When the Flame Stands Alone

By Ianpassion 

Cooking on the firewood 

One cool evening, a young student came to visit his teacher in the countryside. The smell of wood smoke filled the air as the teacher was cooking over a fire made of dry firewood. The flames danced brightly, warming the small kitchen.

The student sat down quietly and said, “Teacher, I’ve decided not to join the others for worship anymore. I can pray to the Father by myself. I don’t need to gather with them.”

The teacher didn’t respond. He simply kept tending the fire. After a moment, he reached into the burning pile and, using a stick, pulled one piece of glowing firewood away from the rest.

The student watched in silence. At first, the single firewood still burned, but soon its flame weakened. The glow faded until only smoke rose from it.

After some time, the teacher finally broke the silence.
“Tell me, my son, what do you see?”

The student looked at the dying wood and said softly, “The fire went out because it was alone.”

The teacher nodded, his eyes gentle but wise.
“Yes,” he said. “One firewood cannot keep burning by itself. It needs the others to stay alive. This is also true for you. When you separate yourself from other believers, your fire of faith will grow weak. But when we come together, our flames join, and we burn brighter.”

He paused, then added, “That’s why the Word of the Father tells us not to give up meeting together, but to encourage one another. When we worship together, we keep each other’s hearts warm in the love of the Son.”

The student sat quietly, watching the firewood rekindled as the teacher placed it back among the others. Soon, it glowed once again, burning brightly with the rest.

And in that simple moment, the student understood: faith, like fire, is meant to be shared.