Catching Fire

A wise person once told me, “Don’t worry about others catching fire. Just catch fire yourself. At least others will gather around to watch you burn. And they may well catch fire from you!”

The picture above was taken one month before we lost Elijah. I was burning some brush in our fire pit early one evening, and was impressed by the size of the flame. I knew the large flame wouldn’t last long, so I quickly took this picture. I was actually walking away when I thought that I’d better check to make sure everything was OK. It’s a good thing I did! The ring of fire that had just started from the large flame was working its way outwards past my containment area. It was starting to catch my wooden chairs on fire. I was able to stamp out the ring of fire, but I felt silly that I hadn’t noticed all the leaves that were gathered near my large flame. Only later when I looked at this picture did I notice how the large flame had already created a growing ring of fire.

At just nineteen years old, Elijah’s life seems way to short. But his fire burned brightly during those last two months of October and November. We continue to hear from people all over the country who’s lives were changed because of Elijah. I consider that to be part of the ring of fire that he created from the intensity of his faith in God and his desire to spread the good news of God’s love to others.

Sometimes we only see the impact of the spreading flame as we look back at past events. That was true with my near disaster at the fire pit. It is true as we reflect now on the impact of Elijah’s life. But in this case, I won’t be stomping out the fire. Elijah would certainly want it to keep spreading!

Please ‘like’ and ‘share’ this post as you find it helpful and inspiring. Thank you.

-Ken Buchanan