Ponds and Rivers ~ Closing Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

Water must flow to live.  If I ponder all the places where God talks about water he is clear that it must flow.  It must have life and movement to be of value.  I am not the water but must be the conduit for it.

Havasupai Oasis

I must take in what is given me, not pollute it, and send it on to others.  This begs the question then of what is the water that I must pass on.  Without being too repetitive the answer is very simple.  Jesus makes it clear that if we come to him he will give us living water.  This is the embodiment of the two great commandments.  He very clear that everything else rests on these two things:

Love the Father with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.

Love your neighbor as yourself.

I am intended to be a conduit for this living water.  I am not to boycott, hate, reject, or judge.  I am made for the purpose of assuring that the love of the Father flows through me to everyone.  I am not permitted to but political, social, or personal caveats that.  These pollute the water or hinder the flow. 

I am to love even those who hate me and want me dead.  I am required to assure that in the face of any opposition my actions are loving and kind.  The Father will take care of justice, retribution, and judgement.  Even in that understanding my heart must yearn for reconciliation, restoration, and reclamation.  In short with a very fine point on it, no matter what anyone has done to anyone else I must want him or her to find, understand, and embrace the love the Father has.

He assures me that if do this he will handle everything else.  He will also assure that if my delight is in him that I will not only be a good conduit but that I will produce beautiful valuable things in the process.  There is nothing better that I can imagine. 

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 ͡°)

Second Thoughts – The Silence in the Corner

Greetings Dear Reader,

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

There is a new silence in my life.  It crept in last night unannounced and without invitation.  It is the silence of a song that had become the companion of my solitude as I research and write. 

It is in this silence that I find the waiting echoes of all the noises I had blocked out with his simple song.  Last evening my bird, Landroval died.  This morning his early song was eerily absent as I read my Bible and prayed.  Throughout the day his chirps and small attempts at speech were a cacophonous absence.  The echoes of other voices that reach for me were louder and I had to fight harder to get through the day un-distracted.

He is so easily gone but not so easily missed.  It seems foolish to feel so much over a bird because it is too much and still not enough.  I am sure some of my other pent up pain is drifting out with his loss.  I am sure that I do not fully understand the love the Father has for this tiny spark of his creation.

I do, however, feel the full depth of the love I have for him, his song, and the conversations we shared.  The silence in the corner will have lease for a time.  In this I must not fail to see the outworking of all things to eventual good.  This loss will make me a better follower if I allow it to do so.

One cannot control the things one would.  One does not always get to say goodbye.  One can always say, “May your eyries receive you at your journey’s end.”   

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 ͡°)

Ponds and Rivers ~ Frozen Streams

Greetings Dear Reader,

As we get our first touches of the impending winter I ponder the times I have walked on frozen lakes and rivers.  It is the cold that freezes the water.  Soon enough the local lakes will grow little villages of ice-fishing shacks.   People will skate up and down the couple of smaller rivers that grow enough ice to make it safe.

It is the rivers that have my attention.  Rivers do not freeze solid.  Beneath the thick layer of ice, they still flow.  The life in the river continues beneath the ice.  Fish still swim and feed.  The cold death above may hinder the flow but life is still there.  Movement is still continuous.

We become froze at times.  Our lives may be filled with some form of cold death on the surface.  There are difficulties that keep us from movement.  Pain or sickness may cause us to stop.  Fear may freeze our ability to act.  Even at our most frozen there is still life in us to be the conduit.

I must never let the winters in my life keep me from being the conduit I am meant to be.  Whatever my capacity to flow I must embrace that and seek to grow it even when it is painful or difficult.  I do have to know the resources.  I must use what I am given as I am given it.  The thaw will come and I must be ready when it does.

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 ͡°)

Ponds and Rivers ~ Run Deep

Greetings Dear Reader,

Having established that waters must move to live one must consider quality of movement.  The purpose of the river is to move water.  It is vital that the it moves what it takes in lest it overflow. 

