My Fifty-Second Year

Greetings Dear Reader,

As I end my 52^nd year of the journey I wish it known that I am truly blessed.  I have children who love me.  I have Friends who do as well.  I have a good job as a teacher and a growing one as a writer. 

I know that I am not exactly where I wish to be but today I take stock of all that I have and realize how rich I am.  I have a Grandson who is happy to have me around and another one on the way that I already love. 

I guess my only thought on the management allowing my another trip around the sun is “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."

Flashes of Life

Greetings Dear Reader,

Some weeks ago my beloved editor, RJ requested that I publish an excerpt from my current novel in progress. Since I plan most of my BLOG ahead of time it took me a bit to get there.  RJ means more to me that she realizes and so here is the answer, though late to her request.

Prologue - The Professor

“The world decays around me.  While I sit here in my private bookish domain tamping in one of the last bowls of McClelland I will ever smoke, the rest of the world falls headlong into barbarism and dystopia.  I realize that I contribute to the decay as I puff on my hoarded tobacco in my cherished churchwarden, for I sit hear pondering and punditing the decline of man without doing anything to hinder it.

 In the early years of study, when I was young, brash, and foolish, I often wondered how long it would take for our society to crumble into madness.  I would sit at the pub with my colleagues commentating proudly on our solutions to the world’s ills.  Even taking up pipe smoking back then was an act of bravado.  But I was determined to mold myself as the sage amongst his books; knowledgeable and wise.  I am sure that journey began when I was just a boy reading science fiction. 

I gathered around me knowledge and clung to the quote from one of my early readings.  “Trouble rather the tiger in his lair than the sage amongst his books.  For to you kings and armies are things mighty and enduring, but to him they are but toys of the moment to be overturned with the flicking of a finger.”  This lead to a philosophy of theory instead of philosophy of life.  I became adept at theorizing for others but very poor at living my own life. 

All that the knowledge did was blind me and make me swollen with pride.  The more I was secure in my own vast stores of knowledge, the less I courted his all important mistress, wisdom.  Lonely for the sweet love of wisdom that humbles him, knowledge became a raging megalomaniac within me.  I dismissed the vital truths of my knowledge for the hunger of possessing its vastness.

My friends, my loved ones, and my lover were all driven away as I squandered my God-given intellect pondering the great questions without ever really believing in the logical, reasonable, and true answers that lay before me.  Book by book I en-tomed myself into a world that was all mine, and like Mr. Dickens’ Scrooge, ‘as single and solitary as an oyster.’  I used to say that everyone abandoned me.  In truth, it was I who abandoned them.

Excuse me a moment while I light this.  Ouch!  I miss the bowl with the match and catch my thumb more and more these days.  Ah, there we are; a nice clean cherry on top of perfectly packed McClelland.  This is the Cavendish; one of their best it is.  Dark, sweet, and moist; It will burn slowly and provide a good half an hour’s pondering.  I will have to see if blending the last of this with some of the lesser tobaccos can stretch out the flavor.  War took the tobacco farms four years ago and the Virginia soil will never grow anything this sweet again.

My oldest son would scoff at me for that, and he would be right.  Outside of this hidden sanctuary of mine people die of starvation and worse causes daily.  There is no more FEMA or Red Cross.  The broken world will not mend itself this time.  All this is true and yet I worry about my supply of McClelland.  My son would cock his head to the right; always the right, and take on the tone of a teacher.  Then he would say something like, ‘Father, I do not think that your pipe tobacco really matters with all that is going on right now.’

I miss his fiery gaze and the crystal clarity of his thinking.  It just occurred to me that I will never see those eyes again, nor his brother’s.  Maxim, the older has eyes like the Caribbean sea on a cloudy day, blue but struck with enough grey to show the intelligence there.  My younger son Joseph has blue eyes as well but they are the same sea when the sun shines high and the wind is still.  His charm shines through those eyes and many women fell into them when we were all much younger and there was time for such things. 

