Songs from the Fire



Songs from the Fire

          Have you ever sat around a crackling, snapping campfire or in front of a fireplace and found yourself listening to the fire hiss and sing? The wood used for a good long-lasting fire is a big chunk of wood we call “the back log.” The rest is kindling which will burn up hot and quickly disappear.

            When the back log catches fire it often begins to make a multitude of melodic sounds. When the snapping and crackling of the fire slows down, there is a whistling, squeaking, even a flute like sound coming from the back log.

            Often the room grows quiet and everyone seems drawn to listen to its music, the songs of the forest fill the room. The log sings from the memories of the song birds in spring, the hoot of the owl at night, the flute like sound of the tree frog chirping after the rain. The log sizzles a song of when the high winds blew strumming their music through its branches and recalling too of the hissing snow in a harsh winter storm.

 

“But the people of God will sing a song of joy, like the songs at the holy festivals.

You will be filled with joy, as when a flutist leads a group of pilgrims to Jerusalem,

the mountain of the Lord—to the Rock of Israel.”  Isaiah 30:29 NLT

 

            It’s a writer’s fancy to hear songs of the forest singing from a sizzling log in the fire. But it is a bit of a parable of our lives. Each of us has collected many songs from our own lives over the years.

            Some of the best songs remembered and sung are the ones resulting from the times we were “in the fire”, of life’s trials. Some people may never learn to sing until the flames kindle a sweet memory deep within of how God’s love never failed them.

            It’s the songs from the fire that are most effective, most remembered, and most beautifully sung.

 

“Songs from the Fire” by Dee Kamp from Strength for Today, Hope for Tomorrow -by Dee Kamp