The Value of Friends

A man, who regularly attended meetings with his friends, suddenly without any notice stopped participating. After a few weeks, one very cold night the leader of the friend's group decided to visit him. 

He found the man at home, alone, sitting in front of a fireplace where a bright and cozy fire burned. The man welcomed the leader. The two men sat silently watching  the dancing flames around the logs that crackled in the fireplace.

After a few minutes the leader, without saying a word, examined the logs that formed and selected one of them, glowing most brightly of all, removing it to the side with a pair of tongs. Then he sat down again.

The host was paying attention to everything, fascinated. Before long, the lone log's flame subsided, until there was only a momentary glow and the fire soon went out. In no time what was previously bright light and heat had become nothing more than a black and dead piece of wood.

Very few words had been spoken since the greeting.

Before preparing to leave, the leader with the tongs picked up the useless wood and placed it again in the middle of the fire. Immediately, the hitherto lifeless piece of wood was rekindled, fueled by the light and heat of the burning coals around him.

When the leader reached the door to leave, the host said: Thank you for your visit and for your beautiful lesson. I'll return to the group soon.

This little story has a great lesson about the value of friends in our life. By being close to our friends, we keep each other's flame burning and the closeness among friends keeps the fire strong, effective and lasting. Every friend is a part of it and separated from friends and family, it becomes difficult to keep the fire alive. Let's do our bit to keep the flame alive.

Its also gives us a fresh way to look at numerous social media groups we are a part of these days. At times, we get inundated with the flood of messages coming on the chat on these groups throughout the day and it all seems meaningless to us. At such times, remember the above story. What matters is to be connected. We are here to meet, learn, exchange ideas or simply to know that we are not alone. Be thankful that you are a part of such a wonderful fire.

Life is beautiful with friends and family.