More and more the theme of my days seems to be an abundance of friends who are enduring hard times. Seasons that squeeze the wind out of the sails of souls, and disrupt the dance of beating hearts.  Last night I lit a fire, and as I sat praying and gazing at the fire I was drawn to the light.  It was as if I was being nudged to come closer and look with further scrutiny.  I went and sat on the hearth and was drawn into the sight of the fire.  I was so captivated by the bright light that I failed to notice until I got close, that surrounding the beautiful, brilliant flames was a lot of smoke.  The smoke, however, did not dim, disturb or diminish the multiple, flickering flames.  It occured to me that life is a lot like that fire.  Even though we do our best to build things just right and keep our light burning bright, there will always be smoke around.  It actually appears that the brighter we burn for Christ the heavier the smoke.  One fact for certain, if the fire is burning bright, the smoke cannot disturb its brilliance or perseverance without our permission that in times of chaos has to be guarded everyday.  Right to keep your lights burning, friends. You are loved!