It Only Takes a Spark

Last week, I wrote about a memory of Summer Youth Camp singing in the Youth Choir. (Read about it Summer Camp: A Turning Point.)

Remembering camp made me think of all the songs we sang there:  of course, the ever-popular "Kumbaya" (I love that it means, Come By Here, Lord) and "I Have Decided to Follow Jesus." Another song that has stuck with me some forty years later is "Pass It On."

It only takes a spark

To get a fire going

And soon all those around

Can warm up in the glowing

That’s how it is with God’s love

Once you’ve experienced it

You’ll spread His love

To everyone

You’ll want to pass it on

What a wondrous time is spring

When all the trees are budding

The birds begin to sing

The flowers start their blooming

That’s how it is with God’s love

Once you’ve experienced it

You’ll want to sing

It’s fresh like spring

You’ll want to pass it on

I wish for you my friend

This happiness that I’ve found

You can depend on Him

It matters not where you’re bound

I’ll shout it from the mountain top

I want the world to know

The Lord of Love

Has come to me

I want to pass it on

I’ll shout it from the mountain top

I want the world to know

The Lord of Love

Has come to me

I want to pass it on

(Kurt Kaiser)

Of course, I can never think of this song without thinking of Evie Tornquist who made it popular. Here she is, looking all adorably Bohemian, in a YouTube video singing it.



(Subscribers will need to click through to my blog to see it.)

"It only takes a spark to get a fire going," is actually biblical.

In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. James 3:5 NLT

James is talking about the tongue, and a spark of something said can often start a firestorm of controversy (especially on social media). I challenge each of us to carefully examine the "spark" of our words. Are they uplifting? Or trouble-making?

Let's pass on good things - there's enough negativity being spread to last a lifetime.

What have you been passing on?

This post was written in response to Writer's Workshop prompt # 1. Write a blog post inspired by the word: sparks. Find out more at Mama's Losin' It.

I'm also sharing today at Arabah Joy and #FreshMarketFriday.