved because it is not expressed the way we demand.

Some believe that your love is genuine because of the way you show it.  They have learned to see how you express your love and find a way to connect with it.  Our task is to show love to the fullest of our ability.  We can learn how others receive love and do what we can to make that connection.  Some will not receive it no matter what we do to show it.

As I am going, I realize that doubt of being loved is what leads to almost all of our ills.  I know it is at the core of my failures, faults, and fears.  When I feel unloved and rejected I do very stupid things.  I must learn that I am not responsible for results, just to show love in every encounter.  Some people make it hard to express love to them.  I make it hard for some people.  Almost every situation I know where people are bitter and closed is the result of someone feeling unloved and disappointed in someone who was supposed to show him or her love. 

The Father gives us love every day that is without a doubt.  We use our mind and heart to resist that love.  We fail daily to let is envelop us in its restorative embrace.  We do not allow love to cast out our fears so we fail to show it to others as we are going.  As with all things is following Christ, it comes down to choice. 

I must choose to love in such a way that it is never in doubt.  I must leave no doubt that I love others.  I must risk all to do so.  If I do not then my kindest words are just empty babel.   In case you have not heard it recently, I love you, Dear Reader.

Babylon - David Gray

Friday night I'm going nowhere
All the lights are changing green to red
Turning over TV stations
Situations running through my head

Looking back through time
You know it's clear that I've been blind, I've been a fool
To open up my heart to all that jealousy
That bitterness, that ridicule

Saturday I'm running wild
And all the lights are changing red to green
Moving through the crowds I'm pushing
Chemicals are rushing in my bloodstream

Only wish that you were here
You know I'm seeing it so clear
I've been afraid
To show you how I really feel
Admit to some of those bad mistakes I've made

And if you want it
Come and get it
Crying out loud
The love that I was
Giving you was
Never in doubt

Let go of your heart
Let go of your head
And feel it now
Let go of your heart
Let go of your head
And feel it now

Babylon, Babylon, Babylon

Sunday all the lights of London shining
Sky is fading red to blue
Kicking through the autumn leaves
And wondering where it is you might be going to

Turning back for home
You know I'm feeling so alone
I can't believe
Climbing on the stair
I turn around to see you smiling there
In front of me

And if you want it
Come and get it
Crying out loud
The love that I was
Giving you was
Never in doubt

Let go of your heart
Let go of your head
And feel it now

Let go of your heart
Let go of your head
And feel it now

Let go of your heart
Let go of your head
And feel it now

Let go of your heart
Let go of your head
And feel it now

Babylon, Babylon, Babylon, Babylon, ah

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:

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As You are Going ~ Faithless Whores

Greetings Dear Reader,

WHOA!!!  I realize that this title does not seem like my usual ones.  I am not about to go on a rant about immorality or judge a specific group of people.  I did, however, wish to grab your attention as a lead to my thoughts on as you are going.  I will get back to the prostitutes in a moment.

As you are going you will find people who live a life that is offensive to you.  Their particular flaws scrape against your sense of what is good and right, sometimes to the point of disgust.  As we are going, we encounter people whose brokenness is sharp glass to our little bit of wholeness.  That sharp glass is a mirror.

No matter what we have done and how much forgiveness we have acquired, our crookedness is still offensive to someone.  We all choose some kind of wrong this is beyond grace and mercy.  We all find sin to judge that makes us more comfortable with our own.  That mirror I mentioned; it is the one that reflects our own failures as they appear in the eyes of others.  It is why Jesus made the comment about first stones. 

Try to put your mind in that moment.  The GOD-man stands there saying, “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.”  They know that he is God incarnate even though they do not accept it.  The presence of the sinless Son searches them as they stand there with murderous intent.  To the man, they drop their stones and leave the prostitute in the dust. 

Then, the sinless one goes to the woman and raises her out of the dust.  He does not require a confession of faith.  He does not demand anything.  He tells her to go her way and sin no more.  I have the privilege of knowing some women who do or did this work to make their way in the world.  They are humans with hearts and souls that require love and grace. 

I recently read an argument saying that no former prostitute (Rahab) could be a part of the lineage of Christ.  The problem with this is it assumes that all the other ways in which we do wrong are acceptable as the human contribution to the GOD-man.  David was a murderer.  Solomon had many wives and was a poor father. 

