Dare You to Move – Move to Where

Greetings Dear Reader,

The simple answer is to move. “To where should I move?” becomes the next question.  I think that I must always move forward and backward.  I must only move backward if there are things that I have not addressed that need addressing.  This moving backward is a way of moving forward.

I must always move forward.  I must not be stagnant.  I must always be moving in the direction of Christ.  There is no other direction that will work.  Moving toward Christ is moving toward the completion of my redemption.  My movement must be in faith and following.  My faith must be what moves me and following must be my compass. 

If am to follow then I must seek the things of a follower.  I must seek forgiveness for things even if I have to go back to the point where I fell to find it.  All of this is part of redemption.  All of this is part of the journey to and with Christ.  A portion of my part in the redemption story is always seeking the path up ahead that leads to Christ. 

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."

Dare You to Move – Stories to Tell

Greetings Dear Reader,

Tree of Life - Mary Philpot

Redemption does have stories to tell.  Some are beautiful and some are tragic.  I think that with our society’s loss of understanding the sovereignty of God we have lost some perspective.  It is not our story.  It is God’s story.  We are parts of that story and each of us is a beloved part. 

There are no minor characters in God’s story.  Each individual has his own part in the story and that part is so vital that God made the journey to us to keep it going.  Jesus is not just the expression of God to us for redemption.  He is the pivot of history. He is the pinch in the hourglass. 

Every one of our stories is intended to tether to that pinch and then back to the fall of the world.  God is in the process of reclaiming all of it and each story is intended to make that happen.  As a master storyteller God weaves every thread into a tapestry that tells the tale in brilliant words, songs, and pictures.  He manages all of this whilst also letting the characters choose their own destiny. 

 

The story will never end but it will get better.  The story is like an infinite library of told, telling, and untold tales.  Each volume is a life and each life is precious.  In him; in his story is where we live and move and have our being. What we all must do to live this out is simple.  We must choose to move.  So again, I dare you to move.

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."

Dare You to Move – Redemption

Greetings Dear Reader,

When I teach my students about project management one of the things that I stress is process.  Everything has a process.  If you think about most people do daily tasks the same way every day.  We have a process for how we brush out teeth.  We have a process for how we dress or prepare a meal.  In most cases learning how to do something is learning the process.

I think that sometimes I forget that redemption is a process.  I do not know the entire process because I am not the one doing the redeeming.  I know that I am fallen.  I know that I have to have faith.  I know that I have to follow.  The problem is that I do not always see my own sin.  I am still prideful.  I still want my own will in many ways.  The redemption process takes a lifetime.  I want it to be done.

In the redemption process God is the one doing the redeeming.  The difficulty is that the subject of redemption is not always willing to cooperate.  Imagine trying to brush your teeth if the toothpaste were running off the toothbrush.  We constantly argue with God about how to make the process work or worse we refuse to participate.

In order for the process to work I have to move.  I have to change.  I have to be processed.  I realize that sounds cold but it is not.  The process is loving and healing.  If I am honest I know that even when the process of redemption is painful I am thankful when I move closer to being what is right and good. 

I participate in the process.  I am part of a great plan.  I am a single task in the eternal process.  There are stories to tell and I must be my part in the redemption 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 home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store."

Dare You to Move – First Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

I can remember times in my life where I have frozen in fear.  It has been a long time buy I still feel the moments and the eternity it took to pass through them.  I could recount a couple of those stories for your benefit but will instead move on to my point. 

Fear can bind us.  It can keep us from action when it is vital that we move.  In facing one of my own fears during the month I wish to ponder the things surrounding facing fear.  As a back drop or spring board for this I will tether to the song Dare You To Move by Switchfoot.  I have liked the song since it first debuted. 

Recently whilst driving it had its turn on the MP3 player and I found that I put it on repeat for the entire two hour drive.  I do this when a song impacts me until I reason out what it is trying to tell me.  Since this particular impact merits some thought, introspection, and reflection I am going to camp here for the coming week.  Although I am camping they will not be zero days on the journey.

I have much to learn about dealing with fear and am sure the lessons will make the time to pull up stakes and travel on all the sweeter.  Camp with me for a bit if you wish.  The fire is warm and the music is good.

Dare You To Move - Switchfoot

Welcome to the planet

Welcome to existence

Everyone's here

Everyone's here

Everybody's watching you now

Everybody waits for you now

What happens next

What happens next

I dare you to move

I dare you to move

I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor

I dare you to move

I dare you to move

Like today never happened

Today never happened before

Welcome to the fallout

Welcome to resistance

The tension is here

Tension is here

Between who you are and who you could be

Between how it is and how it should be

I dare you to move

I dare you to move

I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor

I dare you to move

I dare you to move

Like today never happened

Today never happened before

Maybe redemption has stories to tell

Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell

Where can you run to escape from yourself?

Where you gonna go?

Where you gonna go?

Salvation is here

I dare you to move

I dare you to move

I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor

I dare you to move

I dare you to move

Like today never happened

Today never happened

Today never happened

Today never happened before

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."

Feeding the Tortoises

Greetings Dear Reader,

One of the things I get to do whilst Christmas is away is care for her three tortoises.  This is a very easy task as they require very little.  Fresh water, some salad and fruit, and the occasional sand scooping are all that needs doing.  One would think that the task could not get complicated.

Yesterday, however, God in his infinite sense of humor chose to complicate matters.  I went into the art room where the three tortoises live in their little tortoise mansion that I call tortoiseville.  I had fresh spring greens and some overripe strawberries for their repast.  My plan was simple: refill their water, put the food in the dish, and scoot downstairs for a shower before heading out to teach my class.

