A community kitchen at a rainforest village in the Upper Amazon Basin of Peru. Cooking pots rest on the steel grate and the fire is controlled by the burning wood beneath – pushed together for increased heat and pulled away to reduce intensity. Spread too far from the common fire, the flame is extinguished.
Do we appreciate the importance of our close spiritual connections with other believers? We should! Lutheran Christians refer to the “mutual conversation and consolation of the brethren,” that is, the blessing believers bring to one another as they practice Church fellowship together in Christ their Savior. That echoes what the writer to the Hebrews expressed: “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching (Hebrews 10).”
P.S. – did you spot the chicken in the picture? It might be next on the menu!