Some rivers collect sediment and vegetation that must be dredged out to protect the flow.  Others cut deeper channels to take in the increase waters.  Some permanently overflow their banks making them wider.  Water will find a way to move. 

We want to be a conduit that runs deep.  We want to embody the idea that our still waters are the result of depth and flow.  Too often we are unwilling to change the channel through which the water must go to do this.  Without sending out all that we can we slow the flow and create a lack of depth and power. 

I do not wish to push the metaphor too far but the goal must always be constantly increasing the depth of our flow as conduits of the Father’s love and grace.  Since the source is the Father’s limitless supply we cannot lack from constantly passing it on to others.  The intent is for us to be constantly growing conduits.  The is our purpose.

If I am to do this I need to see everything as the opportunity to increase the flow.  Challenges, pain, sorrow, loss and death are all opportunities to allow the waters to run deeper.  When the rains come and things are good and plenty that increased conduit becomes more fully able to share its bounty.  If I do not continue to allow the flow, even in difficult times I will not be prepared for it when it comes.

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 ͡°)

Ponds and Rivers ~ Marshes and Swamps

Greetings Dear Reader,

Rivers at times flow into wetlands.  We see marshes and swamps as things that are not good.  We build roads, bridges, and condominiums over them.  Occasionally we build a park so we can visit them.  We rarely, however, see their great value to rivers.

Wetlands are the natural filter for our water systems.  Swamps and mashes trap particulate matter that is dangerous for open water.  Moving water must flow through filters to remain pure and viable.

We influence the water with which we interact.  Even when we seem to be sluggish and slow we can filter that which flows through us so that it comes out better than when it came to us.  This fits with our mission in getting things back to good.  We are to leave things better than when we found them.  We are to be filters in the world.

The wetlands are good places as long as the water keeps flowing.  If they stagnate they become poisonous and dangerous.  When I find that I am in that slow moving, filtering place in life I must not stagnate.  I must keep taking in and flowing out.  I must not allow my place as a conduit of love and grace to fail simply because of the filtering obstacles in the path. 

In following Christ, we will be led through slow sluggish moments.  This does not mean that those moments are wasted.  As long as we continue to move with the flow we will get through to open water again.  We may not be able to see it.  We may not even have direction or understanding.   We will, however, find the good flow and come out purer if we allow the filter to do its work.

I can see in the places where I am in danger of stagnation.  I can see where I must move and resolve to do so.  There is no way out if I fail to move. 

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.”

(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Ponds and Rivers ~ Blue Water – Part 2

Greetings Dear Reader,

I have seen blue water often.  I love it when I encounter clear, clean, living water that reflects the sky on a sunny day.  There is one place that is paramount in my mind when it comes to fresh water. 

Along the long trek down through Florida is a small town called Lake City.  One sees the signs on I-75 and the fortunate take the exit to Florida 47, then thirty minutes south to US 27 to Itchetucknee Springs State Park. 

When my boys were ten and twelve we took them to Disney World as part of our summer vacation.  On the way back north, we stopped in Lake City for the night and went to Itchetucknee Springs the next day.  We donned our wet suits and headed toward the top of the river for the three our float down the crystal-clear river.  Most people use rafts.  Our intent was to snorkel and remain face down to enjoy the vast wildlife in the river.

As we made our way from the change area to the water Avalon asked me why they had a swimming pool by the river.  At first, I did not understand the question.  Then I realized that she referred to the pond that was the river head.  It was formed by the huge spring that surfaced here to form the Itchetucknee River.  The water was a deep crystal blue that rivals any pool built by humans.

I watched as Avalon and the boys explored the pond with awe.  The water was cold in July.  The white sand at the bottom clear and free of debris gave depth to the water that enhanced the clarity.  After exploring the pond, we floated the river seeing fish, turtles, and a few gators.  The gators, disliking the cold river water stayed over in the swamp and they were all small.