They are brothers but as different as night and day.  We often jousted over words and their place in the world, but it is obvious I digress.  I was talking about the decay of the world; how our society got to this point and what needs to happen.  I must focus on that and not chase too many rabbits or our time will be gone and the Cavendish wasted.

The worst of it, the decay of social structure occurred at the end of the second decade, right around 2019.  It was the discovery of true cold fusion that ultimately doomed us.  That happened after the oil scares in the first decade.  The scientists were determined to find a source of clean energy and they did.  It could have been nice.  We could have worked to build the society imagined by Rodenberry and his ilk, but man is depraved.   He may be civil when the situation warrants it, but man is selfish, proud, sinful, and wicked. 

I know those words fell out of favor back in the end of the previous century.  The current wisdom, ha, was that we were all basically good and we could make a tolerant world.  If I had manure that pure now, I could grow my own Cavendish.  The thing is that we are evil.  We have rotten souls that care only about whatever petty thing we want right foot-stamping now.  You wish proof.  It sits here before you.  I will mourn the passing of my last pipe of McClelland much longer than I have the passing of so many of my fellow professors.  I will think God cruel to deny me my only true friend, the pouch and pipe, while giving little thought to the carnage around me.  We are all fallen depraved fools thinking that God owes us something to merit our favor with him.

He gave us something.  He gave us limitless energy.  Few realized that this was a gift from God and not the brilliance of man.  Most were too busy demanding God prove his existence to see his actions.  We could have made the world lush and green again.  The skies could have been sparkling.  Water could have been safe to drink and bathe in. 

We used the limitless energy of fusion to power our greed and consumption.  As with all things bright and beautiful, we found a way to rape and pillage it.  When we could have cleaned up the planet, we instead amped-up our consumption.  The first sign of societal collapse was the economy.  Most bought on credit and found themselves unable to pay.  Limitless energy yielded limitless laziness.

Those nations with power began to further their manipulations of those that did not have it.  National debts and resource tension grew until 2023 when one of the South American countries figured out how to make the fusion power generators into bombs with little effort.  Nations once powerful were now held captive by their own energy resources.  This last war over energy consumed so much food, materials, and life that it just ended because no one cared any more. 

The global village became a frenzied animal-farm cum lord-of-the-flies nightmare that consumed human life as greedily as man consumes resources.  The raid on this university left only Jared and I alive.  I have never had a better or more loyal research assistant.  I am not sure why I was not found before now.  I was content to stay in here with my books, my tea, and my McClelland.  Jared still needed what passes for sunshine and fresh air. 

It has been three years since he went out for some air and did not come back.  I only have a voice still because I talk to myself all the time.  I probably should have checked on Jared, but I could have been spotted.  He went out and never came back.  That just reinforces my opinion that my choice to stay sequestered in my basement suite was a wise one.  These three years have been quieter but my routine has not changed much.  The vast stores of the larder and supply rooms down here will last one man a lifetime.  But then what is a lifetime without a good bowl of McClelland?

My personal fusion generator seems quite healthy and I have a backup. The water recycling system is fully operational and so I saw no reason to leave.  Oh, there goes the kettle.  Do you wish sugar and milk in your tea?  I will bring some biscuits too.”

The visitor, in his late fifties, smiles at the old scholar.  His voice is gravely and rough, but still kind as he offers, “Let me get the tea.  I was taught how to make it properly by an expert.   You have already burned your thumb once today.  We will enjoy a cup of hot Earl Grey and then we can discuss how to help you with that failing eyesight.”

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."

A Friend Must Leave

Greetings Dear Reader,

For most of my adult life I have had difficulty being friends with men.  There are many reasons that I will not burden you with but when I find a man I trust and will call friend at the closest level it is rare.  Sometimes I have the joy of investing richly in these friendships.  Others, like the one I ponder today are built of short moments rich with life and shared spirit.

The friendship I ponder today is not ending but my friend must move on to where Christ is obviously leading him.  This man has been a blessing in my life during some very dark times and I love him as if he were family.  When I heard that it was time for him to move on my self-centered heart wept.  The part of me that benefits from him being in my city and available felt like it was losing something.  Then I remembered something vital.  He is my friend but does not belong to me. 