The problem occurred because as I did my head count one of the three was missing.  Torrey, the largest was there.  Squirt the youngest was sitting on the warming pad.  Baxter, the first to arrive at our home was nowhere to be found.  There is no escape from tortoiseville.   The critters would have to engineer something beyond their intelligence to accomplish this.  So I began to move things around (using up valuable shower time) in search of Baxter.

He was in the far left corner of tortoiseville burrowed under the large water dish.  I have no idea how he got there but when I extracted him and set him down by the fresh food he darted (if you can call any tortoise movement darting) right back to the corner and began to hide again.  I let him be.

When I came home last night all the food was consumed and Baxter was still under the water dish.  He had obviously moved as he was facing the opposite direction from when I left.  There were also telltale bits of strawberry in his jaw evidencing that he had eaten.  So again I let him be.

I wonder how often God provides something good for me and I instead run and hide under the sand until I am ready to accept it?

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."

When the Willow Bends

Greetings Dear Reader,

I have mentioned that I have a beautiful willow tree in my yard.  It forms a curtain over my driveway that visitors often find entertaining.  Earlier this week during a storm I noticed that the wind was whipping the great tree about more than usual.

The shaggy green giant almost seemed to be bending to the ground against the assault of the wind.  A couple of smaller branches came off and skittered across the yard.  Watching from the shelter of my porch I noticed that the tree would not straighten up instantly when the wind gave pause.  Instead it would rise slowly back to its towering place over the driveway and front yard.

The result was that it did not need to bend as far when the wind renewed its howling.  Instead it bent again but only half the distance.  It made me wonder how often I try to recover form things too quickly when I should instead ride the storm out a bit longer.  That old willow is beautiful and strong.  Partly I think this is due to its patience with storms that it knows will pass.  I have more to learn from this I am sure.

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."

The Possibility Factor – The Positive

Greetings Dear Reader,

Yesterday I spoke of creating negative possibilities in others through our actions.  What about our potential to see the good possibilities?  I think one of the key things in following Christ is the eternal positive potential.  No matter how dark it is, no matter how painful it is, and no matter how bleak the moment is there exits the eternal potential those things will get better.  There is always hope.

I have the possibility every day to create good things in others.  I can be kind.  I can look for the good in someone and try to enhance it.  Currently I work with someone who is in a very negative state of mind.  This means that daily I have the opportunity to inject positive things into his life.  The possibility exists for me to change a moment in his life by being kind.

Every moment has that possibility.  I can assure that people become accustomed to me being kind and loving.  I can live the possibility of being good to people.  I can choose that the possibility exits and can be realized that every day I can create the anticipation that when you talk to me I will be good to you.

The journey of following Christ is as much about how I treat others as it is about the quest for holiness.  If I cannot be good to you then I cannot follow Christ.  It really is that simple.  It is not that I must demand that others be good to me but that I must assure that I am good to others.  I must live the possibility of the redeemed world I seek.  I must create hope in others by that life.

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."

The Possibility Factor

Greetings Dear Reader,

We must always consider possibilities as we journey.  I must also realize that I create possibilities for others.  When I wrong someone else either by intent or error I create the possibility for that individual that I will do it again.

It is easy for us to see this in the extreme.  A woman who has been abused by men all her life must live with the possibility that every man is a potential abuser.  No matter how far it is from the truth with an individual man the possibility always lurks in the mind of the abused.

I must consider this on other matters as well.  If I treat someone unkindly is that not also creating the possibility that I will be unkind again?  If I reject someone do I not set up a lifelong potential in that person that I will reject them again?

This is why I must assure that I ride herd on all my actions.  I am bound by faith and following to treat every interaction with this damaging potential.  I must be humble, loving, and kind to everyone.  Once I am not (and I have done this too often) I create in that person the possibility that I will be prideful, unloving, and unkind to them again.  At some point the repetition of this failure can become too much for the other person to risk.  He may forgive me but that does not mean he will risk trusting me in this area again.

It is vital that we make peace with others when they wrong us.  It is also vital that I assure that I do not create barriers to that peace in others by my behavior and attitudes.  Once I lie, reject, or disapprove of someone I create the possibility that I will do it again.  I even for observers on the sidelines create that possibility that I will do it to them.  This is not what I am supposed to put into the world.   

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."

Pecan Pie for Breakfast

Greetings Dear Reader,

Yesterday morning I had some pecan pie for breakfast.  I have not done this in many years.  I used to do it all the time with my Grandfather when I was very young.   Every time I see pecan pie I think of him.

I am amazed at how much this draws me toward Christ.  I want to honor my Grandfather.  He was a man of deep faith.  When I eat pecan pie in the morning I can remember when we would go fishing or hunting and we would enjoy this ritual.  I rarely eat this joyous treat any more since it seriously impacts my blood sugar.

Yesterday, however, I needed the moment.  I needed to remember courage, service, and faith.  The taste and smell of that pecan pie reminded me of the lessons I was taught in these areas.  Encouraged by memories and faith I faced the day and its challenges.  I did OK. 

It is in following Christ that I find my true strength.  I do not always see how I am going to get through things so I must trust and follow.  It does make things much easier.

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."

The Long Solitude

Greetings Dear Reader,

Ever since I was a small child I have a problem with being alone.  I have only lived alone twice in my life for any length of time and I loathed it.  Once it was for a year and once for three months.  Both times have been very difficult for me.

Today I begin a six week journey of solitude.  Christmas is off on a part of her journey that is necessary and so I will be alone for a bit.  This weighs on my mind from time to time.  I have planned on ways to use my time to better myself and our home. 

Even though I hate being alone I must use the time wisely.  In following Christ I must use what is given me and not squander it wishing for what I do not have.   For those of you who pray, please do so for Christmas.  Her part of the journey is much more difficult than mine.

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."