It is broken things that the Father uses to show us our need for his Son.  Hosea was told by the Father to take a wife who was a prostitute.  He was told to love her and he did.  She kept returning to the streets and he still loved her.  Most of us would have cast her aside and judged her lower than we are.  Hosea kept loving her even when she wronged him.  We are all crooked sticks Dear Reader.  We all fail, falter, and fall. 

We are the ones who pledge ourselves to Christ and his house then run and return to our own path.  We promise to follow in faith and then sell ourselves for what we think is better.  We return to the familiar when the righteous way becomes too narrow for our wants.   We pick sins to that are “worse” than ours judge them to make us look better. 

The ones who Jesus called out for that are the Pharisees.   We deny being like them.  Still, we fail to see who the faithless whores are.  We fail to look into the mirror of other shattered lives and see the truth.  You see, when you ask who I am calling a “faithless whore”, the only honest answer is it is us, Dear Reader.  It is us.  As we are going, we may wish to go with a bit more love, mercy, and grace.  It will be easier on us if we do so,

Song of Gomer - Michael Card

Don't know what he sees in me

He is spirit, he is free

And I the wife of adultery

Gomer is my name

Simply more than I can see

How he keeps on forgiving me

How he keeps his sanity

Hosea, you're a fool

A fool to love someone like me

A fool to suffer silently

Though sometimes through your eyes I see

I'd rather be a fool

The fondness of a father

The passion of a child

The tenderness of a loving friend

An understanding smile

All of this and so much more

You've lavished on a faithless whore

I've never known love like this before

Hosea, you're a fool

A fool to love someone like me

A fool to suffer silently

Though sometimes through your eyes I see

I'd rather be a fool

This God of yours would not have told

To lift a love that you couldn't hold

And though time and time again I flee

I'm always glad to see you coming after me

Simply more than I can see

How he keeps on forgiving me

The wife of adultery

Gomer is my name

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:

Support Page on Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn

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As You are Going ~ Those Who Serve

Greetings Dear Reader,

I need to ask you a circumstantial question.  You are at an expensive restaurant for dinner.  You are dining alone but you are content.   Your server greets you and engages in light chit-chat, suggests a featured meal, and takes your drink order.  You choose to have crab cakes, steamed asparagus, and sweet potato salad.   You enjoy some excellent fresh-baked rolls as you await your meal.

The server brings you your sweet tea.  It is good but obviously a tad bitter.  You choose to ignore it and enjoy another roll.  Your meal arrives.  It looks excellent.   It is not.  The crab cakes are not done in the middle and obviously, have too much garlic.  The asparagus is mush.  The sweet potato salad is bland and tastes mostly like mayonnaise. 

Your server enquires as to your satisfaction with the meal.  You choose not to say anything.  Your celebratory mood, however, is now cold and dismal.  The bill arrives.  The cost of your meal is $22.16.   My question is this: what do you leave as a tip?

If you leave anything less than you would normally leave there is a problem.   It is not her fault that the kitchen failed.   You did not bother to investigate as to whether she could correct the problem.  You did not give the establishment a chance to correct the errors of the meal or replace it with something different.

How we treat workers in the service industry matters.  It says a great deal about us.  We all know on some level that servers, bartenders, and attendants make less than most people.   They depend on tips for their income.  Our choice to go out to eat obligates us to reward good service. 

When others serve us, that alone puts us in a position of power even if they are paid to do so.   It is in this that we find our own character as we are going.   Like stopping for gas, our meal, no matter the circumstance is an opportunity to be good to someone.  A question I always ask servers is one to show interest in him or her.  I ask, “Is this what you love to do for work or are you working toward something else?” 

I have had people share their dreams and aspirations with me.  I have been able to encourage strangers because of that question.  I have even made life-long friends from being good to servers.  A guy who was our cabana attendant at a beach vacation overheard me teaching my Grandsons how to respect him and the work he does.  He took me aside and told me how much it meant to him.  As you are going you can impact lives by being good to those who serve you.

How we treat service people, even if the service is bad says more about us than anything.  As we are going, we have the power to be good or bad to them.  If we choose always to be good, we can make a difference even if we never see it.  I have a dear friend who was my server at a very popular burger chain.  She brought my daughter the wrong burger three times.  It was not something that could be spotted by inspection.   We made sure we treated her with kindness and grace.  A year later, I encountered her as manager of a café.  I remembered her and when I related the story, she also remembered me.  We have been good friends ever since. 