Who he is in Christ; that part of him that makes him such a great blessing to my spirit would not be genuine were he not following Christ with all his heart.  The people to whom he goes need what he has.  I do not need to know them to know this is true.  As he travels away there will be a void for me and many who know him but I must remember that he goes to fill a void as well. 

The basis of friendship is that we love others selflessly.  I know that I have communicated my love for him and thanked him for the ways in which he makes a difference in my life.  What I must do is bend my heart to Christ on his behalf so that I can wish him God’s speed on his way.  My journey and his will never be truly parted as we are headed to the same place.  In addition I know that he loves me and should I reach out to him he will respond.

For now I just wish him to know that as he goes I remember that he belongs to God and that is where I can always find him.  I also wish him to know that the learning we have shared has deep root in me and I am a better man for his friendship.  Is this not the essence of the friendship that should be between men?  Should they not drive each other to become more centered on Christ and following him as closely as possible?  The only honest answer is “yes.” 

I know these words will both warm his heart and embarrass him a little.  The latter is true because he possess real humility.  Even in his leaving, however, he teaches me.  He reminds me that all I have, even friends are there because God gives them to me to enjoy and steward.  I would be violating many things my friend has taught me were I to hold them in any other light.

So as my friend Tim journeys west I pray him rich and beautiful adventures in Christ.  I wish him joy and sweetness as he and his family share the bounty of their gifts with others along the path toward God.  I leave him with these words from one of my favorite authors and the promise to always remember who he is and what I have learned from him.  I also promise to keep him close in my prayers and not to forget him.

Roads go ever on and on,

Over rock and under tree,

By caves where never sun has shone,

By streams that never find the sea;

Over snow by winter sown,

And through the merry flowers of June,

Over grass and over stone,

And under mountains in the moon.

Roads go ever ever on

Under cloud and under star,

Yet feet that wandering have gone

Turn at last to home afar.

Eyes that fire and sword have seen

And horror in the halls of stone

Look at last on meadows green

And trees and hills they long have known.

The Road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can,

Pursuing it with eager feet,

Until it joins some larger way

Where many paths and errands meet.

And whither then? I cannot say.

The Road goes ever on and on

Out from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

Let others follow it who can!

Let them a journey new begin,

But I at last with weary feet

Will turn towards the lighted inn,

My evening-rest and sleep to meet. – J.R.R. Tolkien

Wishing Tim, his family, and all of 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."

     

Rant About a Nail Salon

Greetings Dear Reader,

Recently someone I love dearly posted a rant on a social media sight about the terrible service she received at a nail salon.  Now this young lady is lovely and I love her dearly.  How she was treated is unacceptable and everyone should feel that they can trust their manicurist. 

It was what happened after that gave me pause.  The very next thing I read was a story about a homeless man freezing to death.  Please understand that I am not finding fault with my friend, but I wondered how many things I get upset about that in perspective are not really that important.  I know that I can get disengaged from the things that matter in the world.  It is vital that I remember things in perspective.

So then what is the proper perspective?  I guess it always comes back to the same thing.  Is what I am irritated about, upset about, or ranting about what Christ would spend his efforts on?  Do I let the mind of Christ oversee my passions and anger?  If I let my own heart conform to that of Christ in these things I think fewer things will bother 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."

Anatomy of the Journey – Final Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

I hope these posts about the journey have been helpful in some way.  I know remembering why I travel is of great benefit to me.  Years ago Bob Dylan released a song “You Gotta Serve Somebody.”  It was one of the big hits from his first Christian album Slow Training Coming.  We all follow someone or something.  No matter how independent we think we are we are following.

I only wish to follow Christ.  This does not mean that I always do.  At times I follow my own selfish interests.  At others I follow people instead of Christ and that is always disastrous.  I have heard others remake what following Christ is in their own image so that they do not have to conform to the restraints of the journey.

