Your Inner Fire, the Authentic You

      Last evening as I sat in my bed watching the first episode of Downton Abbey season 4, the winds knocked upon my windows and howled a very eerie cry. About the time I had convinced myself that I was a bit frightened, someone in the neighborhood shot off fireworks. Strange as it may be to shoot off fireworks, in a wind storm no less, I was actually calmed by the added familiar noise of someone shooting off the remainder of their New' Year's  celebratory fireworks. I settled back into watching Lady Mary gain an upper hand and imagined my world covered in a thick blanket of snow when I awoke in the morning.

      My predictions for more than a dusting of snow were proved incorrect when I looked out the window and saw that the streets were clear. We did receive snow last evening but not near what they had predicted on the local weather stations. Somehow, I am not surprised.

        I always love snow even if it is just a dusting. Snow highlights things in our world that may have gone overlooked or forgotten. It also affords time to slow down for the moment, to prepare and to reflect. Yesterday as I heard news of the grocery stores going down to their last loaves of bread and final bottles of milk and watched as friends solicited places to purchase wood, I thought I too should make a wood pile outside of my back door in order that we may have a fire on the predicted blizzard day. I gathered a pile from our stash out back and stacked it neatly in anticipation of building a fire this morning and sipping coffee while I gazed upon our winter wonderland.

        The last fire that burned in our fireplace was a Christmas fire that Howie had expertly built and painstakingly attended to all Christmas Day. Howie is a much better fire builder than I am, but when he's not home, I will give it a go. I only placed a couple of logs in the fireplace and lit the kindling to get the fire going. The wood, being somewhat damp immediately began to crackle and the sound of the fire as it flamed up began to delight my ears with it's sweet lullaby.

         As I sat there enjoying my little fire and some wonderful New Orleans French roast coffee given to me by a friend, I began to reflect on an observation that my Aunt Brenda had made about our Christmas fire. As we all sat nestled by the fire enjoying Christmas morning Aunt Brenda said, "There is something so wonderful and appealing about a real wood fire as opposed to a gas log fire. A wood fire comes alive and almost talks to you engaging all of your senses." As I thought on my Aunt Brenda's observation about the wood fire on Christmas Day, I couldn't help but also imagine that it was an analogy for living the life we were meant to lead.
       As humans, we are tempted to chase things that we think we should do with our lives, we put in the energy and time and do all the right things and we appear to have it all together. Like a gas log fire, we burn just like a real fire, we go through the motions of life and it all works out as it was supposed to, that is until we experience a real fire and we realize the life that we thought we were supposed to lead is not authentic. When we experience a moment in our lives when the person that God created us to be is lit up with God's love and grace, we burn with passion for our life's work. We hear our life's work talking to us and engaging every one of our senses. Like a real fire, when we are authentic to who we are created to be, God's light and love shines through us and nourishes others with warmth and life.

         We are all created in God's image with unique gifts and talents. Those gifts that God bestowed upon us were meant to be used authentically in order that his kingdom may come here on earth as it is in heaven. We were not meant to be like a gas log fire and to only go through the motions of life; but rather, we were born to be the real and authentic images of God and to live and love life to it's fullest capacity, to allow his light to shine and bring love to each other in order that we may all experience God's kingdom here together. It is sometimes difficult to know what is truly authentic to our lives and to let go of other ambitions that may seem like the right path to take. But if we allow God to work through the gifts that he has given to each of us and if we put our trust in him, he will lead us and guide us along our life's authentic path. Like a real fire, it takes effort and trust to build a life that truly is authentic to you. But it is so worth the effort, the faith, and trust to allow God's light and love to shine through. "His word is in my heart like a fire..a fire shut up in my bones..I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot" Jer 20:9 ( Scripture reference shared with me by a dear friend after reading this post. Thank you Ellen!)