BEING TOGETHER IS HEALING

Dear friends,
        With our current “social distancing” and “safer at home” rules, some will think staying apart is better than being together. But this is not true. It might help for awhile, until the dangers of disease are lessened, but lengthy required separation is far more destructive in the long run than helpful.
        Once while up in the mountains I decided to make a small cook fire. Dry sticks of wood lit easily with a match, but the fire wasn’t hot enough for cooking. I assumed more air around the sticks would make the fire hotter so I separated the sticks a little. Some did burn quicker but they gave off little heat. Only when I moved the sticks next to each other did they burn hot enough to cook food.
        The heat of one supports the heat of the other. You and I need to be with others more than we think. Alone, we can do some things well, making a few sparks or a small flames here or there. But only together can we become useful heat. If we stay separate from each other too long, our own flame may go out.
        Our Christian faith is not self-sustaining. Sundays alone require many more Sundays together  to keep faith strong. “Virtual worship” is a brief solution, but actual Christian fellowship helps body and soul. A body in bed for weeks will fall with a first step because legs have grown weak. Worship strengthens body and soul.
        It’s time for us to get back together again, to start meeting and gaining strength from God and from each other. Being apart is helpful only only a short time. We human beings are social creatures. We grow stronger together.
        If a short time of separation is needed for your health, don’t leave God out. Virtual worship is helpful, but if that isn’t possible for you, read from your Bible daily and pray. God’s Word blesses us with His presence, comfort and love.
        Jesus took only short times away from the crowds, because His faith grew stronger when He was with others. The faith of one Christian supports the faith of the other. This is why God’s Word urges, “Do not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encourage one another.” (Hebrews 10:25)

A united flame makes a better fire.

Rev. Bob Tasler, www.bobtasler.com