All the way home my boys talked about how much they enjoyed the water and its beauty.  The spring is a living flow of fresh water.  The pond is always clear and clean because it gives out what it takes in.  The river flows and remains fresh and clear because the pond constantly releases what it is given.  The deep blue pond is a conduit.

That is what we are meant to be; conduits.  The beauty and grace that the Father gives us is meant to be given out to others.  We will never lack if we always do this.  We will never run out.  We will always have clean living water for others if we take in, let it nourish us, and pass it on to others.  That is how we are meant to be.  That is who I am supposed to be with the beautiful things I am given by the Father.   

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 ͡°)

Ponds and Rivers ~ Blue Water – Part 1

Greetings Dear Reader,

I have always loved the water.  Rivers, lakes, and oceans all call to me it different ways.  Some bodies of water linger in my memory as the staging of significant life events.  Really blue water enthralls me.

In north Georgia there is a farm.  I used to often go swimming at that farm in the clear, stream-fed pond that served as both a cooling station for boys and an evening fishing hole for my Grandfather.  I am sure I spent less time there than my memory declares.  I am sure it was not as clean and beautiful then as I recall. 

Then there was the day that I revisited the pond.  I was older and searching for a toehold in my past to unfold my future.  Returning to the place for the first time in over a decade I ran through the memories and emotions associated with my family, summer, and the life I was building.  I had my boardies and was sure a cool swim in that water in late summer would give me direction. 

No one knew where I was going and the drive through north Georgia in my yellow beetle did much to build my excitement and optimism.  I pulled up to the foot of the hill that let up to the high pasture, parked, and changed into my boardies.  My urge was to run the final distance to the water and simply jump in.

I chose instead to take it all in; to move solely and savor each moment.  I could see the railing of the old dock.  Across the pond I could see the stairway the led back up to the dock from the deep water.  It was low enough in August that one needed to get right up to the edge to see the water.  It was also deep enough even low it was a great place for jumping and diving.

Then I saw the water.  The blue of it was so very beautiful.  It was that deep azure that plays at shifting shades as the sun plays on it.  The moment seemed to stretch on for hours.  The heat of summer and the buzzing dragonflies urged me to dive into the cool refreshing memories of my youth.  The water called me like a siren to my death. 

You see that water should not have been blue.  What I was seeing in the clear clean pond of my youth was a bloom of blue algae.  It was there dancing with sun and shade, enticing me to take in how very lovely it is and ignore its danger.  This pond had somehow become stagnant.  Somehow the flow in and out had slowed to the point that the sweetness had soured.    

I wept over things in my past I had long kept buried.  I realized that I needed to move on to the next place I was meant to live.  It would not be until last week that the true lesson of that day would find me.  You see we can think that the place in which we are stuck is beautiful and filled with good memories.  The beautiful blue waters of our repose can, however, kill us. 

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 ͡°)

Ponds and Rivers ~ Opening Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

Yesterday I had the joy to spend some time with two dear friends.  They are a couple whom I respect and admire.  In my determination to be accountable and keep moving forward I knew that these good people would be an honest mirror for me to reflect on what I should be doing.

I was not disappointed.  Patiently but firmly they probed my thoughts and intents.  They listened well and asked good questions.  They showed me love and no judgment.  They poured out compassion and truth in equal portions.  I felt on the edge of tears several times.  I could tell that the words they spoke were true and good.  There was a whole new level of freedom in their open telling of their story.

My intent is to capture and chronicle some of the facets that I need to address in order to keep the journey on the path or in this case, in the river (I will explain that later).   I need lay aside even more than I already have.  I have spent most of my adult life giving others permission to learn, grow, and move forward.  Some things need to be changed so that I can harness all that I need to harness.

Thank you R and M for your time and love.  I will do my best to honor it.  Travel with me Dear Reader.  I will not impose my changes upon you but you may benefit and that is precious to 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.”