Jesus makes it clear that how we treat the least of these is how we treat him. Look the Doorman in the eye.  Smile at the waitress and be patient with her.  Do not blame the worker for the failures of the management. Please ponder this as you are going Dear Reader.  Tell me your thoughts and if you work serving others, tell me a story.

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:

Support Page on Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn

Novels on Amazon             

Web Page:  www.aramisthorn.com

Bookings: aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com

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

As You are Going ~Here’s to the Introverts

Greetings Dear Reader,

I have friends that would rather have a root canal without pain medication than be in an awkward social situation.   For a couple of them, the word social makes the situation awkward.   Yet, they too live under the requirement to teach others how to follow Christ as they are going through life.

To people like me, who fill up a room and rapidly enter a conversation with anyone there, this is an area where I have observed for many years.   It brings me great joy to make the ones who hang out on the fringe feel welcome but not a spectacle.  I desire for them to feel loved but not pushed into the spotlight or expected to be other than they are.  I am not always good at this, but I notice and care.   This has helped me learn a great deal about the ways in which one can actively show Christ to others as one is going through the world.

The idea is to learn how they observe.  Quiet and withdrawn does not equal unengaged.  My friends who are not social thunderstorms teach me to watch and listen.  It has taken me decades to learn how to sit quietly and observe.  I see its value and am learning to practice it often.  I see the ways in which a room appears different when I watch from the outside instead of being the middle of things.

I have seen a better facet of serving others through the eyes of my introverted friends.  The entire idea of serving others is a brilliant way to share the Gospel as you are making your way on the journey.  Doing it with quiet constant love is more powerful than anything I can say or teach.  My friends who prefer not to be the focus seem to know this and teach it by example often.

When they let me in, when they allow me to see who they really are, I learn so much about humility and grace.  I also learn that they face the same challenges of pride and arrogance that I face, it is just not as obvious because we associate those struggles with extroverts.  The truth is that their need for silence or solitude is not different from my need for company and conversation.   It is a gift wrapped in a curse that must be mastered through faith and following.

I must learn from everyone how to be what he or she needs to see Christ in me.  That means that when I talk about the responsibly to share Christ as we are going, I am not saying that everyone has to make instant friends in every encounter.  The strategy of silence works.   I must be always aware of this and make space for it. 

Failure to see the beauty and gifts of those who are not like me is a failure to see the multifaceted creativity of the Father.   To those of you who live the life of the introvert, Dear Reader, I know that I will never really get it.  I do, however, see you and promise not to ask you to be the same as me.  I also promise to look for the ways in which you teach others to observe Jesus.  It is one of my favorite Saints who said, “Preach the Gospel always.  When necessary use words.”   Saint Francis would be proud of the lot of you.  I love you and learn from you always.  

Oh, and you can always comment on my BLOG anonymously. 

  

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:

Support Page on Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn

Novels on Amazon             

Web Page:  www.aramisthorn.com

Bookings: aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com

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

Second Thoughts ~ Death of America One Icon at a Time

Greetings Dear Reader,

Many things from my childhood have fallen into wretchedness or faded to obscurity.  We have seen the demise of some very good institutions in America.  I do not think there has been a good Saturday morning cartoon line-up since 1992.  It is no longer safe to do most of the things I did as a boy.  I wonder sometimes how I survived at all.

I have expressed my horror at the demise of the Cracker Jack prize.  My feelings about the designated hitter are out there for anyone to read.  I recently visited the summer camp I went to as a boy and there are phone charging stations at all the activity sites.  I can hear the sound of the world slowly dying in all of these things. 

This week, however, I was struck a blow from which I may never recover.  No one told me this change was coming and I was seriously damaged by it.  I went to lay in some stores for upcoming travel.  One of my go-to solutions for easy use and variety at breakfast has always been the Kellogg’s single-serving variety pack of cereal.  There are several brand combinations and the cost is reasonable.

I have spent many traveling and camping mornings carefully cutting the perforated lines and inner bag to form the traditional and enjoyable cereal box bowl.  I am almost an expert at it.  I can make the cuts without perforating the lower half of the bag.  I have almost never had a leak. I was excited and invested when I went to the grocery store to obtain my set of ten delightful breakfast box bowls.

