This time of year there’s nothing like a wood fire in a fireplace. I love the smell, the sound, and the endless tending it takes to build and maintain a good fire. I am fascinated by the different kinds of wood that can be burned and their effect on the fire.

I even like carrying out the ashes. During our recent snow event I was sitting in front of the fire watching the flames and enjoying the warmth. It was snowing outside, the driveway was covered, and everything was cancelled and closed. So I had time. And I started thinking about wood fires.

I thought of all the fires that I had sat in front of over the years: fires in various fireplaces, different kinds of wood stoves, fires on different beaches and in different campgrounds.

I thought of the fires I used to build as a Boy Scout, and a fire in the woods that I once helped to put out. No two fires are ever the same. And every fire is constantly changing.

It takes more than one piece of wood to have a fire. There’s something about the draft created when you put several logs in the fire together that makes them burn. Remove one burning log from the fire and that log will soon go out. Like the logs in a fire, we need each other in order to burn, to find joy and meaning in life.

In some fires, as in some relationships, the different types and sizes of wood don’t burn very well together, making it hard to get a fire started, or keep it burning.

Fires are fascinating. Flames seem to dance, and colors change. A fire can be beautiful, and also destructive. It can save life, and take life. Fires can happen by accident, or by intention. If you don’t tend a fire it will go out, but not always.

A fire is a catalyst for transformation. Wood is burned and energy is produced, and underneath it all, the coals glow. A fire is a mystery.

No wonder fire has been such an important symbol in the Christian faith. If you remember in Exodus, it was a pillar of fire that led the Children of Israel toward the Promised Land (Exodus 13). More than one time in the Bible, God spoke to individuals through flames of fire. For Moses it was the burning bush (Exodus 3). For Abraham, it was the smoking fire pot and flaming torch (Genesis 15). For Gideon, it was a mysterious fire that cooked meat and bread (Judges 6). When Jesus appeared to the disciples after his resurrection by the lake, it was beside a fire (John 21). And at Pentecost the Holy Spirit arrived in tongues of flame (Acts 2).

It’s no accident that we light candles in church. In a few weeks on Ash Wednesday many Christians will place ashes on their foreheads as a symbol of repentance. In many traditions those ashes are the product of a fire made from the palm branches used in last year’s Palm Sunday processional. Fire is a powerful symbol of the divine. Small wonder that the Epistle to the Hebrews tells us “our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29).

There’s something special about a fire in a fireplace, or even a candle on a table. For eyes that see it, both are symbols – reminders that the beauty, warmth, and energy we enjoy in this life are gifts from the God who created us, sustains us, and transforms us through his grace.