If you’re a regular here, then I’m very sorry to say that we’ve lost a friend. A couple of nights ago, I found out that Arch (archaeopteryx1) has died. I’ve never met him in person — didn’t even know his real name — but it really affected me to hear about his passing. I’ve considered him a real friend for a few years now. I did a quick search, and it looks like he left over 4,500 comments on this blog! His points were always insightful (and sometimes inciteful), and he had a great wit. I can’t express how greatly he’s going to be missed.
I want to thank Carmen for reaching out to me via email and letting me know. And I also want to say how much all of you mean to me. This WordPress community has been a part of my life for many years now, and I sincerely consider all of the regulars here to be real friends. Some of you, I’ve gotten to know beyond the blog through emails and phone calls. And I fully intend to meet some of you in person one day as well. I wish I had gotten that opportunity with Arch.
Some other bloggers have written about this as well. If you haven’t run across those posts yet, the three I’ve seen so far are:
Finding Truth 
Just to keep you guys in the loop, this is the site I’m posting Arch’s old content to:
https://ourownimage.wordpress.com/
Feel free to offer suggestions and criticisms. I’ll be adding his posts as I have time.
Also, if anyone is interested in working on this with me (I even have some ideas about what we can do with the site going forward), just let me know.
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Thank you Nate.
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Arch wasn’t afraid to “tell it like it is” when provoked. In “Letter to Kathy”, Arch has already had enough of Kathy’s sidekick who Arch called Mr Twister (because he twisted the bible to his own liking) Here is his response:
archaeopteryx1
Speaking of plants, KC, have you noticed that the plants were produced (Gen 1:11) on the third day, but that the sun wasn’t created (1:16) until the fourth? The temperature of the earth would have been the same as Mr. Twister’s I.Q. – absolute zero!
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JUNE 24, 2014 AT 1:21 AM
I still get a chuckle out of some of his responses. On a different note, thanks Nate for what you are doing with Arch’s old content !
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Hi Nate, I too am sad to hear that news, but thanks for passing it on.
I think it is sad that although the internet allows us to connect from all over the world, it is often less personal than it could be. So I too have never known Arch’s name, wouldn’t have known his gender if people hadn’t used masculine pronouns, didn’t know he was a vet, etc. I think that is a pity.
Best wishes and condolences to all here at your blog.
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Nate, I just checked the site. That is so beautiful what you are doing. You can contact me we see what we can do together.
I liked that fellow
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The site looks great, Nate. And not a dry eye in the house.
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I immediately recognized that the overall tone on this blog was special. This article and respective comments confirmed it. There seems to be a sincere kindness among this group. Ironically, this is an ingredient that has been missing from my church “family.”
Nate, it’s clear you’ve set a healthy framework for this community to have respectful, meaningful discussion, and to foster genuine affection for one another. I feel lucky to become a part of this great community… even if I still consider myself a believer and follower of Jesus Christ, somehow I know you’ll still accept me and will show kindness as I join you all in this journey of finding truth.
My condolences to you all for the loss of your special friend.
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Julie, Arch would have welcomed you and probably said something appropriately witty. So I’m saying, “Welcome” for him and hoping you find your own truth. 🙂
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Thanks Ark 🙂
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Thanks Julie. And I’m so glad you’ve decided to join in the conversation. Hopefully, we can live up to the impression we’ve left so far! 🙂
Btw, you’re not the only Christian who chimes in here. Josh, Kent, and UnkleE all commented earlier, and all 3 are Christians. They’re all really great guys, too.
Anyway, we’re glad to have you!
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Oh, dear. My thoughts go out to his family.
He visited my blog a few times, too. And I his (I believe). It’s always stunning to be reminded we’re all frail humans. We should cherish all contact.
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Oh, maybe combine his posts into an ebook? I can help with that, if needed.
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Sorry to hear about Ark, thinking of him.
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We didn’t agree with each other, but I love that he was happy to chat. I would have liked to have said goodbye. Love going out to you Ark.
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Also Ark, wanted to say to you. So Ill share it here. when talking about more light hearted things (like movies) I was amazed at your pop culture references. I hope I made you smile a few times, because you made me smile a few times with your humour and sitcom references. Thanks for the smiles.
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That being said – smiling at the sitcom references, not the crude stuff.
Just realised I did the whole Arch/Ark thing. I remember Arch mentioning that when I accidentally called him Ark ☺ I’m sure Arch woukd have had something to say about that
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He would have said.
”Dammit. It’s Arch not Ark. I’m the good one!”
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Damn, hate to hear that. I enjoyed his contributions here. Life is short make it count.
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