We follow things we believe will salve our inner hurts when only Christ can do that.  We follow drinking or drugs to distraction.  We use others to satisfy our need for love but it never truly satisfies.  We follow celebrities and identify with them until they disappoint us.  Even parents fail and then their children use those failures as an excuse to abandon the following.  Some even blame God for the state of the journey and refuse to follow because of it.

We will all arrive at the same place; the clearing at the end for the path.  I cannot tell you what is there but I can tell you that not believing in the journey does not mean the journey does not exist.  For my part I will do my best to follow.  I will enjoy those who can journey with me for a space.  I will help those along the way that I can.  I will try to avoid distractions and practices that hinder following.  I hope that you find the path.  I hope you can follow and keep to it.  I know that all that I have done only works when it is part of the following.

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."

Anatomy of the Journey – The Clearing at the End of the Path

Greetings Dear Reader,

The road is long and it seems that everyone has an opinion of what is at its end.  When I ponder these things I recall how sure I used to be about what lay ahead.  Now I am not sure and I am not sure it matters.  If I focus too much on where I am headed it keeps me from focusing on what I am to do now.  Trying to see too far up the path leads to ignoring the things along the path that are vital. 

I am only given enough light to make following possible.  I will reach the clearing when it is the next step.  I would like to not get there too soon but that is not my call.  Writers who think they know will tell you of heaven, golden streets, and pearly gates.  Some will speak of a new earth with all things natural and good.  There is nothing wrong about pondering these things.  It is more important, however, to focus on the important things.  We must center on following Christ not on the destination. 

When we think of the destination as the promise we forget that Christ is the reason for the journey.  We forget that he asks us to follow by faith and not by what we see.  When we delve too deeply into the need to know we lose sight of this primary requirement.  Men have twisted truth and manipulated events to try and assure us that they know what is ahead.  They have used the threats of what might be ahead to enslave others to selfish will.

If Christ expects us to follow in faith is it just to demand sight?  If I say I “know” what is next am I damaging the freedom of others to follow by faith?  There is an end to the journey.  All I can say for sure is that if I continue to follow Christ then Christ is what I will find.  If I am wrong then I will have been good to others, loved them, and made more peace in the world.  Until then I will follow.  I will journey.  I will believe.  I will pray for those who abandon the journey because they do not realize they are on it anyway.  They do not realize they are ruined for other things because there was a time when they knew the joy of the journey.  Once tasted that joy cannot be surpassed.

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

Anatomy of the Journey – My Guide

Greetings Dear Reader,

As I said when we started out the journey is about following and the destination.  The following is because the guide is also the author of the journey.  He created the path.  He created the rules for following.  He knows the path and everything we will encounter.  All he asks is that we follow. 

My guide is Jesus Christ.  I do my best to follow him.  At times I have let what others tell me about him and his guidance keep me from looking directly to him.  So many will tell you what Christ wishes from you.  I will attempt to simplify what I see and I apologize for those who use following Christ to manipulate others to false following.

Before I offer my simple list I must for the sake of honesty address some things about following that seem irrational.  Following Christ does not solve all my problems.  I have never seen him.  I know that many of his avowed followers are jerks.  Heinous crimes have been committed in his name.  People use him to promote hatred.   

Instead I offer the following guide to following Christ, our guide in the journey.  These are Jesus’ own ideas for following him.  

• Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind
• Love your neighbor as your self
• Love your enemies

Anything else is subtext.  If I say that I am following Christ and do none of these then I am lying.  If I do anything in an attempt to follow Christ I must measure the actions in light of this.  This is the path.  This is how the Guide tells me to follow.  The journey is dangerous.  These rules get me through.

Pilgrims to the City of God

Pilgrims of passion, we follow the One

Who holds out a cross and a crown

We travel a dark road that has but one Light,

For we have here no lasting town

And sometimes we run by the power of His might,

on our own at the best we can plod

What we hopefully look for is just beyond sight,

We are pilgrims to the City of God

The stigma of strangers lost in a strange land

In a fallen world that's not our home

But we are not just homeless prodigals here

Because we have some place to go

Behold, you have come to Mount Zion,

To the city of the Great King

To thousands and thousands of angels who come,

Assembled to joyfully sing – Michael Card

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."