(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Revolution, Rebellion, or Reformation ~ All Souls Day

Greetings Dear Reader,

The final day of prayer and observation as we enter the season of gratitude and giving is that for all souls.  No matter how we address it my faith informs me that we are all in revolt against God at some point.  We use words like fallen and sin.  The situation is that we are the ones who turned good into not good.

We revolted and claimed our own dominance independent of what the Father has outlined.  We rejected his standards and rules.  We used our freely given free will to free ourselves from innocence.  We have been trying to blame God for this ever since. 

His response is to love every soul.  His reaction to our rebellion is reconciliation to anyone who will receive it.  Not only does he build a bridge of love and sacrifice to us through his Son, he demands that we love every soul as well.  His answer our rebellion with restoration. 

Really ponder that for a moment.  We turned our backs on him.  We destroyed good in our lives.  His response to our failure and rebellion is to love us all and demand that we do the same.  All he asks of us is a little faith that he will fix what we have broken.

Instead we continue the revolution.  Even those who have offered their faith and fealty walk away.  Those who have promised their lives to serve the reclamation of good revolt anew because things are not done in the way they wish.  God refuses to conform to their vision of morality and justice so he is again deposed and discarded.  His failure to fit into the box we create for him results in our rejection.

His response is to let us have our freedom of him but not to abandon his plan to reconcile us.  Every soul matters.  Every mote of existence is his and no matter whether we accept it or not he is working to bring all things back to good.  We can revolt through unbelief or worse, using his name for our own purposes.    

I must realize that anything less than complete love for the Father and for his creation of every soul is rebellion against his most foundational thought.  I must only follow and not try to shape or mold him into my own wants and wishes.  I must love and honor every soul.

Revolution – Beatles

You say you want a revolution

Well, you know

We all want to change the world

You tell me that it's evolution

Well, you know

We all want to change the world

But when you talk about destruction

Don't you know that you can count me out

Don't you know it's gonna be

All right, all right, all right

You say you got a real solution

Well, you know

We'd all love to see the plan

You ask me for a contribution

Well, you know

We're doing what we can

But if you want money for people with minds that hate

All I can tell is brother you have to wait

Don't you know it's gonna be

All right, all right, all right

You say you'll change the constitution

Well, you know

We all want to change your head

You tell me it's the institution

Well, you know

You better free you mind instead

But if you go carrying pictures of chairman Mao

You ain't going to make it with anyone anyhow

Don't you know it's gonna be

All right, all right, all right

All right, all right, all right

All right, all right, all right

All right, all right

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 ͡°)

Revolution, Rebellion, or Reformation ~ All Saints Day

Greetings Dear Reader,

One may wonder what All Saints Day has to do with rebellion.  It is simple.  Our history is one of rebellion against the good things that the Father wishes for us.  Whether it is outright denial of his existence or treating those who disagree with us with scorn we all rebel in some way. 

Rebellion is the rejection or resistance of authority, control, or convention.  It is not always wrong to question these things.  It is always wrong rebel against that which is good.  We do this out of fear or greed.  We want what we want when we want it.

The path of peace does not include rebellion.  The journey home is from what our rebellion created.  All that has been lost to us is because of our choice to rebel against the Father.  The path home is the journey of faith and redemption. 

All Saints Day is the day to remember all those who are on this journey of faith.  Those who have reached the end of rebellion and accepted following in faith are those we celebrate.  We follow Christ toward that undiscovered country where the rebellion has been healed and good has been restored.

I realize that this sounds a little mystical or fantastic.  I know that not all of you agree with me.  My intention here is to honor all those who share my journey.  I wish to thank those who have gone before me and marked the path.  I am a bit jealous of those who have already made it home.  I cherish the company of those who travel with me now.  We do not always agree but when we care for each other the journey is richer.  Lastly, I hope to leave the path a little smoother for those who follow. 

To all the saints who make the journey, I am thankful that we have begun to mend our rebellious ways.  Thank you for your companionship along the way. 

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 ͡°)