The first wound came when the grocer only had pouches for every brand of cereal except Kellogg’s.   Pouches!  One can never make a bowl from a foil cereal pouch.  Walking tacos I get but this is simply wrong. Pouches are right out!

I finally found the Kellogg’s boxes on the bottom shelf.  It was the one I like with two boxes of Corn Pops and two boxes of Fruit Loops.  Rounding out the ten were Coco Crispi’s, Raisin Bran, Apple Jacks, Frosted Flakes, Rice Crispi’s, and Mini-Wheats. I knew better than to take them in the wrapper they came in from the store.

After arriving home, I opened the package and began to place the boxes in the food bag I would take with me.  It took me a moment to realize that something was off.  Then I felt it before I saw it.  The horizontal and vertical perforation lines were not on the obverse side of the Pops box.  I checked the Mini Wheats and Fruit Loops.  No lines there either.  All ten boxes were barrenly smooth and free of bowl forming access.  I opened a box of Frosted Flakes (my least favorite).   The waxed paper inner bag was gone as well.  In its place was a plastic bag that serves as a poor substitute.  The death of my single serving cereal box bowl experiences was certain.  I am hurt, feel betrayed, and see little hope for the future of children who will never know the joy of the cereal box bowl. 

I could learn to live with the plastic inner bag.  Without the perforations, however, the single serving box has no future stands as a mockery to all that is noble and good.  There will be no adventurous rectangular breakfasts in the mornings.  In the death of the simple design, the single serving cereal box is relegated to being just an overpriced tiny box of cereal that needs a bowl.  I feel so sad for America.

 

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:

Support Page on Patreon: www.patreon.com/aramisthorn

Novels on Amazon             

Web Page:  www.aramisthorn.com

Bookings: aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com

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

As You are Going ~ Just Stopping for Gas

Greetings Dear Reader,

Over-the-road travel is something I deeply enjoy.  Seeing the vistas and views of the road always brings me a new appreciation for the world and its beauty.  Travel brings other things as well.  One of them is the need to drop off and pick up liquids.

When I stop for petrol, my mind is almost always focused on my needs.  I need petrol.  I need something to drink.  I need to go to the loo.  For petrol there are self-serve pumps.  The restroom is usually available without me having to interact with anyone.  Getting a drink or snack, however, requires that I interact with the clerk at the service station. 

In that moment, I must decide how I am going to treat this individual.  I must take my mind off the needs I have and choose how I will go into the next moment.  I am just stopping for gas.  I need to simply pay for my soda and sandwich.  The entire interaction will only span a couple of minutes.  That is where the reality places me in an entirely different world.

That human across the counter becomes a fellow traveler for those couple of minutes.  He or she is journeying with me for the duration of the transaction.  I am completely responsible for how I make that person feel in the interaction.  I am obligated to love that person.  I am responsible for how that conjunction of time impacts the clerk. 

Now stretch this over the entire journey.  Consider how these brief encounters impact those with whom we share the encounter.  One impact is this:  When it is three in the morning and you do not realize that you are stopping at the same station you did a couple of years ago.  You do not remember that it is the same clerk.  She, however, remembers you and smiles broadly.  She says, “I remember you.  I was having such a bad night and you were so kind to me that last time you were here.”

Instead of a quick stop for petrol, peeing, a diet soda, and peanuts the conjunction turns into a story of encouragement and a second helping of a single-serving friendship.  You get to learn that your practice of being kind to strangers can make a difference.  You also get to learn that it changes you.

That habitual predisposition to kindness changes you Dear Reader.  It makes us predisposed to kindness in other areas.  It puts us in the position of being kind when we are just stopping for bread, just picking up something from the hardware store, or simply grabbing a quick meal at the burger place.  All of those brief encounters are opportunities to show the love of Christ as we are going.  Every interaction is a chance to be his hands and feet over the span of a couple of minutes.  It is our obligation but it is also fun. 

There is something beautiful about being kind to others.  There is something amazing in the disposition of life being set to a predisposition to kindness and love.  In that realization comes the possibility to render a life that filled with love and kindness to others.  It can begin with having the right perspective when just stopping for gas.

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.”

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