Anatomy of the Journey – Valleys

Greetings Dear Reader,

As difficult as it seems to climb mountains, the descent into valleys can be a path of ease.  It is almost always easier to descend than to ascend.  I have had the joy of being in some magnificent valleys.  I have seen the splendor of rich verdant grass and trees.  I have walked among spring wildflowers.  I once sat for an hour watching a doe and her fawn forage.

Lilly of the Valley

The beauty of these things is the very nature of a green valley.  There are, however, dark valleys as well.  Abiding in them can be dangerous and debilitating.  We do not always choose to journey through dark valleys.  Sometimes they are thrust upon us.  In either case we must not tarry too long in any valley, dark or verdant.

There is succor even in the darkest valley.  Whether what grows there is a pure white lily or deadly nightshade a common thread exists.  No matter the colour or flavor of that which is in the valley, it is all life.  Both possess beauty and both are there by God's will.  Where there is life there is hope and so we journey onward.

Deadly Nightshade

Whether it be in valleys of darkness or valleys of respite, it is not the valley that is our destination.  No valley is our dwelling place.  No valley is our home.  Home is beyond where the path continues.  No matter the pain or joy into which we descend the final joy is found further along the path.  We must take in the joy or endure the darkness.  We must also keep moving.  It is in the journey that we are reminded that the way lies ever on.

 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."

Anatomy of the Journey – Mountains

Greetings Dear Reader,

Some days, like this one are mountains. They must be climbed.  I begin it weary and worn but it is where the path leads.  There is a toll to pass along some roads and one must pay the toll even if unwilling. 

Along the journey there will be mountains.  Some will be harder to climb than others.  What matters is that I climb.  What matters is that I keep moving.  Today I will only plod but I will climb none the less. 

There are mountains.  Sometimes at the top the view is amazing.

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."

Anatomy of the Journey – The Map

Greetings Dear Reader,

I used to regularly journey with a friend in Florida.  We traveled most of the state on our motorcycles enjoying the richness and beauty of that place.  From the deep blue beauty of Ichetucknee Springs, to the white sands of Panama City, and the old world feel of Big Pine Key I enjoyed every moment of those voyages.

My friend Steve had an odd habit.  Even though he knew the way to all our ventures and I was following him, when we would set out he would give me a detailed map of the route.  I knew that Steve knew the way and that I did not need the map.  He provided it just the same.  It was a labor of love.  He wanted to me to have a guide should I somehow lose sight of him.  From time to time we would get separated and I would always find him waiting at the next appointed stop.

The journey is a following.  It is one of character, obedience, and self-denial.  It is one of love, grace, mercy, and joy.  There is wonder and awe to be had.  It is also, and very importantly one of faith.  Since we follow one we cannot see, we must have a map.  I realize that some of you find it quaint that I still embrace the Bible and its words but it is our map.

I know that many, even some close to me have rejected the veracity of the Bible.  I have not.  I think that this is part of the problem with following a God who chooses to be a little elusive.  So many try to reason their way to a God who demands that we find him by faith.  The path is narrow but we have a map.  The very nature of a map requires faith.  It requires that I believe in the one who gave it to us.  It requires that I study the map and by faith see the heart of its maker.  It requires that I follow it and when I doubt that I do so in faith.

When I feel lost I consult the map.  When I am unsure of where to head next I consult the map.  When there is fog I rely on the known signposts of faith.  When I am weary I remind myself of the rest stops marked along the way.  I remember to look for the beautiful sights promised on the map.  Most of all, I remember that it points me toward my destination and the words of my fellow traveler,   “Remember that I am with you, even to the end of the journey.”

You see, we forget I think that this map is not just a directional tool.  It is a treasure map.  It is a promise of all that we truly need at the end of the journey.  There is joy to be had in abundance if we will only stick to the path.

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."