Time stops around the fire

Crack, pop

The fire speaks as we gather around it for warmth. The night is new, but we plan to stay until it is old. We all gather around and commune. We talk about where we plan to go with our life, what we are going to do for Christmas, who we are, what we believe, what we hope to do tomorrow. Intimate and deep conversation that for some reason seems to be evoked by the scent of charred wood reaching ones nostrils.

When there is no more to say, out comes my guitar. And this is the moment that you practice for. Not to sing in front of a stadium, but to sing with the people you love.

No one is distracted, a rarity today. A reprieve from the scrolling that takes your life away. It’s late, yet no one is tired. The flame makes us want to stay, the flame makes us present, the flame lights the flame inside us, that we often forget is there. The desire for connection. In a world that’s so focused on doing things so that others can see, it’s one of the few ways in which people truly live without needing to make it about everyone else. A party won’t do. But something that humans must have done throughout most of human history utterly destroys all of the modern ways in which to connect.

The flame of the bonfire keeps relationships going. Once it is going, time itself stops. Once it burns out, and is buried, it is left behind, but never forgotten. The flame of true connection, if only for a few hours, has been achieved. Our retreat was successful, we are rejuvenated. It makes sense why the bonfire is so often seen as a symbol of rest, it’s as though it possesses its own special power, though from where, I could not tell you.

May we seek those bonfires in our everyday life, the moments of deep unity, because thankfully they can be found in many places, not just around a warm orange glow. Every one of us has a unique story to tell. Come sit round the fire, you can tell me yours, and I’ll tell you mine as well.