Bonefire

The bonfire was not the large raging furnace I remember from my youth living at the beach, but it was nice. We started inside, having some coffee, talking a bit, playing some music, and finally talking about the Christ candle that was burning near the altar. We dimmed the lights, each picked up an unlit candle, and lit our candles from the Christ candle by passing the flame between us. We reflected on that moment briefly then took our flames outside into the world to light the bonfire.

We had several of our flames go out in transit due to the wind and we had to use each others flames to relight ours. Like in real life, when you are close to Christ your flame is strong. As you take that flame out into the world it can grow weak and possibly go out. That's why it's important for Christians to support each other in life. In that way we can keep each others flames burning stronger and relight them if they go out.

When we tried to light the bonfire from our candles it became obvious how hard it can be to pass on our flames to new people. It takes a lot of time and patience. Sometimes it tries to light only to go out and need more coaxing to get started. Once it does start, like our bonfire, it started blazing brightly and then after a while settles down into a nice glowing fire with strong coals supporting it.

So many lessons to be learned from such a simple activity. We played and sang a few songs around the fire, shared some more metaphors, prayed, and bid each other goodnight. What a beautiful evening to be shared with friends, outside in the woods with God's creations all around us.